Déjà Vu

"Why does the streamer keep replaying this video? Even padding a stream shouldn't be this shameless!"

"Haha, the streamer's out of ideas. He's started doing garbage content. Still not as good as biting a lighter!"

"Kids, type 1 to bring back the last streamer! That last streamer scared the hell out of me. So it really was just a flash in the pan!"

Comments drifted across the screen.

Many people thought Zhang Ze had run out of content and left the stream.

A small number of viewers seemed to realize that something was off, but separated by their screens, they could not inspect the video up close like Zhang Ze could.

After a while.

A comment on his phone entered Zhang Ze's field of view.

"Streamer, I searched several times and found this news report. It's on Mystery Case Tracker's news account."

"But that news report doesn't have this video at all!!"

"There's something wrong with your video!!"

Seeing that comment, Zhang Ze fell silent. The private room's air conditioner was not on, yet he kept feeling waves of inexplicable chill. The temperature had dropped considerably, and unease quietly rose in his heart.

Sure enough, there was a problem with this video. But what exactly the problem was, even he did not know.

The Nightmare Mission had not ended yet.

Zhang Ze could only drag the progress bar again.

Fourth replay.

Lin Xiaomei: "Hello, Doctor Gao..."

Doctor Gao: "The reason Lost Media became lost..."

The video reached the one-minute, thirty-two-second mark.

Halfway through speaking, Doctor Gao suddenly frowned. "Do you have a sense of déjà vu? I keep feeling like we've done this interview before. Is it just my imagination?"

Lin Xiaomei agreed. "I feel that too. It feels so familiar, like we've interviewed you before. How strange..."

A new exchange appeared between them.

But there was not much time left.

Zhang Ze watched the two exchange a few simple words. Their expressions were slightly strange, but they did not think in any other direction. Soon, the video reached two minutes and thirty seconds and ended.

Fifth replay.

Lin Xiaomei: "Hello, Doctor Gao..."

Doctor Gao: "Lost Media..."

This time, before he even finished the first sentence, Doctor Gao rubbed his forehead. "I feel like all of this is familiar. This isn't our first interview, is it?"

Lin Xiaomei nodded. "I feel it too. I even know how you'll answer me. You'll analyze, from a psychological perspective, the possibility that Lost Media triggers mental illness and leads to death or disappearance..."

Doctor Gao did not answer.

Instead, he took out his phone and entered a string of numbers, seemingly intending to call someone. A few seconds later, his expression changed slightly.

"There's no signal."

"Did your studio install a signal jammer?"

Lin Xiaomei was visibly panicking. "That shouldn't be possible. I'll call Mr. Yue and ask."

After saying that, Lin Xiaomei took out her own phone as well. It was a small phone with a pink case. After entering a string of numbers, the sound that came through was still...

"The number you have dialed is outside the service area~"

There was no signal.

Lin Xiaomei was dumbfounded too. She put down the microphone, walked to the room's door, and turned the handle, trying to open it.

No matter how she twisted the handle, the door remained firmly locked and would not open.

The video ended.

Sixth replay.

Seventh replay.

Eighth replay.

Seventeenth replay.

Lin Xiaomei did not say anything. Her expression was extremely grave from the start, and she stood directly from her seat.

Doctor Gao did the same.

The two slammed into the door together, shouting outside as they did.

"Is anyone there?"

"Is anyone there??"

"Yue Pan, Zhao Haiyang, Dong Xing!! Is anyone out there? Answer me!!"

"Open the door! This isn't funny at all!"

They shouted furiously for more than a minute.

There was no movement outside.

Their attempts to force open the door also failed.

Lin Xiaomei and Doctor Gao sat on the floor, panting. They had spent a great deal of energy, yet still could not open the door. The strange events here had already gone beyond anything ordinary.

"This isn't normal. We both know what's going to happen next. What exactly is going on?"

"It's like a time loop. We're trapped here!!"

Twenty-first replay.

Doctor Gao dismantled a chair and made a crude pry bar, attempting to force open the door, but he failed.

Twenty-eighth replay.

Their attempts to pry open the door and climb through the window both failed. Lin Xiaomei tried reaching her hand through a gap in the window, but her expression quickly turned terrified. There seemed to be something outside, and she stopped trying to use the window.

Thirty-second replay.

Lin Xiaomei tried to kill herself with a pen, but Doctor Gao stopped her.

Thirty-ninth replay.

The camera could no longer see Lin Xiaomei or Doctor Gao. The entire screen was covered by a sheet of paper, with a sentence written on it in red ink.

"Don't play it again."

Zhang Ze did not drag the progress bar again.

A damp, bone-chilling atmosphere shrouded the internet cafe's private room. A chill ran down his spine. Watching this video, he kept feeling that the people inside were not merely a string of data.

Instead, they seemed like the real Lin Xiaomei and Doctor Gao, trapped in that room.

But how was that possible?

Lin Xiaomei was perfectly fine. She had even visited Zhang Ze's haunted house two days ago.

Doctor Gao went without saying.

Doctor Gao in the video looked somewhat younger. As for Doctor Gao now, Zhang Ze had no doubt about his abilities. The president of the Ghost Story Association could even be considered half a step into the Ferocious God realm.

Strange. Too strange.

Zhang Ze had never seen such a bizarre video. Merely watching it made the blood throughout his body seem to freeze. Even his breathing slowed by half a beat, and it took him a long time to recover.

[Mission Complete]

[Please remain alone in a room at midnight and find Lost Media No. 021. Watch it live.]

[Reward Obtained: Horror Art Talent]

[Perhaps you have envied others for their extraordinary artistic talent. With a brush in hand, they could paint whatever they wanted. Now you can do the same. The only difference is that your works may not necessarily be for the living to see...]

The system notified him that the Nightmare Mission was complete.

There was no need to replay the video anymore.

A vast number of artistic techniques suddenly appeared in Zhang Ze's mind, including anatomy, shading, perspective... all kinds of techniques that only professional art students could learn had been poured into his head.

What puzzled Zhang Ze was that one of these artistic talents was rather unusual.

Drawing birds.

More precisely, drawing crows.

No school of art would specifically emphasize drawing crows, much less single them out.

Unless it was... Lingling.

"No, it taught me how to draw. What use is that?"

"Even if I can draw as well as Lingling, what's the point? Am I supposed to change careers and become an illustrator?"

This reward was a little abstract.

Chen Ge could complete a Nightmare Mission and get rewarded with Living Puppet Craft. Meanwhile, Zhang Ze got an entire set of artistic talents. Even if they were Horror Art Talent, where was he supposed to use them?

It was not as though he could personally draw promotional posters for his haunted house.

Just as Zhang Ze stood there speechless and prepared to end the stream, he saw comments in the backend again.

"Speed Net Cafe... fire..."

"The firefighters can't get in..."

"The people inside... can't escape?"

"Hm?"