25: A new location, escape from the devil's castle

"System, open the panel."

After Fang Xiaolu and Song Yang left, Li Zhou came alone to the Haunted House's inner area.

As his voice fell, a familiar panel appeared before his eyes.

"horror employee system"

"host: Li Zhou"

"Current Number of Horror employees: 2"

"Current fright value: 112004"

"Current Haunted House Horror Level: 1 (100,000 fright value required for upgrade)"

"Current Number of Available employees to Recruit: 0"

"Note: Tourists scared in the Haunted House can generate a certain amount of fright value. fright value can be used to purchase items from the shop, pay employee salaries, and increase the Haunted House's Horror Level."

"For every level the Haunted House's Horror Level increases, the number of available employees to recruit increases by one."

One hundred and twelve thousand fright value!

It had to be said that Goethe was quite effective.

"Open the System Shop!"

Nodding with satisfaction, Li Zhou spoke again.

"Props Category"

"Bone Sign (2000 fright value): A sign made of bones. Those who see this sign will have their sense of direction reduced by 20%."

"human skin lantern (2000 fright value): A lantern made of human skin. Those illuminated by its light will have their vision reduced by 20%."

"Cursed Radio (5000 fright value): A radio cursed by mysterious power. It can play incomprehensible static. Those who hear the sound will have their sanity reduced by 20%."

"Scene Category"

"Underground Tomb Mound (100,000 fright value): Legend says a terrifying entity rests here. Do not disturb its slumber, or else..."

"Devils Castle (100,000 fright value): A mysterious medieval castle. Please escape before the moon descends!"

"Screening Room Number Three (100,000 fright value): Want to experience a horror movie firsthand? Then you must sit in the very last row."

Bypassing the props category, Li Zhou turned his gaze to the scene category.

Perhaps because it was still the beginner shop, there were only three scenes in total.

Li Zhou stroked his chin, a bit unsure which one to purchase.

From the description, the Underground Tomb Mound seemed similar to the Hundred Ghosts Cemetery. He could arrange for zombies in that scene later, but for now, it could be temporarily ignored.

Screening Room Number Three looked like a horror cinema. Coming to a Haunted House to watch a horror movie?

Without suitable horror employees, it wouldn't work. Ignore it too.

Finally, Li Zhou looked at the Devils Castle.

A mysterious medieval castle. Please escape before the moon descends?

How come it looked a bit like an escape room type of scene?

This is it!

His eyes flashed, and Li Zhou made a decision.

Compared to zombies, Goethe was more suitable to be in the spotlight now.

It wasn't that zombies weren't scary, but the current Haunted House was too monotonous, lacking a bit of fun.

This Devils Castle looked very much like an escape room type of venue, which was quite suitable for Goethe.

This kind of horror scene with puzzles, exploration, and escape was exactly what the Haunted House currently lacked.

"System, I want to purchase the Devils Castle venue!"

"Ding, 100,000 fright value consumed. Devils Castle purchased successfully!"

"Please, host, choose the placement location for the venue."

The system's notification sounded.

"Wait, let me think."

Li Zhou began to wander around the inner area, walking past one venue after another.

Tianfeng Haunted House, being located in the suburbs, occupied an extremely large area.

However, most of the places within the venue were just a single scene, with not many facilities, appearing very crude.

Not only were the scenes not connected sequentially, but they also lacked any fun, purely designed to scare for the sake of scaring.

"This will do!"

Finally, Li Zhou returned to the foremost area of the Haunted House, which was the path of life and death.

Since it was a new venue, placing it at the very end would definitely not be suitable.

It would be better to place it in the front area so players could see it as soon as they entered.

As for the original two paths of life and death, they could just be covered over.

To redecorate and expand, all the previous venues would certainly have to be gradually replaced.

"Location selection confirmed. Devils Castle is being arranged."

The system prompt sounded again.

Then, Li Zhou witnessed an incredible scene unfold.

A castle-like structure, resembling the wolf's den where Grey Wolf lived, appeared out of thin air.

The castle was divided into four floors, becoming wider the further down one went.

At the very top, a faint, dim moon was vaguely visible, casting a shimmering glow.

The castle as a whole, besides appearing ancient and mysterious, also exuded an indescribable, eerie atmosphere.

The castle gate was covered with moss and weeds, and faint traces of what seemed to be bloodstains could still be seen on it.

Li Zhou looked at the castle before him, intrigued.

Walking forward, he was about to push the door open to take a look, but he found that no matter how hard he tried, the door remained motionless.

"What's going on?"

Li Zhou was a bit puzzled.

Could this not be the entrance?

"Ding, attention! The new scene requires the host to complete it once personally to gain full access."

"Would you like to formally enter the Devils Castle?"

The system's cold voice suddenly sounded.

Hearing this, Li Zhou raised an eyebrow.

He spent 100,000 fright value to buy this venue, and he still had to clear it himself?

No problem!

"Enter!"

As his voice fell, the door that he couldn't push open earlier suddenly made a creaking sound.

A swirling halo of light appeared before his eyes.

"It's quite convincing."

Without hesitation, Li Zhou walked straight in... The crimson setting sun streamed through the skylight, into the small, dim room.

In the light, countless dust particles floated and sank, giving one a sense of being in an unreal dream.

With a click, Li Zhou emerged from behind a wooden door.

After walking into that halo of light, he saw an ordinary corridor.

At the end of the corridor was the wooden door he had just pushed open.

A smell of decay and mold wafted into his nostrils. Behind the wooden door was a small room, similar to an attic.

Glancing around, Li Zhou noticed a piece of parchment on the floor, exuding an ancient aura.

Bending down to pick it up, a few lines of blood-red text came into view.

"Hello, player, welcome to the Devils Castle."

"Completion Requirement: The castle has a total of four floors. The player's starting location is on the fourth floor."

"Players need to find the castle gate key and escape from the first-floor gate with their teammates before nightfall to complete the instance."

"Hints"

"One: God will protect you."

"Two: The moon will guide you."

…Looking at the content on the parchment, Li Zhou understood that this castle should be a single-player escape type of horror instance.

He needed to escape the castle before nightfall?

He looked up slightly, and through the skylight, the setting sun was like blood.

Seeing this, Li Zhou was somewhat surprised.

The castle was clearly independent of the Haunted House, forming a separate scene.

Quite something.

This castle looked much more impressive than the other venues in the Haunted House.

100,000 fright value, it was truly worth it!