I'm in a real religion, why are all the people who confess to me girls?

Amane nodded in response to Morishita's rhetorical question.

"Arisu told me to come and check out this haunted house, so I just stopped by to take a look. It doesn't seem special except that it's a bit bigger than the other stalls."

Despite Amane's denigration of the haunted house, Morishita maintained his professional smile, showing no sign of emotional change despite Amane's criticism.

"The haunted house was meticulously designed by Sakayanagi-san. If you're interested, Miyako-san, why not give it a try? As Sakayanagi-san's friend, we can offer free assistance if you encounter any difficulties inside!"

Encountering difficulties?

Amane raised an eyebrow when she heard Morishita say that. Morishita really dared to say that. Amane had seen things that were truly terrifying, things that these high school students could not even imagine.

Even Arisu probably couldn't have actually set up a haunted house environment or trap that would scare Amane, but Morishita's confident statement did pique Amane's curiosity.

"Then I'd like to experience for myself what a haunted house that can give me trouble is like. Where do I pay?"

Amane looked around. Behind Morishita was the entrance to the haunted house. Apart from the entrance, there were no price tags or cashiers. Morishita didn't look like someone who was in charge of collecting fees.

"Our person in charge of collecting fees is Fukuyama. She's in the middle of the haunted house. Besides paying for the entrance fee, you can also buy snacks and drinks there. If you don't like the experience of the haunted house, you can register with Fukuyama to get your entrance fee waived and then return the way you came. Of course, all of this is on the premise that you, Miyako, must find Fukuyama first."

When Tianyin heard that the ticket office for the haunted house was actually inside the haunted house, she was a little surprised. However, she was more concerned about another issue than whether she could get a refund.

"What if I still can't find Fukuyama by the time I finish the game?"

"That's impossible, because Fukuyama's ticket booth is the only place that everyone entering the haunted house experience must pass through. Only by passing through there can you continue to the second half of the experience. If you can't even find where Fukuyama is, then naturally you can't pass the test."

Amane agreed with Morishita's explanation. According to Amane's idea, the reason why Arisu arranged the ticket office inside the haunted house was partly to take advantage of everyone's curiosity and make them go to Fukuyama's ticket office to enter the haunted house. Once they entered the haunted house and found Fukuyama, they would most likely not refuse to pay the fee. Moreover, according to Morishita, Fukuyama's place was more of a supply station than a ticket office.

Students and tourists who are parched from being chased by various traps in the haunted house or playing ghosts don't mind buying a drink at the ticket booth, which indirectly increases revenue.

Thinking about it this way, Amane felt that Arisu's setup was quite ingenious.

After saying goodbye to Morishita, Amane went straight into the haunted house.

Upon entering the haunted house, Tianyin immediately sensed something was wrong. First, there were the walls. Tianyin reached out and tapped on them. Judging from the sound, they seemed to be made of composite wood panels pieced together. However, all the walls were painted black, with strange patterns drawn in white lines. Staring at the walls for a while would make one feel dizzy.

When Tianyin looked up, she found that even the ceiling was covered with this black and white striped pattern. The gaps between the ceiling and the walls were also painted with this pattern, making it seem as if the walls and ceiling were moving with every step she took.

Now that things have come to this, Tianyin knows that this is a trick that uses special patterns to create visual illusions. People with weak psychological fortitude will naturally feel fear after just a few steps. Moreover, in addition to causing dizziness and possible psychological and physical discomfort, the most important thing is that these patterns that easily create visual illusions can affect people's thinking ability.

Once you lose the ability to think in a haunted house, it becomes very easy for others to play tricks on you.

Tianyin shook her head to clear her mind, then continued walking forward. After about twenty meters, the first corner appeared. As soon as Tianyin turned the corner, she saw a girl lying face down on the ground with her face towards the ceiling but her limbs were normal.

Moreover, the girl's face was covered in red, blood-like substance, which looked quite frightening.

