As they say, misery loves company. Han Fei was in a weakened state since he failed to light the altar. His Life Point was so low that a bump could kill him. Under such extreme conditions, the Song suddenly made an appearance. Once it locked onto Han Fei, like a shark, it couldn’t be shaken off.
‘This is probably the side effect from failing to light the altar, the system did mention these altars contain the presence of specific Unmentionable. That’s probably why the Singer is chasing after me.’ Han Fei shivered as he thought about the pairs of scary eyes inside the altar. ‘This rubbish game, why would it allow a level 12 player to trigger a level 30 object?’
Yi Ming Street started to frost over like winter had arrived all of a sudden. Paper money fluttered from god knows where and since the Song appeared, the comfort and familiarity Han Fei felt with the street disappeared. Being carried by Drake, Han Fei summoned his courage to look behind him. If he had to die, at least he wanted to know the identity of his killer. The street behind him was like a land of death, other than the song, there was no other sound. The song came closer and closer but the scary thing was it was invisible. Because it was invisible, that made it even more frightening. This was no longer an issue of mental constitution, but fear and escape were how the body reacted when one was around the Singer.
“Its target is me, Drake. If you stay with me, everyone will be destroyed.” Han Fei said seriously. “We’ve cleaned up the security company and made known the relationship between it and Ziggurat. When Ziggurat found out about the security company’s destruction, they would hate us even more. But if we led the Singer to the security company, the Ziggurat might think it was the Singer who was behind the destruction, it was the Singer who destroyed their production chain and took out the butterfly patterned human skin.” Even at that moment, Han Fei tried to keep calm. Since he was going to die, then he was going to bring everyone down with him. The Singer posed extreme danger but within danger, there was always chance. Han Fei very acutely captured that. “After all, if I’m dead, Ziggurat won’t know what really happened there. The Singer would bear this blame for me.” When Han Fei said that, his tone was sharp. Even though he was the one being chased, it didn’t stop him from trying to entrap the Singer.
Drake obediently carried Han Fei towards the security company. His hands gripped Han Fei tightly as if worried that the man had other plans that he was not sharing. With blood flowing out from his single eye, Drake was already running at full speed but it was not enough to shake the Singer off. He felt very powerless. Before an Unmentionable, even escaping was a luxury. When the Singer felt like it was right behind them, Drake finally arrived at the security company. He had no idea what he should do next so he continued to run.
Although by then, he understood that the Singer had fixated on Han Fei’s presence, the chance of them escaping was zero. If Singer was operating on its full power, they wouldn’t have been able to escape this far.
“Drake, carry the urn and bring everyone away from this building. Come back here to look for me at midnight tomorrow!” Due to the extreme circumstances, Han Fei didn’t elaborate. He grabbed Drake by his shoulder and said, “Trust me.”
Perhaps because he failed to light the altar, the Singer fixed its sight on Han Fei. If they stayed together, they would all die. So the best solution was to abandon Han Fei so that the others could live. At the moment of life and death, not many would be able to make the decision to surrender their own lives to protect others but Han Fei was an exception. His firm tone and unshakeable gaze said one thing—compared to his own life, he hoped that his neighbours and colleagues could live.
Drake and the spirits inside the urn knew about these things but because they had been injured so deeply by despair that they stopped believing in anything, but now Han Fei was using his action to help them regain the ‘thing’ that they had lost. Everyone inside the urn witnessed and heard what Han Fei was doing. Throughout this process, Han Fei had no hesitation and conflict, he was sincere. The Song was approaching and Han Fei signalled for Drake to let go. After multiple tries, Drake finally put Han Fei down. “Remember to come back tomorrow at midnight! If I am still alive, you’ll find me here!” By then, the Singer had floated into the security company.
After Drake and Lee Zai shattered the company’s back window and planned to escape, the urn suddenly opened and a ghastly bug crawled out. It was not that clever, it didn’t understand why everyone was running. When everyone made their escape, it toddled innocently towards Han Fei. Han Fei knew it was pointless to explain the plan to a bug but to be honest, when he saw Big Sin run towards him, he was quite touched. ‘No wonder people like to keep pets, it’s quite healing.’
