I Became an Interstellar Sensation Through Escape Rooms

Interstellar entertainment is rich and varied, but horror is extraordinarily rare, as barren as a desert. Art student Tang Qi is transported to this world one day. He looks at the glaring zero in his account balance on his brain-computer, then remembers that next month's rent is due, and immediately jumps three feet in the air in fright. He glances around. The holographic screens show nothing but mechs blasting each other or interstellar love songs. Feeling the few star coins left in his pocket, he catches a glimpse in his eyes of the cultural relics from back home that used to make his legs go weak. Time to make a big splash. Before long, a holographic escape room called Bus 44 quietly appears on the Star Network, growing unnoticed in a forgotten corner. The trailer is already drenched in an eerie filter, and the ticket price is so low it looks like a scam. Soon, the comments are flooded with things like "What garbage," "Mental pollution," and "Even a dog wouldn't play this." When it comes up on other forums, people only treat it as a joke. Then, late one night, something changes. Leon, the legendary strongest warrior, opens the joke after viewers taunt him. At first he scoffs in disdain. But before long, he falls silent. On the livestream, the hardened warrior's face grows paler by the second, and cold sweat soaks through his clothes. When a strangely vivid red shadow slowly appears on the bus window, Leon completely loses his nerve. "Stay back! I'm sorry, sob! I never hurt you, I swear! I'm just a player... Mom, I want to get off!" The strongest warrior curls up in the corner of his holographic pod, sobbing uncontrollably, his cries echoing across the entire interstellar network. The Star Network explodes. #WarGodScaredToTears, #WhatIsBus44, and #MomIWantToPlayToo dominate the trending topics. The people who had mocked it are thoroughly humbled, but even more people, curious and unconvinced, turn their attention to that inconspicuous link. Star coins pour into Tang Qi's account. He curls his lips into a smile, and another Chinese-style escape room unfolds in his holographic world. The trailer for Ancestral Hall of Taboos comes out. Ancient red lanterns illuminate peeling memorial tablets, while sinister chanting drifts through the air, creating an atmosphere that is as eerie as it gets. The interstellar netizens clutch their rapidly pounding hearts, put on little steel helmets, and click in. "I'm on my knees for the creator! You're the one who gave me all these psychological scars!" "I had to kneel and apologize to virtual ancestors in an ancestral hall. I've never experienced anything this intense in my life!" "There's a weird sound coming from that old well. I'm so scared I can't sleep. What do I do!?" Tang Qi's horror escape-room series rapidly expands. The desperate gasps in Doomsday Countdown, the torment of constantly searching for the truth in Warehouse of Lies: every new room dances on the nerves of interstellar players, sparking a phenomenal craze. Envious entertainment tycoons can't sit still. They pour in a fortune to imitate him, only to churn out gaudy scare houses and clumsy monster lairs. Everyone immediately calls them cheap imitations, and their stock prices plummet to rock bottom. Authoritative experts cry foul, pounding their chests on major media platforms. "Lowbrow entertainment, cultural regression! This is electronic poison that numbs the soul!" Just as the public outcry begins, the Imperial Family posts an SSS-clear certificate for Warehouse of Lies, with a blunt caption: @Tang Qi, new escape room, now. The sign-off is none other than the Empire's most favored young prince! The whole network falls silent, but the reservation link for the next escape room is instantly overwhelmed. Just as interstellar citizens think the horror series has reached its peak, Tang Qi updates his profile again. Fog, rust, the twisted alarms of the Otherworld, and faceless nurses darting through the dark. Silent Hill: Locked In The entire interstellar world seems to freeze, then instantly boils over. Countless players pull out their star coins, just to experience that shivering thrill one more time. At the center of the storm, Tang Qi has just finished sketching a new setting. Pale moonlight falls softly on an old house beside the lake. In the wavering shadows of the trees, a trail of water creeps toward the shore... He steps out of his holographic pod and murmurs with satisfaction: "Next up, The Cursed Old House." Theme: None