Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 407: Another Reason to Move to Jingzhou
Inside the cramped bathroom, Ruan Guangjian felt his entire body trembling. His legs were weak, his heart was racing, and he had just let out an involuntary scream.
It had to be said that this kind of immersion was completely incomparable to a horror game!
When Ruan Guangjian previously played BE QUIET, he had screamed and shouted throughout the entire experience. But here, his screams were actually fewer—not because this place was less frightening, but because they were being suppressed.
So far, no terrifying ghosts or monsters had appeared in this bathroom. Even if Ruan Guangjian wanted to scream, he couldn't find a clear reason to do so.
Yet from the moment he stepped inside, the terrifying atmosphere had been constantly increasing the psychological pressure on him.
When he first entered, what he saw was a filthy bathroom illuminated by dim yellow light.
In the shadows beyond the reach of the light, there seemed to be dark red stains that resembled blood—but they couldn't be seen clearly.
The floor, toilet, and sink were all coated with a greasy-looking layer of grime, making the entire scene appear even more dilapidated, filthy, and horrifying.
Close the door.
Lock it.
Turn off the light.
Light the candle and place it in front of the mirror.
Every step required enormous courage, and every step pushed the limits of what he could endure.
Closing and locking the door suggested to visitors that they were now locked inside together with whatever horrors lurked there, reinforcing the feeling that there was no escape. Turning off the light further restricted the visitor's vision, leaving them in darkness with only the faint glow of the candle for illumination.
When he saw himself in the mirror, Ruan Guangjian instinctively screamed. Under the candlelight, half of his face was hidden in shadow, making him look inexplicably terrifying.
After the scream, Ruan Guangjian gradually calmed down.
"What's the next step…"
"Right—cover both eyes, keep them covered for more than three seconds, then look at the mirror."
Ruan Guangjian took a deep breath, covered his eyes, silently counted to three, and then opened them.
His pupils suddenly contracted!
There was nothing in the mirror.
Including himself.
Only the candle continued to burn quietly, while the Ruan Guangjian in the mirror seemed to have simply vanished.
Before he could even process what had happened, a pair of blood-red eyes suddenly appeared in the mirror. They snapped open, and two streams of bloody tears flowed down!
The tears flowed quickly. They weren't just part of the reflection—they actually seeped out from the lower edge of the mirror and dripped onto the sink!
"AHHH!!!"
…
Outside, everyone heard another bloodcurdling scream.
Pei Qian instinctively clutched his chest.
Since he wasn't inside the experience himself, he didn't feel that the haunted house was particularly scary. If anything, Ruan Guangjian's screams were the truly frightening part.
Pei Qian was starting to feel a little uneasy watching this.
"If it looks like he can't take it anymore, go in immediately and bring him out," he said.
Everyone nodded. Each of them looked tense, ready to rush in and rescue Ruan Guangjian at a moment's notice.
…
After screaming, Ruan Guangjian quickly calmed himself down again.
He turned on the faucet and began to wash his hands.
However, what flowed out of the faucet was not clear water, but a slightly viscous red liquid!
Ruan Guangjian let out another short scream and hurriedly pulled his hands back.
Strangely, when he looked at his hands under the candlelight, there were no red bloodstains on them.
He quickly turned off the faucet. After another round of mental preparation, he lay down in the bathtub.
He lay there for more than ten seconds. Nothing happened.
Only then did he realize he had skipped a step.
Next to the bathtub was a rusty timer. Ruan Guangjian fumbled around until he found it, then gently pressed it.
Immediately, the timer began making a click, click sound as its hand started moving.
In the silent bathroom, that monotonous sound was like a steel rasp, constantly scraping against Ruan Guangjian's fragile nerves.
He tightly covered his eyes with both hands, remembering the instructions not to make any sound.
With the click, click echoing in the room, time passed second by second.
Ruan Guangjian originally thought he only needed to endure for three minutes—once the click, click stopped, it would be over.
But clearly, he was wrong.
From the locked door came the sound of a key being inserted.
Ruan Guangjian could even tell that the key had already slid into the keyhole.
The person outside twisted it many times but still couldn't open the door—because the latch on the inside had already been secured.
Then, a heavy thud sounded from outside the door.
Bang!
Bang!
The repeated blows made Ruan Guangjian's heart race and his entire body tremble. He changed his posture, covering one eye with one hand and his mouth with the other so that he wouldn't accidentally make a sound.
Suddenly, the banging stopped. It seemed the person outside had given up.
Even though he knew it was fake, Ruan Guangjian couldn't help but let out a long breath of relief.
However, just as his mind began to relax slightly, the latch on the door suddenly made a "click" sound, followed by a long "creak."
For some unknown reason, the latch had opened—and the door was pushed open!
Heavy footsteps echoed as someone wearing boots stepped into the narrow bathroom.
The person breathed heavily, as if searching for something. The leather boots made dull thuds against the floor, but also produced sticky squelching sounds, as if the soles were coated in thick blood.
Behind the footsteps came a harsh scraping noise, like some metal object being dragged across the ground.
Probably a large axe or hammer.
Ruan Guangjian kept his eyes and mouth tightly covered, not daring to make a single sound.
Click
The light turned on. The dim yellow glow seeped through the gaps between his fingers and onto his eyelids, making him clearly feel that the room had suddenly become brighter.
