More Terrifying Than Chen Ge!

"How did all four of them pass out?"

Zhang Ze wheeled over Lin Xiaomei, Zhao Haiyang, Hu Xin, and Dong Xing. Even the cart was the same model Chen Ge used. He placed the four beside the unconscious Hanjiang Forensic Medicine College students.

The medical staff hurriedly checked their condition as well. Only after confirming that they had merely fainted did they breathe a small sigh of relief.

Looking at the victims scattered across the ground, Uncle Xu was completely numb.

You two run haunted houses, and the first thing you do is knock people unconscious? Isn't that too outrageous?

Chen Ge was one thing. He was a renowned veteran in the haunted house business, after all. His parents had been running haunted houses since their generation, so at least it could be explained by his deep foundations.

But Zhang Ze had only opened his first scenario, and he had already scared people unconscious.

Looking at Lin Xiaomei and the others, foaming at the mouth and convulsing, they looked even worse than the forensic medicine students.

Uncle Xu could not figure it out no matter how hard he thought.

The onlookers were even more animated, talking over one another.

"That's too terrifying! This is Mystery Case Tracking Studio! They've personally reported on countless dismemberment cases and family massacres, and they've even interviewed murderers themselves. How could they be scared into this state?"

"Exactly! The forensic medicine students are still students, no matter how brave they are. Mystery Case Tracking Studio specializes in criminal investigations and horror stories, yet even they got scared unconscious."

"These two haunted house owners must be a pair of smiling tigers—two horned sharks!"

After handing Lin Xiaomei over to Uncle Xu, Zhang Ze looked up at Chen Ge. Chen Ge happened to notice Zhang Ze too, and their gazes collided.

Zhang Ze clearly noticed Chen Ge's brows crease slightly.

In truth, Chen Ge had indeed sensed an inexplicable hint of danger.

He had thought that unlocking the Midnight Escape scenario, moving Peaceful Apartment into his haunted house, and personally playing the Skull-Crushing Doctor would be enough to establish his haunted house's reputation.

Who knew an unexpected rival would emerge halfway through?

If only one haunted house could scare visitors unconscious, that meant the haunted house was terrifying enough.

But if two haunted houses could both scare people unconscious, and one charged more for tickets than the other, many visitors would actually prefer visiting the more expensive one.

There was an economic basis for this. With entertainment and cultural spending such as haunted houses, visitors were psychologically more inclined to choose the pricier option, subconsciously believing that it offered better service.

"Midnight Escape is a one-star Scream Index scenario. How did this guy manage it? It's actually scarier than Midnight Escape?"

His gaze fell on the promotional board posted at the entrance of Zhang Ze's haunted house.

Crow's Nest.

"A gifted artist had both her hands chopped off by her own parents. She used her blood to complete her final painting, but her parents used that painting for publicity and sold it at a high price. The strange thing was that every buyer died soon afterward. Some said that behind the painting lay another world..."

This introduction...

Chen Ge's furrowed brows relaxed.

He understood why Zhang Ze's first scenario was even scarier than his haunted house.

Although Peaceful Apartment was the site of a real family massacre and had a one-star Scream Index, it was ultimately only fear on a realistic level. It lacked a certain supernatural element.

Zhang Ze's very first scenario involved urban legend elements and introduced the concept of ghosts, making it naturally easier to create a horrifying atmosphere.

But...

After completing the Nightmare Mission and seeing the mannequin in Peaceful Apartment, Chen Ge knew that ghosts really existed in this world.

Did this haunted house owner named Zhang Ze truly know what he was dealing with?

After all, dealing with ghosts and using things genuinely connected to evil spirits to build a haunted house was like seeking a tiger's hide. It could very easily attract something even more dangerous.

"Yo, Boss Chen. Looks like you've opened for business too!"

"Scaring students is a bit like bullying them, isn't it? Why not come experience my haunted house? Only by exchanging ideas can we improve and make progress together."

Zhang Ze flashed a somewhat provocative smile.

Xu Wan immediately clenched her little fists. "Damn it! Boss, he's way too arrogant! He actually looks down on our haunted house!"

Chen Ge stopped Xu Wan, his tone still calm. "There's no need to worry. We've only opened our first scenario. On one hand, our tickets are cheaper. On the other, we can accommodate more visitors at once than he can."

"I'll open more scenarios later. We can't let visitors get the impression that he's taking the high-end route while we're the cheap option."

"For now, we just need to operate our haunted house steadily and defeat him with quality!"

Xu Wan nodded seriously.

Seeing Chen Ge and Xu Wan seemingly talking among themselves,

Zhang Ze could not hide the upward curl of his lips.

In a sense, the opponent the system had chosen for him was actually quite suitable. Boss Chen was, after all, a haunted house owner with principles. He would not resort to underhanded tricks.

As long as Zhang Ze was crazier and more reckless than Chen Ge,

his haunted house would only become stronger than Chen Ge's horror house.

"Send them to the hospital first. So many people fainted at once—if anything goes wrong, it'll sound terrible if word gets out!" Uncle Xu continued calling for people.

Zhang Ze returned to his haunted house.

He received a system notification that his second Daily Quest had been completed. His haunted house's Scream Index had surpassed Chen Ge's haunted house.

But that was only temporary. Chen Ge would later find even more terrifying scenarios, such as Twilight Sun Middle School, Third Ward, Underground Morgue... Zhang Ze had to prepare strategies to deal with them all.

He could not rest for even a moment.

"Hehe, Boss, how was my performance?"

"For the sake of the show, I even cooperated by dying once. It hurt like hell, so you'd better give me a bigger raise."

Li Yang came over with a punchable grin.

Zhang Ze rolled his eyes at him. "Go on, what do you want? I'll buy it and bring it in."

"Get me two packs of Yuxi, a serving of pork trotter rice, and some toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels, and stuff. This damned place is filthy all day long. You have no idea how uncomfortable it is."

"Fine. I'll get them for you tonight."

The next day.

News of the New Century Amusement Park Haunted House appeared in columns across major publications and quickly became the focus of heated discussion among Hanjiang City residents. From streets and alleys to after-dinner conversations, everyone eagerly talked about the haunted houses.

They scared forensic medicine students unconscious?

They scared the reporter team from Mystery Case Tracking Studio unconscious?

Either one alone was a massive news sensation.

Especially since Zhang Ze and Chen Ge's previous online livestream had also built up a wave of popularity, and the police had reported that the Peaceful Apartment family massacre case had been solved.

A series of topics continued to build momentum.

That night.

The forensic medicine students who had fainted woke up one after another.

They vividly described online just how terrifying the haunted house had been.

As for Lin Xiaomei, Zhao Haiyang, and the others from Mystery Case Tracking Studio...

The first thing they said after waking up was actually...

"There are ghosts in the haunted house!!"

Upon hearing this, countless news outlets swarmed over the story like cats that had smelled fish, rushing to report it.

Zhang Ze's haunted house became even more popular than Chen Ge's.

But overall, the reputations of New Century Amusement Park's two extremely terrifying haunted houses had been established. Many horror enthusiasts and haunted house reviewers joined the discussion, turning it into a modest online hotspot.