After entering his forum account, Chen Ge immediately noticed that his username had turned purple. He checked the backend and realized why: the thirty-minute video he'd posted earlier had been reposted and recommended all over the place. So far, nearly a thousand people had replied beneath it.
He skimmed through the replies, but didn't find anything useful. Most people were just watching for the novelty.
I might as well try my luck. Maybe I'll reel in someone who knows what they're talking about. Chen Ge edited his post, adding a detailed description of the Mirror Monster, then used his purple account privileges to ask for help.
"After playing the game in the video, I found that the monster in the mirror has latched onto me! How do I get rid of it?"
The post had barely gone up when someone replied.
"OP, you're actually still alive?"
"I suggest splashing it with Black Dog Blood, or raising a Rooster. When a Rooster crows, all under heaven turns bright. Evil things won't dare go near it."
"You're too deep into your role. I suggest you go to the neurology department."
"Ghosts are memories lingering in the human world. If you slay a Ghost, you'll damage your own virtue. The sea of suffering is boundless; better for both sides to take a step back."
"Is the person above trying to reason with a Ghost?"
"Maoshan Seven-Kill Ghost-Repelling Talisman! Made by a genuine Celestial Master! Check out my Taobao shop through my profile picture! Every successful order comes with a bonus copy of the Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth spell!"
"Mix soybeans, white rice, and Cinnabar together, then soak them in salt water for fifteen minutes. Scatter beans to summon soldiers—look it up."
"I once saw a video about a guy who was haunted by a Female Ghost. He bought a gun to get rid of her. When she came to bother him again that night, he just shot himself. Afterward, he dragged the Female Ghost into the bedroom..."
"OP, no joke—I'll tell you a method that really works! Find an iron blade, preferably a butcher's cleaver that's taken a life and been drenched in blood. Ghosts are a form of special magnetic energy, and a blade like that can wound them!"
Chen Ge looked through the replies for a long time. The suggestion about hacking at a Ghost with an iron blade seemed fairly reliable; the rest was either nonsense or too difficult to pull off. He knew that folk tales said Black Dog Blood and Roosters could ward off evil, but where was he supposed to find those things in the middle of the night?
He logged off the forum, tossed his phone aside, and sat in his chair, lost in thought.
He was fighting an unknown monster, and his life was at stake. He couldn't pin all his hopes on those vague forum posts.
After going around in circles, Chen Ge took out the Black Phone again. At a critical moment, he still had to rely on it. The Black Phone was the only thing he could trust completely.
But the Black Phone followed the principle of equivalent exchange. If he wanted something, he first had to give something in return.
After experimenting over the past few days, Chen Ge had figured out some of the Black Phone's hidden rules, such as how its mission rewards worked.
The rewards for the easy and normal daily missions were usually props that helped run the Haunted House. Only nightmare-level missions gave rewards that directly affected him, granting him rare and unusual abilities.
There was no point in doing easy or normal missions if he wanted to deal with the thing in the mirror. Only the rewards from a nightmare-level mission could help.
But Chen Ge was conflicted. Nightmare-level missions were already extremely dangerous. What if he failed to get rid of the monster in the mirror and attracted something new instead?
"What should I do? Take a chance, or wait a little longer?" Chen Ge scrolled through the Black Phone. Midnight had passed, and all the daily missions had refreshed.
"Easy: If you want to give visitors a truly frightening experience, you must first pay attention to the pace of the tour. Actors and mechanisms appearing too early or too late will ruin the visitors' excitement, so I suggest installing sound detectors and surveillance cameras in the Haunted House to keep track of the visitors' progress at all times."
"Normal: You have obtained an opportunity to expand the Haunted House. Please find a suitable location for the expansion as soon as possible! Due to space restrictions, you cannot attempt any scenario missions until the expansion is complete!"
"Nightmare: Strange sounds always come from the bathroom late at night. If you want to know why, do as I say."
"Warning! Some missions are extremely dangerous. Choose carefully!"
Chen Ge looked at the three daily missions. He wasn't able to complete the normal mission yet, so he ignored it. That left him with only the easy and nightmare missions to choose from.
"If Uncle Xu gives me the money tomorrow morning, I'll have just enough time to buy all the surveillance cameras in a day, but I probably won't be able to install them all. The nightmare mission seems to involve the bathroom. There's something creepy about it." Chen Ge was still hesitating. He might not be able to complete the easy mission, and its reward was poor. The nightmare mission, meanwhile, was too dangerous, and he had no idea what he might encounter.
He sat in the Tool Room, deep in thought. Before he could make up his mind, that cutting sound rang out again from inside the Haunted House—and it was even more grating than before.
Chen Ge looked up at the ceiling. The sound was still coming from the third floor.
"I brought all four Ragdolls out. What could it still be cutting?" The thing in the mirror had already put Chen Ge on edge. He stuffed the mended Ragdoll into his pocket, grabbed the hammer, and charged up to the third floor in one breath.
He opened the door to the Midnight Escape scenario and was stunned by what he saw.
Broken pieces of mirror lay scattered outside the entrance, and streaks of white marked the Wooden Door.
"The Monster is scratching at the door! What is it trying to do?"
Cold sweat broke out on Chen Ge's back. He couldn't bear to imagine a Monster with a shard of mirror running around while he slept. He would never allow something so dangerous to remain in his House of Horrors!
Chen Ge, who was usually mild-mannered, rarely ever went cold with anger. He locked the door to the Midnight Escape scenario, carried the hammer into the corridor, and shoved open one door after another. He rushed inside and smashed every mirror on the third floor to pieces.
The sound of shattering glass rang without end. Broken shards littered the floor. Only when he reached the end of the third-floor corridor did Chen Ge finally calm down.
"During my first nightmare mission, the Monster was trapped in the mirror by the Ragdoll and couldn't fight back. Later, when it attacked He Shan, it could only affect him slightly. But after attacking He Feng, it had already become capable of leaving the mirror! It's growing, and it's growing fast!" Chen Ge didn't want to wait any longer. His Haunted House had only just gotten started; he couldn't let it be ruined by some nameless Monster.
Carrying the hammer, Chen Ge left the Midnight Escape scenario and locked the door. Then, with the resolve of someone who had burned his boats, he opened the Black Phone and accepted the nightmare-level mission. "I hope the reward for this one is worth it."
"Are you sure you want to accept the nightmare-level daily mission? Accepting it may cause unknown situations to occur."
"I'm sure."
The phone screen flashed, and the mission details appeared.
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