Qiao Liang first came to an experiment laboratory after escaping the doctor’s room for a psychological test. High shelves were all around, with all sorts of organs such as eyeballs, tongues, and gums preserved in yellow solution. They might be fake, but it still felt very scary.
The shelves were arranged in a maze structure. One should go around it and find a workbench full of various medicine bottles and reagents as if the perverted scientist doing experiments here left temporarily.
Qiao Liang did not dare linger for too long. He did not dare make any sound while in the state of high alert. Yet, he never stopped observing the situation in fear that the perverted scientist would suddenly jump out from somewhere.
Fortunately, no monsters appeared, and he passed it safely.
The second project was two rows of shoe cabinets. No abnormalities were found after careful testing, but after he crossed about a third of the room, a roaring zombie—with the appearance of a cleaner—suddenly appeared behind him and caught up to him.
Qiao Liang ran quickly subconsciously, but the shoe cabinets around him began opening automatically one by one without any warning. The metal cabinet doors flapped against each other to make a ‘ping-ping, pong-pong’ sound as stuff even sprang out from the drawers.
These cabinets obviously had sensors. Contraptions would pop out scary stuff when people walked by it and would return to their original state after they left.
The cleaner zombie behind him was actually walking rather slowly. Its purpose was purely to scare the tourists. The shoe cabinets were the things that really scared them as they were automatic. The faster the tourists ran, the faster they popped out.
A large number of shoe cabinets would open at the same time, making it more terrifying.
The third project was a classroom with a few students taking exams with an invigilator.
The invigilator asked Qiao Liang to sit down in the back row to answer the questions. However, during the process of reading the question, a student in the front on his left raised his hand and said that his pen was broken. The teacher gave him something like a mousetrap with a pen inside.
This student began to dismantle it carefully but failed in the middle of it. Both his hands were clamped directly, bone and blood clearly visible. He began to howl in pain, but the more he struggled, the tighter the clamp became. In the end, his right wrist broke. Four fingers dropped off from his left hand, and he passed out on the floor.
The other students and the teacher were still answering their questions casually while all these happened, turning a blind eye.
Qiao Liang knew that these were all fake. They were all props, but that actor’s skills made it so realistic that he was still frightened out of his wits.
After a period of waiting, Qiao Liang realized he could leave now. However, the student who passed out just now blocked his path so he would have to step over the ‘corpse’.
The fourth small project was a very large space. It was much more spacious than the other small projects he was in previously. It was an oversized kitchen with a complicated structure. The visibility was very low, and the sound of chopping came from in front of him where the light was the strongest. He could see a door.
However, when he got closer, he found a figure that was a sturdy pig-headed man with a butcher knife. When he was chopping were stumps of arms, and the surrounding barrels were filled with disgusting and bloody meat.
Qiao Liang did not even dare approach it. He carried the lamp and circled around two or three times before finally being able to determine that the place might be large, but there seemed to be only one exit. These dark places were all scary scenes, probably made for timid people like Qiao Liang.
When the pig-headed butcher saw Qiao Liang approaching, he squatted down to fill a bowl with broth from the cauldron and handed it to Qiao Liang.
Luckily, it was just a normal bowl of chicken soup.
Qiao Liang finally saw the second save point after he bolted out of the butcher’s room. It was also the second entrance of the safe house. He opened the door to enter without any hesitation.
Qiao Liang finally heaved a sigh of relief after seeing the setting in the safe house. The hand grappling on the golden lantern finally relaxed.
He had revived!
However, he had to say that this arrangement was very insidious.
There was a corridor between every project. It made the tourists able to relax for a short while. However, the subsequent corridors were becoming even more scary and twisted.
The horror levels from the small projects were also gradual.
The first project only had scary scenery, creating an illusion that ‘monsters may appear at any time’, making tourists panicky.
The second project had a zombie that slowly approached them, forcing the tourists to quickly pass through the shoe cabinet hallway where the really scary things were hidden in the shoe cabinets.
The third project had a live performance. He might just be watching it, but the terror had risen to another level.
The fourth project was even worse. They started to engage the tourists directly by getting them to drink something in such an environment.
All projects were not like a monster suddenly popping up to scare people, but they created a subtle atmosphere of terror, slowly pushing up the psychological tolerance of the tourists.
When one was about to lose it, one could then enter the safe house to rest for a short while and to adjust yourself.
Qiao Liang realized that he seemed to be fooled.
This haunted house was not particularly excessive in its degree of horror.
However, it was interesting how they could always control this sense of horror at the critical point so that one could still continue to persevere even though you were frightened!
Chapter 582 - This World has Gone Mad!
A round of applause came as soon as Qiao Liang entered the safe house.
“Teacher Qiao, you’re awesome! You actually persevered to the second save point!”
“That is enough to show that your potential has yet to be fully stimulated!”
“Quickly adjust your state! You’ll have absolutely no problems clearing the Ultimate Horror in one go!”
