Dating Show Side Character, Getting Rich by Roasting People

CHAPTER 27: Don’t Take On A Job If You Don’t Have The Skills!

　　Before stepping into the haunted house, Qin Shuo really did act brave. That was only because he had no idea this haunted house would go all out like this!

　　He was already starting to regret his hero act just now. If he’d known, why bother pretending to be cool in the first place?

　　But since Wen Shu was still watching him from the side, there was no way he could chicken out now.

　　“Of course I can do it.”

　　Qin Shuo coughed, trying to muster the last of his acting skills and look calm. “But you all saw it, from the start I’ve been clearing the way for everyone. I’m basically the tank of this team, so of course I need to stay behind and take care of you all.”

　　Chu Ling: “?”

　　Who admitted that?

　　Qin Shuo added, “Logically speaking, I could go, but what if I leave and another crisis pops up here?”

　　Chu Ling rolled her eyes internally.

　　If you’re scared, just say so.

　　“No problem.”

　　Chu Ling refused to give him the easy way out. “The three of us will stay together. Wen Shu has the talisman, nothing will happen.”

　　Qin Shuo: “…”

　　Does this woman have no social skills at all?

　　How did she even survive in the entertainment industry—oh right, she almost didn’t before coming on this show.

　　Qin Shuo glanced at the bandages on his knee again and said deliberately, “Fine, but my leg’s still injured so I might walk a bit slower. You’ll have to wait for me—”

　　“Forget it.”

　　Shen Yi finally had enough of Qin Shuo’s endless excuses. “I’ll just go.”

　　Qin Shuo was secretly thrilled.

　　“Oh, that works too.”

　　Chu Ling’s tone dripped with sympathy. “After all, respecting the elderly and caring for the young is a traditional virtue of our culture.”

　　Qin Shuo: “?!”

　　Who are you calling old!　　

　　“If it really doesn’t work, I can go.”

　　Wen Shu reached for the protective charm hanging around her neck and said, “It’s just getting a candle, it shouldn’t be that hard…”

　　Her words were like the last straw crushing Qin Shuo.

　　He immediately stiffened up again and said in a deep voice, “Go? What are you talking about? Just stay put.”

　　What, it’s just a simple task. How could he possibly fail at that?

　　“I’ll go. That’s it.”

　　Before leaving, he even gave Wen Shu a look full of emotion. “Wait for me to come back.”

　　【Ahhh!! Qin Shuo is so domineering yet so doting!】

　　【Even though he was scared, he still went for Wen Shu! That’s real love!】

　　【Wait! For! Me! To! Come! Back! Who understands how swoony that line is!!】

　　Well, Wen Shu didn’t.

　　It was just a simple task, but he made it look like they were being torn apart forever. Was that really necessary?

　　……

　　Qin Shuo followed the instructions on the note and headed to the storage room to get the lights.

　　The path wasn’t complicated, and since there were motion-sensor lights in the corridor, the creepy atmosphere from earlier felt a little weaker. He only walked a short distance before he arrived.

　　With a creak, he pushed the storage room door open.

　　The place looked old and run-down, filled with broken, dusty junk. At the very back of the room, a box wrapped with fluorescent tape glowed faintly in the corner.

　　Qin Shuo’s heart started pounding again.

　　He walked over slowly and opened the box.

　　Inside were all sorts of miscellaneous things.

　　After rummaging around, he quickly found several electronic LED candles. Just a press and they lit up.

　　The moment he got a light source, Qin Shuo finally let out a sigh of relief.

　　Not so bad after all.

　　It wasn’t nearly as scary as he had imagined.

　　He turned to the camera and said, “I’ve found them. I’ll head back to rejoin the others right away. Hopefully they haven’t run into any trouble.”

　　Qin Shuo grabbed five candles, switched one on for light, and tried stuffing the rest into his pockets.

　　But the pockets were too shallow, so he ended up carrying them all in his arms.

　　Just as he stood up, one slipped out of his hold and hit the ground with a dull thud.

　　Qin Shuo sighed and bent down to pick it up, but then he heard a faint rustling somewhere inside the room.

　　Every hair on his body stood on end in an instant.

　　It’s fine, it’s fine.

　　There must be NPC staff in the haunted house.

　　As long as he moved fast enough, they wouldn’t catch him.

　　That was what Qin Shuo told himself as he quickly picked up the fallen candle, but his hands wouldn’t stop trembling.

　　And just when he managed to grab that one, two more slipped from his arms and rolled further away.

　　He hurried after them, crouched down, and reached out to grab them again.

　　But instead of the candle, his hand brushed against something smooth. Hair.

　　Qin Shuo’s mind went completely blank, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.

　　“…Who’s stealing my things?”

　　A voice came from right in front of him. “Was it you?”

　　Qin Shuo swallowed hard and slowly lifted his head.

　　In the darkness, only the electronic candle in his hand gave off a dim light, revealing the figure before him.

　　Messy layers of black hair hung over a deathly pale face. She was staring straight at Qin Shuo. No—maybe staring wasn’t the right word, since she had no eyes. Where her eyes should have been were two hollow pits, blood-tears flowing down from them.

　　Qin Shuo could no longer hold back his fear. He screamed, “Ahhh…”　

　　—　　

　　Qin Shuo had been gone for ten minutes and still hadn’t come back.

