"Sounds like this script could be pretty fun. What do you think, Joshua? Why are you suddenly gripping my hand so tightly?"

It wasn’t just Luther’s hand. Joshua was also holding Henry’s wrist in a death grip.

He stared at the signboard in front of them, decorated in a dark, eerie style. A dried skeleton hung overhead. There were even prop organs, all kinds of intestines dangling everywhere, dripping with fake blood.

This was even more disgusting than when he was filming!

Henry gently patted the back of Joshua’s hand. Luther, standing off to the side, couldn’t help but burst out laughing. "Joshua, are you scared of ghosts? Hahaha."

Joshua couldn’t help looking at him, his entire face scrunching up into a miserable mess. Luther immediately puffed out his chest and guaranteed, "It’s just this little stuff. What’s there to be afraid of? Joshua, don’t worry. I’ll protect you."

Looking at Luther like this, Joshua felt he was not reliable at all. He muttered, "You said it the same way back when you claimed you knew how to play games."

And as everyone already knew, Luther’s gaming skills were truly terrible, only slightly better than Joshua’s.

Hearing that, Luther couldn’t help but shut his mouth. In the end, he still couldn’t resist lifting his hand to pinch Joshua’s cheek, muttering, "You really have zero faith in me."

Joshua hadn’t said anything yet when the MC off to the side finished explaining the rules. They just needed to enter the haunted house, complete the assigned tasks, uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of three friends, and then successfully escape the haunted house to be considered a total victory.

Each of them would have their own individual camera. There would also be a cameraman following behind them, filming the whole time. Inside the haunted house, there were plenty of fixed cameras as well, and staff from the program would be on standby in case anything happened.

After all, it was just a haunted house. There wouldn’t actually be any ghosts. All these rules seemed to help Joshua calm down a little.

He took a deep breath, then let go of Henry’s and Luther’s hands, and stepped into the haunted house.

Inside, it was pitch-dark. Ahead, there was only a vague, murky green glow. They could barely see the ground within a two-meter range. Farther away, there were spots of red light arranged in the distance, likely serving as additional lighting.

The ground was flat, just wide enough for one person to walk through comfortably, but not wide enough for two to walk side by side. If they insisted on walking abreast, it would definitely be very cramped.

Joshua was just about to arrange the formation so that he could be sandwiched between Henry and Luther when the door suddenly slammed shut. The booming sound echoed violently, and on top of that, a sound effect like ghostly laughter rang out from behind. It nearly made Joshua scream on the spot. Instinctively, he jumped and hugged Henry tightly from behind.

"What—what is it! Joshua, don’t be scared, it’s just props! I’ll protect you!"

Luther was also cursing loudly. The second half of his shout echoed even more than the first. His usually steady voice was completely gone, making him look like he was both encouraging Joshua and psyching himself up at the same time.

Joshua noticed that the back of his clothes was being gripped tightly by Luther. He couldn’t help going numb for a moment, suddenly feeling that it didn’t seem quite so scary after all.

He looked toward Luther and said softly, "How about you go stand in the middle instead?"

"No."

"No."

Unexpectedly, the moment Joshua finished speaking, two voices answered at the same time. Henry’s refusal was understandable, but Luther’s—

Luther lifted his chin. "You really think this kind of stuff can scare me? It’s all child’s play. Let’s go."

As he spoke, he swayed his body and nudged Joshua forward.

Joshua bumped lightly into Henry in front, and the three of them moved forward like that.

Outside, in the program crew’s tent, the director frowned at the monitor. "What’s going on? Is the signal being interfered with?"

On the screen, all kinds of multicolored static lines appeared, and from time to time, the image flickered nonstop.

The director felt that something was off. He hurriedly spoke into the walkie-talkie, "Temporarily stop filming, temporarily stop filming—get the guests out—"

No one responded through the walkie-talkie. There was only the continuous crackling of static.

"Hey, can anyone hear me? Hello?! Hello?!"

No one answered. The others had clearly noticed something strange as well. At this moment, the director issued another order: "Go call the staff over here. Check whether there’s a problem with their cameras!"

The staff he was referring to were, of course, the haunted house staff.

The assistant quickly ran off, and the screen in front of them had now completely turned black. They could no longer see any trace of the others at all.

And at this very moment, the world itself seemed to be undergoing a silent upheaval—one impossible for ordinary people to perceive.

Nine seemed to sense something. In an instant, his body collapsed onto the floor, and a streak of light shot outward at a speed impossible for the naked eye to catch or register, swiftly blending into the colors of the sky.

Just a second ago, the sky had been clear and bright, blue with drifting white clouds. Now, everything had turned gloomy. Layer upon layer of dark clouds spread endlessly across the heavens. The magnificent sight made people gasp in awe—half terrified, half unable to stop raising their phones to film. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The stench in the air made Nine frown. He looked into the distance, toward where thick black smoke was billowing.

That was the place. He had finally caught hold of it!

Nick swiftly flew off, his direction aimed straight at the Vermillion family’s mansion.

Joshua and the others still had no idea what was truly happening outside.

They had already made it one-third of the way through. During that time, Luther had twice picked Joshua up, trying to run away with him.

Joshua couldn’t help sneering. "So, have you figured out who the real coward here is yet?"

Faced with Joshua’s mockery, Luther kept patting his chest, insisting that he’d only been startled, that was all.

Just then, a sound like wind howling through a mountain ravine suddenly echoed ahead. After that came all sorts of indistinct clattering noises, as if some creature that couldn’t even stand properly was struggling to move forward.

Joshua couldn’t help saying, "The staff here are really professional. Luther, you’d better stick close to me if you don’t want to get lost."

No one answered. Joshua realized that the hem of his clothes was no longer being gripped. He frowned and turned around. "Luther..."

Behind him, there was nothing. Only dim lights illuminated the path behind. Luther had vanished without a trace.

Just as Joshua’s hand suddenly loosened a little, he turned his head in shock—Henry was gone as well.

Clearly, just a moment ago, he had still been holding Henry’s hand tightly... There hadn’t even been any sign of Henry pulling away. That meant Henry hadn’t been dragged off—he had disappeared on the spot!

But how was that possible? This was just a normal world!

Joshua thought this, almost forcing himself to calm down, though it didn’t help much at all.

The clattering sounds ahead grew closer and closer. Listening more carefully, there seemed to be the sound of bones mixed with a strange, sticky, squelching noise, like a heap of rotting flesh struggling to move.

Before Joshua could react, a wave of nausea surged up in his chest. Almost purely on instinct, he turned and ran.

Those sounds... Joshua seemed to have guessed what they were. But how could that be? This was a normal world—how could zombies appear in a normal world?! And what about Henry and Luther? Where had the two of them gone?!

...

Henry realized that he was being wrapped up by a thick, pitch-black substance. Everything had happened too fast. Clearly, just a second ago, he’d been holding Joshua’s hand, and the next second he was sucked into this place.

Everything was pitch-dark, without even a trace of light. Even Henry’s own existence seemed to be growing fragile, impossible to grasp.

He tried to flail his limbs, struggling to swim forward, but it was meaningless. His resistance was nothing compared to the pulling force below!