Nightmare Mission

After nightfall.

Zhang Ze had originally planned to temporarily move the murderous painting to the hotel.

Little Zhou firmly refused.

He even had a huge fight with Mrs. Zhou.

Nothing Mrs. Zhou said could soothe him, and even threats were useless. She went so far as to punish Little Zhou by making him copy the Three Hundred Tang Poems a hundred times, but it still did absolutely nothing.

No matter what, Little Zhou refused to let his "big sister" leave him.

Zhang Ze was at a loss. He could neither take the murderous painting away directly nor place it in the hotel temporarily. Did that mean it had to remain at Mrs. Zhou's house?

He could only comfort himself by thinking that, since the painting had not caused any trouble for the time being, it was best not to move it rashly.

However, it was inconvenient for him to stay at Mrs. Zhou's house.

After all, her husband had just passed away, and she was still keeping vigil for him. If Zhang Ze went over to spend the night, it would be inappropriate in every sense.

He temporarily stayed at a hotel.

At 2:04 a.m.

Zhang Ze came across Chen Ge's livestream on his phone.

The livestream title read:

<Do ghosts really exist? A spirit-summoning game in the bathroom—I'll uncover the truth behind this urban legend!>

Zhang Ze thought he had seen it wrong.

Chen Ge should have only started livestreaming after Third Ward. At this point, he should have merely been filming recorded videos. There was no way he would jump straight into livestreaming.

Taking too big a step could make you tear your balls off.

Unless...

Zhang Ze came up with a reasonable explanation.

Chen Ge must have gotten word from Uncle Xu and learned that Zhang Ze had rented the Bumper Car Venue to convert it into a Haunted House, so he felt a hint of pressure.

He had no choice but to pick up the pace and bring his livestreams forward.

Through the livestream, Zhang Ze clearly saw the mirror in front of Chen Ge suddenly change. Chen Ge's reflection in the mirror revealed a vicious expression and slammed fiercely against the surface!

However, a small rag doll on the washstand blocked whatever was inside the mirror. Even as countless cracks spread across it, the thing never managed to break out.

A few minutes later.

The thing in the mirror gave up.

Chen Ge slowly opened his eyes, staring at the scene before him with a shocked expression.

Comments flooded past:

"Holy shit! That scared the hell out of me! Streamer, compensate me!"

"666, Hollywood has arrived. Are AI-generated special effects this good now? If I'd known, I wouldn't have used it to make that prison boss!"

"The streamer's acting is so convincing. Have you considered trying your luck in Hengdian? I've got a connection—low risk, high reward..."

In the livestream.

Chen Ge tidied up the scene, then looked at his phone. Seeing the viewer count soaring through the roof in the backend, he spoke up:

"Hello, everyone. I'm Chen Ge, the owner of a Haunted House."

"Follow the Haunted House's official account, meow—New Century Amusement Park Haunted House in the East Outskirts of Hanjiang City!"

It had to be said, that was a clever way of handling it.

He promptly explained that he ran a Haunted House.

Otherwise, the livestream moderators would have sniffed him out and banned his account.

Zhang Ze was speechless and closed the livestream.

Chen Ge was progressing pretty quickly. His next step should be going to Peaceful Apartment, having a heart-to-heart with the killer Wang Qi, obtaining a supernatural item—Wang Qi's missing-person notice—and then moving Peaceful Apartment into his Haunted House.

And as for him...

He glanced at the system prompt.

[Murderous Painting, Scream Index: 2 stars]

A two-star scenario, and it even had a Red-Clothed Vengeful Ghost. Even a god wouldn't be able to handle that.

"Wait."

"I think I know what to do."

Zhang Ze suddenly realized something.

Why had Chen Ge livestreamed himself encountering a ghost?

Wasn't it because of the Nightmare Mission given by the Black Phone?

The rewards Chen Ge received for completing Nightmare Missions were all extraordinary. If Zhang Ze completed the system's Nightmare Mission too, wouldn't he gain the ability to protect himself?

With that thought, Zhang Ze immediately accepted the Nightmare Mission.

[③ (Nightmare): You clearly already know whether ghosts exist in this world. Now, you need to make others understand the answer as well.]

[Whenever you are alone in a room, have you ever suddenly felt an unusual gaze upon you? Or perhaps you are not the only person in the room? You cannot see him, but he can see you. Do you want to meet him?]

[Next, please conduct a spirit-summoning game called: Do Not Knock. At 4:04 a.m., begin a livestream, turn off every light in the room, face any wall, and count silently in your mind. When you count to ten, if you hear any sound that does not belong to you, the game will be deemed a success. Otherwise, the game will be deemed a failure.]

It looked like an ordinary spirit-summoning game.

It was even fairly obscure, nowhere near as famous as classic spirit-summoning games like Bloody Mary, Pen Fairy, or the Four Corners Game.

Yet Zhang Ze could not help furrowing his brow.

If Chen Ge had not been protected by that doll, he probably would have been done for too.

Zhang Ze had no way to fight Fierce Ghosts at all. If he rashly played a spirit-summoning game and died, who could he even complain to?

But if he did not complete this mission, he would still be unable to deal with the murderous painting. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, caught in a vicious bug with no way out.

After a moment of silence, Zhang Ze took out his phone and dialed Chen Ge's number.

"Hello? Who is this? You can book Haunted House tickets through GroupBuy, EastBuy, or offline."

Chen Ge's voice came from the other end of the line.

"I'm Zhang Ze. I'm about to conduct a spirit-summoning game, and it's extremely dangerous. If I die, take the venue I just rented and use it to expand your Haunted House. I hope your business keeps growing and that you find your parents soon."

Chen Ge froze on the spot.

He had just completed a Nightmare Mission and was about to collect the reward.

Then he received this call.

He had initially thought it was a visitor trying to book tickets early.

He never expected it to be Zhang Ze.

An indescribable feeling immediately welled up inside Chen Ge. He's being so loyal. He spent tens of thousands of real yuan renting that venue, and he's just giving it to me?

And yet I treated him like a competitor...

Zhang Ze did not wait for Chen Ge's response before hanging up.

At least he had informed Chen Ge.

Given Boss Chen's personality... he probably would not stand by and watch someone die, right?

Zhang Ze was not sure either.

As the required time drew nearer, Zhang Ze prepared to start his livestream. This time, learning from Chen Ge's experience, he came up with an even more explosive title:

<It's already 2026—surely nobody still hasn't seen a ghost, right? Streamer will let you see one with your own eyes, up close and personal!>

The moment the livestream began.

The viewer count shot up from a scattered handful to dozens, then hundreds.

Comments drifted past like snowflakes:

"666, I knew the supernatural revival was real. A Haunted House owner just showed up earlier and made it look pretty convincing, and now there's another one."

"Streamer, why are you in a hotel? Are you banging a female ghost? I want to see Nie Xiaoqian! I'll send you rockets!"

"Kids, don't be scared. I'm Ghost Eye, a criminal police officer. I heard there's a Fierce Ghost here? Watch me take it down on the spot!"

Clearly, he was riding the wave of traffic from Chen Ge's stream. After being scared, many viewers had let their curiosity drive them to search for other similar livestreams.

By coincidence, Zhang Ze had started one too.

That immediately drew in a huge wave of viewers.

Zhang Ze placed his phone on the bedside table.

It was time for the game.