25 minutes and 14 seconds!

"A talent skill? The rewards for Nightmare-difficulty missions are different from others; they seem to act directly upon my body, capable of transforming me!"

After Chen Ge noted this down, a spark of anticipation ignited in his heart. He had already glimpsed the existence of another world—a world hidden within the shadows, dangerous, terrifying, and concealing murderous intent. With his current strength, let alone finding his parents, even protecting himself was a struggle.

But fortunately, he possessed the Black Phone. The future was not without a chance for a comeback.

"Thinking about these things now is too far off. I must first find a way to stabilize the business of the House of Horrors and resolve the immediate predicament." He took out his phone. "Tonight was heart-stopping; an accident almost occurred. It's clear that Nightmare-difficulty missions aren't so easy to complete. My individual strength is limited after all; it would be better to let more people get involved and offer their strategies."

He logged into several well-known domestic paranormal forums and uploaded the original video.

A few minutes later, the video, which he had titled Who is in the Mirror, was being read and shared in massive numbers. Perhaps people had grown tired of entertainment gossip and wanted a change of pace; the video's attention snowballed, growing at a rapid speed. Every time he refreshed the comments, dozens more appeared.

"Front row warning! 25:14 is high-intensity!"

"The person who posted this is either a lunatic or mentally ill! What kind of normal person does this kind of thing in the middle of the night?"

"Why did the mirror crack on its own? And what the hell was that thing trying to smash its way out of the mirror at the end?!"

"The mirror shattered because of thermal expansion and contraction; the room temperature wasn't uniform."

"You don't know a damn thing. In metaphysics, mirrors belong to the Yin element and are extremely prone to attracting evil. I think this video shouldn't be called Who is in the Mirror, but There is a Ghost in the Mirror!"

"Damn it, it's the middle of the night and this scared me into a cold sweat. I really admire the OP's courage."

"This video is definitely edited. If it's not, I, Zhang Dazhu, will go on record: I'll do a 360-degree spiral handstand and eat shit!"

"Am I the only one who noticed? The uploader's avatar is the storefront of a Haunted House in the western suburbs. Don't get too excited yet, this is probably just an advertisement."

Chen Ge's forum account was also constantly receiving private messages; some were curious, others were skeptical. Chen Ge ignored them all.

His video was completely authentic. Those who understood would understand; there was no need to curse, and for those who didn't, why waste time explaining?

Watching the continuously climbing attention, Chen Ge keenly realized this was an opportunity. He split the original video, extracted the final fourteen seconds, and posted it on the country's largest short-video application.

Amidst a sea of short videos filled with singing, dancing, jokes, and food, his paranormal video truly stood out from the crowd!

Only a dozen seconds later, passersby began to fall for it. Unlike the users on paranormal forums and message boards who had stronger psychological endurance, the innocent passersby who were scared witless by Chen Ge's potent dose of terror began to curse wildly in the comment section.

There is no such thing as love without a reason, and certainly no hate without a reason. The inexplicable cursing attracted even more people to watch, which resulted in Chen Ge's short-video comment section being completely overrun.

Looking at the comment section, Chen Ge could feel the anger of the passersby through the phone screen. However, his own psychological endurance was far stronger than theirs; he didn't care at all, and was even amused enough to want to laugh.

In fact, he understood those passersby well. It was three in the morning, they were tucked under their blankets, wanting to watch a beautiful girl to relax, maybe hear her act cute or make a few soft noises, and then have a nice sleep.

But the moment they clicked on this video, they saw a grown man playing games with candles and mirrors—the vibe was completely off!

What was even more treacherous was that the video was only fourteen seconds long. Before they could even react, the ultimate horror appeared.

The mirror shattered, and the image inside smashed its way out, as if it were about to pass through the screen!

Excuse me? This move was simply suffocating!

"The comment section is so lively, and the attention won't drop for a while. It seems everyone really likes my video." He smiled uncharitably. "The follower count has also increased by over a hundred. If I don't advertise my own Haunted House under these circumstances, I'd really be letting down these enthusiastic onlookers."

As he spoke, he modified the title. In the most prominent personal introduction column, he attached the detailed address of the House of Horrors, and finally added a parenthetical note—The House of Horrors that isn't scary at all.

Chen Ge was very satisfied with his personal homepage. After watching the comment section for a while longer, he sat down under the windowsill and fell asleep just like that.

Sunlight shone on his face. Chen Ge stretched his aching body and climbed up from the corner of the bathroom.

"It's 8:30." He tidied up briefly, put the doll into his pocket, picked up his phone, and pulled open the bathroom door.

The edges of the wooden door were covered in distinct scratch marks, as if they had been gnawed on by rats.

"What exactly was it that appeared outside the door last night?" Seeing this, he couldn't help but feel a bit fortunate that he hadn't gone out all night.

"Nightmare-difficulty missions trigger unknown variables. I have to be even more careful in the future." The other props in the Haunted House hadn't changed much, so Chen Ge didn't pay them any mind. He pushed open the main door of the House of Horrors, and a new day officially began.

New Century Park opened for business at nine o'clock. At 8:45, a petite and cute girl with a backpack came running from the distance.

"Boss!"

The girl radiated youthful vitality, and her delicate features under the morning sun looked like a ripe peach, making one want to take a bite.

"Xu Wan, you've come at the right time. I've added a new piece of background music to the library; let's go listen to it together." Before Chen Ge could finish, he saw Xu Wan grab his arm, looking excited. "You girl, what are you doing?"

"I heard many people discussing the House of Horrors at the park entrance just now! Some people are queuing up at the entrance specifically to experience our House of Horrors!" Xu Wan's words were filled with excitement. "Boss, we have tourists!"

"Isn't it normal to have tourists? Look at you, acting like you've never seen the world." Chen Ge feigned composure and nonchalantly took out his phone to check his short-video homepage. His followers had already broken five hundred, and the heat in the comment section had surged into the top ten of the newcomer rankings. However, unlike the thriving comment sections of others, his was filled with the smoke of war; some people even left messages saying they had wet their beds from fear last night and were currently sharpening their blades, already on their way.

"Uh, it seems I might have played a bit too big..." Chen Ge coughed dryly and pulled Xu Wan into the Haunted House. "The park opens in fifteen minutes. Right now, we're the only two employees in the Haunted House. We need to be prepared to fight a tough battle today!"