My House of Horrors

The temperature in the room did not drop again. Following the vibration on his phone, Chen Ge received yet another ten messages.

“Congratulations, Red Specters’ Favored, for obtaining a one-time use Nightmare Mission coupon!

“After using the coupon, it is guaranteed that a new Nightmare Mission will be registered when the daily haunted house missions refresh at midnight!

“Congratulations, Red Specters’ Favored, for obtaining a haunted house employee costume—Clown of Misfortune!

“Clown of Misfortune: They always laugh seeing me cry. They believe my sadness is their source of joy.

“Warning! The whole costume for the clown of misfortune consists of the clown’s mask, a bloody make-up bag, and a human skin jester costume. After putting on the whole costume set, it will create an unknown effect.

“Congratulations, Red Specters’ Favored, for obtaining a haunted house employee costume—The Food Connoisseur!

“The Food Connoisseur: I am the pickiest eater in the world. I have tasted the meat of almost every animal in the world. Lately, I have been obsessed with an optimal prime cut of meat. Would you like to follow me to the kitchen to take a peek at it?

“Warning! The whole costume for the Food Connoisseur consists of the night-colored western suit and the good night briefcase. The suit can increase the wearer’s personal charm. A friendly warning, do not open the connoisseur’s briefcase when there is a crowd around you.

“Congratulations, Red Specters’ Favored, for obtaining a haunted house employee costume—The Stranger!

“The Stranger: A homicide with a random target is the hardest case to solve. There is no motive and no rules. The unrelated victim and the foolproof murder method, do be careful of that stranger that brushes past your shoulder when you walk alone at night.

“Warning! The costume of the Stranger only consists of a casual outfit. The outfit can help lower your presence to the lowest. Even if the witnesses have seen your face, their memory of you will soon be forgotten.

“Congratulations, Red Specters’ Favored, for obtaining a unique item—An Inscribed Pair of Wedding Rings!

“An Inscribed Pair of Wedding Rings: Not long after their marriage, the husband often returned late from work. On a stormy night, the husband left and was never seen again. The police searched for three days and three nights, but no trace of the husband could be found. The wife cried herself to sleep every night. The case eventually became an open case. No one knew where the husband had gone, and the wife slowly spiraled into insanity. She could often be seen whispering to the pair of wedding rings on her fingers on her own.

“Warning! As long as both parties are wearing the wedding rings, no matter how great the distance between them, they will be able to sense each other’s general location! But wearing the rings for too long will have a negative impact on the wearers’ bodies.”

…

Another ten draws, but Chen Ge appeared to have really drawn all the existing baleful Specters from the prize pool. This time, he not only did not draw any Specters, all the rewards that he had drawn were equipment, and they were not particularly rare items on top of that.

“Could it be that all of my luck has been exhausted on my random encounters with ghosts? But that does not sound right! I have already drawn twenty consecutive times, and there has not been a baleful Specter in sight, or am I actually accumulating my luck? Will my next draw nab me a Top Red Specter or even a Demon God?”

Chen Ge was slowly being drawn into the gambler’s fallacy, but thankfully, our main character’s rationality regained its possession of his mind. Shaking his head, Chen Ge realized how unrealistic his thoughts were. After all, a Demon God was on a completely different level compared to a Red Specter. After completing his thirty draws, Chen Ge memorized all the rewards and prizes that he had drawn in his mind and then slowly made his way through the rest of his tour of futuristic theme park’s haunted house.

“Quick! He is coming out!”

“Brother Jiang! Brother Jiang! The person is heading toward the exit that you are guarding!”

“All departments, be on full alert! Do not let anything slip past your eyes!”

Pushing open the last door, Chen Ge walked out from the haunted house, and he saw Jiang Ming, who appeared to be waiting for him at the exit.

“Long time no see. How have you been lately?”

Chen Ge initially thought that Jiang Ming would have nothing but a huff or a rolling of the eyes for him, but that was far away from the truth. Jiang Ming very naturally greeted Chen Ge, and there was even a trace of friendliness in his voice. “I am doing quite well lately thanks to you.”

“Thanks to me? What have I done?”

“You sent that idiot Ma Feng to the hospital. Now, even the breaths that I take in feel that much easier and fresher,” Jiang Ming whispered. The management at the futuristic theme park was wildly different from the management at New Century Park. It appeared like there was much internal fighting. After Jiang Jiu was hospitalized, Ma Feng had seized all managerial power. As Jiang Jiu’s adopted son, Jiang Ming had naturally suffered a lot under the new leader.

“Hey, watch what you’re saying. I had nothing to do with the fact that he is currently hospitalized. He signed the disclaimer.” Chen Ge walked away from Jiang Ming. He actually wanted to tell Jiang Ming that compared to Ma Feng, if he had really personally sent anyone to the hospital, that person was Jiang Jiu.

