Jian Jing, Jiang BaiYan, Cao Yu, Zheng Keyan, Han Bo and Coco were shocked when the set suddenly turned into a hellish nightmare right before they were about to wrap up for the day.
As the floor sharply tilted, Jian Jing, who was already off-balance, was immediately swept into a corner, bruising her sore back against the wall.
"Ms. Jing!" Jiang BaiYan rushed over to shield her from the incoming plastic balls. "Are you okay? Can you still walk?" He helped her up while asking.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Cao Yu waved at them from the stairwell. "Over here!"
"I'm fine," Jian Jing endured the pain and reached behind Jiang BaiYan's back to retrieve the gun their team had been assigned. She loaded it and flicked off the safety.
Jiang BaiYan supported her as they sprinted wildly.
But the sloped floor and scattered plastic balls disrupted the laser cage, allowing several monsters to break free and chase after them.
"Forget it, just go!" Cao Yu called for everyone. "Downstairs, into the tunnel."
The short distance from the first floor lobby to the basement proved extremely difficult for the group.
The plastic balls rolling everywhere impeded their movement while the monsters pursued them relentlessly. Helen crawled on the wall like a giant octopus, chasing them down mercilessly.
It was incredibly thrilling.
The standoff continued until the end of the hallway where a decorative painting concealed a secret passage.
The tunnel was high enough to stand and walk through, but very narrow, barely wide enough for one person.
"Ladies first," Cao Yu directed.
Zheng Keyan and Coco readily agreed, but when it was Jian Jing's turn, she took a breath, leaned against the wall and signaled for them to go ahead while she turned and fired at the oncoming monsters with her gun.
Han Bo understood her plan and also chose to stay back to cover their retreat.
Cao Yu and Jiang BaiYan had no weapons and didn't want to slow the others down, so they slipped away to the side.
Under a hail of bullets, the monsters' advance was greatly slowed.
But they were only slowed, not killed. The number that actually died was low.
"Almost out of ammo," Jian Jing said softly. "We'll retreat one by one and cover each other. You first."
Han Bo nodded and immediately crawled into the passage.
Jian Jing moved backward while firing, emptying a magazine before saying, "Your turn, cover me." She crouched low, leaving Han Bo ample space to counterattack.
Han Bo understood her tactic. As he retreated, he fired continuously until his ammo was spent, then they switched - Jian Jing fired while Han Bo reloaded. They took turns blocking the monsters in the narrow tunnel.
Shouts of alarm came from behind.
"Hurry out!" Cao Yu called to them.
Han Bo and Jian Jing exited the tunnel one after the other, and two men in black suits moved up with machine guns, wildly spraying the passage.
Rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat.
The world went quiet.
Jian Jing looked at the new NPCs in bewilderment and asked guardedly, "Who are you?"
"X Club," the leader with sunglasses answered in stiff Mandarin. "Please give me the chip."
"This?" Zheng Keyan took out the object they had found in the puzzle box.
The leader looked at it and nodded, handing her an envelope in return. He then gestured for his heavily armed men to retreat with him.
Zheng Keyan: "Uh, that's it?"
Coco: "It's over?"
Cao Yu: "I guess so..."
Han Bo: "What does the note say?"
Zheng Keyan opened the envelope which contained a short letter:
Thank you for your help. X Club will remember your heroic deeds. Perhaps we will meet again, when there are more arduous tasks...
--
Comments after broadcast:
Comment 1: What's going on?
Comment 2: Where did the backup come from?
Comment 3: No explanation? Did they get cut for not speaking Chinese?
Comment 4: X Club appeared before, so this must be a sequel!
Comment 5: Checked their website, this haunted house has a series - Murder Hospital was the first, next one's called Fatal Factory.
Comment 6: Oh, going to that strange factory next?
...
--
Crack crack crack. As the guests stood looking at each other in confusion, fireworks went off and ribbons fluttered down.
The bright lights came on as the director rolled in a cart with a cake on it that read "Congratulations" in big letters: "Congratulations on completing the mission."
