After getting out of the car, John immediately rented a room in a nearby luxury hotel, then opened his computer and logged onto the Horror Forum website.
People had already started posting photos of their arrival.
The most famous among them was Lance Preston, who had a very popular online show dedicated to finding ghosts and other supernatural phenomena.
Some admired him and became his audience, while others thought he was just faking it.
John had seen the found-footage horror film "Grave Encounters," which was a mockumentary in every sense of the word.
The beginning was indeed a bit of a show, but the latter part was very real, just like the show's name, "Grave Encounters."
Ultimately, the entire team died in that Canadian asylum.
Another well-known figure was a Korean named Hwa-pyung, who, in a sense, was a colleague of Lance Preston.
He also created a show about finding ghosts and spirits, but the location was one of the world's seven most terrifying forbidden places, "Gonjiam."
It was also a long-abandoned but famous mental hospital in South Korea.
However, it seemed they hadn't yet explored those places for ghosts and spirits, otherwise, they probably wouldn't be seen now.
John was somewhat wary of such places because mental hospitals like that might be similar to haunted mansions.
There was also a user named Bill who seemed like an ordinary netizen.
But John knew that Bill was one of the few who survived "It" back then.
The experiences of the others were not explicitly stated.
However, one could glean a bit from their veiled accounts.
After some thought, John also prepared to post a picture, but his picture had a bit of a dark humor.
With John himself as the main perspective, the Evil Spirit Wendigo was hidden in the darkness behind him, revealing a pair of eyes.
This wasn't deceiving people; it was creating a shared sense of immersion.
Most of those who came to Professor Goodman's lecture had encountered indescribable horror.
John was doing this to create similar experiences and then find suitable horror among this group of people.
The website was very active.
As soon as the photo was posted, it attracted many comments.
"Wow, bro, you're not photoshopping this, are you?"
"No, this isn't Photoshop.
From the eyes and the integration with the picture, there's definitely something following him."
"Holy crab, bro, are you okay now?"
"I feel like this brother might be in grave danger, even scarier than Japanese horror legends."
"The eyes look a bit like a monster from Southeast Asia.
It's best to find an exorcist, or it'll be terrible."
"Compared to this, I feel like the ghost harassing me is quite kind."
"Can he make it out alive?"
"I suggest turning into a vampire; maybe then he can survive.
Salem's Lot."
...
John found their comments very interesting.
Finally, there was even a suggestion for survival: to turn into a vampire and an address was provided.
Salem's Lot?
Never heard of it.
"Wrong Turn" would be more interesting.
Without replying to anyone, John continued browsing the posts.
Some people were sharing their experiences of searching for ghosts.
There were also those seeking help because they had encountered terrifying entities.
Among them was a post titled "Dead End," posted by a woman who called herself Shaye.
She recounted that her family's night journey was tiresome and boring, and they almost had an accident.
Feeling drowsy, Shaye decided to abandon the interstate highway they had driven for decades and instead take a shortcut onto a never-before-traveled small road.
But this was a terrible decision, because of the woman in white and the black vintage car that appeared on the road.
No matter how long they drove, they would always encounter the woman in white and the black vintage car.
The small road was also endless, just like a dead end.
There was also a video below.
John clicked play.
The video was filmed by Shaye.
From the bottom right corner, a small boy could be seen, and then a woman in white flashed by on the side of the pitch-black road.
Subsequently, a black vintage car slowly drove out of the darkness ahead.
Its windows were completely black, and no people or objects could be seen inside.
Then, the video made two buzzing sounds and abruptly cut off.
Just from this video, nothing could be discerned.
John glanced at Shaye's account; her last post was several months ago.
But because many people kept bumping the post, its popularity remained high and it stayed at the top.
The exact address of that road was not provided, but the interstate highway was real.
This post, titled "Dead End," was considered an unsolved mystery on the forum.
John looked at the comments.
"The original poster most likely encountered a ghost wall.
Judging from the time of the post, they might have already been harmed."
"I went to that interstate highway; there's no small road at all."
"Are there any church exorcists in the forum?"
"Don't count on exorcists; they often crash and die too."
"I currently work at a church, and I can confirm that the death rate for exorcists and priests is indeed very high, and supply doesn't meet demand in various states."
"Black vintage car, it's possible that Death himself is inside, folks."
...
If exorcists were high-risk jobs, John felt he could create an unofficial identity as a priest or exorcist to facilitate his actions.
However, this dead end did seem very eerie.
Putting himself in that situation, if he accidentally stepped onto this dead end, he would most likely feel uneasy and fearful.
After reading the last comment, John closed the forum and went to inquire about how to register for an unofficial identity.
...
The next day, at the University of California, in the lecture hall for Professor Goodman's lecture.
Lectures were the most common form of teaching at universities, especially for special courses related to the supernatural.
When John arrived, the classroom was already filled with many people, both men and women, Black, White, and Asian.
Many people looked surprised when they saw John.
Clearly, the photo John posted yesterday was very popular, with over ten thousand views.
"Yesterday, I saw that post and thought this Chinese kid was a goner, but I didn't expect him to still be alive."
"Someone who encountered something like that and didn't die must have some skills."
"Stay away from him; be careful that ghost doesn't target you."
"I think that picture is completely computer-generated."
"Hello, my name is Lance Preston.
Are you interested in an interview with me?"
Some were scared, some didn't believe, and some proactively approached him to talk.
John shook hands with Lance Preston.
"Hello, I'm not interested in an interview at the moment."
"That's fine, you can sit next to me, and we can chat about your photo," Lance showed great interest in John.
His fundamental reason for attending Professor Goodman's lecture was to boost the ratings of his show, "Grave Encounters."
The photo John posted had a high number of views, and he thought he could use it as a basis to create a special episode.
As for whether it was real, he had been to so many places and never seen such a thing, so he naturally didn't believe it.
Lance even offered money.
John was there for the Warren couple and an unofficial identity, so he naturally couldn't agree.
However, he offered to sponsor Lance's show.
This was a way to prepare for "Grave Encounters" in advance.
On the other side, Hwa-pyung, who had been observing the two for a while, also had a similar interest, hoping to fabricate a story based on John's photo.
John accepted the sponsorship without hesitation; he was somewhat interested in Gonjiam.
After all, it was rumored to be one of the world's seven most terrifying forbidden places.