The summer festival was drawing to a close. Today, the ogres of Class 25 had been working non-stop, creating a chaos so wild that if there had been a "Scream Meter," it would've exploded from the noise. It was thrilling beyond words!
Now, as the festival neared its end, it was finally time for the students themselves to enjoy the attractions. Though everyone was exhausted from a long day of work, the thought that this was when the real fun began made everyone buzz with excitement.
Outside the door of Class 25's haunted house, Ogre's Kitchen: Escape Room, there came a knock: knock, knock, knock.
A red, blood-streaked hand slowly pulled the door ajar, peeking outside — and then bam! The door slammed shut in an instant.
"What's wrong?" asked Wu Kaixi, one of the team leaders.
"Uh… um…" The 'ogre' at the door stammered.
Wu Kaixi moved forward, cracked the door open a sliver, and looked out.
Standing outside was a tall, broad-shouldered boy, his eyes glowing a serious shade of red under the setting sun, his expression grim and menacing. Behind him stood several equally imposing figures, each exuding an unmistakable chill.
This was a typical reaction whenever the "End-Class Students" saw them—
(Even if, in reality, they weren't that scary. After all, even a hamster instinctively fluffs up when it sees a cat.)
It was the Patrol Corps!
The severe and cold Captain Chen Hao'an, the smiling-tiger Vice-Captain Haoran, the sharp-eyed Inspector Tian Liang, the lightning-fast Xuan Hua, and the mischievous youngest member Yan Xun — each towering over 1.8 meters tall.
Peeking through the door crack, Wu Kaixi raised a blood-red hand toward the sign stuck to the door:
"Three coupons per person."
Fifteen coupons were stacked neatly into Wu Kaixi's hand. He closed the door with a grin and waved the coupons toward the other 'ogres' inside, eyebrows waggling mischievously in a way that said: "Finally, time for the real fun!"
The ogres straightened up at once, ready for the challenge ahead!
Inside the Haunted Kitchen
The escape room door creaked open. The five members of the Patrol Corps stepped in, instantly engulfed by a heavy scent of blood. Dim lights flickered overhead, casting eerie shadows across their faces. But none of the five even flinched — this measly bit of atmosphere wasn't enough to shake their nerves.
Inside the pitch-black room, it almost seemed as if they radiated a faint glow, their images beamed into the control room's monitors.
"My God, where's all that aura coming from?!" Wu Kaixi squinted through his fingers at the screen.
The girls around him squealed silently, clutching each other in excitement — no screaming allowed backstage, but their hearts were practically doing cartwheels.
"Welcome to the Ogre's Kitchen," a voice rasped from a dark corner, low and eerie with a suppressed glee.
The lights abruptly cut out, plunging the room into total darkness.
Drip — drip — drip.
The sound of something viscous sliding down the walls, dripping onto the floor, echoed loudly.
"Don't move," Chen Hao'an commanded sharply, stopping Yan Xun from pulling out his phone for light.
Suddenly, a shadow darted past them, a shrill laugh tearing through the dark:
"Dinner time—!"
A flash of cold white light revealed a grotesque face: pale, swollen, with features grotesquely distorted. Its mouth was split to the ears, and the hollow eyes looked sunken into the skull. The figure wore a torn patient's gown and staggered forward, arms outstretched, cackling madly.
Chen Hao'an froze.
"Captain?" Haoran nudged him. "What's wrong? Sure, the actor's good, but this isn't your first haunted house."
Chen Hao'an said nothing, staring fixedly after the figure's retreating form. Despite the heavy makeup and unfamiliar posture, he recognized her instantly—
It was Chuan Ling.
A Flashback
The Patrol Corps had a vital role during the summer festival: maintaining order and keeping everyone safe.
Two years ago, a madman had infiltrated the festival, swinging a sharp knife at students. It had been Chen Hao'an and Haoran who bravely subdued him.
Later, the police explained that the man had lost his child years ago and had escaped from a psychiatric hospital.
Since then, Chen Hao'an and Haoran had been appointed Captain and Vice-Captain of the Patrol Corps.
Just hours earlier, during a patrol, Chen Hao'an and Yan Xun had spotted a group of ogres holding up promotional signs. At the end of the group was a distorted-faced "ogre," wiping sweat off a teammate's back with a light gray towel — a towel embroidered with a "Sweet Home" crest.
Chen Hao'an recognized it immediately: it belonged to Chuan Ling.
He never expected that she would disguise herself so thoroughly.
A smile crept over his face.
Yan Xun, noticing, teased, "Whoa—someone's found a big secret!"