To buy more time for his neighbours to escape, Han Fei grabbed Big Sin and got into the elevator. He pressed the button for the second floor. He had no idea whether he would make it or not but there was no other path inside the company. The elevator door closed too slowly for Han Fei’s comfort. When it closed fully, a human silhouette appeared at the company front door. As the number on the panel rose, Han Fei’s heart raced. Now only he and Big Sin remained. When the number on the elevator turned 2, the song inside the booth suddenly amplified, it felt like something had hooked onto the bottom of the elevator. The red number on the panel flickered until it morphed into a human face. The elevator grinded to a halt. Without giving it much thought, Han Fei peeled the doors open and ran out with Big Sin. The Song followed like a shadow. Han Fei’s face was twisted from the effort of running. With blackening lips, he stared at Big Sin. “Find a good place to hide, don’t be discovered! Stop following me!” Then he tossed Big Sin down the window on the 2nd floor and he ran down the other director.
The song had already started to reverberate in his mind. Until now Han Fei had not seen the Singer in person but the Song had already occupied his mind. He raced down the corridor until the dead end. Han Fei, who was covered in cold sweat leaned on a closed door beside the wall. There was nowhere else to run!
The elevator that he took creaked strangely. The elevator doors opened and closed on their own and blood started to flow. After the blink of an eye, a figure suddenly appeared down the corridor. Han Fei knew that the Singer could delay him from quitting the game so before the thing arrived, Han Fei chose to leave the game lest he was trapped. Blood covered the world and the whole city froze but something was still moving on the corridor before Han Fei!
Chapter 296
296 Huang Yin and the Butterfly
Time appeared to slow down indefinitely. Han Fei could see clearly his mind was being pulled away from his body but at the same time, he saw a hand reach out to grab his leg. The fingernail scratched him and his soul froze. Han Fei’s eyes involuntarily swung downwards but he saw nothing. Opening his eyes, Han Fei removed the gaming helmet and opened the gaming hub. His pupils were still shaking and he found it hard to calm down. ‘Exiting the game wouldn’t stop that thing, I almost got trapped in the game.’
The gaming hub was constantly monitoring Han Fei’s physical condition. He didn’t feel uncomfortable physically and he didn’t feel as exhausted as he would have been if he only had the gaming helmet. But as he tried to climb out from the hub, he staggered and fell to the ground. Han Fei looked at his left calf in disbelief, he couldn’t move the lower half of his left calf anymore! ‘That was the place where the Unmentionable scratched me!’
He stared at the left calf and then decided to lay down and rest. After a long time, senses returned to his left calf but with it came quite a scare. ‘Just a small touch and I couldn’t feel my left calf anymore. Using this as a speculation, if I die in game, I might not actually die in real life but there’s a high chance I might lose full consciousness and become comatose.’ The joy of reaching level 12 was dampened immediately. The Singer had given Han Fei a good lesson, it reminded Han Fei who had gotten rather contented with his current situation in the cryptic world a lesson on its dangers. ‘The water of the cryptic world is too deep. Even someone as strong as Little Eight had to hide at Happiness Neighbourhood, so I need to be more careful in the future.’
Han Fei’s plan was to train his level as fast as possible but the Singer had decided to put a stop to that. Han Fei finally understood the biggest difference between Perfect Life and the other games on the market. For most games, it was the player playing the game, but in Perfect Life, it was the NPC playing the player. Only by maintaining a constant humility and caution that one had a higher chance of survival.
Sitting down in bed, Han Fei found himself fully awake. Deep Space Tech’s gaming hub was indeed effective. When he was submerged in the game, his body received absolute relaxation and recovery. ‘Gaming equals sleeping, now I have more time to use in my day.’ Time was the thing Han Fei lacked the most. He looked out at the dark sky and opened the computer to search all the murder cases related to Ziggurat and the Singer. Even when the sun rose, Han Fei didn’t find anything. There were many articles about Ziggurat but they were mostly mythological in nature.
