Qiao Liang waved goodbye to everyone and then walked into the ‘Ultimate Horror’.
Once he entered, visibility dropped significantly. There were dim, yellow lamps hanging from the walls. The paint was flaking, and the posters looked rotten. There also seemed to be dried blood and white calcium-looking things stuck to the wall. Everything came together to create a horrific atmosphere.
A girl dressed in a nurse’s uniform and wearing a mask had blood all over her body. She sat behind an old office table in the hospital, with both hands hidden under it. Her head hung low, causing her hair to cover her entire face.
She blended in with the scene around her, so that Qiao Liang had not noticed her at first. He had almost thought that she was just a prop that was meant to be a corpse.
However, after looking around, he realized that the desk she was at was meant to be a front desk. He had to walk past it.
Qiao Liang quietly switched on his lantern and then approached the desk. Just as he wanted to ask a question, the nurse looked up in an extremely stiff manner!
Her eyes were filled with blood, and there seemed to be a deep gash across her forehead. There was also fresh blood flowing through her mask, which seemed to be coming from her mouth. Qiao Liang could clearly see fresh bite-marks on her neck, and the wounds were still bleeding.
He sucked in a deep breath.
This was only the front desk, and yet they had done such a good job with it.
The corpse-like girl at the front desk did not say anything. Instead, she stretched her hand out in an extremely stiff manner.
Even her arms were covered in make-up. The skin looked like it was rotting, and there seemed to be dark red wounds which were also bleeding.
Qiao Liang stared at her for a while, stunned. After that, he quickly placed the admission ticket that he had obtained from the ‘Haunted House Nightmare’ on her hand.
There was a photo on that admission ticket. Once the corpse-like girl verified that it was Qiao Liang, she retrieved a disclaimer from the desk and handed it to him to be signed.
That disclaimer contained many detailed clauses and even asked if Qiao Liang suffered chronic diseases like heart diseases. He had to answer truthfully.
Qiao Liang checked the relevant boxes, signed the form, and then handed it back to the girl.
Compared to ordinary haunted houses, Thriller Hostel was actually much safer. That was because the horror levels of the three projects gradually increased.
Anyone who could make it through the ‘Haunted House Nightmare’ would have proven that their heart and mind were capable of enduring a certain level of shock. That significantly reduced the chances of unexpected situations occurring.
The corpse-like girl stiffly took the disclaimer, checked it carefully, and then kept it. After that, she slowly took out a key and placed it on the table.
Qiao Liang fearfully picked it up and said, “I-Is there anything I have to take note of?”
The zombie didn’t answer him. Instead, she stared at him blankly with her blood-filled eyes.
Qiao Liang did not know what to say. “…”
He silently used the key to unlock the door and then entered a dimly-lit corridor.
Before this, Qiao Liang had heard Chen Kangtuo talking about the ‘Ultimate Horror’ before. It was located in a huge factory building, and a dimly-lit and cramped corridor like that probably connected all the little projects together to form a ring-like structure.
Although the long corridor’s set-up looked like outdated horror, compared to the fear that Qiao Liang had felt in the ‘Haunted House Nightmare’, it was nothing much.
Obviously, the ‘Ultimate Horror’ would get progressively scarier. Those who had made it through the ‘Haunted House Nightmare’ could take time to adjust in the early stages of this project, and they would not be dissuaded from going through with it at the beginning.
There was another door at the end of the corridor. This time, he did not need a key. However, just like the previous door, he had to pull this one open.
It seemed like every door here was to be pulled open and not pushed.
Qiao Liang reached out to grab the black, rusty, iron doorknob; mentally preparing himself for what was to come.
He knew very well that planting a jumpscare right at the entrance was a customary routine for many haunted houses, and hiding jump scares behind doors to be pulled open was much easier. Thus, Qiao Liang had no idea what to expect once he opened that door.
However, after bracing himself and pulling the door open, no corpse dropped from above, and nothing scary appeared. Instead, the room was lit as per normal.
The walls were pure white, and the floor tiles were flat. The place looked just like a consulting room in an ordinary hospital. Several relaxing oil paintings of landscapes hung on the walls, and there was only one desk, two chairs, and one hospital bed in the space. Beside the bed was an electrocardiograph (ECG) machine.
At once, Qiao Liang felt comforted and… confused.
What was going on? He had almost thought that he had transmigrated.
He looked at the golden lantern in his hands, which looked out of place there.
A female doctor dressed in a white coat smiled at him and said, “Hello. I am a doctor here. Before you go in any further, I have to conduct a simple ECG and psychological test on you.”
Qiao Liang lay down on the hospital bed, and the doctor began to wipe his chest, where the electrodes were to be placed, with alcohol. This felt like a regular medical examination that one would sit through in a hospital.
The female doctor did not look very old—just about thirty. Although she wasn’t beautiful, she wore a smile on her face the entire time, causing Qiao Liang to feel very comfortable.
Soon, the ECG test was done. The ECG chart would be released in about two minutes.
