The conflicted Qiao Liang, the well-intentioned Ruan Guangjian, and the fans who enjoyed watching the drama arrived together at the theme restaurant in Thrillseeker Lodge.

Although Ruan Guangjian had thrown out a reason that Qiao Liang found difficult to refuse, he still couldn’t make up his mind to challenge “Ultimate Horror.” After all, just obtaining the entry credential had left him in despair.

On one side was his overwhelming thirst for knowledge, on the other was his overwhelming desire to survive. Qiao Liang was caught in an internal struggle between heaven and man.

So, everyone decided to have lunch first.

After playing all morning, especially after being badly frightened in “Haunted House Nightmare,” everyone was hungry.

However, arriving at the entrance of the theme restaurant, Qiao Liang instinctively felt something was off.

“Wait, what happened to the maid café we talked about? How did we end up here?”

He had seen on the Thrillseeker Lodge map earlier that between “Ultimate Horror” and “Haunted House Nightmare” there was a healing maid café, where supposedly cute girls would serve warm drinks to soothe frightened visitors.

However, somehow, the fans had walked and ended up at this “Asylum Theme Restaurant.”

Just looking at the sign with red background, white text, and terrifying images, Qiao Liang sensed something wasn’t right.

“The maid café is just for coffee, nothing good to eat there. For a proper meal, we have to come here. Let’s go!”

Everyone with mischievous intentions ushered Qiao Liang inside, with Ruan Guangjian following behind, quietly smiling.

Under dim lighting was an iron prison door covered with bloody handprints, with a large red button on it. Pressing it would automatically open the prison door, allowing entry into the theme restaurant.

Qiao Liang nearly sucked in a cold breath.

Is this a theme restaurant?

Isn’t this just another haunted house attraction?!

The lighting inside was much brighter than in typical haunted houses, but the dark prison bars, heavy chains on the doors, the surrounding decor, and bottles of bright red liquid on the counter that looked like blood plasma… all reminded everyone that this place seemed no different from a prison scene in a horror movie.

Of course, strictly speaking, it wasn’t just a prison theme, but a prison + hospital theme, with its setting leaning more toward the mental asylums commonly seen in horror movies and games.

There was a huge difference in positioning between these two.

Many restaurants in China had tried the prison theme, but all failed, ultimately for two reasons: first, poor location; second, wrong overall direction.

In real life, most people aren’t interested in horror themes. If a prison-themed restaurant opened on a busy street, who would go?

But if there’s a prison-themed restaurant inside a haunted house, it becomes contextually appropriate, because those who visit haunted houses are young people with strong psychological resilience and a taste for the novel. They’re much more accepting of such quirky restaurants.

Additionally, while both are prison-themed, not all prisons are the same.

Those failed prison-themed restaurants in China were all strictly modeled after real-life prisons, even using military-green blankets that looked like tofu blocks. The bunk beds, tables, chairs, and bars were all stainless steel, giving people the feeling of a very modern, very realistic prison.

This created a 100% atmosphere of eating prison food, which was neither scary nor comfortable, but simply nauseating.

This theme restaurant, however, was completely different from real-life prisons. Its positioning was closer to the mental asylums in horror movies and games, with Western-style decorations from the last century, giving people more of a sense of terror and novelty, creating a disconnect from real-life prison imagery.

Eating here wouldn’t make you feel like you were doing time in prison, but more like you were participating in a horror movie filming or playing a horror game. This sense of separation from reality prevented visitors from feeling an instinctive aversion or rejection to such decor.

Instead, after accepting this style, they would find enjoyment in it.

Of course, different people have different levels of acceptance for this style. Qiao Liang, for instance, was very resistant.

“I completely understand everyone’s curiosity, but… we just came out of a haunted house!”

“Wouldn’t it be better to find a warm, comfortable restaurant with a pleasant dining environment?”

However, Qiao Liang stopped halfway through his sentence.

Because he saw a hot-bodied, cold-faced girl in a nurse’s uniform walking toward him, with a string of blackened handcuffs hanging from her left arm.

The nurse uniform was also the kind often seen in horror movies and games—European/American style, seemingly stained with specks of blood, red and white alternating and form-fitting, making Qiao Liang’s eyes somewhat uncontrollably want to look downward.

Somehow, he extended his hand, allowing the girl to cuff him.

Only after being cuffed did Qiao Liang realize that the handcuffs were made of plastic; no wonder the girl could string several pairs on one arm.

The handcuffs weren’t the shiny stainless steel type, but blackened cast iron ones, which also matched the scene perfectly.

And these were just toys, easily opened.

After cuffing everyone, the nurse led them inside, passing one prison cell after another, looking for empty seats.

A fan with a smile asked, “Old Qiao, what were you saying earlier? About going somewhere else?”