‘It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack, I would have a better chance talking to someone involved.’ Han Fei called Huang Yin, hoping that his friend could help him contact Feng Ziyu. Feng Ziyu was the mad tester’s colleague, and he had witnessed the massacre from back then. He had been searching for info related to Ziggurat as well. The phone only rang once before it was picked up, Huang Yin appeared to have set a special reminder for Han Fei’s calls.
“Brother Huang, did you experience any more nightmares yesterday night?” Han Fei was concerned about Huang Yin. After he asked the question, Huang Yin was silent for a long time. “It was still that dream…” Huang Yin was in a strange state. Normally when a person was targeted by the Butterfly, they would be mentally affected, like the Chef persona of the Spider. Even if they managed to survive the mental onslaught, they would become paranoid until they pushed themselves mad. However, Huang Yin sounded calm and collected, there was no fear and panic, if anything, it sounded like there was even some taste of remembrance.
“Do you need me to go be with you in person? Have you considered just moving into a hotel near the police station for these few days?” Han Fei really didn’t wish for anything bad to happen to Huang Yin.
“I didn’t know how to describe it to you. In the dream, I was given a chance to live a different life. In the dream, my mother didn’t leave me, she stayed by my side…” At this point, Huang Yin suddenly stopped.
“And then?” Han Fei knew Butterfly wouldn’t be so kind for no reason.
“And then she continuously tried to kill me in various ways.” Hearing that, Han Fei sucked in a cold breath. Butterfly took on the image of the person Huang Yin loved and respected the most and used this method to ruin the man. Han Fei was worried, so he changed into a video call. On the screen, Huang Yin was still wearing his pyjamas, he smiled like a big boy. Han Fei was confused, he couldn’t see any mental breakdown symptoms on Huang Yin.
“There’s no need to worry, I’m fine.” Other than the bushy beard, Huang Yin looked normal.
“But didn’t you feel anything? Being killed by your beloved mother. Didn’t you feel despair having your most precious memory twisted? Brother Huang, you have to tell me the truth so that the police and I can help you.” Han Fei uttered sincerely.
“The truth?” Huang Yin thought about it. “Actually, the thing that happened in my childhood has always been my nightmare, the thing that I refused to face. My biggest hope is for my mother to survive and not sacrifice herself to save me, she was the kindest person in the world.” Huang Yin had been through death with Han Fei and they were each other’s only friend so Huang Yin didn’t hide anything from him. “My father hated me for quite a long time after that, he sent me overseas to study because he couldn’t stand being near me. Honestly, I’m now in my 30s but I still haven’t forgotten about that part of my memory, I merely have learned not to let others see my sadness.
“I’ve already felt guilt towards my mother. It was because of me that she had to die, I wanted to make up to her but I had no way of doing that… until I started these nightmares.
“When I saw my mother standing by the lakeside and not jump down to save me, the first feeling I had was not fear but great relief, I was worried that she might die in the dream as well. Then when she wanted to murder me in my dream, that was scary but for some reason, it felt like I was also paying penance. When each death, my heart felt lighter, the pain suffocating me was being slowly released. My guilt, my self-blame, my pain, they were going away with each death.
“At the later part of the nightmare, I started to voluntarily approach her even though I knew she wanted to kill me. But I wouldn’t run away from her anymore, just like how she didn’t hesitate to jump into the icy lake to save me.” Huang Yin on the screen took a deep breath and he broke into a smile, “I know what the Butterfly is trying to do but I don’t care.” Huang Yin appeared to have awakened some strange worldview, Han Fei had no idea if it was good or not, Butterfly was probably equally confused. “Is there anything else?”
“Since Butterfly was unable to make any progress with you, it’s already the best news for me.” Han Fei started to explain the reason for him calling. He wanted to know more about Ziggurat. Huang Yin agreed easily and helped Han Fei contact Feng Ziyu. Soon Han Fei received a document. After entering the password, he realized the content of the document was all related to the Ziggurat.
“The Ziggurat is not a specific building or a neighbourhood, it is a gathering of many different haunted houses and boarded off locations.”
Just the first line of the document had attracted Han Fei’s attention deeply. He ended the video call and started to study the document seriously.
