The Meaning of Numbers

Adjusting the angle, Chen Ge took great effort to clearly see the bloodstain on the bathroom mirror; it was the Arabic numeral "2".

The number itself was not terrifying, but the fact that it was written in fresh blood made one feel extremely uneasy.

"What does this number mean? After the Mirror Monster left last night, I saw the number '3' on the remaining shards, and today it has become '2'. Is there some kind of connection between the two? Why is it gradually decreasing?" Chen Ge was a bit baffled. "Could this number represent a date? Is it a countdown?"

Looking at the bloodstain that had not yet fully dried, Chen Ge leaned against the door, lost in thought.

"The Mirror Monster has already left; it has possessed Zhang Peng. There is no reason for it to deliberately leave this number behind, unless it plans to come back and take revenge on me." Chen Ge could not quite figure it out; he knew too little about the things from the other world to guess its intentions.

"If this number decreases every day, what will happen when it hits zero?" A bad premonition arose in Chen Ge's heart, and he paced back and forth at the bathroom entrance. "Could the number be linked to my life? On the night the number hits zero, will something terrifying come looking for me?"

Stopping his pace, Chen Ge felt he was being overly nervous. "I'll wait and see tomorrow night. If this number appears in the Haunted House again, I'll take action then."

Sighing, he just wanted to run the Haunted House well, lease the underground parking lot, unlock more scenarios, and keep the Haunted House growing. But fate was not as he wished; accidents always happened, disrupting his plans.

Returning to the staff lounge, several more police cars had arrived outside the Haunted House. After the municipal criminal investigation team arrived, they asked Chen Ge a few questions, took a few simple photos, and then threw themselves back into the intense manhunt.

Captain Li stayed to keep Chen Ge company, but unfortunately, by the time the sky began to brighten, there was still no news of Zhang Peng being caught.

However, Captain Li assured Chen Ge repeatedly that in Zhang Peng's current state, it was impossible for him to run very far, and he would certainly be captured within twenty-four hours.

What Chen Ge was actually worried about was not this; he had been pondering the number left by the Mirror Monster, so he was not in high spirits.

Captain Li assumed he had been frightened and did not think in other directions. After offering a few words of comfort, he left with the other officers once the sun came up.

Chen Ge sat alone in the Haunted House. He opened the window and let the cold morning wind blow into his collar.

"I'm the owner of a Haunted House, which technically makes me a boss of ghosts, so why do I feel like I'm doing so poorly?" As the morning light shone into the room, the ragdoll lying on the bedsheets seemed to be blown by the wind and fell to the floor.

Chen Ge picked up the little thing and poked its stomach. "The only obedient vengeful spirit, and she can't do anything but act cute. If it really came to a fight, I'd probably have to protect her."

The ragdoll in his hand seemed very dissatisfied with Chen Ge's evaluation of her and tried to break free, but could not.

"The rewards for the two consecutive nightmare-level missions are both auxiliary in nature. They are useful for the development of the Haunted House, but not of much help to me personally." Chen Ge was now unsure of what would happen when the number hit zero. He was a very cautious person and would never put himself in danger.

Taking out the Black Phone, Chen Ge flipped through it for a long time and found that the only trump card he had was the seemingly formidable Red-clad Vengeful Spirit—Zhang Ya.

In the wooden cabin on the back mountain of Ping An Apartment, Zhang Ya had helped Chen Ge once, warning him that Wang Qi was right behind him, which could be considered saving his life.

However, later, when he was doing the nightmare mission and the Mirror Monster pressed its hand on Chen Ge's head, nearly drowning him, Zhang Ya never appeared.

From this, it was clear that she acted entirely according to her own whims.

"If I complete the favorability mission, I can order her to do one thing that doesn't go against her own will. When that time comes, I can ask her to help me deal with any potential danger." Chen Ge clicked on Zhang Ya's name and looked at the blood-red exclusive page. Even though he had been training his courage since he was a child, he felt a bit of trepidation at this moment. "This sister likes the 'me' after I'm dead. If the favorability rises too fast and she gets impatient, what if she turns around and kills me?"

The love of a vengeful spirit was not something everyone could withstand. Chen Ge exited the exclusive page, feeling the air become much fresher. "The favorability mission is my final trump card. If that number appears again tonight and changes once more, then I will use this card to complete the favorability mission."

Having made his decision, Chen Ge felt more at ease and slowly fell asleep.

After eight o'clock, when Xu Wan arrived for work, Chen Ge handed the Haunted House over to her to manage while he took the money to pick out surveillance equipment.

He was in such a rush to buy them partly because there were too many blind spots in the Haunted House, making it very unsafe; and partly because among the daily tasks updated by the Black Phone, one of them specifically required him to install surveillance and voice-activated devices.

After finishing his shopping in the morning, Chen Ge led the installation workers back to the House of Horrors at noon. Under his personal supervision, the workers tremblingly installed surveillance cameras in every corner of the Haunted House, forming a surveillance network with very few blind spots. As for the voice-activated devices, because his funds were truly limited, he only bought the cheapest kind and installed them in the Ghost Marriage scenario.

After seven o'clock in the evening, following the final successful test, Chen Ge received a notification from the Black Phone that the task was complete.

"Only with a balance of tension and relaxation can you provide visitors with the best experience. Congratulations on completing the simple-difficulty daily task. Reward obtained—background track Wedding Dress!"

"Note: Wedding Dress is a perfect match for the Ghost Marriage scenario! The scream index of the Ghost Marriage scenario has risen to one star!"

Seeing the phone notification, Chen Ge was stunned. The original scream index of the Ghost Marriage scenario was only half a star, and now it had risen to one star just because of a piece of music. It was clear that this track was likely even more chilling than Gloomy Sunday.

Out of responsibility to the visitors, Chen Ge listened to a sample. He felt it was a different style from Gloomy Sunday; one was a slow burn, like being dragged into an abyss bit by bit, while the other was more bizarre and stimulating—a joyous tune turned into a funeral dirge, making one's scalp tingle from the very first note.

"It really does go well with the Ghost Marriage scenario, but listening to this kind of music often can easily cause psychological trauma. In the future, unless someone comes to cause trouble, it's best to use it sparingly." Chen Ge saved Wedding Dress to his own phone and went to the third floor of the Haunted House alone to start cleaning.

He had no extra money to hire workers, so with a few ragdolls stuffed in his pockets and tools in hand, he cleared out all the mirror shards in the Haunted House.

It was already late at night when he finished. Chen Ge clutched his phone, pacing between the bathroom and the staff lounge.

He looked at the mirror over and over again, waiting until midnight.