Qiao Liang reached out to get a paper towel and wiped the alcohol off his body. Then, he followed the doctor to the desk.
“Look at those pictures and tell me what first comes to mind.”
Qiao Liang had an impression of the pictures. It looked like the ‘inkblot test’, which was a projective psychological test. The subject was to observe the pictures. After that, what he answered, his reaction time, the amount of time he paused for, and subconscious actions would all reflect something about his mental state.
Since Qiao Liang did not know much about the details, he could only answer the questions based on his first impression.
The biggest advantage of a projective psychological test was that the intentions behind the questions were hidden, so that a more truthful answer could be obtained.
Ordinary psychological test questions often contained ridiculous questions like ‘Do you think you are mentally ill’. Naturally, that would affect the accuracy of the tests.
On the other hand, the projective method required the host (the doctor) to have professional knowledge. Ordinarily, it would take twenty minutes for one to finish the full inkblot test. However, such tests were normally only prepared for patients who had a mental illness.
The test that Qiao Liang was taking was merely meant to determine visitors’ psychological state. Thus, it did not take that long; it was done in about two minutes.
The doctor kept the pictures, smiled, and nodded. “Alright, don’t be nervous. I’ll go and look at your ECG results.”
The doctor took the ECG graph and sat in the chair across from Qiao Liang again.
“Congratulations, your test…”
Qiao Liang was overjoyed that he would be able to continue with the project. However, at that moment, the doctor fell backward without any warning. At the same time, there was a loud bang, and all the lights in the room went out!
The originally snow-white walls were instantly covered with all sorts of terrifying pictures. There were hideous, roaring faces, twisted arms, dense and bloody handprints… all those scary images of various colors glowed faintly as they surrounded Qiao Liang!
For so
me reason, all the oil paintings of landscapes became blood-red as well. There was even a fluorescent red, twisted, and bloody handprint at the back of the ECG results in Qiao Liang’s hands!
Obviously, this room was not without a set-up. All those pictures had been drawn on the wall using transparent, glow-in-the-dark ink. Once the lights went out, they would become visible!
At the same time, there were bursts of sniggers and mocking laughter coming from around Qiao Liang. Some were high-pitched, and others were low. They echoed coolly around the entire space, causing Qiao Liang’s psychological barriers to collapse at once!
Qiao Liang screamed and stood up, trying to run. However, he tripped on something. Luckily, he held onto the table and prevented himself from falling.
The feeling of something grabbing his ankle and dragging him scared him half to death. He subconsciously shook his trapped ankle… but to no avail.
At that moment, the mocking laughter and sniggers around him got even louder. They sounded maniacal now. There were even some voices that wheezed and coughed as they laughed.
In the chaos, Qiao Liang felt around. Thankfully, it was just a simple noose around his ankle. The other end of the noose was connected to the desk, and the doctor—who had fallen to the ground earlier—had disappeared without a trace.
Clearly, the table and chair were scene props. The four legs of the table were completely fixed in the ground, and there were mechanisms under the chair where the doctor had sat.
It was just that Qiao Liang had no more time to think about those issues. Flustered, he lifted his foot and struggled to free himself from the noose. His first instinct was to try and run for his life. He tried hard not to look at the hideous graffiti on the wall as he ran to the ECG machine beside the bed and picked up the golden lantern on the table.
This was his life-saver!
However, at that moment, a blood-stained hand reached out from underneath the bed!
Qiao Liang was scared out of his wits. He panicked and ran towards the entrance, but that door had already been locked automatically. No matter how hard he tried, he could no longer get it open!
The beast under the bed was going to crawl out at any moment. Qiao Liang had no choice but to run to the other door—the only other exit.
Clearly, when he was lying on the bed for the ECG test, the ‘beast’ had already been lying quietly underneath it, waiting for him to turn back to retrieve his golden lantern.
Qiao Liang opened the door in a panic, wanting to rush out. However, the moment he pulled open the door, a dead body dropped from the opposite wall without warning!
It was a tiny corner. After opening the door, Qiao Liang was to turn right. However, that ‘corpse’ hung from the wall directly opposite the door. A noose had been tied around its neck, causing the corpse to dangle in the air. It was the female doctor that had given Qiao Liang his ECG test earlier.
‘She’ was now bloodied all over, and there was an inexplicable smile on her face.
Obviously, this was a doll that had been created after that doctor’s image. However, it looked so life-like. Coupled with the little light that permeated into the corridor, it still terrified Qiao Liang.
He took two seconds to recover from the shock… before he gripped his golden lantern tighter and escaped!
Chapter 581 - Gradual Progression of Horror Experience
There was another long corridor ahead. However, this time, it was more mottled, dilapidated, and scary compared to the previous one. It had more turns and twists as well.
Every turn was a shock to Qiao Liang.
The long corridor was very quiet as if no monsters would suddenly appear, but such a cramped environment gave Qiao Liang great mental stress.
It was only then that Qiao Liang finally remembered.
He was being tricked!