The footsteps outside stopped, but the breathing hadn't moved away.
The shower curtain was slowly—very slowly—pulled open.
The heavy breathing seemed even closer now. Ruan Guangjian even had the illusion that the person's breath was faintly brushing against his hands…
Click
The rusty timer stopped.
That meant the three-minute countdown had ended.
According to the instructions, the challenge should now be completed. He just needed to open his eyes and leave.
But Ruan Guangjian didn't dare open them.
He hadn't heard any footsteps leaving. The person seemed to still be standing beside the bathtub, silently holding an axe high in the air, staring at him…
After waiting a full minute, Ruan Guangjian finally dared to slowly open a tiny gap between his fingers and cautiously peek outside.
Under the dim yellow light, everything looked exactly the same. The axe-wielding killer he had imagined was nowhere to be seen.
Ruan Guangjian let out a long sigh of relief. He climbed out of the bathtub, but his legs were so weak that he could only shuffle slowly toward the door.
The latch looked perfectly normal—it didn't seem to have been opened at all.
Ruan Guangjian hurriedly lifted the latch and pulled the door inward, preparing to leave.
However, at some unknown point, a bright red bloody handprint had appeared on the outside of the door—along with an axe covered in blood!
"AHHHHH!!!!"
…
Outside, everyone felt deeply guilty.
Chen Kangtuo had been worried the entire time, afraid that Ruan Guangjian might be genuinely frightened out of his wits.
After all, this big shot was a close friend of President Pei. He had been drawing concept art for Tengda Group since the days of the Ghost General project and could be said to have witnessed Tengda Group's rise from the very beginning.
In a sense, Ruan Guangjian's artwork had given Tengda Group's games their soul!
If something bad happened to such an important figure at Fright Hostel, it would be impossible to bear the responsibility.
Even Pei Qian began to reflect on whether he had gone a bit too far.
Sigh… when will grudges ever end? Seeing how badly he was scared, I'll forgive him this time.
Anyway, I've basically gotten my revenge. I can move his name a little further down the blacklist for now.
When they saw that Ruan Guangjian had indeed been scared at the end, everyone hurried over to him.
"Are you alright?"
"You weren't too frightened, were you?"
"Quick, quick—Master Ruan, please sit down."
Like stars surrounding the moon, they escorted him over to a seat.
Pei Qian asked with concern, "How was it? Are you okay?"
Ruan Guangjian's face was flushed, and he looked incredibly energized.
"President Pei, this haunted house you made… is amazing!!!"
He raised a thumbs-up.
"Are there any other projects? I want to try them!"
Pei Qian stared at him blankly as a question mark slowly appeared above his head.
?
At this moment, Ruan Guangjian's eyes were shining, and his entire demeanor seemed completely transformed. He looked even more excited than when he was drawing!
Pei Qian instantly felt like he had been tricked.
Didn't you say haunted houses scare you the most?
Then what do you mean by shouting "I want to try them"?
Wasn't a normal person supposed to go in once and then never want to enter again?
And usually people would come out pale-faced and trembling. But not him—his face was flushed, his complexion looked great, and his mental state was excellent. He looked like he could jump three feet into the air!
The scene left everyone present frozen in place.
President Pei reacted the fastest.
Pei Qian gritted his teeth and said, "Didn't you hear him? Arrange the other two projects as well!!"
…
…
"President Pei, I've boarded the plane."
"Thank you very much for the hospitality during this time. Whether it was the roller coaster when I first arrived or the haunted house at the end, both left me with unforgettable memories!"
"The haunted house has given me another reason to move to Jingzhou. After I get back, I'll immediately start preparing for the relocation of my studio. I hope President Pei can speed up the progress of the haunted house, I can't wait to experience the third major attraction!"
"See you after the New Year!"
Looking at the message sent by Ruan Guangjian, Pei Qian leaned back in his boss chair, his hands hanging limply at his sides.
Pei Qian felt as if a mouthful of blood was stuck in his chest.
When Ruan Guangjian arrived, Pei Qian had planned to give him a show of authority—but Ruan Guangjian ended up having a great time.
When Ruan Guangjian was leaving, Pei Qian tried to intimidate him again—but Ruan Guangjian still had a great time!
Back then, even when Qiao Liang came to Jingzhou, President Pei had never suffered such a crushing defeat…
What made it even more infuriating was that when Ruan Guangjian experienced the first project, he had clearly been scared half to death—screaming and trembling the whole time. Yet after coming out, he was completely fine and even shouted that he wanted to try the other projects!
So Pei Qian immediately arranged the remaining two.
And Ruan Guangjian's reaction was exactly the same: during the experience he panicked like crazy, looking as if he might faint at any moment. But the moment he came out, he was lively and energetic again—and wanted to go in once more!
The three projects that had taken a full month to complete were all conquered by Ruan Guangjian in just one hour…
Pei Qian had no more moves left. He could only watch Ruan Guangjian leave in high spirits, completely helpless.
The feeling was like carefully arranging the Eighty-One Trials for Tang Sanzang on his journey to obtain the scriptures in the West—only for Tang Sanzang to reach the destination in three days and then say:
"That's it?"
This was simply unbearable!
"Just you wait. When my Fright Hostel reaches its final form, I'll scare you so badly you'll have to walk out while holding onto the wall!" Pei Qian said resentfully.
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