It Will Come True (Third Update)

This reminded Zhang Ze of the system mission description.

[Ghost-Binding Grounds: Scream Index 2.5 Stars]

[As usual, you entered your workplace, but your head felt dizzy and heavy. The area around you was foggy, and you could not make out your coworkers' faces. It was just like the horror movie you watched last night. You wanted a cup of coffee to wake yourself up, but when you carried your cup over to the coffee machine, you found a layer of dust on the table. There had not been a coffee machine here for a long time...]

[Please proceed to West City Police Station and survive until the following morning. Good luck.]

The scene described by the system was likely what ordinary people encountered when they ran into paranormal events: they discovered that their surroundings differed from their memories and became trapped in the space of Lost Media.

"The surveillance footage shows that Master Guan had been restoring the videotape normally the entire time. Everything was fine."

"The anomaly appeared when he transferred the video from the tape onto his computer and watched it there."

"Could it be... that anyone who watches Lost Media gets targeted by ghosts?"

Zhang Ze shook his head and dismissed the guess.

It should not have been that simple. The two songs Chen Ge had obtained, Black Friday and Wedding Dress, were Lost Media in essence as well.

If those two songs also hid ghosts that targeted every customer who heard them, would Chen Ge's Haunted House still be able to operate?

"Then why did Ghost Face enter the Police Station after the video was watched and bring about all this?"

"At the very least, there had to be some kind of medium."

Zhang Ze watched the surveillance footage several times, repeatedly going over the sequence of events in his mind. New ideas surfaced, only to be quickly rejected.

His left and right brain battled like that for more than ten minutes.

Then Zhang Ze recalled an inconspicuous detail.

"In Lost Media No. 012, when Zhu Xiu saw that old man tiptoeing around the bed in circles at night, there was no heart rate monitor beside the bed. But when the ghost story actually happened and I went to investigate after receiving the report, I saw a heart rate monitor."

It was that barely noticeable detail.

It made Zhang Ze feel as though he had grasped something.

He returned to the office and watched the video again. Zhang Ze confirmed that he had remembered correctly.

There was no heart rate monitor in the Hanjiang City People's Hospital ward in the Lost Media No. 012 video, yet Zhang Ze had seen one in the ward at the time.

Most crucially—

This ghost story had been triggered in the same way as Master Guan's.

It was only after Zhang Ze watched the video that the ghost story occurred in reality. At first, Zhang Ze had thought it was some form of precognition, but now a more reasonable guess emerged.

Could the condition for Lost Media ghost stories to occur be...

"Belief?"

Why had Captain Yan watched the video long ago without the old man in the ward showing any abnormalities, while the old man started acting strangely only after Zhang Ze watched it?

Because Zhang Ze knew that Zhu Xiu's ghost story would appear at the Ghost Story Association's welcome party, he subconsciously believed it was real. Captain Yan, on the other hand, was a police officer and a materialist, so naturally he did not believe in such ghost stories.

The same applied to Master Guan. He probably did not know what Lost Media ghost stories were. After restoring the videotape, he uploaded the video to his computer out of curiosity.

After watching it, perhaps because of fear or some other state of mind, Master Guan believed in the ghost story in the video. That was why the Lost Media No. 008 ghost story became reality.

That was everything that had happened at West City Police Station tonight.

If all of this was merely speculation—

Then the few words Ghost Face had unconsciously uttered further confirmed Zhang Ze's theory.

Zhang Ze had asked Ghost Face why it had come to West City Police Station.

Ghost Face's answer was deeply thought-provoking.

"Someone... wanted me..."

Who would want a ghost?

But if Master Guan had believed in the ghost story and summoned the ghost, then the logic made sense.

"If that really was the case, then it was terrifying."

"As long as someone believed the ghost story in the video was real, it would come true."

"Right... right! Those two forbidden songs of Chen Ge's probably hid terrifying ghost stories too. But nobody would believe what a song sang about, so naturally they would not summon the things described in the lyrics. The songs became nothing more than tools for creating a sense of horror."

Zhang Ze understood everything.

The Lost Media ghost story series was, in essence, a collection of media that existed only if one believed in them. If someone believed what was inside, the ghost stories described would enter reality.

But if someone watched them purely out of curiosity and did not treat them like documentaries, then nothing would happen.

After figuring everything out—

Lost Media no longer posed any threat.

Zhang Ze sat on the sofa, quietly watching the night outside the window until the sun rose once more.

"Mr. Zhang, you've worked hard. Your eyes are bloodshot from staying up all night. Did you find any clues?"

"Yes, Captain Yan. I've figured it out. These video media products have certain latent psychological effects that can easily trigger deep-seated mental illnesses, similar to photosensitive epilepsy, hysteria, violent tendencies, and so on..."

"If you find anything similar in the future, you can destroy it directly or hand it over to me. I'll have it deleted."

"Alright. Thank you for your help. Speaking of which, Kuai said he seemed to have had a dream last night. He dreamed that the Police Station was haunted and said Old Guan had disappeared... Where did Old Guan go?"

"Master Guan..."

"Captain Yan, you should watch the surveillance footage yourself."

In the morning, Captain Yan and Li Sanbao returned to the Police Station.

They found Kuai Liang sleeping soundly in the police car.

Zhang Ze was the only person in the Police Station. He handed Captain Yan the surveillance footage he had prepared in advance. After watching it once, Captain Yan saw that Master Guan had been perfectly normal in the recording. Once he finished his work, he stretched, went out to buy two bottles of alcohol, and never returned.

The entire video looked quite normal.

As for where that footage had come from...

Of course, Zhang Ze would not tell Captain Yan that he had painstakingly drawn it bit by bit by copying the original...

Zhang Ze felt that if he became an accountant in the future, he would probably make a fortune. Lingling's paranormal abilities combined with Horror Art Talent were simply too useful—she could create anything.

"Alright. No matter what, you've helped us a great deal with this matter. If you ever need my help in the future, you can call my personal number directly."

"Isn't New Century Amusement Park being demolished in two months? If you don't plan to keep working there, you can come to our Police Station as an external hire. Don't worry, the benefits will be more than sufficient."

Zhang Ze declined Captain Yan's offer.

With Chen Ge and him around—

New Century Amusement Park would not go bankrupt even in a hundred years.

[Mission Complete]

[Midnight Police Station: Scream Index 2.5 Stars]

[Do not spread ghost stories in Hanjiang City, because once someone believes them, they will come true.]

The mission was complete.

Zhang Ze could clearly sense a new plot of land appearing in the Door-After World.

It was time to claim the rewards.

Besides the mission reward, there were still some unresolved matters, such as the other of the two videotapes—Lost Media No. 009.

And this pair of Ghost Eyes...