Chapter 2: Other People’s Haunted Houses Have NPCs, Mine Has Real Ghosts

“Boss! What kind of lousy haunted house is this? You can’t even afford an NPC, and you’re charging a hundred and thirty for a ticket? Are you trying to rip us off?”

At the entrance of a haunted house tucked away in the corner of the amusement park, a man clutching his girlfriend loudly complained to Chu Tian, who was dozing on the counter.

A delicate face lifted wearily from behind the counter, showing the fatigue of an all-nighter.

As a transmigrant, Chu Tian had been in this world for twenty-three years. Raised from childhood in an orphanage, he sometimes doubted whether he was truly a transmigrant or just a native with memories of another world implanted in his mind. After all, this world was perilous—ghosts roamed rampant everywhere.

Since the first time he encountered a harmless spirit as a child, Chu Tian had taken the mysterious legacy of the ghostly enforcer deeply to heart. No one liked danger lurking nearby, and the best way to stay safe was to be strong enough to eliminate all threats.

After graduating from university, Chu Tian opened this haunted house. Ghost enforcers had to eat too. Working for others wasn’t an option; running a haunted house was better. By day, he managed the attraction; by night, he hunted minor ghosts. The good ones stayed on as employees; the evil ones he destroyed to improve his skills. The spirits he employed required little pay—just the ritual of three incense sticks morning and night. Profitable and perfectly fitting his expertise—how could he not do it?

“The decorations inside are bad enough, but you can’t even be bothered to provide props or NPCs? Are you kidding me with some holographic projections? I’ve been to plenty of haunted houses, but never one so cheap as this.”

The man spoke arrogantly to Chu Tian, as if threatening to make a scene unless a refund was issued.

“Bad decorations? Skimping on props? No NPCs? Holograms?” Chu Tian’s gaze flickered with confusion. Questions swirled in his mind.

Unlike those other haunted houses staffed by people pretending to be ghosts, every spirit in Chu Tian’s haunted house was painstakingly captured by him alone.

And this guy had the nerve to say his haunted house wasn’t scary?

“Boss, are you even listening? Don’t think you can stay silent and get away with it.”

“Enough. Business here isn’t great anyway. You really think he’s going to refund you?” The man’s girlfriend sneered.

“Exactly. They’ll only make money off you once,” the man scoffed, turning to leave with his girlfriend.

Chu Tian wasn’t about to let that slide. He suddenly stood up.

“What are you doing?” the man asked, startled.

“Wait two minutes!” Chu Tian said, stepping out from behind the counter and entering the haunted house.

Two minutes later, Chu Tian emerged, facing the couple. “What you saw just now was the lowest scare level, designed for kids. I went inside and adjusted it. Why don’t you try again? If you can walk through calmly, I’ll refund you ten times the ticket price!”

“You said that, right?” The couple perked up at the mention of a tenfold refund, stepping inside under Chu Tian’s watchful eyes.

“Five minutes!” Chu Tian said calmly, sitting back behind the counter and checking his watch.

---

One minute in, the woman’s heart-wrenching screams echoed from within.

Two minutes later, shouts of terror from both broke out.

At three minutes, their cries abruptly stopped.

Chu Tian was puzzled when a transparent elder ghost poked his head from the wall.

“Hey, Old Li, what’s going on?” Chu Tian asked.

“Passed out inside, even wet himself. Will you go in and carry them out?” Old Li replied. He had been Chu Tian’s landlord in high school. After death, he refused to reincarnate and lingered as a wandering spirit. Vulnerable to hostile ghosts, Chu Tian had taken him in as an NPC for the haunted house. Sometimes, he even floated home to visit his family at night.

“No need, once they wake up, they’ll run out on their own,” Chu Tian replied nonchalantly. “Old Li, tell the ghosts inside to ease up. Don’t scare anyone to death.”

“Got it!” Old Li nodded, sighing softly before slipping back into the wall.

These two young ones, complaining about ghosts that aren’t scary—aren’t they just asking for a thrill?

After a while, the man and woman, now recovered, staggered out of the haunted house.

Chu Tian smiled warmly from behind the counter. “So, how was it? Not bad, right?”

“Boss, you’re… you’re too scary. Seriously, way too scary!” The man’s teeth chattered as he spoke, voice trembling. “Can you control the scare level?”

“Yeah!” Chu Tian looked at the man, puzzled. He had expected mockery, not this.

“Well… if I bring some friends over, can you secretly set it to the advanced scare mode?” The man’s tone finally relaxed.

“What are you up to?” Chu Tian asked.

“My dorm buddies are all brave. They’d love a place like this,” the man said earnestly.

Chu Tian’s expression stiffened. Silently, he gave the couple a thumbs-up.

Truly, these college kids—you have to share the storms you’ve weathered with your friends.

---

Watching the couple support each other as they left, Chu Tian had to admire their mindset.

With few visitors around, Chu Tian stepped away from the counter and opened a side door.

Inside was a windowless room, its walls draped in black cloth. Against one wall sat a table with a large incense burner. Above it hung wooden plaques inscribed with names.

Chu Tian took out a bundle of incense sticks, lit them, and placed them all in the burner, chanting, “Come out and eat!”

With that, the room quickly filled with spirits.

On the floor, in corners, on walls, and even the ceiling, eight or nine ghosts appeared.

Besides Old Li, there was a little girl clutching a doll, a frail consumptive ghost, a decaying old ghost, a boy playing with his own head, and a female ghost draped in a red bathrobe.

If it weren’t for the dusty ghost who killed someone last night, Chu Tian wouldn’t mind keeping her around.

After all, feeding ghosts only required burning an incense stick daily. Forgetting meant just letting them go hungry once. The spiritual energy these well-fed ghosts emitted was something Chu Tian absorbed to boost his ghost enforcer cultivation.

In this world, spiritual energy was scarce and cultivation difficult. Chu Tian had no access to precious spiritual stones, and even if he found some, he might not afford them. Having these little ghosts gather around was like absorbing the equivalent of a dozen spiritual stones daily.

“Thank you, Ghost Enforcer!” the ghosts chorused.

The incense burned down swiftly under their absorption, leaving all the ghosts satisfied.

“Now that you’re fed, get back to work,” Chu Tian instructed. “Don’t scare people too much. If someone dies from fright, this haunted house will close for good! No money for me, no incense for you.”

“Yes, Ghost Enforcer!” the ghosts replied, gradually fading away.

Chu Tian nodded in approval and turned to leave the room.

As he opened the door, he saw behind the counter a mature woman lying on her own recliner, her long legs clad in black stockings resting atop the counter—a true proprietress in her element.