Chapter 66: "The Ring at Midnight"
After choosing to purchase, a virtual egg appeared before Qiao Mian.
It was shaped like a chicken egg, dazzlingly colorful.
“One egg to start, evolution depends on swallowing,” Qiao Mian muttered instinctively.
He focused his gaze on the countdown above the colorful egg.
“18299:59:58.”
The first number represented hours, the second minutes, the last seconds.
Ten months.
Spending money could speed up the hatching.
He sighed regretfully.
The smallest increment for reducing time was a month.
Each reduction cost a million.
“Normal business operations would take another ten days to raise the money,” Qiao Mian rested his hands behind his head and silently gazed skyward.
Through the gaps in the leaves, he saw the stars on the firmament above.
Twinkling.
Sparkling.
“When will I be able to go up there and see for myself?” Qiao Mian wondered silently.
In truth, there was a simple way.
He could get a starship from the Transformers universe.
But the price for such a ship was even higher.
He really couldn’t bear to spend that much.
The main issue was poverty.
Make money!
He gritted his teeth and said to himself.
...
The Fantasy Park continued its normal operations.
It remained the headline of every major media outlet.
Everything brought out of here was coveted by the outside world.
The baby dinosaur corpse Chen Ji took out sold for three hundred million!
Originally, several buyers tried to collude to drive the price down, but then the relevant department of the Rabbit Nation intervened, resulting in a decent price.
The footage of Qiao Lin and Su Yue Ling appearing in the livestream, and the speculation about Qiao Lin’s fighting prowess, was quietly erased from the internet.
There were legends in the village about “Old Lin” getting lucky and entering the Fantasy Park.
Some said his son was exceptional, working in the park and bringing the old couple in to retire.
Others recalled an old beggar who came to the village years ago, only the Qiao family offered him food, and that beggar was actually the incarnation of “Mr. Qiao.”
Some even claimed that Mr. Qiao was Qiao Mian’s grandfather, that the old man wasn’t from Earth, and faked his death to enter the mountains and become an immortal.
But such “rumors” only circulated in a very limited scope; most villagers didn’t believe them.
Especially as the village began its demolition, everyone’s focus shifted to compensation and the dozen or so government-offered options, leaving little interest in such matters.
Thus.
Time slipped quietly by.
Ten days later.
---
“Closing again tomorrow?” Wang Lang, sitting on the sofa, asked.
Qiao Mian looked at him with a half-smile: “Why not?”
“Of course not,” Wang Lang replied.
He hesitated slightly before saying, “Does the park have no fixed closing schedule?”
Qiao Mian shook his head: “None.”
Seeing Wang Lang about to speak, Qiao Mian continued, “Depends on my mood.”
Wang Lang closed his mouth.
“Even when closed, volunteers can still enter,” Qiao Mian said.
“Thank you, Mr. Qiao,” Wang Lang replied gratefully.
Could it be Mr. Qiao felt the volunteers worked too hard and gave them special benefits?
The volunteers worked diligently every day, with no time to wander.
Even if they saw something precious, they wouldn’t dare take it.
Otherwise, Qiao Mian might not mind, but the Rabbit Nation government, which ran everything, certainly wouldn’t allow it.
They knew that to maintain this relationship, they had to ensure satisfaction.
Any misstep, losing such a partnership, and everyone would be left with nowhere to cry.
Qiao Mian waved his hand, saying, “Business resumes in two days, and there will be more items then.”
“Could you share any details?” Wang Lang couldn’t help asking.
Qiao Mian smiled mysteriously: “Not at liberty to disclose.”
He himself had no idea what might appear.
But now that he’d accumulated ten million game coins, he could directly “accelerate” the dimensional incubator.
The minimum increment was a million coins, which had wasted quite a bit.
After chatting casually with Wang Lang for a while, and ordering a terror bird to carry him away, Qiao Mian summoned the game interface.
He saw the colorful egg.
“Zero, spend ten million game coins to accelerate the dimensional incubator,” Qiao Mian commanded.
His game coin balance instantly dropped by more than half, leaving just under two million.
Under Qiao Mian’s gaze, as a “crack” sounded, the eggshell suddenly broke.
He watched nervously.
Within the shattered shell, a mass of white mist appeared.
From within the mist, hints of red gradually emerged.
The mist swirled, and the red grew more pronounced.
After about three seconds, the red suddenly exploded like a burst of blood.
Qiao Mian jumped in fright.
His back instinctively pressed tighter to the sofa, and he finally saw that the blood formed four characters.
“Ring at Midnight.”
After recognizing the title, Qiao Mian swallowed hard.
A chill rose from his spine, surging straight to the crown of his head.
He shivered all over, his face a shade paler.
It had come, just as expected!
He didn’t consider himself a coward, but he truly feared ghosts.
---
Regarding the horror film “Ring at Midnight,” he had watched it haphazardly in college.
He remembered listening to music with headphones during a general course, watching it half-distracted.
Even so, for four consecutive nights he was startled awake by nightmares.
Ghosts.
Truly something that made one’s scalp tingle.
After obtaining the “Build Fantasy Park from Zero” game, he’d anticipated that sooner or later he would encounter a real ghost, but hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.
“Should I just give up?” Qiao Mian struggled with the decision.
Was it too wasteful to abandon a dimension incubated with eleven million coins?
“Zero, are there real ghosts in this dimension?” Qiao Mian asked.
“Yes,” Zero replied.
As if catching on to Qiao Mian’s intentions, Zero displayed a bit of intelligence: “Ghosts can also be recruited as players’ staff.”
Staff recruitment?
Qiao Mian frowned slightly.
Have ghosts work for him?
His gaze flickered.
Sounded like a good idea.
He wrestled with the thought for a while, deciding he couldn’t give up.
The only way to overcome fear was to face it head-on.
Just as Zero said, even ghosts could become his employees.
What was there to fear?
Monsters and demons, faced with the capitalist stick, would have to obediently submit to the 996 grind.
Qiao Mian took a deep breath and purchased a “Dimensional Item Finder.”
Upon use, a barrage of prompts appeared before him.
[Key character discovered: Sadako]
[Key item found: Basic Hypnosis]
[Key item found: Basic Precognition]
[Key item found: Basic Healing]
[New module discovered: Haunted House]
Qiao Mian read through them all at once.
His eyes brightened.
Although this dimension didn’t bring a mountain of items like “The Condor Heroes,” each one was extremely valuable.
Basic Hypnosis, Basic Precognition, Basic Healing—these were genuine superpowers.
As for the haunted house...
Better to be scared together than alone.
It would be perfect to watch others panic and make fools of themselves.
...