Chapter 40: A New Nightmare Mission
Logging into the forum account, Chen Ge noticed right away that his username had upgraded to purple. Checking the backend, he realized the thirty-minute video he’d posted earlier had been widely shared and recommended, with nearly a thousand replies in the thread below.
He skimmed through them quickly but found nothing useful; most people were just curious onlookers.
“Might as well try anything—what if I hook someone who knows their stuff?” Chen Ge re-edited the post, adding detailed descriptions of the mirror monster, then used his purple account’s privileges to ask for help.
“After playing the game in the video, I found the monster in the mirror has latched onto me! How do I get rid of these things?”
The post had barely been up when replies started rolling in.
“OP, you’re still alive?”
“I suggest splashing it with black dog blood, or keeping a rooster. When the rooster crows, the world brightens—filthy things won’t dare come near it.”
“Too deep into the role, I suggest turning left to the neurology department.”
“Ghosts are memories lingering in the human world. Killing them harms your own yin virtue. The sea of suffering has no shore—why not both take a step back?”
“Is the guy above reasoning with a ghost?”
“Maoshan Seven Kill Demon Expelling Order, authentic from a real master! Check my avatar for the Taobao link! Order now and get a free Five Ghosts Wealth Attracting spell!”
“Mix soybeans, white rice, and cinnabar, soak in saltwater for fifteen minutes, then scatter them like soldiers—look it up.”
“I once saw a video about a guy haunted by a female ghost. To get rid of her, he bought a gun. When she came to harass him at night, he shot himself, then dragged her into the bedroom…”
“OP, no joke, I’ll tell you a real method! Find an iron knife, preferably a butcher’s knife that’s killed and been bloodied. Ghosts are a special magnetic energy field—such a knife can wound it!”
Chen Ge read through them all and found only the iron knife suggestion somewhat plausible. The rest were either nonsense or impractical. He knew folk tales said black dog blood and roosters could ward off evil, but where was he supposed to find those things in the dead of night?
Logging off the forum, he tossed his phone aside and sat in his chair, staring blankly.
Fighting an unknown monster was a matter of life and death—he couldn’t pin all his hopes on those vague forum posts.
After a moment, Chen Ge pulled out the black phone again. When it came down to it, he had to rely on the black phone; it was the only thing he could trust completely.
But the black phone operated on a principle of equivalent exchange—to get something, you had to give something first.
Through his attempts over the past few days, Chen Ge had uncovered some hidden rules in the black phone, especially regarding mission rewards.
Simple and normal difficulty daily missions usually rewarded items to help run the haunted house. Only nightmare-level mission rewards directly affected him, granting rare, special abilities.
To deal with the thing in the mirror, completing simple or normal missions was pointless. Only nightmare-level rewards could make a difference.
But the dilemma was that nightmare missions were already extremely dangerous. What if, instead of getting rid of the mirror monster, he attracted something new?
“What should I do? Take a gamble, or wait a bit longer?” Chen scrolled through the black phone. Midnight had passed, and the daily missions had refreshed.
“Simple Difficulty: To give visitors a truly terrifying experience, first pay attention to the pacing of the tour. Actors and traps appearing too early or too late will ruin the excitement. I suggest installing sound detectors and cameras in the haunted house to monitor visitor progress at all times.”
“Normal Difficulty: You’ve earned one haunted house expansion opportunity. Find a suitable location to expand as soon as possible! Due to site restrictions, you cannot undertake any scene trial missions until the expansion is complete!”
“Nightmare Difficulty: Strange sounds always come from the bathroom late at night. If you want to know why, do as I say.”
“Note! Some missions are extremely dangerous. Choose carefully!”
Chen Ge looked at the three daily missions. He couldn’t complete the normal one for now, so he ignored it. His choices were only the simple and nightmare missions.
“If Uncle Xu gives me the money tomorrow, I could probably buy all the cameras in a day, but I doubt I’d finish installing them. The nightmare mission seems to involve the bathroom—creepy.” Chen Ge hesitated. The simple mission might not be doable, and its reward was poor, while the nightmare mission was too risky—who knew what he’d encounter?
He sat in the utility room, deep in thought, when the cutting sound echoed through the haunted house again, even more piercing than before.
Chen Ge looked up at the ceiling. The sound was still coming from the third floor.
“I brought all four dolls out—what else is it cutting?” Annoyed by the thing in the mirror, he stuffed the mended dolls into his pocket, grabbed the iron hammer, and charged up to the third floor.
Opening the door to the Midnight Escape scene, he was stunned by what he saw.
Scattered mirror shards lay near the entrance, and white scratch marks covered the wooden door.
“This monster is scratching at the door! What does it want?”
Cold sweat broke out on Chen Ge’s back. He couldn’t imagine a monster wielding mirror shards running around while he slept. He absolutely wouldn’t allow such a dangerous creature in his haunted house!
Normally easygoing, Chen Ge rarely showed a cold face. He locked the Midnight Escape scene door, gripped the iron hammer, and entered the hallway. Pushing open door after door, he stormed in and smashed every mirror on the third floor to pieces.
The sound of shattering glass was relentless. Broken shards scattered everywhere. Only when he reached the end of the third-floor corridor did Chen Ge finally calm down.
“During the first nightmare mission, the monster was trapped in the mirror by the dolls and couldn’t fight back. Later, when it attacked He Shan, it could only weakly influence him. But after assaulting He Feng, this thing can already step out of the mirror! It’s growing, and fast!” Chen Ge couldn’t wait any longer. His haunted house was just getting started—he couldn’t let it be ruined by some nameless monster.
Carrying the iron hammer out of the Midnight Escape scene, he locked the door behind him. With a resolve to burn his bridges, Chen Ge opened the black phone and accepted the nightmare-level mission. “I hope this mission’s reward is worth it.”
“Confirm acceptance of nightmare difficulty daily mission? After acceptance, unknown situations may occur.”
“Confirm.”
The phone screen flashed, and the mission details appeared.