Chapter 297
297 Ziggurat?
In the past several years, Feng Ziyu had investigated several places before he came up with this document about Ziggurat. The content was so preposterous and unbelievable that if Han Fei had not been to the cryptic world himself, he wouldn’t believe such locations exist at Xin Lu. In the 1st edition of Perfect Life, to increase authenticity, part of the gaming set was inspired by real life, and that included the Ziggurat personally designed by Immortal Pharma’s past director. No one knew what Ziggurat's real name was, Ziggurat was just a codename but the locale had been closely related to death ever since its creation. Following the deaths of the director and the tester who went insane, Feng Ziyu was the living person who knew Ziggurat the best. He had personally tested all the missions available at Ziggurat and had been to most of the rooms at Ziggurat.
“Since the beginning, I noticed the connection between Ziggurat and real life. On the surface, Ziggurat claims to be a virtual location created by Immortal Pharma’s director, but once you were inside it, you would notice its tenuous relationship to reality. As a tester, I had checked the missions at Ziggurat multiple times, they all looked normal on the surface but they had such sinister details.
“Take for example, there is a deliveryman outside Building 1 of Ziggurat, he came to Ziggurat for his job, taking a temporary post from his colleague. According to the game’s design, the deliveryman’s attitude was completely different from a normal NPC, he was extremely cunning and crazy. He would inject the water from the toilet into the bottled water using a syringe and hid his cut nails inside the food. When the deliveryman made his 3rd delivery, he was encountered by one of the tenants, a father. The man discovered his crazy actions and got into an argument with him. Just as it was about to escalate to a fight, the player would be dragged into it. Based on different choices, the ending of the deliveryman would be different.
“The best result was when the deliveryman was arrested by the police, he would be given therapy but I realized things were not that simple. The first problem was the deliveryman supposedly took over from his colleague and entered the Ziggurat but what exactly happened to his colleague, the game didn’t explain. This was very unlike the photon computer, there was only one explanation, that part of the history had been purposely wiped away. I tried to look into similar events in real life and realized with shock that something similar really did happen at Xin Lu many years ago.
“It was a double murder case. Two deliverymen were tricked to a neighbourhood called Qiu Yun Residence, it was a high-end apartment. The two deliverymen were killed and stuffed inside their own respective delivery boxes. The case had been solved, the culprit was a father, he lived in Room 0314. If you think this was an isolated case, then you couldn’t be more wrong.
“Inside the small Ziggurat, there were more than 10 such storylines, almost every single NPC had their own story to tell. I’ve looked through most of them and discovered something shocking. Almost 50 percent of the NPC were modelled after actual people, their gory and bloody murders were written into the seemingly mundane everyday life stories at Ziggurat!
“In Perfect Life, with the players’ help, their stories would soon be tied up perfectly, the complete opposite of what happened in real life. These accidents and cases were gathered together, I really couldn’t understand why the dead director would design a place like this.
“As I investigated further, I noticed something even weirder. The NPC connected to murder cases were all living in Room with the number 4. In fact, the greater the number of 4 in their room number, the more terrifying their stories were. Based on that, I started to get curious about the people and things inside Room 4444. I tried my best to recall and flipped through the company’s internal records but then I noticed something, there was no info related to Room 4444 at the company. The only person who had been into Room 4444 was that colleague of mine, the tester who went insane. Room 4444 must have something important hidden inside it, the reason why my colleague went crazy. I used various excuses to access the company’s inner data and wade through the sea of data but the truth had fully been hidden away.
“Then again, I didn’t really come away with nothing. When I was testing Ziggurat, I accidentally entered a hidden room—Room 4944, I remembered its layout very clearly. In my investigation, I found out the room was modelled after Immortal Pharma’s Director’s childhood room.” There was a picture under that line and when he saw that picture, Han Fei’s eyes widened with shock. The decoration of Room 4944 was similar to the room of the previous building manager at Happiness Neighbourhood!
“Based on my earlier speculation, the greater the number of 4 on the room number, the more harrowing its inhabitants’ tales. It would then seem like the director didn’t have an enjoyable childhood.” Feng Ziyu investigated all the rooms he had been in and came to a scary conclusion. Almost half the NPC at Ziggurat were tied to murder cases, it was hard to imagine such a locale would exist in an Iyashikei game.
