Chapter 189: I Alone Am Enough
The entire hall was packed with people. Some tourists hadn't made it upstairs yet, and new visitors kept streaming in through the building's entrance.
Just before ten o'clock, the person in charge of Tian Teng Hospital finally emerged. He was short, with a crew cut, and looked to be around thirty years old.
Behind him followed two models wearing high-slit nurse uniforms. They had deliberately painted their faces deathly pale, their seductive eyes scanning the crowd.
The person in charge tested the megaphone, then stood on the platform at the entrance of the haunted house: "Thanks to everyone's love, Tian Teng Hospital has always maintained..."
Chen Ge's gaze swept over the two models. He couldn't be bothered to listen to the official opening remarks, already planning in his mind that for his own haunted house's next event, he'd design a nice, sexy uniform for Xu Wan.
The person in charge rambled on for two or three minutes before getting to the important part: "Every six months, we optimize our haunted house's scenes, hiring foreign professional teams to design them. All scare points are upgraded and replaced. I can tell you responsibly that Tian Teng Hospital is scarier than any haunted house on the market! We are committed to pursuing the ultimate terror, unlike certain haunted houses that rely on marketing and paid shills to promote themselves online. They think they're clever, but they've put the cart before the horse. Yet a whole crowd of people still blindly follows and praises them. To be honest, I find their behavior ridiculous!"
Chen Ge was already growing impatient. He shuffled forward a few more steps, but it took him a while to reach the ticket booth through the crowd: "I need one ticket."
"Do you have an online reservation?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, but all our tickets for today are sold out. Would you like to wait for the afternoon session?"
"Sold out?"
On the platform, the person in charge continued speaking: "If we call the haunted houses on the market first-generation, then our Tian Teng Hospital is a fourth-generation new type, combining high technology. The terror index is infinitely multiplied! Today is our first day open in Jiujiang. To give everyone a clear understanding, we'll randomly select four visitors to wear audio pickups and portable dynamic ECG monitors as they go through the experience! Through the external speakers and the ECG on the projector, you'll all see just how scary our haunted house really is!"
Before the person in charge finished, the crowd below was already buzzing with excitement, though it was unclear if they were pre-arranged plants.
"Every ticket has a number. We'll draw based on those numbers." The person in charge gestured toward the ticket booth, and the staff there caught on, starting the selection.
Chen Ge saw it all. The other party was boosting themselves by stepping on his haunted house, and he couldn't let that slide.
"Hold on!" Chen Ge raised his hand and walked straight toward the platform. "You just said your haunted house is very scary, and other haunted houses rely on marketing and paid shills to pander. I don't agree with that."
The person in charge frowned. If it weren't for the crowd, he probably would have called security.
"I'm the owner of the West Suburb Horror House in Hanjiang, the haunted house you've been maliciously slandering on your official website. The day before yesterday, I did a live stream watched by six hundred thousand people."
Chen Ge walked onto the platform as if nothing was wrong. When the crowd saw his face, a familiar voice suddenly rang out.
"Boss?!"
Chen Ge followed the sound and spotted Heshan and Gao Ruxue, dressed in white, standing not far away.
"What are you two doing here?" Chen Ge was momentarily stunned. Heshan's behavior was practically "aiding the enemy." "If you wanted to visit a haunted house, why didn't you come to the West Suburb to find me?"
Heshan had his own troubles and was wondering how to explain. He couldn't exactly say in front of the Tian Teng Hospital people—"Your haunted house is too scary, Boss Chen. We've been having nightmares every night, so we're here at another haunted house to lighten the mood."
This scene was also noticed by the Tian Teng Hospital person in charge, who had already recognized Chen Ge: "It seems your West Suburb haunted house isn't too popular, since even your own friends won't come to support you. Since you want to come and learn, we'll count you in. We'll randomly draw three more spots."
The person in charge was shrewd. They had slandered Chen Ge's haunted house on their official website, clearly aware of his existence. Now, by voluntarily letting Chen Ge enter the haunted house, their intention was obvious. If Chen Ge embarrassed himself inside, they could use it for promotion, forcibly poaching customers from the West Suburb Horror House.
He was playing the same game as Chen Ge—both wanted to absorb the other's visitors.
Chen Ge's haunted house had gone viral thanks to the recent live stream, but that buzz wouldn't last long, probably less than a week. Meanwhile, Tian Teng Hospital, though less famous in Jiujiang than Chen Ge's place, had a big name among domestic horror enthusiasts, with a loyal fanbase like Su Su's.
"Come on, put the audio pickups and ECG monitor on him." The two models in high-slit nurse uniforms walked over to Chen Ge. "Now we'll start drawing the remaining three experiencers."
"I don't think that's necessary." Chen Ge waved his hand. "Challenging a haunted house alone is where the real difficulty lies. If you can scare me, I'll admit on my haunted house's official homepage that I'm inferior to yours, and keep it pinned for a month."
The Tian Teng Hospital person in charge was tempted by Chen Ge's words but felt something was off. He was very cautious: "What level counts as being scared?"
"Didn't you install portable ECG monitors? A person's normal heart rate while walking is sixty to one hundred. When startled, the oxygen content in the blood drops rapidly, and the heart rate doubles." Chen Ge looked at the person in charge and said calmly, "If my heart rate exceeds one hundred, I lose."
"Deal." The person in charge agreed immediately, not giving Chen Ge a chance to change his mind. Not to mention fear or intense activity—even a light jog could push the heart rate past one hundred. In his view, Chen Ge was doomed to lose.
"Don't rush to agree. If I lose, I'll admit on my homepage that I'm not as good as you. But if you lose?"
"Don't worry. If we lose, we'll also admit on our official website that we're inferior to your haunted house." The person in charge pointed to the tourists present. "Everyone here can be your witness."
"Actually, I have one small request." A simple, innocent smile appeared on Chen Ge's face. "I think you have some misunderstandings about my haunted house. I hope your team can come and visit my place sometime. I've recently added a new scene that no visitor has tried yet."
"Sure, no problem." The person in charge agreed readily, earning goodwill from the crowd.
Only Heshan and Gao Ruxue exchanged knowing looks, their expressions tinged with sympathy, as if they saw their former selves in the Tian Teng Hospital person in charge.