It was over.
Time to wrap.
Time to go home.
Everyone's faces lit up with genuine smiles.
"Let's cut the cake together."
They went through the ceremonial team rituals with cheers and shouts, then the ravenously hungry group eagerly dug into the cake.
The production assistant came over with a first-aid kit: "Ms. Jing, let our medic take a look at your injuries."
"Thanks for the trouble." Jian Jing didn't want to do anything except eat.
The medics cleaned her minor wounds and iced her ankle: "Just a sprain, nothing serious. It'll be better in a couple days."
"Thank you." Jian Jing hesitated, then asked, "When can we go back to the hotel to rest?"
"The plan was to let everyone sleep until 5am," the PA said. "There's still an interview to film, but Ms. Jing can go back to the sick room to rest if you'd like."
Jian Jing: "..." No way she could sleep in the sick room.
The others felt the same, opting to chug coffee or energy drinks to stay alert for the upcoming interview.
Because the timing was so awkward, everyone wanted to wrap up quickly and go rest, so the interviews were conducted simultaneously.
--
Post-broadcast interview time.
The first was with Cao Yu.
PD: "Mr. Cao, how was the haunted house experience?"
Cao Yu smiled wryly: "Too thrilling, it challenged both mental and physical limits."
...
PD: "So Mr. Cao, which guest do you think performed the best this time?"
"Everyone did very well." Cao Yu gave a meaningless answer, then added, "If I must pick one, I'd say Han Bo. He was very brave and responsible."
Comment 1: I'm impressed by Han Bo this time.
Comment 2: He's low-key but steadily improving.
The second interview was with Zheng Keyan.
The PD asked the same questions about her experience.
Zheng Keyan laughed: "So scary, I almost died from fright several times. The NPCs were so realistic, truly amazing."
The last question was also about who was the MVP.
Zheng Keyan thought for a long time before saying: "Mr. Cao. He kept soothing our emotions the entire time, very calm. He always had a clear mind when the rest of us were panicking. I feel like his presence wasn't flashy but indispensable to the team."
Comment 1: Well said!
Comment 2: Yes, the strategist is like the loadstar, very reassuring.
Comment 3: U1S1, his performance was pretty mediocre this time.
The third interview was Han Bo.
He named Jiang BaiYan as his MVP: "Xiao Bai was really brave in the end, not easy for him. I think that deserves recognition."
Comment 1: CP giving out candy!
Comment 2: So caring.
Comment 3: Socialist brotherhood!
Comment 4: Not worth it for Ms. Jian.
Comment 5: Xiao Bai's tone is too calm, feels like there's something going on, not like him.
Comment 6: The CP is probably being tsundere, very businesslike tone, obviously implying something.
The fourth was Coco.
She also picked Han Bo: "Extremely brave, didn't falter at critical moments. When the monsters chased us, he shielded me and Big Sis Yan behind him, not letting the monsters make direct contact. Definitely him."
Comment 1: Haha Han Bo made a comeback!
Comment 2: Didn't notice before, but Han Bo is actually quite manly.
Comment 3: Unlike certain cowards.
Comment 4: Don't start fanwars.
The fifth was Jiang BaiYan.
He voted for Coco: "As a newcomer, she did well."
Comment 1: WTF, I thought little bro would vote for Ms. Jian!
Comment 2: All talk but pays attention to her the whole time, tsk tsk.
Comment 3: This CP is so sweet!
Comment 4: Not worth it for Ms. Jian!
Comment 5: Xiao Bai's tone is too flat, feels like something's going on, not like him.
The last interview was with Jian Jing.
The PD asked the usual questions about her experience.
Jian Jing said: "Very fun, great immersive experience, the combat was very realistic."
The PD also asked: "Any regrets?"
She thought for a bit before replying: "The story has a sequel. The factory's secrets haven't been revealed yet, is it a base for studying aliens?"
"That's the next project in the X Haunted House series," the PD smiled. "Still in early planning, we don't know much yet."
