[Sell the copyright]

Tong Yu burst into the shop in one go. Although he avoided most people’s gazes, he couldn’t escape the few gathered inside. He had no choice but to brace himself, pull off the shirt covering his head, and grin foolishly at them.

“Hello, everyone.”

“You’re the boss?” Zhang Xin had been waiting in the shop for over an hour and was quite impatient. But seeing the escape room boss pull off the shirt from his head, revealing a young-faced teenager, he was instantly a little disbelieving.

He never expected that the person who designed a game capable of scaring people offline would be a teenager, looking like a student at that.

“It’s me. I’m really sorry for being a bit late.” Even though it was still a minute before opening time, if the boss made guests wait, an apology was always in order.

“You’re really the boss?” The others were also a bit skeptical.

Tong Yu chuckled and nodded again.

“Stop chatting, when does the game start?” A somewhat anxious voice urged.

Tong Yu turned and saw that the speaker was a burly young man. Next to him sat a middle-aged woman with a pale complexion, looking unwell.

Someone who was unwell yet still came to play a game could only have one reason: an unstable spiritual sea.

“Yeah, we’ve been waiting for over an hour!” The others also started pressing him.

Those who would arrive two hours early to queue were people with very unstable conditions, seeking to consume energy through the game.

Tong Yu didn’t delay. He pulled up the backend reservation list and began calling out names: “Qin Yongyuan, Zhang Xin, Li…”

He rattled off eight names in one breath.

“You all follow me in; I’ll send you into the escape room.”

The burly young man who had just urged Tong Yu helped the woman forward. At the entrance, Tong Yu stopped him: “You can’t go in.”

The young man said worriedly: “I also made a reservation, my name’s a bit further down the list. Can I be placed with my mom?”

Tong Yu: “That depends on whether the others are willing to swap with you.”

The young man frowned, looking up at the other seven.

The others didn’t react.

The young man was about to say something else when Zhang Xin interrupted: “Our spiritual sea conditions aren’t much better than your mother’s, so we won’t swap. Besides, if you go in with your mother, with you protecting her, her fright will be greatly reduced, which would be counterproductive, wouldn’t it?”

“Exactly! You’re just worried about your mom. Once inside, we’re all teammates. We’ll help look after her.” A woman in her thirties among the eight walked over and helped steady the young man’s mother.

The young man’s mother thanked the woman and nodded back at her son.

The young man said no more and stepped aside.

Tong Yu led the few people in, handed the plot synopsis to the person who looked the healthiest, and finally looked worriedly at the middle-aged woman: “Do you… have any heart conditions or anything?”

If this were the real world, why would someone sick come to play an escape room? He was genuinely afraid this auntie might suddenly die in the middle of the game.

The middle-aged woman smiled: “Don’t let my appearance fool you. I was a female soldier in the fleet; my physical fitness is excellent. It’s just that my spiritual sea has been in a terrible state these past few years, which is why I look like this.”

“Really?” Tong Yu expressed doubt, but since the person involved said so, he couldn’t stop her. “Um… because the game has already been live-streamed, to enhance your experience, I’ll make some minor adjustments during your live stream. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.” They wouldn’t mind. They were more afraid the game wouldn’t be scary enough.

“Alright then.” Tong Yu exited the escape room, and the game began.

The online live stream was also running simultaneously. Compared to yesterday’s stream, today’s viewership had already exceeded 50 million. The moment the “Li Mansion” plaque flashed on screen, the comments section immediately became so dense it completely obscured the players’ faces.

Tong Yu quickly made another adjustment, focusing on the later details.

—-

At the same time, in a classroom at Lan Hai University, a university professor seriously instructed his students: “Today’s lesson is to watch a game live stream. Here’s a tip: watch through the perspective of the player who interacts the most with the Ghost Bride in the stream.”

“Yes, sir,” the students answered in unison.

“After watching, if you can, send a gift.”

“Yes, sir.”

—-

At a certain sanatorium, the white-haired old director instructed the young man from the information department: “Quick, quick, the live stream has started! Switch over quickly and broadcast it throughout the entire sanatorium.”

“Broadcast on all virtual screens in the hospital? How will internal announcements be made then?” the young man asked worriedly.

“Why are you so verbose? I told you to broadcast it, quickly! Can’t you just call if there’s an announcement?!” The old director fumed, stroking his beard.

The young man dared not speak further and dutifully switched the live stream.

“Oh, right. Remember to send gifts while watching. The hospital will reimburse you.” Seeing the live stream had started on all screens throughout the hospital, the old director finally shuffled away, trembling slightly.

The young man touched his head: ‘No wonder everyone wants to work in state-owned institutions. Watching live streams at work is one thing, but getting reimbursed for gifts? Where’s the logic in that?’

—-

Such a scene was playing out in many, many places. Everyone who had watched yesterday’s live stream and hadn’t been able to make a reservation was now frantically recommending the Ghost Bride escape room live stream to those around them.

While the players were still getting familiar with the escape room environment, Tong Yu quietly tweaked the first stage’s settings. Not much was changed, but the Ghost Bride, who was originally standing in the wedding hall, was now a hanged ghost suspended from the rafters. Players would only discover this upon entering.

Tong Yu originally thought this group of players wouldn’t be as scared since they had already seen the live stream, but he didn’t expect this bunch to be even more useless. Of the eight people, four went in, four looked up, and without even a second’s hesitation, they screamed and turned to run. The Ghost Bride didn’t even get a chance to float down, which was frankly a bit sad.