“Ahem,” Qiao Liang coughed twice and said quietly, “Can’t help it, I’ve been cuffed already.”

As they walked, Ruan Guangjian suddenly stopped.

He looked through the iron bars into one of the prison cells: “Hello everyone, what a coincidence!”

Lin Wan, Ye Zhizhou, Chen Kangtuo, Hao Qiong, and others who were eating inside were also delighted: “Master Ruan? What a coincidence, you’re here too?”

Ruan Guangjian smiled: “How could I not come to support Mr. Pei’s haunted house opening?”

Lin Wan suggested: “Would you like to eat together? We can add more seats.”

Ruan Guangjian looked and saw that the cell was quite large, and adding Qiao Laoshi and his group shouldn’t be a problem.

His eyes gleamed as a plan formed in his mind.

Ruan Guangjian approached the bars and whispered: “In a moment, everyone, cooperate with me to get Qiao Laoshi to…”

The nurse at the front, leading a group of “prisoners,” suddenly realized she was missing someone and stopped to wait.

No one else asked questions, and a minute later, Ruan Guangjian caught up.

“Let’s join that table over there, they’re acquaintances.”

Everyone was surprised and instinctively wanted to refuse, after all, those were Master Ruan’s friends, and they didn’t know them.

Ruan Guangjian added: “They’re the developers of ‘BE QUIET’ and the Thrillseeker Lodge project.”

Qiao Liang paused, then happily agreed: “Sure!”

Everyone came to Lin Wan’s cell and took their seats.

After introductions, Qiao Liang and his fans were delighted.

This was practically half the talent of Tenda Games all in one place!

The producer, lead designer, and lead artist of “BE QUIET,” the manager and designer of Thrillseeker Lodge… they were all there!

Qiao Liang originally had strong prejudices against the designer of Thrillseeker Lodge and had cursed this designer countless times during “Haunted House Nightmare,” but now that he met Chen Kangtuo, his face immediately lit up with a smile as they shook hands, and he highly praised the design of Thrillseeker Lodge.

Vividly demonstrating what it means to be “an online critic, an offline sycophant.”

After a round of mutual business flattery, the nurse began serving various dishes.

This place didn’t take orders; servers would decide the dishes based on customers’ dietary restrictions, and all the food items were primarily meant to be novel and unusual, such as drinks that looked like blood plasma bags.

After eating symbolically, Ruan Guangjian looked at Lin Wan, who gave everyone a meaningful look.

Everyone immediately understood.

Lin Wan smiled and asked: “Has everyone experienced ‘Ultimate Horror’ yet?”

Qiao Liang and his fans looked at each other, neither speaking.

Ruan Guangjian nodded: “Yes, I went, it was very good! Have you all experienced it too?”

Lin Wan picked up a piece of cake that looked like raw steak from the table and said while eating, “Of course, we’ve all experienced it. But we all exited at the last save point because we’re staff, and the honor of ‘first to complete Thrillseeker Lodge’ should be reserved for a true… hardcore gamer.”

She didn’t look at Qiao Liang, but the pause in her tone implied something.

Qiao Liang’s face showed disbelief: “You… all of you… Completed it?”

Exiting at the last save point was essentially no different from completing it.

Qiao Liang’s fans didn’t believe it either.

The others were one thing, but Lin Wan, a girl, could complete it too?

Seeing Qiao Liang’s expression, Lin Wan guessed what he was thinking and smiled slightly, picking up a blood plasma bag from beside her and drinking while saying, “Do you think I’m exaggerating?”

“Then… do you know about Wushan Mental Hospital?”

“Back then, to gather material for ‘BE QUIET’ and Thrillseeker Lodge, our group specifically went to Wushan Mental Hospital and toured it for a full five days.”

Qiao Liang and his fans weren’t impressed—they were shocked.

Wushan Mental Hospital was reputed to be the most terrifying haunted house in the world!

These people spent a full five days there for research?

Were they even human?

Now they understood why these people could so casually say they had almost completed it. Even if “Ultimate Horror” was on the same level as Wushan Mental Hospital, it would be no challenge for these people!

Qiao Liang inexplicably felt a sense of shame.

Look at her, a frail woman, able to tour Wushan Mental Hospital for five days for work!

While he didn’t even dare to enter “Ultimate Horror”…

Shameful!

So shameful!

Ruan Guangjian asked timely “So, what’s the difference between Thrillseeker Lodge and Wushan Mental Hospital?”

Lin Wan thought for a moment: “Both experiences are excellent, but I think Thrillseeker Lodge has better details and is easier to persist through. Thanks to Chen Kangtuo’s extreme attention to detail.”

Chen Kangtuo shook his head: “No, that credit should still belong to Mr. Pei.”