They chatted about more details, and of course didn't forget to vote for the MVP.
Jian Jing murmured, "Han Bo and Coco are both excellent, but I'm more inclined towards Coco. Even though this was a difficult first episode for her, she still performed remarkably. She's very opinionated and brave, and I really admire girls like that."
Live Comment 1: The attraction between ladies
Live Comment 2: Well said!
Live Comment 3: Wait, so no one voted for Jian Jing?
Live Comment 4: Is this a conspiracy?? I can understand looking out for the newbie, but isn't this too much?
Live Comment 5: Confused face, didn't Jian Jing decrypt the most and contribute the most today?
Live Comment 6: Yeah, it's fine if Jian Jing didn't vote for herself, but how did no one else vote for her?
Live Comment 7: Definitely a conspiracy, disappointing
Live Comment 8: Look at the bonus scene! Jian Jing got the big bonus egg from the haunted house!!
Live Comment 9: Ohhh~~ The bonus is awesome! Jian Jing is awesome!! It's much more valuable than the Best of the Episode.
Live Comment 10: Jian Jing is amazing!!
......
--
After the interview ended, Jiang BaiYan specifically sought out Jian Jing and leaked the inside story: "Coco's company wants to promote her, they gave me a heads up beforehand. My vote will definitely go to her. I can guess who everyone else will vote for too."
He counted off on his fingers: "Han Bo's votes alternate - last time he voted for Cao Yu, so this time it'll be either me or Zheng Keyan. But he admires Zheng Keyan too much, so voting for her would spark dating rumors and her fans would come after him. Cao Yu definitely won't vote for you. I did alright, so he might vote for Han Bo and Coco. Zheng Keyan will probably vote for Cao Yu to make him feel better since you did so well.
Let me think, Coco won't vote for me since that would reek of staged hype if we voted for each other. Voting for Cao Yu and Zheng Keyan would be a waste, so maybe Han Bo to stir up buzz.
Jian Jing listened in astonishment and sincerely marveled, "There are so many tricks."
"Teacher Jian, did you vote for me?" he asked.
Jian Jing: "No."
"Why not?" He pouted sadly, "Wasn't I brave at the end?"
"No reason."
"I see." Jiang BaiYan sulked briefly before consoling her, "Actually, having fewer votes is a good thing. If everyone had voted for you, the audience would nitpick everything, feeling you weren't good enough here and there. Since you didn't get Best of the Episode, the audience will feel sorry for you instead, especially since the teacher's performance was plain to see. They'll look forward to your next recording even more. This is hunger marketing, you could also call it tormenting your fans. I bet 5 cents the show deliberately rigged it."
Jian Jing glanced at him and deliberately asked, "Do you think I care about stuff like that?"
"Not caring about results doesn't mean not caring about fairness," he retorted.
She was momentarily lost for words.
He had a point. Who got Best of the Episode wasn't important since all the guests had standout moments, but disregarding whether she contributed the most or not, having not a single person vote for her would make anyone feel a bit miffed.
"Fine," Jian Jing reluctantly conceded, "I am a little unhappy. I can accept them not voting for me since we're not close, but why didn't you vote for me?"
Jiang BaiYan pleaded with clasped hands, "I'm sorry, I was wrong. In my heart, Teacher Jian is the most amazing."
"Easy to say that now." She said coldly, "I don't believe you."
Jiang BaiYan: Dejected.jpg
"Jian." The PD walked over smiling, pretending not to notice their private conversation. "The stats are out. You killed the most monsters, so the haunted house has a commemorative gift for you."
She hinted suggestively, "Only you got one."
Jiang BaiYan whispered in her ear, "Don't fall for it. You probably didn't get a single vote. They're afraid of backlash from the viewers and came up with this last minute ploy. Don't believe them, they're sinister."
"Still better than all talk." Jian Jing elbowed his head away. "What is it?"
The PD said, "It's a secret. You'll find out tomorrow."
