Chapter 404 - Regina’s New Toy

As soon as Regina focused her attention on the tourist, his image instantly magnified, occupying most of the large screen, providing a 360-degree, no-blind-spot God’s-eye view. She could rotate it back and forth to observe everything around him, including things the person couldn’t see himself.The three challenges of Ghost Manor no longer were static; instead, it was a real-time interactive game of confrontation.

As Regina plucked the strings of the massive harp in front of her, eerie music suddenly filled the air, causing the face of the woman displayed on the shadow screen to reveal an uncontrollable look of panic.

Obviously, the music was transmitted directly to her.

Her heightened perception made her acutely aware that she was being spied on, tracked, but she was never able to detect the source.

In the darkness, something seemed to be drawn by the music, striding towards her direction, accompanied by a heavy dragging sound, as if someone were dragging a dead body along the way.

All she could do was run nonstop in the open courtyard, with nowhere to hide, yet she had been running for a good fifteen minutes and still hadn’t found the main building of the manor. She was completely lost in the mist.

Seeing Gaven come in, Regina stopped plucking the harp strings.

The bewildered woman’s delicate face lit up with uncontrollable joy. With the music gone, the main building now appeared directly in front of her; she had passed the first challenge of Ghost Manor.

Regina’s expression was one of intense excitement, her stunning face flushed with an undeniable flush of color as she grabbed Gaven and said, "This dynamic real-time monitoring system is incredibly useful. How on earth did you manage to do it?"

Gaven explained with a smile, "It’s not as difficult as you think. It’s merely using the manor’s own strength, condensing a bunch of shadow secret magic eyes with shadow energy to follow around those tourists then feeding the image back."

Despite Gaven’s casual explanation as though it was something he could do with a wave of his hand,

in reality, he had paid a great cost for this real-time dynamic monitoring system that spans throughout the entire manor.

Drawing upon shadow energy, utilizing the manor’s capacity, solidifying it—these were the basic capital investments.

What really gave Gaven pause was the bit of Undead Divinity he infused at the last activation step.

The bit extracted from the Sunrise Warhammer, which hadn’t even had time to warm up, was already invested again, reducing Weizemay Manor’s Undead Divinity back down to four points.

But the impressive power of the system was beyond question.

Without leaving home, they could monitor every nook and cranny of the entire manor, and not only could they have real-time conversations with the manor’s ghost servants,

but they could also keep precise track of the visitors and, using them as a medium, influence them from afar.

It was the epitome of ultra-modern technology.

No wonder Regina was as enamored with it as a little girl with a new toy.

This system seemed tailor-made for her abilities and interests.

In truth, Regina was merely venting her excited emotions; she wasn’t really concerned with how Gaven accomplished it. He was already enigmatic enough, and it didn’t make much difference to add another mystery to the list.

Her attention was now largely focused on the ghost house game that had already begun. She re-engaged with the status of the visitors on the shadow screen and asked, "The idea of betting on a staff member among these hundred people is simply brilliant. Look at how they guard against the people around them; they’re even more cautious than the ghosts, who haven’t appeared yet."

"Who did you send in this time? Their acting is too good. I’ve been watching closely and couldn’t identify her at all."

"Of course you couldn’t identify anyone, because this time, I didn’t send anyone in at all," Gaven shrugged. "We’re short on time, and our people simply didn’t have enough training. Even the shrewdest and most cunning Daphne, if sent in, couldn’t be guaranteed not to blow her cover. It’s better not to send anyone.

"If there are no ghosts, how could they possibly catch one? So, go ahead and do your best, wipe them out as quickly as possible. Not only because there’s a bunch of visitors waiting to be entertained later, but also to select the best. The fear points released by Combat Profession Practitioners breaking down their defenses are far greater than those of ordinary people.

"Let those with weaker abilities know better than to try and retreat, and let more Combat Profession Practitioners come in."

"No ghosts? O(∩_∩)O haha... you’re really wicked. Just this one rule of yours will plant seeds of doubt in their hearts. But I like it," Regina laughed heartily.

"Tactics should always be a blend of the false and the true, and whether or not to send staff in is one such tactic. But this feint can only be used once or twice; if overused, it won’t work. We must mix in a few real ones, so we still need to prepare in this aspect," Gaven pondered.

Gaven thoughtfully said, "The best suitable for this job is still Daphne. When you have time, train her more, and let her take the lead on this matter."

"I think you’re worrying too much," Regina similarly had high expectations for the Dwarves Soulsnare Sacrificer. "Ms. Daphne simply doesn’t need training. She’s naturally cut out for this–remember, she’s a Dwarves Elf, and a priestess, too. She’s a natural master of lies, deception, and betrayal."

"Fine, you handle the next game! Try to control the pace well," Gaven decided to leave this to the interested Regina for the time being.

The manor’s ability to start a ghost house game was purely accidental.

The auction trading was only halfway done; he needed to get back to the pressing matters.

"Don’t worry, I’ll extract and release all of their fear," Regina said with full confidence.

In this aspect, she definitely belonged to the master class.

