The Meaning of the Number

After adjusting the angle, Chen Ge strained to make out the bloodstain on the bathroom mirror. It was an Arabic numeral: "2."

The number itself wasn't frightening, but written in blood, it was deeply unsettling.

"What does this number mean? After the Mirror Monster left last night, I saw a '3' on the shards of glass it left behind. Today it's become a '2.' Could the two be connected? Why is it decreasing?" Chen Ge was at a loss. "Does the number represent a date? Is it counting down?"

Staring at the bloodstain, which hadn't yet completely dried, Chen Ge leaned against the bathroom door and fell into thought.

"The Mirror Monster has already left and taken up residence in Zhang Peng's body. There's no reason for it to go out of its way to leave this number unless it plans to come back and take revenge on me." Chen Ge couldn't make sense of it. He knew too little about the things from the other world to guess what the creature intended.

"If this number decreases every day, what will happen when it reaches zero?" A foreboding feeling crept over Chen Ge. He paced back and forth outside the bathroom. "Could the number be tied to my life? Will something terrifying come for me the night it hits zero?"

He stopped and decided he was getting too worked up. "I'll check again tomorrow night. If the number appears in the Haunted House again, then I'll take action."

With a sigh, all he wanted was to run the Haunted House properly, lease the Underground Parking Lot, unlock more scenarios, and keep expanding his business. But things never went as he hoped. Something unexpected always came along and threw his plans into disarray.

When he returned to the Staff Break Room, several more police cars had arrived outside the Haunted House. After the City Branch Bureau's criminal investigation team arrived, they asked Chen Ge a few questions and took a few quick photos before resuming their tense pursuit.

Captain Li stayed with Chen Ge the whole time, but even when dawn began to break, there was still no news of Zhang Peng's capture.

Captain Li repeatedly assured him that, in Zhang Peng's current state, he couldn't have gotten far and would definitely be caught within twenty-four hours.

That wasn't what had Chen Ge worried. He was still puzzling over the number the Mirror Monster had left behind, so he was in low spirits.

Captain Li assumed he was shaken by the ordeal and didn't suspect anything else. He offered a few words of comfort, then left with the other officers once it was light.

Chen Ge sat alone in the Haunted House. He opened a window and let the cold morning breeze slip under his collar.

"I'm the Haunted House Owner. You could say I'm the boss of all the ghosts and monsters around here. So why do I feel like such a loser?" As the morning light streamed inside, the Rag Doll on the bed seemed to be blown by the wind and fell beneath it.

Chen Ge picked up the little thing and poked her belly. "The only obedient Vengeful Spirit I've got, and all she can do is act cute. If we actually got into a fight, I'd probably have to protect her."

The Rag Doll in his hand seemed displeased with his assessment. She tried to break free, but couldn't.

"The rewards for the last two Nightmare-level missions have both been support items. They're useful for developing the Haunted House, but not much help to me personally." Chen Ge still didn't know what would happen when the number hit zero. He was a very cautious person and would never put himself in danger.

He took out the Black Phone and searched through it. The only thing that could serve as a trump card was the Red-Clad Specter who seemed incredibly powerful: Zhang Ya.

In the wooden cabin on the Back Mountain behind Ping An Apartment, Zhang Ya had helped Chen Ge once by warning him that Wang Qi was right behind him. In a way, she'd saved his life.

But later, during a Nightmare-level mission, the Mirror Monster had pinned Chen Ge's head down with its hand and nearly drowned him. Zhang Ya hadn't appeared then.

Clearly, that woman acted according to her own whims.

"Once I complete the Favorability Mission, I can order her to do something that doesn't go against her wishes. Then I can ask her to help me deal with whatever danger might come." Chen Ge tapped Zhang Ya's name and stared at her blood-red profile page. Even though he'd been training himself to be brave since childhood, he felt a little unnerved. "This lady likes me after I die. If her favorability goes up too quickly and she gets impatient, what if she kills me instead?"

Not everyone could bear the love of a Vengeful Spirit. Chen Ge left her profile page, and the air seemed much fresher. "The Favorability Mission is my last trump card. If that number appears again tonight and changes once more, I'll use it and complete the Favorability Mission."

After making up his mind, Chen Ge felt more at ease and gradually fell asleep.

A little after eight, Xu Wan arrived for work. Chen Ge left her in charge of the Haunted House and took some money to shop for security cameras.

He was in such a hurry to buy them partly because there were too many blind spots in the Haunted House and it wasn't safe. The other reason was that one of the daily tasks on the Black Phone required him to install security cameras and sound-activated devices.

After shopping in the morning, Chen Ge brought the installation workers back to the House of Horrors around noon. With him there supervising, the workers nervously installed cameras in every corner of the Haunted House, setting up a surveillance network with very few blind spots. As for the sound-activated devices, he was too short on funds to afford anything more than the cheapest models, so he installed them in the Ghost Marriage scenario.

A little after seven that evening, once the final adjustments were complete, Chen Ge received a notification from the Black Phone that he'd finished the task.

"Only by balancing tension and release can you give visitors the best experience. Congratulations on completing a Daily Task on Easy difficulty. Reward: background music—'Wedding Dress'!"

"Note: 'Wedding Dress' is a perfect match for the Ghost Marriage scenario! The Ghost Marriage scenario's Scream Index has increased to one star!"

Chen Ge stared at the notification, stunned. The Ghost Marriage scenario had originally had a Scream Index of only half a star, but one song had raised it to a full star. That showed just how much more chilling this song was likely to be than "Gloomy Sunday."

Wanting to be responsible to his visitors, Chen Ge listened to the song. It had a completely different style from "Gloomy Sunday." One built slowly, like being dragged bit by bit into an Abyss; the other was even stranger and more intense, turning a festive tune into a funeral song. From the very first note, it made his scalp tingle.

"It really does fit the Ghost Marriage scenario, but listening to music like this too often can cause psychological damage. Unless someone comes here to challenge us, I should use it as little as possible." Chen Ge saved "Wedding Dress" to his phone and went to clean the third floor of the Haunted House by himself.

He didn't have the money to hire workers. With a few Rag Dolls stuffed in his pockets and some tools in hand, he cleared all the broken mirror shards out of the Haunted House.

It was already deep into the night when he finished. Clutching his phone, Chen Ge paced between the bathroom and the Staff Break Room.

He stared into the mirror over and over, waiting until midnight.