The First Visitors

"There's another haunted house over there. What's going on?"

"Hanjiang City's scariest haunted house? That's a pretty big claim. And it's opened directly across from this one—isn't that a little too arrogant? They're openly stealing customers."

Lin Xiaomei scratched her head.

For some reason, images of the Krusty Krab and Chum Bucket from SpongeBob SquarePants surfaced in her mind. With these two haunted houses facing each other, the competitive atmosphere was far too intense.

Zhao Haiyan set down the lighting equipment and wiped away her sweat. Clearly tempted, she said, "How about we check out that haunted house first? Waiting around here is so boring."

Uncle Xu fell silent for a few seconds.

He actually wanted to persuade them otherwise. They were all high-quality customers, and if Chen Ge got them, the publicity effect for New Century Amusement Park might be much better.

Uncle Xu had confidence in Chen Ge's haunted house.

But when it came to Zhang Ze, the young man, he had no idea what to expect.

After all, he could not openly stop visitors from going in. He could only hurriedly hand the job of maintaining order over to Xu Wan before running to the back door of Zhang Ze's haunted house.

"Hm?"

"There's clearly no haunted house here!"

Uncle Xu entered through the back door and found the interior as empty as ever. Even the dust on the floor had not been cleaned up. The whole place was nothing more than an abandoned Bumper Car Venue.

Zhang Ze hadn't done anything, yet he dared to open for business?

Wasn't this a slap in New Century Amusement Park's face?

Uncle Xu's face immediately flushed red. Just as he was about to confront Zhang Ze, he saw that Zhang Ze had somehow appeared behind him.

"Uncle Xu, long time no see. You suddenly came to my haunted house—could it be that you're here to sell tickets for me?"

"Then I'd truly have to thank you for your kindness."

Uncle Xu froze.

The next second, cold sweat soaked through his back.

He clearly remembered that there had been no one behind him, only a few crows. How had Zhang Ze appeared behind him without making a sound?

"I... I just wanted to remind you that our amusement park is operating normally. When visitors see that you've opened, they might want to experience your haunted house attraction."

"I noticed that your venue doesn't seem to be set up yet. Should I go apologize to the visitors and have them play at Chen Ge's haunted house for now?"

Zhang Ze shrugged. "That won't be necessary. My haunted house has actually already been set up."

"Already set up?"

"Of course. Have you heard of the Virtual Future Amusement Park in the East Outskirts of Hanjiang City? They use an advanced virtual reality technology that combines optical body-tracking materials, sound and lighting, and sensory simulation to create an immersive experience."

"The virtual reality technology used in my haunted house is even more advanced. You know VR, right? Resident Evil already has a VR version. My haunted house is more advanced than VR—the scenes can be interacted with, the story is more complete, and the effects are more perfect."

Zhang Ze pointed at a painting inside the venue. Uncle Xu looked over and indeed saw that there was now a painting there, one he had never seen before.

He was immediately baffled.

"Is... is this safe? Could there be any safety risks..."

"Don't worry. I'll take full responsibility. There won't be any accidents. Just trust me," Zhang Ze said. "You should be more worried about Chen Ge. As far as I know, what he said just now wasn't alarmist."

"That murderer from the family massacre case who still hasn't been caught—who knows where he really is?"

The hairs on Uncle Xu's body instantly stood on end.

"All right, all right. I understand."

Watching Uncle Xu leave, Zhang Ze withdrew his gaze and slowly walked to the ticket counter. Lin Xiaomei and the other three were heading his way, and a beam of light fell across Zhang Ze's face.

They saw his face clearly.

Lin Xiaomei could not help letting out a soft "Huh?"

"Aren't you the guy who livestreamed that night, only to have your stream shut down?"

"You run a haunted house too?"

"Your marketing strategy is way too similar to that haunted house owner across the way. Were you taught by the same master?"

Lin Xiaomei was referring to Zhang Ze's livestream when he completed the Nightmare Mission at the Peace Hotel, which had happened to overlap with Chen Ge's.

Unfortunately, when Chen Ge later livestreamed at Peaceful Apartment, Zhang Ze was still fighting for his life in the World in the Painting. There was not even a phone signal in that place, much less any possibility of livestreaming online.

"You watched my livestream?" Zhang Ze nodded slightly, but before he could say anything else, Lin Xiaomei interrupted him.

With her hands on her hips and an imposing expression, Lin Xiaomei said:

"That's right. All four of us watched that livestream. I must strongly condemn your behavior of exploiting the dead. The staff member playing the Fierce Ghost in that stream acted far too realistically. That corpse with its organs removed looked exactly like the victim from the real case."

"The Peace Hotel Nameless Female Corpse Case—we went to the scene to report on it back then, and we even saw the victim's body."

Zhang Ze smiled.

So they were a group of high-end players.

High-end players were good.

If the players were too weak, how would he show that his haunted house was scarier than Chen Ge's?

"As a haunted house worker, pursuing the ultimate horror effect is my fundamental goal."

"I guarantee that my haunted house is scarier than Boss Chen's haunted house across the way!"

Not only did Zhang Ze's words reach Lin Xiaomei and the others, but the cameraman Hu Xin hurriedly aimed the camera at him while the lighting technician Zhao Haiyang quickly lit up Zhang Ze's face.

The commotion here also caught the attention of many visitors in the waiting hall of Chen Ge's Haunted House.

"What a big claim!"

"Well damn, a haunted house opened directly across from another haunted house. They're facing each other head-on."

"Haha, now this is the purest form of business competition. No sneaky tricks, just going straight at each other!"

Lin Xiaomei took out her phone. "The four of us want to play. We'll buy tickets right now and go in to experience it."

"But let's make this clear first. If you can't scare us, we'll write an article when we get out and properly criticize this behavior of yours."

"If you can scare us, we'll write an article to promote you when we come out. How about it?"

"It's a deal!"

Zhang Ze showed them the payment code, and a payment of 200 yuan appeared.

This was the first income he had earned since opening the haunted house.

The four of them each signed a liability waiver, and Zhang Ze looked over their names.

Reporter, Lin Xiaomei.

Lighting technician, Zhao Haiyang.

Cameraman, Hu Xin.

Assistant, Dong Xing.

Mystery Case Tracking Studio—Zhang Ze did not actually recognize the name. After all, since transmigrating, he had not had the mind to pay attention to such things.

He searched for Mystery Case Tracking Studio's video account and public account on the spot.

After getting a basic understanding, Zhang Ze had a plan.

"Okay, this way."

"You need to wear a special device. Through it, you can experience the first new scene in the haunted house: Crow's Nest."

Zhang Ze brought the four of them a box of gas masks.

These gas masks did not actually do much. At most, they could purify and filter the air a little, making it easier for the four of them to adapt to the environment in the Door-After World.

"What's this? So it's VR too."

"We've played VR horror games before. The technology isn't mature, and they're cheap and crude. Aside from jumpscares, they have nothing worth mentioning. They're simply not worth talking about."

Lin Xiaomei was a little disappointed.

But they had already paid, so she casually put on a gas mask. Along with the others, she made sure their equipment was properly worn.

Under Zhang Ze's guidance, they walked into a red painting on the wall.