After playing at the futuristic theme park’s haunted house a few more times, Chen Ge left the theme park after collecting about 10,000 points at the futuristic theme park’s haunted house ranking. Seeing his departing back, the workers at the haunted house were stunned beyond belief. Their technology like data analysis and visitor simulation had lost their uses against Chen Ge. A result of 10,000 points was something their system had predicted would only be reached after another half a year.

Hailing a cab, Chen Ge returned to New Century Park. He hurried back to the haunted house and went directly to the Prop Room. The already congested Prop Room appeared even more crowded. There were many items left in the corner. If one did not take a closer look, one would not have noticed them. It was as if these things had been there from the time the haunted house was built. “It somehow feels like they belonged to the haunted house to begin with.”

Chen Ge had no idea when these things appeared. It felt like someone had pushed open a certain door inside his haunted house and then deposited the items inside the Prop Room. “It should be my imagination taking over. Something like that would be noticed by the employees.”

Holding the black phone and reading the item descriptions for each of the rewards, he categorized the items that he had drawn into different piles.

At around 6 pm, the haunted house officially closed for the day. After all the living employees had left, Chen Ge took the comic and summoned most of the ghost employees to the first floor. If there was a lingering visitor that entered the haunted house at this moment, they probably would have their soul scared right out of their body. The already closed haunted house corridor was filled with people, and none of them had their make-up removed yet.

“Some of you have already worked for me for a very long time. From the initial discomfort to now becoming the central pillar of support of this place, your transformation is beyond my wildest expectations, and our haunted house is only becoming better and better because of all of you.” Chen Ge pushed open the door of the Prop Room. “I am very appreciative of everyone’s help, so I wanted to do something in return for all that you have done for me.”

“Boss, you are treating us like strangers. That shouldn’t be the case. We already treat this place like our own home. Without this haunted house, all of us probably would still be wandering aimlessly at some corner of this city.” Ol’ Zhou stood next to Duan Yue with a blissful expression on his face. “In any case, I like working here. Here, I can feel something that I have not felt in a long time. I also do not know how to describe it in words.”

“I personally do not feel like I am working at all. This is more like a game for me, and it is quite interesting,” Men Nan said with a casual expression. At the end of the day, he refused to admit that a Red Specter like himself was willingly working under Chen Ge.

“At any other corner of this city, no matter what I did, or no matter what I saw, everything around me kept on installing in my mind the reminder that ‘you are already dead’, ‘this world does not belong to you’, ‘you are nothing but a lingering spirit that should have gone a long time ago’, ‘you do not belong here’, and ‘you are an anomaly’. But that sensation has not surfaced even once here. I do not need to hide my real self, and no one has ever suspected of my real identity.”

After the ‘monitor’ from the School of the Afterlife voiced her thoughts, many lingering spirits from the students also nodded. They were a bunch of kids without a home to return to.

“Before this, I never did care about anything. I only started to regret after I lost everything in gambling. I thought the world had already abandoned cursed souls like myself, depriving me of the chance for a new life, but I am glad that I ran into you, boss.” Ol’ Bai had his single arm placed inside his pocket, and his bloodied body leaned against the door. “Before this, I did not have the privilege of choice, but now, I just want to be a professional haunted house worker.”

Hearing Ol’ Bai’s words, Chen Ge winked at him. “I have been intending to do something for all of you, so I will present you guys with some gifts. Those who do not get any gifts, please do not worry. I am sure there will be more in the future. Your turn will eventually come.” He waved at Bai Qiulin. “Ol’ Bai, the first present is for you. I found your severed arm. It was used as a tool by the boss of an underground casino to scare his customers.”

Chen Ge handed a paper note with an address to Bai Qiulin. “Initially, I thought about going and personally retrieving it for you, but I believe it might be better if you go and take it yourself. Leave behind every regret and officially start over with your new life.”

The reason Bai Qiulin could become a Red Specter was because he had consumed Xiong Qing’s heart, but he himself was still missing his heart, so even after becoming a Red Specter, his power level was weaker than the others.

Accepting the paper note, Ol’ Bai used his remaining hand to squeeze it tightly. Even though he was now a Red Specter, he was still missing a limb. Normally, he could use blood vessels to weave out false fingers and an arm, but that was just a lie, a lie more to himself than to the others. The crack in his soul was due to his memory. When he was alive, he chopped off his arm, and at the same time, he had chopped off his memory.

“Thank you.”

“There is no need for thanks. We are already family.” Chen Ge patted Ol’ Bai on his shoulder. Probably because Ol’ Bai was still caught in the excitement of the moment, he did not rein in his bloody aura and blood vessels, so he splashed Chen Ge with blood.

“There are presents to receive as your employees?” Men Nan stood at the door. Even though his tone was laced with derision, there was a trace of envy that crossed his eyes. “Giving your employee a severed arm, that kind of company benefit does match your quality and personality quite well.”

