"The Specters' Favored, your courage is admirable. The Nightmare Mission this time is both a test and a reward!
"The name of the game is 'Deep Water'. It can allow you to bypass the line between the living and the dead, giving you the opportunity to see those who have unfortunately passed away.
"Mission Requirement: Enter the bathroom alone at 3:30 am. Lock the door and turn off the lights. Fill the tub with water and light a candle by the side before lying in it. The period between 3:30 and 3:40 am is when Yin energy peaks, where the Yin and Yang cycles converge. At 3:44 am, hold your breath, submerge yourself underwater, and think of the person you most wish to meet.
"During the twilight between darkness and light, you'll see them at the edge of life and death.
"Mission succeeds if you see the individual(s). If not, it completes automatically after holding your breath for sixty seconds."
Chen Ge's feelings were mixed after reading the mission. Compared to the first Nightmare Mission—closing his eyes for thirty minutes in a terrifying setting, requiring immense courage—this one seemed simpler. Holding his breath for sixty seconds felt achievable for most.
But that ease unnerved him. Nightmare Missions were never straightforward.
Like the last one, it's set in the bathroom. But now I need to submerge in the tub and hold my breath for a minute.
He scrutinized each step. Including prep time, the mission would take fifteen minutes at most. What could go wrong in such a short window?
His interest wasn't just the apparent simplicity but a key line: "allow you to bypass the line between the living and the dead, giving you the opportunity to see those who have unfortunately passed away."
Unlike most, Chen Ge grew calmer under pressure. Sitting in the Props Room, he pondered. His parents vanished in an abandoned rural hospital, leaving only a doll and the black phone. The phone activated when he nearly abandoned the Haunted House, and during the first Nightmare Mission, the doll saved him. Could these be deliberate clues from his parents about their fate?
Maybe they're using the phone to reach me with more information.
It was just a theory, but even without this, Chen Ge would proceed. The mission offered a chance to confirm his parents' status. Not seeing them would mean they were alive, just missing. Seeing them would support his hunch: they left the phone as a conduit, perhaps holding their final message.
Looks like I have no choice.
Checking his watch, he saw it was 2:55 am—thirty-five minutes until the mission's start. Smashing those mirrors took too long. I need to move.
The mission required lying in a bathtub filled with water, but the only bathtub in the Haunted House was in the Murder by Midnight scenario's bathroom, accessible via a trap door in the workers' passageway. Chen Ge had used it to enter the scenario and escort He San's group out.
Only thirty-five minutes left. No time to find a hotel with a bathtub. I'll have to do this on the mirror monster's turf.
Decision made, Chen Ge didn't waver. He gathered the four ragdolls and left the Haunted House in the dead of night, heading to the park's canteen. There, he grabbed two cleavers.
They haven't butchered pigs or sheep, but I've seen workers use them on chicken and fish. That counts as blood-tainted, right?
He sniffed the blades, expecting a metallic tang. Instead, the sharp scent of green chilies and onions stung his eyes.
Back at the Haunted House, Chen Ge hauled buckets of water between the fake bathroom and the scenario's bathtub. With ten minutes to spare, he finally filled the tub.
Everything's set. Time to begin.
He sealed the Murder by Midnight scenario's front door and entered the bathroom through the workers' passageway, alone as the black phone demanded. The bathroom's mirror lay in shards, crunching under his feet.
Moving the water was loud. The mirror monster probably knows I'm here, but it's fine. I just need one minute.
To Chen Ge, the mission felt odd but not overly perilous.
He locked the bathroom door and propped his parents' doll against it. Then, he arranged the four ragdolls—representing Ping An Apartments' lingering spirits—around the bathtub.
"Everyone, I'm counting on you to buy me that minute!"
Like before, he set his phone to record, placing it on a table. The darkness rendered the footage nearly black, capturing only a vague human shape.
With three minutes to go, Chen Ge emptied his pockets onto the counter. Following the black phone's instructions, he lit a candle and fixed it to the tub's edge. Its flickering flame became the room's only light. Glancing down, he saw his face reflected in the scattered mirror shards.
He stripped off his shirt and approached the tub. Ripples disturbed the water's surface. The tub was shallow, but the dim light hid its bottom. Dipping his fingers in, a chill shot up his arm, spreading through his body, making him shudder.
This mission's creepy as hell.
Checking the time, Chen Ge stepped into the tub, gripping the cleavers. As he sat, water overflowed, soaking the mirror shards.
"Fuck me, it's cold…"
His body temperature dropped, his heart rate slowed. The bathroom was silent, save for water dripping from the tub's edge.
Just one minute. After this, I'll have the reward and answers about my parents.
Chen Ge steadied his breathing, controlling his heart rate, waiting for 3:44 am.