Taking in all the details, Han Fei memorized the cases and their corresponding room number. While he did that, his spine chilled. Compared to Ziggurat, the Happiness Neighbourhood was really ‘happy’.
“Qiu Yun Residence, Pear Blossom Neighbourhood, Blue Sky High-End Apartment, Happiness Street Temporary Homes…” Ziggurat consisted of a lot of different places but there was one place that Feng Ziyu specially marked out where he hoped Han Fei could go in person to investigate.
“Pear Blossom Neighbourhood?” The neighbourhood had a very common name and it was an old neighbourhood but it was also where the dead Immortal Pharma director spent his childhood. ‘9 NPCs at Ziggurat are tied to this place. Looks like it is worth checking out.’
The address of Pear Blossom Neighbourhood was marked out on the map. Feng Ziyu was a very detail-orientated person. He reminded Han Fei that if he did go to Pear Blossom Neighbourhood, he should go and find a person. The person was a once-famous horror film director but he lost his mind after his family got caught in an accident. Feng Ziyu paid him special attention because he had seen a few NPCs inside Room 4144 and they appeared to the director’s family. Coincidentally enough, there was a black and white picture inside Room 4144 that looked 70 percent like that director.
The director was the only one alive but his picture was treated as the portrait of the deceased in the cryptic world. The boundary between the living and dead appeared to have been inverted.
Chapter 298
298 The Horror Movie Actor and Director
When Feng Ziyu paid a visit to Pear Blossom Neighbourhood, he did encounter the guy but after a brief conversation, Feng Ziyu had a feeling the man was not crazy but had to act crazy due to certain pressure. He believed the horror movie director should know something, the fact that he continued to stay at Pear Blossom Neighbourhood was suspicious too. After memorizing all the data, Han Fei destroyed the document. He called Li Xue, reported his schedule and then left his house with the nunchucks. Pear Blossom Neighbourhood was at Xin Lu Old City as well, but it was situated at a very secluded place. Furthermore, the name of the place had changed so many times that even with the GPS, Han Fei needed a long time before he found it.
Taking in the dilapidated neighbourhood gate and the banners that hung on the wall, Han Fei felt transported to several decades ago. The technological advance didn’t bring much change to the bottom layer of the society.
‘The director has accumulated quite a bit of wealth from his movies, so why is he still living in a place like this?’ Han Fei pulled out his phone to key in the man’s name, Zhuang Ren. It returned him a lot of results. About 10 years ago, that was the time when this horror film director’s fame was at its height. Each of his movies was worse than the one before, and the critic lampooned them greatly but somehow he had the box office and none of his projects lost money. Many people went to the cinema not to be terrified but to see how low the standard his works could get.
At the social media account of the director which hadn’t been updated for years, there were his ‘fans’ who were still active. They called him the titan of the comedy world, revering this horror film director as the godfather of unconventional comedies. Han Fei felt a sense of familiarity when he saw the director’s comment section, his own comment section was the same way. He was an actor but many netizens mistook him as a bounty hunter. In a way, he could empathize with Zhuang Ren.
The neighbourhood’s guardhouse door was locked and the notice for the city cutting off water supply to this place hung on the wall. The trash cans in front of the gates hadn’t been cleaned for a long time. This neighbourhood was once quite a nice living space but as time moved forward, it was slowly forgotten like the people who still lived here. Walking down the roads with many holes, Han Fei glanced at the sign placed above the roadblock. He noticed the construction on the road should have been finished half a year ago, it probably wouldn’t finish in his lifetime.
Pear Blossom neighbourhood wasn’t that big, there were 4 buildings in total and none of them that tall. Building 4 had been fully sealed off. Based on research, Immortal Pharma had bought this building a long time ago. Shaking the iron door which was welded shut, Han Fei couldn’t help but sigh. Such was the privilege of the rich. The director of Immortal Pharma once stayed here but Han Fei couldn’t enter the building, or at least he didn’t dare to trespass in broad daylight. Passing Building 4, Han Fei came to Building 1 where Zhuang Ren stayed. He walked up to the 4th floor and encountered no one along the way. The place appeared haunted even during the day.