Qiao Liang sat down with the rest. He could not help but start swelling in pride in the face of the rain of bootlicking.
Everyone said that I’m awesome for persevering to the second save point?
Yes, I think so too!
Qiao Liang’s tense mind finally relaxed, and at the same time, he finally had time to take a good look at the safe house.
There were snacks, drinks, and toilets.
There were several doors around with serial numbers on them, representing different save points. There was a staff beside every door. In addition to selling drinks and snacks, these staff members also jotted down the progress of every tourist and printed vouchers.
They could only return to Ultimate Horror with this voucher.
When Qiao Liang came in, the staff also gave him a corresponding voucher. This piece of paper could be taken along with them. There was an express safe passage in the safe house, leading directly outside.
However, he would obtain the permission of the staff to go to each project from the safe house. That was because every staff had to decide based on the number of tourists currently in each project to see where to send him to so that it would not affect the experience of the other tourists.
In short, Qiao Liang was satisfied and was looking subconsciously at the exit. He had reached the second save point, which seemed to earn him bragging rights!
“Could he… rest now?
Everyone seemed to have realized his thoughts through his expression.
“Teacher Qiao, say, I was right, wasn’t I? It isn’t scary at all, especially the opening. You will not be able to experience anything with this lantern,” Ruan Guangjian said with a smile.
“Come, you should wear this for the rest of the experience.”
Ruan Guangjian gave Qiao Liang the headwear with little devil horns, trying to exchange for the golden lantern in Qiao Liang’s hand.
Qiao Liang’s face changed and tightened his grip on the golden lantern. “Don’t come any closer!”
He was kept alive because of this golden lantern. Wouldn’t he die on the spot if he did not have it?
“Come on! As the saying goes, everything is hard at the beginning. You have had a good start; the rest is about this level! I believe you can do it!” Lin Wan encouraged.
Qiao Liang did not know what to say. “…”
As if I believe you! It would definitely not be the same level moving on!
Qiao Liang had realized that this horror house would continue increasing the level of horror according to the threshold of the tourists, ensuring that the tourists would be scared every time… but not give up.
Qiao Liang knew it very well and was unmoved. He coughed slightly. “I think that such good experiences should be slowly savored over a few times. Brother Ruan set a very good example for me; I’ll save my progress first and try the rest another day…”
“Definitely on another day? Teacher Qiao, I remember you said in your video that you hate such behaviors!” Chen Kangtuo smiled and said.
“If this were to be known by your fans, they would also do the same and vote another day…”
Qiao Liang’s lips twitched.
Sh*t, he was being threatened!
As a UP Master, the one thing he hated to see the most was ‘definitely on another day’. However, was he going to do that now as well?
It really did seem to be a little difficult for him…
“Oh, right, there is one more thing,” Chen Kangtuo continued.
“Teacher Qiao, actually Wu Bin from our HR department had been interviewing Boss Pei’s friends recently, wanting to publish a book that explained Boss Pei’s attitude towards his work and the Tengda spirit.
“I just gave your contact to them. They would probably call you up to interview you soon.
“However…
“If you claim to know Boss Pei the best and yet has not even cleared Boss Pei’s haunted house and gave it an interpretation… wouldn’t this interview be unconvincing?
“I’m afraid they could only find others when the time came…”
Qiao Liang was taken aback. “R-really? You’re not bluffing me, are you?”
Chen Kangtuo shrugged. “We from Tengda have always upheld integrity as our motto! Do you think that Boss Pei will be able to let me go if I lie-bluff you? Look at the chat history if you don’t believe me.”
Chen Kangtuo gave him his cell phone with Wu Bin’s chat log.
Qiao Liang read it and realized that Chen Kangtuo was speaking the truth!
“This…”
Qiao Liang once again fell into a conflicted battle.
What Chen Kangtuo said made sense, wouldn’t it be embarrassing if they interviewed him about the Thriller Hostel… yet he could not answer?
He did not experience Boss Pei’s works entirely as someone who declared that he was the one who understood Boss Pei the most…
That wouldn’t do!
Qiao Liang looked at the golden lantern in hand and finally decided.
“Alright, I’ll clear the entire Thriller Hostel this afternoon!”
…
…
After half an hour, at the exit of Ultimate Horror…
Qiao Liang came out with the golden lantern. He could only describe his current feeling as finally seeing the sun again! However, Qiao Liang felt that all the suffering he went through was worth it, looking at the clearance certificate in his hand!
The prop used by Qiao Liang (golden lantern), the number of times he entered the safe house (twice), and the clearance time (46 minutes) were recorded on the certificate.
Other than this information, there was also a very important sentence on it. “You are the first person who cleared the Ultimate Horror!”
Everything was recorded by the system and was automatically printed on the official certificate as a souvenir.
They did not fool him. There was really the honor of being the first to clear the game.
No one fought for this honor, including Ruan Guangjian.