It’s just that she hadn’t had much opportunity to put her skills to use in the past. Now she could finally showcase her talents and reveal what she was best at.

"Ms. Estelle, you will follow Miss Regina and learn. In the future, we’ll need you to take control and strategize for this area," Gaven turned to the silent Ghost Lady standing by the side.

Leaving this place in Regina’s care was just a temporary measure.

Even if she was willing to stay, Gaven could not allow her to linger long-term at Weizemay Manor.

The ghost house was just a part of the manor; there were many more private matters within.

Like the Ghost Textile Factory–now with three shipments of top-quality cotton at hand, action could be taken.

These matters were temporarily confidential, including to ally Regina.

Furthermore, her enthusiasm was bound to fade someday.

Estelle immediately showed a nervous expression, anxiously saying, "Sir, I’m afraid I might not be up to the task. Plotting and scheming are not my strengths. I think Ms. Daphne is much better suited for this kind of work."

Gaven shook his head, "I’m aware of that, but your ability to control the manor is not comparable to hers. Besides, her personality is too vicious and hot-headed; giving her control could lead to disaster."

Miss Regina will be optimizing the entire level, and even the music will progressively be recorded into the real-time tracking system. When the time comes, we’ll just need to play it on demand."

"And it’s not possible for you to be responsible for this alone, others will assist you, and you’ll be taking on a leading supervisory role in the process."

Ms. Daphne can be used, but we can’t rely on her too much, after all, her background is too special.

It’s Ms. Estelle and her daughter who are my top confidants in the manor because they are closely bound to it. It’s only with their wholehearted consideration for the manor’s interests that they will."

"Understood," Estelle said with a bow, "I’ll try my best to learn."

"I’ll leave this to you, I have other matters to attend to," Gaven waved goodbye.

"Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead," said Regina, her eyes unblinking, fully engrossed in a new round of remote confrontation gaming.

Or rather, a frightening game.

She was making full use of everything around her chosen target, alive or dead, creating various psychological suggestions and pairing them with just the right music or sounds.

Gaven’s suggestion to use music to enhance the atmosphere of terror had opened a door to a whole new world for Regina, and now she had a plethora of subjects to practice on.

By observing their reactions, she learned which type of music could trigger the deepest fears in people.

It seems everyone’s fear and sensitivity to music are different.

Some are particularly scared of the sound of nails scraping against glass.

Some are especially sensitive to the rustling sounds of nibbling and biting.

Some people have little resistance to piercing screams that ooze eeriness.

Others are easily startled by sudden noises.

People are not the only ones who have varied responses to music; negative energy also responds differently to different music.

When contemplating how music can evoke feelings of fear, it is also an exploration of the combination of music and negative energy.

When the two are perfectly combined, a captivating, fear-inducing piece of music is born.

Regina could clearly feel that once she finished exploring this matter, it would also be the moment she was greeted with a promotion in her Professional Level.

The moment Regina’s research progression accelerated would be the very moment when guests would start being eliminated en masse.

Gaven had set a fear threshold for Weizemay Manor.

Once the visitors reached this threshold of panic and distress, they would be deemed to have failed the challenge, and be directly sent to the manor’s entrance to prevent them from fainting.

Even so, one in ten would still be carried out unconscious.

There’s no helping it as everyone’s fear threshold is different, and some people indeed have lower thresholds.

But Gaven and his team created the Ghost Manor to collect fear; if they were to cater to these few individuals by lowering the fear threshold further, they would lose a significant number of Fear Points.

Now we can only hope that those with a lower fear threshold will, after a few attempts, know their limits and retreat.

Such people are not suitable for this kind of heart-pounding terror game.

Fortunately, the most severe outcome has been fainting from shock, with no cases of anyone being literally scared to death.

First, the people of Felen are quite hardy, especially in terms of psychological fortitude, because they live in a world full of dangers.

Second, the attendees of the Ghost Grape Wine Auction are mainly healthy, stout adults.

After three consecutive days of boom,

the enthusiasm for exploring Ghost Manor began to wane substantially.

Many have come to realize that the high reward is but a carrot dangled in front of a donkey—seen, smelled, but never tasted.

Three days, a full three days.

The total cumulative visits have exceeded ten thousand (many have used up their three daily attempts).

But not a single person has successfully cleared the level, the longest anyone lasted was also under half an hour.

However, many have obtained small souvenirs.

The value of such souvenirs is more commemorative than practically useful.

It could be a miniature wooden model of Weizemay Manor.

Or maybe a small basket woven from grapevines.

Or perhaps a small coin purse, filled with silver and copper coins, with a total worth of three to five Gold Coins.

But there are those who are relentless, always feeling that they are just one step away from the grand prize.

And there are some Clerics who see this as a training ground, especially those with a lower Professional Level and lacking experience in confronting spirits like ghosts.

Is there a better place to gain such experience than here? ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ NovᴇlFɪre.ɴet

Anna is among the most enthusiastic of them, ensuring she uses all three attempts every day.

Because of her relationship with Gaven, she receives special attention—not positive, but rather negative.