　　Wen Shu frowned. “…Could something really have happened to him?”

　　Chu Ling said, “His cameraman’s following right behind him. Nothing serious will happen. Even if it does, it’ll just count as a work injury, no big deal.”

　　Wen Shu: “…”

　　That was actually such an airtight reason she couldn’t argue back.

　　They’d originally planned to use the chance while Qin Shuo was gone to explore the room a bit.

　　But the room they were in was so dark they couldn’t even search for clues. They really had to wait until the lighting tools came back.

　　Just when Chu Ling was starting to get impatient and thinking about going upstairs to check, a broadcast suddenly played in the room.

　　【Your teammate has failed the mission and is temporarily imprisoned.】

　　【Please send out another teammate to continue the solo task.】

　　【If all members fail, the haunted house challenge ends in failure.】

　　Chu Ling: “…”

　　Her lips moved like she wanted to curse, but she held it back.

　　Sheng Yi let out a soft laugh. “Looks like Teacher Qin isn’t good with haunted houses after all. Did I make the wrong choice again?”

　　“…Maybe we should just let Teacher Qin ride the merry-go-round later instead.”

　　Chu Ling put on a fake sympathetic look. “I’m afraid if we keep going, he might end up with actual adult trauma.”

　　She thought jokingly to herself that they’d have to get Lin Zirun to book him a session and figure out how to treat that trauma.

　　Even though Qin Shuo was locked away, the mission still had to be completed.

　　Sheng Yi stood up. “I’ll go this time.”

　　“Be careful.”

　　Chu Ling said, “Since Teacher Qin got taken out, maybe the solo task is actually pretty hard. Could there be traps?”

　　After she finished, Sheng Yi turned back for a moment. She thought he was about to say something cheesy to Wen Shu, like “wait for me.” She’d already braced herself for the goosebumps.

　　“I’m not that stupid,” Sheng Yi said. “I’m going.”

　　Chu Ling: …Was that a subtle jab at Qin Shuo for being too stupid?

　　She couldn’t help but chuckle quietly, then went back to groping around in the dark to explore the room.

　　In less than three minutes, Sheng Yi returned with five candles.

　　Chu Ling was surprised. “That fast?”

　　“Not hard,” he said. “I saw candles on the ground as soon as I went in. Tested one, it worked, so I just picked them up.”

　　Thinking back, they were probably the ones Qin Shuo dropped. Who knows what he triggered to end up captured.

　　He added, “But I looked around and couldn’t find where Teacher Qin was imprisoned.”

　　“Alright, we’ll save him if we get the chance later.”

　　Chu Ling brushed it off casually and divided the candles Sheng Yi had brought back.

　　The LED candles were pretty bright. Once all three switched theirs on, the room lit up halfway.

　　And instantly, everyone’s eyes were drawn to the walls.

　　The pitch-black room was now revealed to have splatters of blood everywhere.

　　Even Chu Ling, who was usually calm, was startled by the sight.

　　【Help me, Mom, I’m terrified.】

　　【I was already scared stiff when Qin Shuo got snatched. How come this room feels even scarier?】

　　【Holy crap, did you see that? There’s a coffin in the corner!】

　　“It’s fine,” Wen Shu said as she walked closer to the wall. She touched it, then sniffed her fingers. “It’s just red paint.”

　　She studied art, so she was very sensitive to the smell of paint. Even though it had dried a long time ago, she could still tell.

　　Chu Ling: “…”

　　She knew it wasn’t real either, probably just paint or dye, but Wen Shu’s calmness was something else. It almost felt like once they left, Wen Shu would go ask the staff what brand of paint they used.

　　Chu Ling teased her, “You’re not scared?”

　　“Nope.” Wen Shu tilted her head in confusion. “Are you scared?”

　　“Of course not, I just…” Chu Ling pointed at her protective charm and laughed. “We thought you were the most timid, that’s why we gave it to you.”

　　Wen Shu sighed.

　　When they were discussing it earlier, she had said she didn’t need it, but Qin Shuo insisted she take it. Said she was too timid, easily frightened. Said she was the youngest, so she should have it.

　　Since the other two didn’t fight him on it, the protective charm ended up with her.

　　“No,” Wen Shu shook her head. “…He doesn’t understand me.”

　　Qin Shuo was always used to thinking he was right, handling everything according to his own understanding.

　　She did have fears: she was afraid of heights, afraid of socializing, and afraid of being scolded.

　　But when it came to haunted houses, not only was she unafraid, she even felt a little excited.

　　He had never really tried to understand her, only assumed he was treating her well.

　　Wen Shu said, “Come on, let’s look for clues.”

　　【Why does it feel like Wen Shu’s kind of excited?】

　　【Don’t tell me she’s actually the bravest one here?】

　　【Wait, so at the start you really sent the most timid one to do a solo mission? Were you trying to scare him to death?!】

　　【Suddenly I feel kind of bad for Qin Shuo.】

　　【But hey, he’s the one who insisted on going! Hahaha. Wen Shu even said she could go alone but he just had to act tough! Don’t take on a job if you don’t have the skills! Now look, he got caught.】

　　【His legs were practically giving out with every step, really just suffering for the sake of pride.】

　　【Qin Shuo: The world is so cruel to me! I’m suing all of you!!】

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