If anyone else had suddenly witnessed this terrifying scene, they would have screamed in alarm. Only Tianyin remained calm as she stared at the girl for a while, then squatted down and stared intently at the girl's face, which was covered in terrifying makeup. The girl playing the ghost felt a chill run down her spine and could only scream in hopes of scaring the girl away.

"You taught this look to Arisu, right? I was wondering why it looked so familiar. I used this look to scare Arisu and the others quite a bit back then."

Amane recalled how, in the abandoned school building, Kaede and Arisu tried to play a trick on her but ended up being quite frightened by Amane instead.

However, some of the original group have been expelled, so things have changed.

"I'm so hungry... I'm so hungry..."

The girl didn't dare to answer Amane, and could only keep repeating the line that Arisu had given her. Originally, according to the program arrangement, she was supposed to have a performance where she chased after the person who came in, but she was a little at a loss when she saw a student who wasn't scared by her for the first time.

"Hungry? Perfect, I have a piece of chocolate for you."

Tianyin took out a chocolate, tore open the packaging, and stuffed it into the girl's mouth.

The girl, who had looked fierce just a second ago, instinctively chewed a few times and then sat down on the ground, savoring the taste of the chocolate. After finishing the chocolate, a sweet smile appeared on her face.

"Thank you, classmate. The chocolate was delicious."

"..."

"..."

Tianyin and the girl stared at each other, then the girl covered her face and ran away in despair, leaving Tianyin watching her retreating figure in confusion.

Isn't this a haunted house? How come the ghosts ran away? That's so unprofessional.

Just as Tianyin was lamenting that the students in Class B who were playing ghosts weren't very dedicated, several people in the student council office fell silent while watching the surveillance footage from the haunted house.

Ever since Morishita messaged her saying that Amane had entered the haunted house, Arisu immediately turned on the haunted house's security camera, intending to watch Amane's challenge the whole time. But what she didn't expect was that Amane, after completing the challenge, started flirting with the girls in their class! She even gave them chocolates right off the bat, and all this was being watched by so many people…

Arisu sighed inwardly.

She had a feeling that a large part of her decorations might lose their original purpose, but since things had come to this, Arisu could only let Amane do whatever she wanted in the haunted house.

After watching the girl escape, Tianyin continued exploring the haunted house. She soon discovered that the haunted house also involved some escape room games, but you could choose whether to play them or not. If you wanted to participate in the escape room games, you needed to pay an extra 1,000 points, but if you successfully escaped, you would receive a reward of 2,000 points. If you failed the challenge, there were no other penalties.

Faced with such a request, Tianyin decisively chose to refuse. It wasn't that Tianyin was stingy with the 1,000 personal points, but rather that she was afraid that if she encountered a few scary students during the escape room process and couldn't control herself, someone might get injured.

Although Class A and Class B are considered competitors, Tianyin and many people in Class B are quite familiar with each other. If possible, Tianyin does not want to hurt anyone in the class, since it is just a performance and there is no need to take it so seriously.

Without the escape room program, the haunted house became much more monotonous. Apart from occasionally stepping on traps and greeting the students playing ghosts, Amane wasn't scared by anything in the haunted house. Instead, she easily found the ticket booth where Fukuyama was.

"Shichang~ Long time no see~"

"Amane?! What are you doing here? Let me guess, Arisu must have sent you, right? Otherwise, given your personality, you would rather hang out with the girls at your maid café than come to some haunted house."

Amane, slightly embarrassed by Fukuyama Shisho's blunt remark, scratched her cheek.

Seeing the embarrassment on Amane's face, Fukuyama covered his mouth and chuckled. Fortunately, Fukuyama did not forget the important matter.

"Morishita-kun should have explained the rules to Amane. Amane, would you like to continue the experience? If you do, you'll need to pay 1500 personal points and a 500 personal point deposit to prevent anyone from maliciously damaging the haunted house's props and walls. We also offer free storage service here because there might be running and special scenes ahead, and your phone might get lost or damaged while running. So you'll need to store your phone here, and someone will lead you through a special passage to retrieve it after the haunted house experience ends."

As Fukuyama spoke, he pointed to a storage cabinet with about thirty cabinets on the side.

