I Remembered... (Third Update)

The haunted house had a new employee.

Zhang Ze hadn't told Shen Yue about the doors or the Fierce Ghosts.

He worried that telling her everything at once would frighten her. After all, for ordinary people, it was better to live in a rational, normal world.

Zhang Ze explained the Crow's Nest scenario using virtual reality technology.

"Have you heard of the Virtual Future Amusement Park in the East Outskirts of Hanjiang City? I used to work there, and they used a lot of advanced foreign technology..."

"Hiss... How should I explain this..."

"Have you played Genshin Impact? No? It's fine, I haven't played it either. Anyway, it's the same idea—using virtual reality technology to build a space and create all kinds of terrifying elements within it."

Shen Yue stared at Zhang Ze with her sparkling eyes for quite a while.

"Did you understand any of that?"

"I understood~"

"Uh, fine. You don't seem interested anyway. Just remember that the two employees in the scenario, Old Zhou and Li Yang, aren't real people. They're artificial intelligences created using data collected from real people. You can discuss things with them if anything happens. If I'm not around, ask them."

"Boss, will you not be around?"

Zhang Ze nodded. "I'm usually pretty busy. If you can't find me, look for those two veteran employees. If it's urgent... you can also find the owner of the haunted house across from us."

"Huh? Why? Isn't he our competitor?" Shen Yue looked confused. "Could the owner of the haunted house across the street actually be a nice person?"

"He... really is a decent guy!"

The haunted house had a new employee.

Its operating efficiency improved considerably.

Although Shen Yue usually looked rather carefree, she was actually quite conscientious at work. She took ticket sales seriously and arranged for visitors to line up and wait.

On top of that, Shen Yue was fairly attractive.

Even if Zhang Ze didn't quite appreciate it.

Still, youth was an advantage, and plenty of people liked that sort of thing.

With Shen Yue standing in the ticket booth, people naturally couldn't help giving her a few extra looks.

Revenue shot up rapidly.

Zhang Ze was finally able to free himself up and investigate the videotapes.

The tapes had two serial numbers, 008 and 009. Like the previous Lost Media No. 021, Zhang Ze reasonably suspected that their contents were also Lost Media.

So Zhang Ze kept looking for someone who could repair videotapes.

If he restored those two tapes, he might be able to trigger a new Supernatural Place Quest and unlock a new scenario.

However, after visiting countless electronics stores throughout the Western Outskirts of Hanjiang City, the answers he received were always...

"Can't fix it."

"Goodbye."

"Nothing I can do."

After running around so much, Zhang Ze was exhausted, yet he still couldn't find a single shop confident enough to repair the tapes.

He finally found one deep in an old street not far from West City Police Station. The shopkeeper on duty was an elderly man with glasses and a face full of wrinkles.

Zhang Ze placed the two tapes before him. After examining them carefully for a long while, the old man named a price.

"One million to repair both videotapes."

Zhang Ze nearly spat his soda all over him.

"One million? Why don't you just rob me?"

The old man spread his hands, looking utterly shameless. "Look at how badly damaged these tapes are. The magnetic tape is completely worn, and the mechanical structure is seven-eighths ruined. One million is already a bargain price."

Zhang Ze: ...

He really didn't have that much money.

The haunted house was indeed profitable. He had made twenty thousand yuan in only a few days, but all his savings combined came to less than five hundred thousand. He couldn't even scrape together half of it.

He could only give up for the time being.

Meanwhile.

Chen Ge's progress was also very rapid.

"Zhang Ze's haunted house has developed so quickly..."

Late at night, Chen Ge stared at Zhang Ze's haunted house through the window. He always felt as if countless eyes were watching him, yet apart from the countless crows circling nearby, there was nothing at all.

Chen Ge had also analyzed the reasons behind Zhang Ze's success.

Advanced technology, scenarios involving urban legends, and cases based on real-life incidents, just like his own.

The revolution had yet to succeed; comrades still had to work hard!

His gaze fell on the task list of the Black Phone.

"West City Private School..."

"Zhang Ya's favorability mission."

"Zhang Ya..."

For some reason, an image surfaced in Chen Ge's mind: a slender girl in a school uniform, her hair exceptionally long, as if it could cover half her body. He shivered instinctively.

To be honest, saying he wasn't afraid would be a lie.

But as the saying went, fortune came from danger.

West City Private School was a two-star Scream Index scenario.

It was even more terrifying than Midnight Escape and Ghost Marriage, the scenario that had fused with Wedding Dress.

If he wanted to defeat Zhang Ze, he had to unlock more terrifying scenarios. Naturally, Chen Ge set his sights on this new one.

If Zhang Ze had known what Chen Ge was thinking, he probably would have agreed completely.

West City Private School was only a two-star Scream Index scenario.

But it was part of the four-star Scream Index Spirit Medium Ghost School.

It was worth Chen Ge taking a risk and making the trip.

"Uncle Sanbao said that Zhang Peng, the killer behind the family massacre case, still hasn't been caught, and the thing in the mirror hasn't been brought back either. Unlocking a new scenario now is a little too hasty."

"But if I'm too slow, I really won't be able to surpass Zhang Ze."

"Time is life, efficiency is money... Screw it!"

One night.

As usual, Zhang Ze went out to look for an electronics shop that could repair the videotapes, leaving Shen Yue alone to watch the store.

Shen Yue sat in the ticket booth, her manicured fingers swiping across the screen. The short videos showed all kinds of handsome men with defined abs when a black figure suddenly appeared before her.

"Sorry, we're closed. Please come back tomorrow~"

Shen Yue didn't even raise her head as she spoke casually.

The other person didn't leave. He remained where he was without saying a word.

Only then did Shen Yue look up. Before her stood a man in a baseball cap, his hands shoved into his pockets. But based on her own experience with tattoos, Shen Yue felt that he had tattoos on his hands as well.

"Hello..."

"I heard that the owner of a haunted house in New Century Amusement Park once solved a family massacre case. But when I came in, I saw two haunted houses. Which owner is really that impressive?"

"I want to experience how terrifying the scenario of a haunted house owner who can solve cases is."

What a strange question.

Shen Yue was somewhat surprised.

But when she saw the man in the baseball cap pull out a wad of cash, Shen Yue froze.

She had no idea what was up with this strange man...

But from what he said, it seemed that he wanted to visit a haunted house.

In that case, as Boss Zhang's most capable employee, Shen Yue naturally had to help Zhang Ze attract customers!

An idea immediately came to Shen Yue, and she blurted out:

"Of course it's my boss's haunted house!"

"Sir, you came here because you'd heard of him too, right? My boss is amazing. The news even reported on him before. It had something to do with some case in the Western Outskirts—I forget which one. It should be the case you mentioned."

"Come tomorrow, and I'll give you a twenty percent discount!"

The baseball-cap man's face sank into shadow, and a cruel smile curled across his lips.

"Good. I'll remember that..."