Seeing how Men Nan kept mumbling to everyone around him, Chen Ge then walked to stand before Men Nan. “Even though you are not really my employee, after all you have lent me your help many times, so I have prepared a present for you as well.”

“I also have one‽” Men Nan’s eyes lit up with joy, but he soon put on his normal, annoyed expression. “Tsk, I know, it will be something strange and obtuse again, right?”

Chen Ge shook his head. He took out an envelope that was carefully and delicately wrapped from his pocket. “This is for you. Do not open it now. I’d advise you take a look at the content when you are alone.”

“What is it? Why are you making it sound so mysterious? Is this a prank?” After receiving the envelope, Men Nan did not listen to Chen Ge’s advice. His childlike curiosity compelled him to open the envelope on the spot. “So, it is just a piece of meaningless paper…”

When his eyes landed on the signature on the paper and the mother’s words of wishes for her son at the back of the paper, Men Nan, who had been grumbling, suddenly went quiet. The boy who wore the red shirt stood at the door holding the paper with both hands like it was the most valuable treasure in the world. Men Nan’s mother cherished her son a lot, and she had many words that she did not have the chance to tell Men Nan.

Chen Ge squatted down next to Men Nan and whispered in his ear, “Your mother’s last wish will be fulfilled because you will only become happier and happier.”

This time, Chen Ge had drawn many objects, and most of them were related to his haunted house workers. These items could help his employees repair the cracks in their soul, helping them becoming more powerful and perfect. After gifting a few more workers their presents, Chen Ge called Xiao Sun, who was looking at him with blank eyes.

“Big brother, do I also have a present? Honestly, I do not have that many friends. I have grown so old, but other than my father and mother, I have not received any gifts from any other person before.” Xiao Sun was quite excited.

“Then I am afraid I will disappoint you. The thing that I am going to give you is not a present but an item to help you save yourself.” Chen Ge took out a pair of wedding rings from the Prop Room. The wedding rings appeared to be made from someone’s ashes, and they had two hearts that were linked together carved into them.

“Wedding rings?” Xiao Sun was stunned, and then he was suddenly reminded of a certain Demon God who was hiding inside Chen Ge’s shadow. Instantly, he leaped back like someone had struck at his soul. He quickly waved his hands. “Brother, no way, you must be mistaken! I can’t take something like that!”

“These wedding rings were made by a woman using her husband’s body who had betrayed her. They are called Inscribed Wedding Rings. The two who wear these rings will be able to sense the other person’s location no matter the distance between them.” Chen Ge handed one of the rings to Xiao Sun. “You are going to the cursed hospital, but I will pay close attention to your movement in Xin Hai. This is not a present for you, but it is to help you stay alive.”

Even though he did not get a present, Chen Ge’s words still touched Xiao Sun slightly. Chen Ge was not sending Xiao Sun to his death, but he was trying his best to help Xiao Sun come out the other side more powerful and alive.

“Thank you, big brother.” Xiao Sun looked at the wedding ring in his palm. His heart was warm but rationality reminded him that it was best to ask more questions. “Brother Chen, are you sure that I can live until the day I am to be sent to the cursed hospital wearing this wedding ring?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I mean…” Xiao Sun winked and made gesture at Chen Ge’s shadow, trying to express himself without being too obvious about it.

“Don’t you worry. She is not as narrow-minded as you think.” After saying that, Chen Ge ignored Xiao Sun. He then took out a child’s blue raincoat from the Prop Room. He walked through the group of employees and reached the corner of the room. The red raincoat was standing alone in the corner. She had watched the proceeding silently but never once taken a step forward. When she saw Chen Ge walk toward her, she was quite surprised, but when her eyes landed on the blue raincoat Chen Ge was holding, her body appeared to be struck by lightning.

“I have helped you find the raincoat of your child. I still remember the promise that I gave you. I swear I will complete it.” Chen Ge handed the blue raincoat to the poor mother. “There was some lingering curse on the blue raincoat. I had the red high heels check it earlier. She said that the curse was different from the one used by the ghost fetus. It appeared to be related to the cursed hospital.”

Just as Chen Ge finished, the red raincoat reached out to grab his arm. “Bring me with you!”

Looking into the red raincoat’s eyes, Chen Ge lightly nodded. “Of course.”

The red raincoat slowly let go. At the same time, the black phone vibrated slightly. Chen Ge took out the phone to glance at it. Inside the worker’s employee tab, the red raincoat’s information had appeared.

After gifting almost all the presents, the employees slowly shuffled back underground. Chen Ge sat in the Prop Room alone. He took out the recorder from his backpack and pressed a button on it. The static sound rang beside his ears, and a blood figure silently materialized beside Chen Ge. Without asking for any reason or requesting anything, he had never even considered the danger that he would get into by following Chen Ge. Whenever Chen Ge pressed the play button on the recorder, he would appear.

“Xu Yin…” Chen Ge looked at the young man standing beside him, studying the painful and melancholic face. He pulled out a music sheet from the drawer.