"I didn't expect you guys could even borrow a locker with a combination lock. Although the beginning of the haunted house is a bit simple, we've come all this way, so we should experience it to the fullest. Here, the two thousand points have already been paid. Oh, and could you please bring me a glass of iced milk as well?"

Tianyin immediately noticed that there was milk in the beverage display case, which was quite unusual, so she bought a bottle.

"Okay, that's 350 points in total. If you need anything else, you can come back and contact me to buy more!"

"Okay~ If there's nothing else, I'll continue my adventure."

"I hope you have fun, Tianyin."

After leaving her phone with Fukuyama Shisho, Tenon opened a wooden door and continued deeper into the haunted house. From this point on, the haunted house continued to play some terrifying music that made people's hearts race, and the visually disorienting patterns made Tenon feel vaguely uncomfortable.

However, Tianyin wasn't entirely satisfied with the haunted house. The reason was that even though Tianyin had reached the latter half of the haunted house, the traps and scary students had hardly changed. Encountering them once or twice was fine, but after a while, it became visually tiring.

After walking for an unknown distance, Tianyin suddenly saw a familiar wooden door. This wooden door was exactly the same as the one at the beginning of the second half of the story. Tianyin guessed that this should be the exit, so she opened the wooden door casually.

However, the scene before Tianyin's eyes after opening the wooden door made her eyes widen in surprise.

Fukuyama Shisho's ticket booth reappeared in front of her, and Fukuyama Shisho looked at Amane with a surprised expression.

"Tenon, what are you doing here? Did Arisu send you to this haunted house?"

Chapter 291: The Third Fukuyama Shisho

Amane rubbed her eyes first, and was extremely surprised after confirming that the girl in front of her was indeed Fukuyama Shishou.

"Wait a minute, my sense of direction is pretty good, how could I have circled back?"

Just as Tianyin was wondering how she had ended up back at Fukuyama Shisho's ticket office, Fukuyama Shisho's reaction surprised her greatly.

"Amane, what are you talking about? What do you mean by coming back to the same thing? You need to buy a ticket to experience the haunted house! Didn't Morishita tell you about this when you came in, Amane?"

Upon hearing similar words, Amane's first reaction was that this was Fukuyama's prank, or a little joke that Arisu had instructed Fukuyama to play on her. But when she walked to the cashier, Amane's pupils suddenly contracted sharply.

The line in the register that should have had her name on it had vanished into thin air!

Just as Tenon realized something was wrong, Fukuyama Shisho, who was standing behind the cashier, reached out and touched Tenon's forehead with a concerned expression.

"Tianyin, what's wrong with you today? You seem a little strange."

"I...didn't I just come here? Shichang, you should know about this, right?"

Tianyin asked somewhat uncertainly.

Logically speaking, no one would ask such a foolish question, but the current situation clearly exceeded the scope of normal logic and was beyond Tianyin's comprehension.

She could sense the surprise and joy that Fukuyama Shisho felt when he first met her from his tone and expression. This alone was enough to show that Fukuyama Shisho was very surprised and happy about her arrival.

Why do I feel surprised and happy?

I had met her not long ago, and although what Fukuyama Shisho said was slightly different, it was very similar to what she said when I first met her.

Is it a prank?

Tianyin already had the answer to her question in her mind, but she was unwilling to believe the result of her guess. She did not believe anything that was beyond science and common sense.

So Amane is convinced that this is definitely a prank. Would Fukuyama Shishou lie to her?

Amane's cold reading skills are among the best in the White House. Although she is still far behind the masters of psychology, she is more than capable of dealing with ordinary high school students. As long as Fukuyama Shishou lies, Amane is confident that she can expose the prank on the spot.

"You've been here before? No... This is the first time I've seen you here, Tianyin. And how do I know about this? Tianyin, are you alright? Would you like me to take you outside to rest?"

Fukuyama Shisho did not lie to her.

Both his facial expressions and breathing rhythm were very natural.

This shows that Fukuyama Shisho didn't conspire with anyone to play a prank on Amane. Could it be that he really has a memory lapse?

