Chapter 222: Wrong Set (Part 2)
"Finally, we're almost at the end. No wonder Boss Chen calls this the Third Ward. Staying in a place like this for too long, even if you don't go crazy, you'll suffocate."
"I really wonder how their employees manage to stick it out? Working every day in such a realistic, oppressive environment, staring at those hysterical bloodstained words on the walls—don't they develop psychological issues?"
"You mentioning it reminds me, we've been in here for ten minutes, and I haven't seen a single haunted house actor."
"Both of you, save it. We're about to hit the corner—watch out for something jumping out."
It took the visitors six or seven minutes to reach the end of the long corridor. Pressing their bodies against the wall, they peered around the corner and were all stunned.
"It's still a corridor?"
The layout was nearly identical: mottled walls, cracked floors, bloodstained words everywhere, and dummies wrapped in bedding on the ground.
The only difference was that the wall color had deepened, and peering into the cracks revealed something like blood vessels.
"Scene looping?" Han Qiuming stood at the corner, frowning as he uttered a term outsiders wouldn't fully understand.
"Isn't this just the same setup?" Luo Luo and Xiao Du were both hearing this term for the first time.
"Seemingly the same scene, but each repetition has something changing that you haven't noticed. When you let your guard down the most, all the horror will hit at once." Han Qiuming's tone was firm: "I once saw a haunted house abroad called 'Nightmare of the Returned Soul.' It had nine rooms, each layer deepening the fear. The key was those rooms could move freely—you never knew what extra thing would be in the room when you opened the door."
"What you're describing is rooms, easy to manipulate. But here, the entire corridor is arranged almost identically." Guo Miao touched the wall, speaking softly: "Everything here is too real, like they've moved an actual mental hospital into the haunted house. I don't know why I have this strange feeling."
"You're too sensitive, Old Guo." Han Qiuming chuckled: "Ever since you came back from the hospital where Xu Zhenzhen killed herself, you've changed completely—timid and hesitant. As haunted house professionals, we sell fear and terror. If you're scared yourself, how can you harness that fear to scare others?"
"Qiuming, there are things I didn't believe at first either, but the more I encounter them, the more I think believing a little brings some peace."
"I think you're regressing." Han Qiuming stood face-to-face with Guo Miao: "Seriously, on opening day, someone crashed our place, and you just let it slide? You know how long we prepared for that opening. Now that Chen guy has ruined everything. And you still think he's decent? You want to make peace with him? Aren't you afraid he'll eat you alive?"
"Qiuming, this isn't the boss's fault." Song An's voice was heavy: "If anything, it's on you. The haunted house ads were all set, but you had to add extra flair, slapping on 'The Scariest Haunted House in All of Jiujiang' and mocking him..."
"So you're saying I was wrong?" Han Qiuming's face turned cold: "Tianteng Hospital is my design—a new type of escape room haunted house based on years of experience, with both overt and covert clues. I admit his haunted house has some merit, but compared to my design, it's too crude."
"I won't argue with you. You weren't there that day, so you don't know what happened."
"If I had been there, it wouldn't have happened. As haunted house actors, getting scared out by a visitor—you've practically become the laughingstock of the industry." Han Qiuming's words offended every employee present, but he didn't care: "Looks like I'll need to step up your training when we get back."
"Qiuming, let's talk about this back at the place. There are other visitors here." Guo Miao didn't take Han Qiuming's harshness to heart.
"Yeah, when we get back, I plan to discuss it with the boss. I think you can't handle the big picture anymore—you're not fit to be in charge."
"Han Qiuming! The boss has always treated you well. We've put up with you, but don't push it!" Song An's temper flared, and he shouted at Han Qiuming.
"Push it? Every decision I make is for the haunted house's good. Tianteng Hospital was designed four times, and I handled three of them. You know the results." Han Qiuming gave a faint smile, expressionless.
"You incorporated real cases into the haunted house, used dead people's names as props, and nearly got us sued. That's your design?"
"Sorry, I only care about results. Statistically, after bringing in Xu Zhenzhen's name, ticket sales quintupled." Han Qiuming raised five fingers, proud of his achievement: "I saved you all. And remember this: I'm the haunted house designer your boss hired. You're just actors playing ghosts."
"Using real cases as material, exploiting dead people's names for attention—did you ever consider the victims' families' feelings when you designed it?"
"Now you're scolding me? Why didn't you stop me back then?"
"Enough!" Guo Miao pulled Han Qiuming and Song An apart: "Save the grievances for later. Boss Chen soloed our haunted house. If all of us together can't clear his, that's the real embarrassment."
Han Qiuming and Song An were both fuming, which ironically dulled their fear.
"I'm not wasting my anger on someone like him." Song An, no longer scared, walked ahead alone.
"Old Song, don't go alone!" Guo Miao, worried about Song An, chased after him, putting distance between them and the others.
"In a big forest, you get all kinds of birds." Han Qiuming strolled slowly at the back. When he first entered the Third Ward, the scene had stunned him, but now he was gradually getting used to it.
He glanced back: "You three, stick close to me. Ten minutes left—I'll get you through. Honestly, this haunted house is decent for domestic standards, but compared to unrestricted ones abroad, it's not even in the same league."
"Teacher Han, I get what you're saying, but there's one thing I need to confirm with you." Xiao Du, at the back of the group, was pale. He hadn't noticed Han Qiuming and Song An's argument at all, focused on something else.
"What is it?"
"Didn't you say those mannequins wouldn't come within five meters of us?"
Xiao Du pointed behind him. The oddly shaped, incredibly realistic mannequins had all entered the Third Ward!
Leading them was a female mannequin with a school badge hanging from its neck, standing in the middle of the corridor, head drooping, now only three or four meters away from Xiao Du.