Starting with a haunted house to create a thrilling game arena

Chapter 28: Déjà Vu

"Why is the streamer playing this video over and over again? This is ridiculous! You can't just leave a stream like this!"

"Haha, the streamer's run out of ideas, he's started doing rubbish stuff. The best comment is 'worse than biting a lighter!'"

"Kids, type '1' to revive the last streamer! That last streamer really scared me; it was just a flash in the pan!"

Comments floated by.

Many people felt that Zhang Ze had no future and left the live stream.

A small number of people seemed to realize that something was wrong, but because they were separated by a screen, they couldn't observe the video up close like Zhang Ze.

after awhile.

A comment on his phone caught Zhang Ze's eye.

"Answerer, I searched several times and found this news article. It's in the 'Mystery Case Tracking' news account."

"But this video isn't in the news at all!!"

There's something wrong with your video!

Upon seeing this comment, Zhang Ze fell silent. The air conditioning wasn't on in the private room, yet Zhang Ze could still feel a chill inexplicably. The temperature had dropped considerably, and he felt a vague unease in his heart.

Sure enough, there was a problem with the video, but even he didn't know what the problem was.

The nightmare mission is not over yet.

Zhang Ze had no choice but to drag the progress bar again.

The fourth rebroadcast.

Lin Xiaomei: "Hello, Dr. Gao..."

Dr. Gao: "The reason for the loss of media..."

The video ends at 1 minute and 32 seconds.

Dr. Gao frowned suddenly halfway through reading. "Don't you have a sense of déjà vu? I feel like we've already done this interview before. Is it just my imagination?"

Lin Xiaomei agreed, "I also feel it's very familiar, like we've interviewed each other before, it's so strange..."

The two began a new conversation.

But there isn't much time left.

Zhang Ze saw the two people exchange a few words and their expressions were slightly strange, but he didn't think about it in any other way. Soon, the video ended at 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

The fifth rebroadcast.

Lin Xiaomei: "Hello, Dr. Gao..."

Dr. Gao: "Lost media..."

Before he could even finish his first sentence, Dr. Gao rubbed his forehead. "This all feels so familiar. This isn't our first interview, is it?"

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: ①⓪①ⓚⓚⓢ.ⓒⓞⓜ]

Lin Xiaomei nodded. "I feel the same way. I even know how you'll answer me. You'll analyze from a psychological perspective the possibility that lost media could induce mental illness leading to death or disappearance..."

Dr. Gao did not answer.

Instead, he opened his phone, entered a number, seemingly about to call someone, and after a few seconds, his expression changed slightly.

"There is no cell phone signal."

"Did you install a signal jammer in your studio?"

Lin Xiaomei was clearly flustered. "This shouldn't be happening. I'll call Mr. Yue and ask him."

After saying that, Lin Xiaomei also took out her phone, a small-screen phone with a pink case. After entering a number, the beeping was still the same...

"The number you dialed is not in service area."

My phone has no signal.

Lin Xiaomei was also dumbfounded. She put down the microphone, went to the door of the room, turned the doorknob, and tried to open the door.

No matter how she turned the doorknob, the door remained locked and she couldn't open it.

The video ends.

The sixth rebroadcast.

The seventh rebroadcast.

The eighth rebroadcast.

……

The seventeenth rebroadcast.

Lin Xiaomei didn't say anything, her expression was extremely serious from the start, and she stood up directly from her seat.

The same applies to Dr. Gao.

The two of them rammed the door together, shouting at the outside as they did so.

Is anyone there?

Is anyone there??

"Yue Pan, Zhao Haiyang, Dongxing!! Is anyone there? Answer me!!"

"Open the door! This isn't funny at all!"

He shouted in a fit of rage for over a minute.

There was no movement outside the door.

The attempt to ram the door also failed.

Lin Xiaomei and Dr. Gao sat on the ground, panting heavily. They had exhausted a lot of energy, but they still couldn't open the door. The strange things happening here were beyond the realm of the ordinary.

"This is not normal. We all know what's going to happen next. What's going on?"

"It's like a time loop; we're trapped here!!"

……

The 21st rebroadcast.

Dr. Gao disassembled the chair and made a simple crowbar, attempting to pry open the door, but he was unsuccessful.

……

The 28th rebroadcast.

Her attempts to pry open the door and climb through the window both failed. Lin Xiaomei tried to reach her hand out through the crack in the window, but her expression quickly turned to terror. There seemed to be something outside the window, so she gave up on trying to open it.

……

The 32nd rebroadcast.

Lin Xiaomei attempted suicide with a pen, but was stopped by Dr. Gao.

……

The 39th rebroadcast.

The camera couldn't see Lin Xiaomei and Dr. Gao; the entire scene was covered by a piece of paper with a sentence written in red pen on it.

"Stop playing it."

……

Zhang Ze stopped dragging the progress bar.

A damp and chilly atmosphere enveloped the internet cafe's private room. He felt a chill run down his spine. Watching the video, he had a feeling that the people in the video weren't just a string of data.

Instead, it's like the real-life Lin Xiaomei and Dr. Gao, trapped in the room.

But how is that possible?

Lin Xiaomei is perfectly fine; she even went to Zhang Ze's haunted house a couple of days ago.

Needless to say, Dr. Gao.

The doctor in the video looks younger. As for the current doctor, Zhang Ze has no doubt about his abilities. He is the president of the Strange Tales Association and can even be called a half-step evil god.

It's bizarre, so very bizarre.

Zhang Ze had never seen such a bizarre video before. Just watching it made his blood feel like it was frozen, and his breathing slowed down. It took him a while to recover.

[Task Completed]

[Please be alone in a room at midnight, find the lost media item numbered 021, and watch the live stream.]

[Reward Obtained: Horror Art Talent]

You may have envied others who possess exceptional artistic talent, able to create whatever they desire with a paintbrush. Now you can do it too, the only difference being that your work may not be shown to the living...

The system has indicated that the Nightmare mission is complete.

There is no longer any need to replay the video.

Suddenly, a multitude of art techniques flooded Zhang Ze's mind, including human anatomy, shadows, perspective, and many other skills that only professional art students could learn.

What puzzled Zhang Ze was that one of these artistic talents was rather special.

Painting birds.

To be precise, it's a painting of crows.

No art movement would specifically emphasize painting crows, let alone single them out.

Unless it's... Lingling.

"No, what's the use of teaching me to draw?"

"Even if I could draw as well as Lingling, what good would it do? Would I be asked to change careers and become an illustrator?"

This reward is a bit abstract.

Chen Ge gets a puppet-making skill as a reward for completing the Nightmare mission, but he gets a set of artistic talents directly. Even if it's a terrifying artistic talent, he probably won't find a place to use it.

We can't exactly make him draw the promotional posters for his own haunted house.

Just as Zhang Ze was speechless and about to turn off the live stream, he saw the comments in the background again.

"The internet cafe is on fire..."

"The firefighters can't get in..."

"The people inside... can't escape?"

"Um?"