In the end, the person who cleared the first stage was someone Tong Yu least expected: the middle-aged woman who looked sickly at the start and whom Tong Yu suspected had heart problems. When the woman first entered, she was clearly scared, but perhaps due to the previous hints from teammates, she held on until the Ghost Bride floated down from the rafters.

When the Ghost Bride floated down, the middle-aged woman had originally intended to run, but she wasn’t used to wearing ancient skirts and tripped as she tried to take a step. According to the rule that if you couldn’t reach the door in three seconds, the bride would drag you back, the middle-aged woman was dragged all the way to the innermost part of the room, struggling and screaming in terror. But as she struggled, something suddenly changed. The middle-aged woman suddenly swung her arm, actually flinging the Ghost Bride—who was set to have the strength of three adult men—flying!

With a clang, the Ghost Bride was flung back onto the rafters.

In that instant, both inside and outside the game, including Tong Yu, were speechless.

“This old lady is trained!”

It’s clear now. She truly lives up to her reputation as a capable former fleet soldier.

Throughout the rest of the live stream, as the game progressed, the eight players grew increasingly scared, their courage dwindling, their faces paling, but their movements became more agile and their physiques stronger. In the end, when they were sealing the Ghost Bride with the Soul-Locking Nails and pressing her into the coffin, they actually cracked the coffin lid. Tong Yu was so exhausted he had to virtually invent a new one on the spot; it was utter chaos.

When they emerged, all eight were robust and strong. The one who had broken the coffin lid actually collapsed on the ground with the others, collectively exclaiming: “It was too terrifying!”

‘I think you guys are terrifying! Not only did you hit the NPC, you also damaged the props!’

‘If this were in the real world, I’d blacklist you a hundred times over!’

However, reality didn’t give Tong Yu much time to “educate” the players, as the second wave of customers eagerly rushed in.

As the second wave of guests entered, everyone noticed a problem: it seemed the boss only had this one shop. How long would it take for all 100,000 of them to get a turn?

“Boss, do you only have one escape room?”

“Eight people at a time, three hours per session. When will it be our turn?”

“Exactly, exactly! Can’t you open a few more branches?”

Tong Yu could only promise: “Yes, yes, I’ll try to open a few more branches in the coming days.”

The scenery was already there. If he worked overtime tonight, he might be able to create two more, but even that would be too slow.

Just then, Zhang Xin, from the first group of customers, had recovered. Having consumed a large amount of energy, he looked significantly more energetic. How did that saying go? He was scared sober.

“You’re not actually thinking of fabricating another escape room yourself, are you?” Zhang Xin asked.

“Yes, I am.”

“And how many can you make in a day? One or two?”

Tong Yu gave a wry smile. “I don’t have any other option.”

If it weren’t for the overwhelming number of reservations, he wouldn’t even want to fabricate identical escape rooms. With his personality, even if he did fabricate them, they’d have to be new escape room instances.

“Have you considered selling the copyright?”

“Selling the copyright?”

“Yes, selling the copyright of your escape room to a game company. Game companies have a large staff who can help you replicate the escape room. Building ten thousand escape rooms in a single day wouldn’t be a problem.”

Tong Yu’s eyes lit up. Ten thousand built in a day? That would clear the backlog of a hundred thousand people in a flash!

“Do you know someone?”

Zhang Xin smiled slightly. “To be honest, I’m the Game Development Manager at Lan Hai Game Group. If you don’t mind, we can discuss the price.”

Tong Yu didn’t understand anything about copyright. Even back on Earth, he didn’t know how to negotiate prices for copyright because he wasn’t sure how valuable his game truly was. But undeniably, in the interstellar realm, the escape room game was extremely valuable.

He knew too few people and couldn’t estimate the price himself. Finally, he thought of a method: “I’m not clear on the value of this game, so I don’t know how to negotiate the price. However, you’re the first person to approach me about copyright, so I’m willing to sell the copyright to your company. As for the price, you’re the professionals; why don’t you give me a quote? If I find the price suitable, I’ll work with you again for the next instance. If the price isn’t suitable, then this will be our last collaboration.”

Zhang Xin paused, then gave Tong Yu a meaningful look. “Boss Tong, those words don’t sound like someone who doesn’t know how to negotiate prices. But since you trust me, I’ll go back and hold a meeting now. I’ll definitely give you a satisfactory price.”

After Zhang Xin left, Tong Yu continued to manage the game. At the same time, he put up an announcement in the live stream that the copyright was for sale, letting players know that a large number of escape rooms would soon be online, so there was no need to rush.

Even with that, Tong Yu still had to force himself to keep playing until 12 AM.

The moment he announced closing, the players’ eyes practically glared daggers, as if to say, ‘What time is it? And you’re closing already?’

Tong Yu couldn’t bear it anymore and simply removed his helmet on the spot, going offline instantly.

“No, I can’t do this alone. I need to hire an employee, otherwise, I won’t be able to handle it all.” Tong Yu had been lying down with his helmet on all day, and when he got up, his back and waist ached terribly.

Too tired to cook, Tong Yu asked Little Fatty to deliver a bag of nutrient fluid.

“Master, you have two unread messages,” Little Fatty reminded him.

Tong Yu opened his light-brain to check and found they were from Sheng Jing. One was from early yesterday morning, and the other from around nine or ten o’clock that morning.

The first was: [I’ll be back in a couple of days.]

The second was: [Saturday, I will definitely be back. Any conditions you have, we can discuss.]

“He’s coming back, so why so many messages?” Tong Yu mumbled, yawning as he casually replied with a single message:

[Got it.]

—-

Sheng Jing saw this message the next morning.

This was the first time Tong Yu hadn’t replied to his message instantly, and it was only these simple words.