Chen Ge's Decision

Back at Zhang Ze's Haunted House in New Century Amusement Park.

"Boss, you're finally back! You scared me to death! You have no idea how terrifying last night was!" The moment Shen Yue saw Zhang Ze, she grabbed his hand. "Last night, all the crows in our haunted house went crazy and flew everywhere. I was too scared to even step outside."

"Why are you keeping so many crows?"

Zhang Ze paused. "Don't you know that crows are auspicious? This proves our haunted house is destined to become the scariest haunted house in the world. It's a sign of revival!"

"Huh? Why do I remember crows being a bad omen..."

"Hey, don't sweat the details. We're opening soon, so stay sharp today. Our haunted house has a new scene!"

Shen Yue smacked her lips in disbelief.

She had spent the past few days living in the haunted house, eating and sleeping there, clearly intending to stay for good. The haunted house had not undergone any renovations or maintenance, so how could a new scene suddenly appear?

Even with the most advanced virtual reality technology, adding a new scene out of nowhere would require a system upgrade! Yet Shen Yue had not heard a peep.

"Do we really need to rush this? Our haunted house has great reviews online, and lots of Crow's Nest fans especially love replaying it over and over."

"Isn't it a little premature to release a new scene so early?"

Zhang Ze smiled faintly.

"Our competitor has opened a new scene too. Do you believe me?"

Shen Yue:?

"Boss, don't lie to me!"

"Why would I lie? Just wait and see. Hurry up and put on your makeup for work. Two haunted houses opening new scenes at the same time—it's needle against awl. When narrow roads meet, the brave win!"

After giving a few instructions, Zhang Ze slipped into the haunted house alone.

Before long, he carried out a brand-new sign.

"Midnight Police Station..."

"Tickets: 60 per person. Double the horror, terrifying pursuit!"

"A deserted Police Station late at night, officers who died long ago, rooms from which there is no escape, urban legends where the bizarre overlaps with reality, a murderer wandering the corridors..."

"B-Boss, this is way too scary. And isn't this illegal? You just moved a Police Station straight into a game." Shen Yue stammered.

"What's there to be afraid of? If this were illegal, Resident Evil would have been sued ages ago. The Raccoon City Police Department is already a classic map." Zhang Ze dismissed the concern.

Naturally, he would not completely copy the layout of West City Police Station.

Instead, he drew an entirely new map based on it.

The original West City Police Station had a ring-shaped layout. With a flick of his fingers, Zhang Ze connected the internal passages, removed several pointless routes, and added corridors for quick escapes.

The map changed from a ring shape into a grid.

On top of that, Zhang Ze placed a very interesting NPC in the map.

Raise troops for a thousand days, use them for one moment.

Zhang Ze believed this NPC would give visitors an absolutely terrifying gaming experience!

Half an hour later.

New Century Amusement Park opened for business.

Amid a series of clanks and rattles, Chen Ge rode his bicycle back to his haunted house. He too was glowing with happiness, and it was obvious that he was in an excellent mood.

After a night of thrilling adventure.

Chen Ge had chased ghosts through a bathroom while wielding the Skull-Crushing Hammer.

He had also asked Pen Fairy who his wife would be, only for Pen Fairy to humiliatedly write the two words, "Zhang Ya."

In the end, he successfully completed the Twilight Sun Middle School mission and unlocked the new scene: Twilight Sun Middle School.

During this mission, he solved another old unsolved case. Fan Yu's aunt had been the murderer who killed Fan Yu's parents all those years ago, and Fan Yu's parents had been in that well.

He called the police and dug up the bodies, solving another case and spreading Chen Ge's reputation throughout the Police Station.

However, because the location was quite far away, Chen Ge went to another Police Station afterward rather than West City Police Station, narrowly missing Zhang Ze.

"A classroom containing the Lingering Remnants of twenty students, a living doll, Pen Fairy that can answer every question..."

"Man, this new scene is definitely going to scare visitors half to death!"

Using the Black Phone, Chen Ge had already opened his new scene. However, when he rode past Zhang Ze's haunted house, he saw the sign by its entrance.

A few large words were written on it clearly:

New scene.

Midnight Police Station!

A battle royale style, this...

Chen Ge froze.

Wasn't this blatantly copying the concept of his Midnight Escape scene?

And it even dared to use the name Police Station. Wasn't it afraid the cops would come knocking to inspect the water meter?

"Well, if it isn't Boss Chen."

"I've opened a new scene. Don't tell me you don't have one? Want to go head-to-head?"

"Let's have today's visitors compare us and see whose haunted house is scarier."

Zhang Ze stared at Chen Ge with a smile.

Although he looked harmless enough, Chen Ge still felt that Zhang Ze had come with ill intent. Zhang Ze's Ghost Eyes, shot through with blood, especially made Chen Ge instinctively uncomfortable.

It took Chen Ge several full seconds to regain his senses.

"This guy has become even stranger than before."

"How did he do it?"

"Those eyes looked like a dead man's eyes—utterly lifeless, yet carrying a mockery ordinary people did not possess. And he was looking at me like that?"

Chen Ge returned to his haunted house. His mind kept dwelling on Zhang Ze's reaction, and before he knew it, he was standing before the bathroom mirror.

Mirror Ghost had escaped from here back then.

It had even left numbers on the mirror.

Starting from 3, counting down to 1.

But before it could reach 0, Zhang Ze had returned with Zhang Ya and torn it apart. The process had been extremely simple. Mirror Ghost had leaped onto Chen Ge while he was opening the door, attempting to possess him.

Zhang Ya immediately flew into a rage.

She had only just arrived on Chen Ge's body when some blind fool dared to provoke her?

She tore Mirror Ghost apart the moment she appeared.

Zhang Ya was so strong that Chen Ge had initially felt reassured. But then he realized there were always greater mountains beyond the mountains, greater people beyond people. Even with Zhang Ya as his trump card, Zhang Ze still made him feel deeply uneasy.

It was as if Zhang Ze could see right through him.

No secrets, no trump cards.

It was as though Zhang Ze knew everything about him inside and out.

Worse, Chen Ge felt that he could not beat Zhang Ze. Zhang Ze did not feel like a living person at all!

Chen Ge stared at the cracked mirror for a long time. His reflection seemed somewhat strange, his body slightly distorted, and he remained silent for a long while.

"There's no point in running away anymore."

"Since we're both in the haunted house business, we'll only know who's better once we put it to the test!"

Chen Ge seemed to have made up his mind.

As he walked out of the haunted house and passed Xu Wan, she said worriedly, "Boss, you're leaving again? You didn't answer your phone at all yesterday. I was afraid something had happened to you."

Chen Ge shrugged. "I'm not leaving this time. Our haunted house has opened a new scene, Twilight Sun Middle School. I'm going out to promote it, then when visitors arrive later, they can experience our new attraction."

"I also want someone to come try our haunted house and see what he's really made of!"