What a joke!

After a brief moment of mental confusion, Tianyin quickly returned to normal.

She was absolutely certain that she had not acted or thought in any way, and this was indeed the second time she had encountered Shinobu Fukuyama in the haunted house.

"It's alright, my physical condition is still quite good. It's probably because the patterns you designed made me dizzy that I was talking nonsense. Shichang, please don't mind."

"So that's how it is. When Arisu designed this haunted house, she deliberately designed it this way in the hope of reducing people's thinking ability by creating visual illusions. We were also a little uncomfortable when we first came in, but once you get used to it, you'll find these patterns quite interesting."

After hearing Amane's explanation, Fukuyama Shisho patted his chest and then explained to Amane in a relaxed tone.

Tenon kept staring at Fukuyama Shisho the whole time, but even so, Fukuyama Shisho didn't show any flaws, which left Tenon a little confused.

Now, Tianyin has two choices. One is to leave through the so-called passage with Fukuyama Shisho, which is undoubtedly the safest choice, especially in the event of an emergency, leaving safely is the most correct option.

Another option is to grit your teeth and go all the way. There aren't that many strange things in the world, especially such strange things that obviously attract people's curiosity. It is highly likely that someone is up to something. With Tianyin's strength, she is more than capable of protecting herself in this school. So why not go and find out?

Tianyin made her choice in the blink of an eye.

"If, and I mean if, I said I'd already seen you, Shichang, once before, would you believe me?"

Tenon asked Fukuyama Shishou behind the cashier with a half-joking tone.

"Oh, come on! Amane, you're really joking. Your expression and the tone of your voice almost made me believe you. But I'm pretty brave, you know! Your scary stories won't scare me... Huh?"

Fukuyama Shishou's voice stopped abruptly. When she saw what Amane was holding, her expression gradually changed from a smile to confusion, and finally she looked at Amane with horror.

"Where did you get this?"

"Of course I bought it from you."

"Don't be ridiculous! How could such a thing happen!"

Do you think... I'm joking with you?

Tianyin placed the empty milk bottle on the cashier's counter and went straight to the vending machine. Not a single bottle of milk was missing. Then, Tianyin went to the locker, where the locker compartment where she had put the milk bottle was also empty.

Only she knew the locker's combination, and it had been at most ten minutes since she left the last ticket booth. Although she didn't have a cell phone, Tianyin was still very sensitive to time.

Therefore, Tianyin judged that this locker could not possibly be the one she had encountered, or rather, the entire ticket office was not the same ticket office she had encountered.

But the layout of the ticket booths and the people in charge of collecting fees are exactly the same. How can this be explained?

"Tianyin...I'm a little scared."

Fukuyama Shisho spoke to Tenon in a trembling voice, his gaze fixed on the direction of the entrance, as if some unspeakable, terrifying being was quietly lurking in the darkness behind the wooden door.

"I don't care if you're playing a prank or what, I need to move on, and my phone is with the previous one, so can I continue playing the game first?"

Fukuyama Shisho didn't react at all to Amane calling the haunted house a game; he simply nodded after thinking about it.

"Although I can't tell whether what you said, Tianyin, is true or false, I'm willing to believe you. Take all the food and water with you. If... you really encounter any danger, find a safe place to hide. There are many individual cubicles in the haunted house. When the cultural festival ends at six o'clock in the evening, someone will come to dismantle the haunted house and check if there are any people left inside. Then it will be safe."

Tenon accepted all of Fukuyama Shisho's instructions, as well as the food and drinks he offered.

"By the way, Shichang, would you mind kissing me once?"

"What? Kissing?"

Fukuyama Shisho was startled by Amane's sudden request. She had thought Amane was joking, but Amane actually came behind the cashier and hugged her tightly.

"Yes, I want to kiss you, Shichang, is that okay?"

"This kind of thing... kissing is something that only lovers can do..."

Fukuyama Shisho blushed and stammered in response.

Seeing Fukuyama Shisho in this state, Amane hugged her tightly for a few seconds before letting her go.