After receiving this certification, all of Qiao Liang’s previous complex emotions such as fear, grievance, tension, etc. were wiped out and were replaced by inspiration, excitement, and joy!
He might have stayed in Ultimate Horror for quite some time, but he walked slowly in many places because he was scared and ended up extending it to 46 minutes. However, the honor of being the first person to clear the game was worthy of being a permanent collection!
Of course, Qiao Liang knew in his heart that this position was given to him.
Qiao Liang would only be able to be second if Ruan Guangjian really wanted this honor. However, Ruan Guangjian gave this honor up very generously.
A round of applause and cheering sounded outside when Qiao Liang walked out of the exit.
“Congratulations, Old Qiao!”
“You defeated yourself!”
“It’s great! I’m sincerely proud of you as your fan!”
“Boss Pei’s hard work was not in vain!”
The fans that came with him previously, Lin Wan, Chen Kangtuo, and Ruan Guangjian gathered and applauded warmly.
Qiao Liang was moved to tears. He rushed over to hug Ruan Guangjian.
“Brother Ruan, thank you, thank you so much!
“And everyone, I would not have been able to defeat myself and obtain this honor without you!
“At this point, I want to thank… thank Brother Ruan, I would not have persevered without you!
“I would not have been able to clear the game without everyone’s help and would have missed out on this great work from Boss Pei!”
Everyone was now slightly embarrassed, seeing how moved Qiao Liang was.
Actually, everyone just wanted to see you scared shitless and get you to make a video…
However, they were embarrassed to tell him the truth, seeing how happy Qiao Liang was. They could only continue to smile and keep up the act.
“Ah, my cell phone.”
Qiao Liang suddenly realized something and took his phone out of his pocket.
The player could choose whether to bring their cell phone with them when entering the Ultimate Horror or not. If they chose not to bring it, they could deposit it with the staff and collect it when they came out.
Qiao Liang did not bring it in because he did not dare to.
Think about it, in a quiet haunted house where terrible monsters were wandering around, the player was tiptoeing around trying to get past them. At that very moment, their cell phone rang…
That was not a good image to imagine.
That was why Qiao Liang only retrieved his cell phone after he cleared the Ultimate Horror. He saw three missed calls after he unlocked the phone; they were all from Boss Pei.
“Boss Pei… is actually so concerned about me? He called me three times?”
Qiao Liang could not help but feel moved.
Boss Pei was very busy at work. He usually did not reply to messages sent to him. It was very rare to see him take the initiative to call others—and three times in a row at that!
That was enough to show that Boss Pei really cared about him as a friend!
Qiao Liang was confused and timid before he entered the Ultimate Horror. However, his confusion and timidity were wiped out after Qiao Liang exited the Ultimate Horror, leaving only pride.
He immediately dialed back with his head held high.
“Boss Pei! I did it!” He excitedly announced the moment the call was connected.
Pei Qian nearly spat his coffee out on the other end of his phone.
As*hole, what have you done?!
Pei Qian thought that Qiao Liang had given up the idea of going to Ultimate Horror previously after the call. He relaxed and started working on his own stuff.
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However, he picked up his phone to look at the report from a Manage Loss Trainee after a few minutes. He became muddle-headed instantly.
Why did this as*hole still enter?!
I gave you so many favorable conditions, so many temptations… but it did not manage to stop you from your death?
He hurriedly called Qiao Liang, but no one answered!
The first thing that Qiao Liang said when he called back was ‘I did it’, which almost made Pei Qian topple over in anger.
“You… passed the Ultimate Horror? You’re not afraid?”
Pei Qian felt confused in addition to shock.
That was because other than to lose money, he worked on the Thriller Hostel project because he wanted to retaliate against people in his notebook.
The Ultimate Horror was very much like the ‘Smog Mountain’ State Mental Hospital; only a few people should be able to pass it, right? Putting aside the fact that Ruan Guangjian could get through it, Teacher Qiao actually passed it as well?
Then… where was the dignity of the Thriller Hostel?
“I was afraid! I was nearly scared to death!” Qiao Liang said with relief. “However, Boss Pei’s spirit ignited me!
“Just like how mountain climbers cannot not-go to the mountain because the mountain would not move.
“I have to go as well since, Boss Pei, your project is here! I must clear it since it is a puzzle by Boss Pei!”
Pei Qian was speechless and choked with anger. “All the benefits I’ve mentioned before are gone!”
Qiao Liang smiled. “Yes, but I don’t have any regrets! Boss Pei, thank you for letting me understand that this unforgettable trip to the haunted house is more precious than those things added together!”
Pei Qian was silent for a moment before hanging up the phone silently.
Mad, this world has gone mad!
Chapter 583 - The Lonely Expresser
In the Maid Cafe in Thriller Hostel…
“So, what is your impression of Boss Pei?”
Losing Money to Be a Tycoon c1-883 Page 372