My House of Horrors

This Midnight Ticket Counter is broken, but there’s no noticeable way to fix it. This black phone keeps on giving weird stuff.

Chen Ge exited the counter. The more he looked at the construct, the more he felt it was not made for living souls.

“Boss!” Xu Wan jogged toward him in her casual outfit, holding two steaming buns in her hands.

Looking at the cheerful Xu Wan, Chen Ge’s mood brightened instantly. This girl tended to be a bit clueless at times, but she had a natural charm that could brighten up the gloomiest of days.

Accepting the offering from Xu Wan, Chen Ge chomped on the bun happily. “Why are you here so early today?”

“Boss, look!” Xu Wan sat down beside Chen Ge on the steps. She pulled out her phone to show Chen Ge the long list of news and videos that were all on the case at Ping An Apartments. “These are all about you, Boss—you’re famous!”

“Let me see.” Chen Ge looked at the articles, not expecting the short interview from the day before to have gone viral. “Such a waste.”

“Waste? Why? I think it’s rather swell.” Xu Wan’s face was flushed, probably from the little jog earlier.

“At the time, I was too focused on the reward money that I forgot this was a perfect promotional opportunity,” Chen Ge said grumpily as he swiped through the articles. “If I knew it would go viral, I would have interrupted Captain Yan to promote our Haunted House! Look at some of these articles, they even got the facts wrong. They didn’t even put down the address of our Haunted House!

“Xiao Wan, this is your job for the day. Later, we will both go onto these comment sections to announce our identity and drop the address of the Haunted House. Those who come with proof of our comments will get a twenty percent discount!”

“That sounds so unethical…” Xu Wan was embarrassed doing such a thing, but she did end up following Chen Ge’s instructions.

At 9 am, when the park opened for business, both of them put away their phones and prepared to work. After opening the gates, Xu Wan finally saw the Midnight Ticket Counter.

“Boss, did you make this yesterday?”

“Yes, it’s ugly, but it’s usable.”

“Indeed, I also think it’s about time we have a ticket counter.”

Looking at the serious expression on Xu Wan’s face, Chen Ge sighed internally.Such a good worker, never once doubted my words.

They both entered the Haunted House. Xu Wan went to put on her make-up while Chen Ge hauled several wooden planks out from the Props Room to block the entrance to the underground parking lot. The new scenarios had not been unlocked yet, so the place still had no use.

After all the preparation had been made, it was time to start the day. Even though it was a holiday period, there was already a line in front of the Haunted House. It was not that long a line, but it was already an impressive improvement compared to before.

Xu Wan was busy chasing people around as the ghost bride inside the Minghun scenario while Chen Ge had to split himself between selling tickets and scaring people as Doctor Skull-cracker inside the Murder by Midnight scenario. It was harsh maintaining the large Haunted House with just the two of them.

It was worth noting that Xiaoxiao would have surprise interactions with the visitors inside the Murder by Midnight scenario. This ragdoll had a penchant of trailing behind the visitors, which worried Chen Ge because he was afraid that the visitors might just snatch her home.

The two finally caught a break around noon. Chen Ge checked on the black phone—both reputation and visitor number had increased tremendously, and he wasn’t far from the second expansion.

Two workers managing two scenarios is already at its limit. After unlocking the new scenario, I’ll need to recruit new workers.

Chen Ge looked at the black phone. The Nightmare Missions were often ridiculous, but Easy and Normal Missions normally would point out the weaknesses of the Haunted House directly, and completing them would improve the establishment.

Even the phone has issued a recruitment mission… looks like I’ll need to get on that soon. Ever since the old workers that followed Chen Ge’s parents handed in their resignation, he had been wary of hiring new blood. If only Xiaoxiao and Zhang Ya would listen to my commands, they would be the perfect employees.

Of course, this was merely a fanciful thought. To have Xiaoxiao and Zhang Ya scare people inside the Haunted House… Xiaoxiao would be fine, but Zhang Ya would probably create an actual crime scene.

My Team of Ghosts and Ghouls is still empty. I wonder when that will change. Chen Ge sat on the steps outside the Haunted House. He was catching a much-needed breather before throwing himself back into work.

The sun rose to its highest point, and the visitors started to dwindle to avoid the sun. It was then that Chen Ge’s black phone vibrated. He clicked the message open, and the content gave him quite a shock.

“The Midnight Ticket Counter’s effect has been triggered. The first special visitor has appeared! Please make use of this opportunity, the result will be different based on your choice!”

The effect has been triggered? Even at the one in a thousand chance‽ Based on my previous experience, this cannot be anything good! Chen Ge stood up straight like a soldier preparing for war. He scanned around the Haunted House. The sun is shining bright, so it cannot be a specter.

It was the point of the day when the heat was at its highest. The visitors that walked around the park had visibly decreased.

Is it that an arguing couple? The girl is so pretty, but the guy is so ugly; there must be some problem. Who is Uncle Xu talking to? A new worker? How come I have not seen that person before?

While Chen Ge was speculating, a skinny, dark-skinned woman about thirty wandered over with light steps.

Could it be her?

Chen Ge studied the woman’s appearance silently. Her skin was darker in tone, and she was not tall. She gave a reserved smile and was wearing a faded jacket.

“Hello, how much for a ticket to visit the Haunted House?” The woman’s voice was surprising shrill, but it was not to the point where it would hurt one’s ears.

“We currently have two scenarios; one ticket is 20 RMB, and you can choose which one you would like to experience,” Chen Ge answered with a business smile.

“Okay, then give me two tickets.” The woman handed Chen Ge the money.

“You wish to experience both scenarios?”

“No, it’s for the both of us.” The woman smiled apologetically as she waved at a boy who looked to be eight or nine. He ran toward her from underneath the shade.

The boy was quite shy around people. He stopped beside the woman, but he did not reach out to grab her hand. He just stood there expressionlessly.

“I’m sorry, but our Haunted House has an age requirement—no entry to those under fourteen.” Chen Ge took a look at this boy and had a feeling he was different from normal boys, but he could not pinpoint why he felt that way.

“Can you please make an exception for us? This boy loves visiting Haunted Houses. There aren’t that many visitors now, so even if we go in, people won’t notice. I promise we won’t cause any trouble.”

“A child that small likes to visit Haunted Houses?” Chen Ge slid the black phone stealthily back into his pocket and shook his head. ” I’m sorry, but those are the rules.”