Unexpected Rewards

Perhaps the bathroom window was not shut tight, as the night breeze drifted into the room, brushing against Chen Ge's face like a pair of invisible hands.

The door to the toilet stall swayed gently, emitting a creaking sound. Droplets of water from the ceiling traced the pipes down to the floor, and a rustling noise, as if insects were crawling through the sewer, filled the air.

In the silence, every sound was amplified. Many would have felt uneasy in such an environment, but Chen Ge was an exception; his childhood experiences had forged an extraordinary psychological resilience and nerves of steel.

His mind was a blank slate; he thought of nothing, simply counting the time in silence.

After nearly twenty minutes had passed, Chen Ge felt the room temperature drop inexplicably, as if several blocks of ice had been placed around him. He could not help but shiver.

Stay calm! Don't think about why, don't scare yourself. There are ten minutes left; no matter what, you must hold on! A faint current of air brushed past his ears, as if something were pacing around him. He clenched his fists, the veins on the back of his hands bulging, yet his body remained rooted to the spot like a pine tree, motionless.

"Chen Ge, Chen Ge, Chen Ge..."

He whispered the name to himself. When only five minutes remained, Chen Ge felt the flickering flame in the bathroom extinguish. In the darkness, it seemed as if someone else was also chanting his name.

An echo? That's impossible!

"Chen Ge..."

The voice seemed to be calling out to him, somewhat urgent, as if there were something of great importance to convey.

This voice seems to be coming from outside the door. Should I go take a look? Chen Ge quickly dismissed the thought. The rules of the game were clear: he only needed to stay in front of the mirror.

He calculated the time in his heart. The voice by his ear gradually grew distorted; he was certain that someone else was calling his name, and that person seemed to be standing right outside the door.

That person seems very anxious, but I'm the one playing the game. What the hell is he so worried about? This is obviously a trap; it's too amateurish. Chen Ge curled his lip. The environment and atmosphere are well-crafted, but the scare tactics are too monotonous.

With three minutes left, a harsh sound erupted from the bathroom door, like someone scratching with fingernails or gnawing with teeth. The door rattled, appearing as if it might be forced open at any moment.

"1798 seconds, 1799 seconds, 1800 seconds!" The half-hour had passed. The voices outside vanished, and everything returned to calm.

To avoid any miscalculation, Chen Ge did not open his eyes immediately. He counted another three hundred beats before stepping back, placing his hands over his chest, and fluttering his eyelids open.

The candle in the bathroom had long since gone out, leaving the room in total darkness. Chen Ge felt a vague sense that something had changed.

He turned on his flashlight, and when the light reappeared in the room, he froze in place.

The surface of the bathroom mirror was covered in cracks. His reflection was shattered into countless pieces, looking incredibly surreal. What shocked him even more was that, right in front of the mirror, a worn-out doll had appeared out of nowhere!

Its button eyes glinted, and its patched body was stuffed with cotton. The doll was not cute, but to Chen Ge, it held profound significance. It was the first doll he had ever made, and it was the item his parents had with them when they went missing.

The doll leaned against the shattered mirror, as if it had been preventing whatever was inside from coming out.

The bathroom door was locked; how did the doll get in? Through the window? No, that's not right! The key issue is why it moved on its own! Chen Ge felt his worldview collapsing; he was a bit rattled.

Man and doll stood in a standoff for three minutes before Chen Ge finally calmed down. He flexed his chilled fingers and slowly approached.

No matter the angle, the button eyes seemed to be staring right at him. Chen Ge gazed at the toy he had crafted himself, his mouth twitching involuntarily.

He carefully avoided the doll with his hands and picked up the phone nearby. "Good thing I stayed cautious and was prepared."

The video recording on the phone had not been interrupted. After cautiously backing up the file, Chen Ge began to watch the footage.

The video was not very clear. With the candlelight flickering, Chen Ge appeared somewhat stiff standing before the mirror, while the reflection in the mirror seemed far more animated.

For the first ten minutes, all was calm. The turning point began at the eleventh minute.

The sound of the night breeze was not captured by the lens; the video only showed the door to the toilet stall swaying gently a few times.

Immediately after, static began to appear in the video. Even though it was a mundane scene, it carried an indescribable sense of terror—perhaps the innate human fear of darkness and the unknown at work.

Watching the video, Chen Ge's expression darkened. In his memory, he had kept his distance from the mirror while his eyes were closed, but the actual footage showed his body slowly leaning forward, as if trying to press against the glass.

By the twenty-fifth minute, his upper body was bent at a seventy-degree angle, his nose nearly touching the mirror.

A few seconds later, without warning, cracks began to appear on the mirror. The scene made Chen Ge's heart race with shock.

Then, the most incredible thing happened: the Chen Ge in the mirror changed his expression, baring his teeth and snarling as he slammed violently into the mirror's surface!

At that exact moment, the candle went out, and the video ended.

Due to the camera angle, there was no footage of the doll. Chen Ge had no idea what had happened in those final five minutes.

The thing in the mirror wanted to come out, and it seems this doll stopped it in the end. If that's the case, it must have saved me once. Chen Ge picked up the doll from the vanity and asked with great sincerity, "Can you understand me? Do you know where my parents went?"

The doll did not respond; only its button eyes emitted a faint, glimmering light.

He cradled the doll in his arms and glanced at the bathroom door. Not daring to leave, he huddled beneath the windowsill and took out his black phone. The notification that the mission was complete had already appeared.

"You are lucky, I must say. Congratulations on completing the Nightmare-difficulty daily mission! You have received the mission reward: Primary Talent Skill—Corpse Makeup."

"Corpse Makeup: I hope you will be more serious and earnest when inheriting this talent. Unlike cosmetology, a mortician only applies makeup to the deceased. The beauty in your hands spans the divide between life and death, allowing those who have grown cold to regain their vitality and bestowing upon them eternal beauty."

"First completion of a Nightmare-difficulty daily mission. You have earned the title: Nightmare City Newcomer. You have received an additional reward: unlocked the one-star horror scenario trial mission—Midnight Escape! Once the trial mission is completed, this facility will appear in your House of Horrors!"

Scanning the information on the black phone, Chen Ge fell into deep thought. The development of a haunted house could not be separated from a makeup artist. Whether for actors or props, a makeup artist was needed for secondary styling. A skilled makeup artist could make creating realistic effects much easier.