The girl at the front desk with the zombie getup was terrifying but not scary. She first raised Qiao Liang’s psychological state and alertness more gradually.
Right on the heels of that, the psychiatrist—through a series of arrangements—made Qiao Liang mistakenly believe that Ultimate Horror had not officially started. He made him think that it was a routine physical and psychological test.
Qiao Liang let down his guard as a result.
Of course, the ECG machine should be real so should the psychological test. They could indeed show the health status of the player. They might be asked not to continue on the spot if they were deemed unsuitable for the game.
However, once they find out that tourists had no problems with his health, the horror game would begin as soon as the psychologist announced it!
Qiao Liang was now 100% sure that there must be some hidden mechanism under the table controlling all these. However, he was so scared that he did not possess the courage to explore all these.
Qiao Liang could only hold the golden lantern tightly and walk forward guardedly.
He had to say that these initial arrangements were very extensive, especially when the gentle-looking doctor suddenly started to scare him. It challenged Qiao Liang’s psychological defense.
He escaped, and the path seemed safe, which quickly calmed Qiao Liang down. He might still be frightened, but he would not give up immediately because of excessive fright.
Of course, Qiao Liang was thinking of giving up now, but the current level of horror was maintained at an appropriate level: To yell to the staff to give up the challenges might seem to be making a mountain out of a mole hole.
He felt that he had to continue sticking to it, but he would feel the sense of horror lingering around him, swallowing him up bit by bit as he continued walking.
He looked around, thinking that there must be microphones, cameras, and secret doors everywhere. There would likely be staff coming to rescue him whenever he wanted to give up.
However, it was also because of that… that he felt that he could continue persevering.
“I heard there is a safe house here. I should at least persevere until the first save point?”
Qiao Liang might have dropped out wholeheartedly if he knew that he would have to suffer for another half an hour. However, he looked at the golden lantern in his hand and thought about the safe house. He defeated the inner demon and decided to continue moving on.
…
In the safe house after a while…
The Ultimate Horror project had a loop structure. The central most area was the safe house. Many doors led to the various areas of the Ultimate Horror project.
There was a staff behind every door who would record the progress of the tourist. There must be a corresponding record no matter whether they were entering the safe house or leaving it.
The number of times they entered the safe house and the props they carried would have an impact on the ticket refund at the end.
To put it simply, if they passed the game in one go with the headwear with little devil horns on without entering the safe house, then the ticket would be refunded in full. Moreover, a certificate would be issued.
It could also be viewed as saving their progress. For example, Ruan Guangjian challenged it twice. Ruan Guangjian would head to the safe house on his second try through a special passage and start over from a specific area.
Lin Wan, Ruan Guangjian, Chen Kangtuo, and the rest were at the safe house, waiting for Teacher Qiao to arrive.
The decoration style of the safe house was much more normal than the setting style for the rest of the game. However, there was still a sense of age. That was to prevent tourists from feeling too comfortable, affecting subsequent visits.
In other words, entering the safe house would naturally relax the player. However, the setting in the safe house would constantly remind visitors that they were still in the Ultimate Horror project. That was just a temporary rest point, not the end of the adventure.
Ruan Guangjian looked at his watch, more than 10 minutes had passed.
The amount of time everyone toured around in the Ultimate Horror projec
t was different. That was because some of these projects needed exploration.
For bold people like Ruan Guangjian who walked fast, it would take a shorter time. If one was a cautious and indecisive type, the overall timing would be longer.
At the same time, the staff would closely monitor everything through real-time surveillance cameras.
On the one hand, it was to ensure that the passenger flow was not congested because some projects could only be experienced by one person at a time so they would only let more people in when the other was done with it.
On the other hand, it was also to ensure that the staff could rescue the tourists as soon as possible if they were to give up.
“He wouldn’t give up halfway, right?” Ruan Guangjian was a little worried.
Everyone came to the safe house because they wanted to welcome the exhausted Teacher Qiao when he arrived, to cheer him on so that he could finish the game as soon as possible.
However, it would be awkward… if Teacher Qiao did not persevere to the safe house.
Chen Kangtuo thought for a while. “It should not be. The Ultimate Horror experience was personally adjusted repeatedly by me. I have also limited what the staff could do so the early stages are not so scary. Teacher Qiao has the golden lantern with him so it would make no sense for him not to reach the first save point.”
“But isn’t he taking a bit too long?”
The second save point of the safe house was pushed open as everyone discussed.
Qiao Liang’s face was pale. He stubbornly held the golden lantern in his hand. He let out a sigh of relief after seeing the scene in the safe house.
I’m saved!
Everyone was taken aback. They did not expect Qiao Liang to enter from the second save point instead of the first!
Actually, Qiao Liang wanted to enter the safe house during the first save point to rest. However, the first two projects were a little too ‘weak’ for him. That made him swell and feel that he could persist until the next save point.
He, therefore, chose to skip the first save point.
That decision made his intestines squirm. He really beat himself up after experiencing the other two projects.
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