Chen Hao'an quickly wiped the grin off his face.
Meanwhile in the Escape Room
Led by the 'ogres,' the five Patrol Corps members entered the next room: a gruesome "kitchen" scene. Human-bone ladles lay on the counters, skinned mannequins hung from the ceiling, and half-dissected "guests" were sprawled across operating tables. The lighting flickered erratically, accompanied by a distorted, nightmarish symphony.
Yet, the Patrol Corps remained utterly unfazed.
"They're way too calm," Wu Kaixi muttered in the control room. "No visible fear spike. Chuan Ling's scare didn't even land properly."
Sen Leian frowned. "Switch to Plan B."
"What's Plan B?" someone asked.
Wu Kaixi smirked mysteriously. "Unleash the real Avenger."
At the same time, in the third room — the "Laboratory" — Sen Leian was suiting up, slipping on a grotesque smiling mask. Dressed in a torn leather apron, red scars painted on his face, he looked like a butcher risen from hell.
"You have one minute. Scare him, but don't cause any real accidents," the control team warned over the intercom.
Sen Leian didn't reply. His gaze locked onto the approaching Chen Hao'an.
The light caught the glint of the prop scalpel in his hand.
He stepped out of the shadows. "Ready for surgery, senior?"
Chen Hao'an's eyes sharpened immediately.
"You?" he growled.
"Guess who," Sen Leian whispered, lunging forward—
It wasn't a real attack, but the force and momentum pinned Chen Hao'an against the wall.
The other Patrol members tensed, but under the escape room rules, they couldn't interfere.
"You think she doesn't know you're watching her?" Sen Leian hissed like a snake. "You think acting like her 'big brother' will protect her?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Chen Hao'an struggled.
"Oh no, no, no—" Sen Leian pressed the fake knife to Chen's chest. "You don't even know why she was bullied that day."
"What do you mean?"
"You flatter her but never see her." His voice dropped to a freezing whisper.
Chen Hao'an's rage flared, but before he could react—
The eerie "gagagaga" laugh sounded again.
Chuan Ling had reappeared.
This time, her makeup was even more exaggerated, her mouth slit stretched almost to her ears. She held up a faded photograph — a picture of student-uniformed children kept like lab specimens by ogres.
"The next experiment subject…" she said darkly, pointing straight at Chen Hao'an.
Even Tian Liang, Xuan Hua, and Haoran shivered involuntarily.
The tension was sky-high.
Then—the lights blacked out.
Screams erupted!
But they didn't come from the Patrol Corps. Somewhere in the dark, an actress named Linlin had tripped over a mechanical rig, triggering a real emergency.
The whole room descended into chaos.
After Class 15 had spent the whole day scaring people out of their wits, it was now Class 15's turn to be thrown into chaos.
Their carefully planned summer activities were about to be completely overturned.
At first, the students of Class 15 were still joking and laughing as they entered the event zone. But just as they passed by the towering "Ogre's Kitchen" façade that Class 15 had built, a cold, eerie wind seemed to brush past them. Some of the braver students tried to brush it off, but soon, the lights around them flickered ominously.
"Was that supposed to happen?" someone asked nervously.
Before anyone could answer, a deafening shriek echoed through the hall — not from a student actor this time, but from a genuine terror-stricken scream. It was so chilling, so real, that everyone instantly fell silent.
Then, the ground beneath their feet vibrated slightly, and the heavy iron door of the "Ogre's Kitchen" creaked open by itself.
A twisted, bloodied figure, unlike any prop or costume they had seen before, staggered out, its head tilting at unnatural angles, its eyes rolling wildly. It was dragging a broken chain behind it, every step leaving a bloody trail on the ground.
The students of Class 15 screamed in pure terror and scattered in all directions like startled birds.
From the surveillance room, Wu Kaixi covered his face with one hand and peeked through his fingers, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. "Perfect… This will haunt them in their dreams for the whole semester!"
Behind him, Sen Lei'an, still wearing half of his butcher's costume, smirked darkly: "Let's see who dares to underestimate Class 15 again."
In the chaos outside, a few teachers were rushing over to check the situation. Even they couldn't tell if this was part of the performance or a real emergency.
Hidden behind the scenes, the true orchestrators of this twisted spectacle — the ones whispering in the dark — were already preparing for their next move.
This was just the beginning.
High School Class 15 had accidentally crossed into a much deeper nightmare, one that even they hadn't anticipated.
And somewhere, from the rooftops, hidden figures were watching it all unfold, their smiles curling ever so slightly under the moonlight.
The real horror was yet to come.