"Talent skill? The rewards for Nightmare-difficulty missions are different from those for other missions. It seems the reward directly affects me and can transform me!"
After making a note of this, Chen Ge felt a surge of anticipation. He had already glimpsed the existence of another world—a dangerous, terrifying place hidden in the shadows, where death lurked. With his current abilities, finding his parents was out of the question. Even protecting himself would be difficult.
But fortunately, he had the Black Phone. There was still a chance for him to turn things around.
"It's too soon to be thinking about all that. First, I need to stabilize the Haunted House's business and deal with the trouble right in front of me." He took out his phone. "Tonight was a close call. Something could easily have gone wrong, so Nightmare-difficulty missions clearly aren't easy to complete. I can only do so much on my own. I might as well get more people involved and ask them for ideas."
He logged into several well-known Paranormal Forums in China and uploaded the original video.
A few minutes later, the video he'd titled Who is in the Mirror had been viewed and shared countless times. Maybe people were tired of celebrity gossip and wanted a change of pace. Either way, attention to the video snowballed, and dozens of new comments appeared every time he refreshed the page.
"Pro tip: high-intensity scare at 25:14!"
"The person who posted this video is either a lunatic or mentally ill! What normal person would do something like that in the middle of the night?"
"Why did the mirror crack on its own? And what was that thing trying to get out of the mirror at the end?!"
"The mirror broke because of thermal expansion and contraction, probably. The temperature in the room wasn't uniform."
"You don't know shit. In geomancy, mirrors are yin and can easily attract evil spirits. This video shouldn't be called Who is in the Mirror. It should be called There's a Ghost in the Mirror!"
"Holy shit, it's the middle of the night and I'm covered in cold sweat. I have to hand it to the OP for being so brave."
"This video is definitely fake. If it isn't, I, Zhang Dazhu, swear on my real name that I'll do a 360-degree upside-down spiral and eat shit!"
"Am I the only one who noticed? The uploader's avatar is the storefront of a Haunted House in the West Suburb. Don't get too excited just yet. This is probably an ad for the place."
People kept messaging Chen Ge on the forum. Some were curious, while others were skeptical, but he ignored them all.
His video was completely real. Those who understood would understand; they wouldn't waste time cursing him. And why waste time explaining it to those who didn't?
Watching the number of views continue to climb, Chen Ge realized this was an opportunity. He split up the original video, clipped its final fourteen seconds, and posted them on China's largest short-video app.
Among the endless clips of singing, dancing, jokes, and food, his paranormal video stood out like a lone flower!
Within a dozen seconds, it had already caught its first unsuspecting viewers. Unlike the forum and message-board regulars, who could handle scary content, these innocent viewers were hit with a dose of pure terror and started swearing in the comments.
There was no love without a reason, nor hatred without a reason. The sudden flood of angry comments drew even more people in, and Chen Ge's comments section was soon overrun.
Looking at the comments, Chen Ge could practically feel the viewers' fury through his phone screen. But his nerves were much stronger than theirs. He didn't care in the slightest; in fact, he was almost amused.
He could understand where they were coming from. At three in the morning, they were tucked under the covers, hoping to watch a pretty girl to unwind, listen to her act cute and coo a little, then drift off to sleep.
Instead, they clicked on this video and found a grown man playing a game with a candle and a mirror. It was completely the wrong kind of video!
Worse, the clip was only fourteen seconds long. Before they could even react, the biggest scare hit them head-on.
The mirror shattered, and the reflection inside slammed outward as if it were about to break through the screen!
Excuse me? That was enough to take anyone's breath away!
"The comments are lively, so the attention probably won't die down anytime soon. Looks like everyone loves my videos." Someone wore an unapologetic grin. "I've gained over a hundred followers, too. If I don't advertise my Haunted House now, I'd be letting all those enthusiastic onlookers down."
As he spoke, he changed the title and added the Haunted House's full address to the most prominent section of his profile. He even added a note in parentheses: a Haunted House that isn't scary at all.
Chen Ge was quite pleased with his profile. After looking through the comments for a while longer, he fell asleep beneath the windowsill.
Sunlight fell across Chen Ge's face. He stretched his aching body and crawled out of the bathroom corner.
"It's eight thirty." He tidied up, slipped Ragdoll into his pocket, picked up his phone, and opened the bathroom door.
Clear scratch marks remained along the edge of the wooden door, as if a rat had gnawed at it.
"What exactly was that thing outside the door last night?" Seeing the marks, he couldn't help feeling glad he hadn't gone out all night.
"Nightmare-level missions can trigger unknown variables. I'll have to be even more careful from now on." The other props in the Haunted House hadn't changed much, so Chen Ge paid them little mind. He pushed open the Haunted House's entrance, and a new day began.
New Century Park opened at nine. At eight forty-five, a petite, adorable girl came running over from a distance with a bag on her back.
"Boss!"
The girl radiated youthful energy. In the morning sunlight, her delicate features looked as sweet as a ripe peach, tempting anyone to take a bite.
"Xiao Wan, you're just in time. I added a new background track to the music library. Let's go listen to it together." Before Chen Ge could finish, Xu Wan grabbed his arm, looking excited. "What are you up to, you little rascal?"
"I heard people talking about the Haunted House at the entrance to Paradise Park! Some people are even lining up outside the park just to try it!" Xu Wan's voice brimmed with excitement. "Boss, we have visitors!"
"Isn't it normal to have visitors? You look like you've never seen any before." Chen Ge put on a calm front and casually pulled out his phone to check his short-video profile. He'd already gained more than five hundred followers, and his video had shot straight into the top ten of the new creators' rankings. But unlike the cheerful comments sections on other people's pages, his was filled with hostility. One person had even left a message saying they'd been so scared last night that they'd wet the bed, and that they'd already sharpened a knife and were on their way.
"Uh, I may have taken things a little too far..." Chen Ge cleared his throat and pulled Xu Wan into the Haunted House. "Paradise Park opens in fifteen minutes. The two of us are the only employees here today, so we'd better get ready for a tough battle!"
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