“Is anyone home?” He knocked lightly on the door. There was no answer, the place appeared abandoned. Leaning his upper body forward, Han Fei placed his ear against the door, he could hear the sound of the news. “I’m sorry but is this Zhuang Ren’s home?” Han Fei stood for a full 3 minutes at the door before he heard footsteps coming from inside the house. The anti-theft door eased open a gap. A bloodshot eye looked out. The owner said nothing and only stared at Han Fei.
“My name is Han Fei, I’m here because I have some questions for you.” Hearing Han Fei was there to ask questions, the owner immediately closed the door but Han Fei was prepared. He squeezed his fingers into the gap and held the door. “I’m not a bad guy, if you’re worried, I can call the police and have them come with me.” Han Fei’s tone was gentle but his words were incongruent with the gentleness. This was just an issue of talking, why would he involve the police?
Han Fei pulled harder and forced the door to stay open. To leave a good impression, he stood politely at the door and didn’t force his way in further. “I’ve seen your info online and I know about your past, I just need you to hear me out first.” Han Fei stared at the face behind the door and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I know you’re not crazy because I’ve encountered the same thing as you do. My family is not dead, they’re trapped somewhere, or rather they’re still surviving in a different state.” The bloodshot eye moved slightly as if taking in the hidden meaning in Han Fei’s words. “I know where they are but I can’t save them, I need to get some information from you first.” Han Fei said many things before a low and hoarse voice finally replied from behind the door. “Where do you think they are now?”
“Have you heard of Ziggurat?” Han Fei answered the question with his own question. But to his surprise, once he said that, the door slowly opened. An unkempt man with white in his hair and beard appeared. His actual age was around 60 but this man looked like he was about to die soon. “Come in, if you’re heard saying these things outside, they’ll think you’re crazy.” The man then turned into the room, he didn’t even close the door. Han Fei confirmed the location of his nunchucks and entered the room. Avoiding the trash on the ground, he took a quick look at the room. There were medicine bottles everywhere. It was morning, but since all the curtains were closed, the living room was extremely dim. Han Fei closed the door. When he lifted his head again, the man walked out from an inner room, holding a fruit knife. He stared right at Han Fei, his bloodshot eyes practically bulging. After a long time, seeing a lack of reason from Han Fei, he asked, “Would you like some apples? They’re given by the community service people yesterday.”
“Thank you but I’m not here for fruits.” Han Fei sat on the couch and looked at the television which was playing a recording and notes that scattered across the table. “You don’t seem to fancy modern electronics, do you?”
“I’m used to these old things and can’t bring myself to change.” The man sat down on the other end of the couch and watched the television with Han Fei. The screen was playing the news from years ago. A car was carried away from a bridge by a deluge and washed into the lake with rising water level.
“Were your family in this car?” When Han Fei asked that, the news showed the names of the victims. Among them were Zhuang Ren’s family but he shook his head. “They are not dead, they’re just trapped at Ziggurat, I’m sure of that.” Zhuang Ren tied up his messy hair. “Everyone else thinks I’m mad but my mind is clearer than most.”
Han Fei didn’t answer immediately. After a long pause, he asked, “Have you been to the Ziggurat?”
“I’ve been meaning to but I can’t find the path.” The man glared with his bloodshot eyes. To Han Fei’s confusion, he switched on the gaming console under the television and handed Han Fei a gaming controller.
“What is this?”
Zhuang Ren didn’t answer. As he held the controller, his condition became even more unstable. His pupils kept shaking but his attention was fully on the screen. After connecting all the wires, the screen started to play a game with horrible graphics and the game’s title was… Ziggurat. It had a black background and red font. It was simple but it gave Han Fei the chills. “My family is in there! They’re waiting for me to go rescue them! I can do that by clearing the game!” Zhuang Ren’s words became more unhinged, no one seeing him now would believe he was sane.
“The Ziggurat you referenced is this game?” Han Fei was quite disappointed. He was about to put down the controller and stand up when he saw something that caught his attention. In this game, the first map was called Happiness Neighbourhood!
Even more coincidentally, the goal of the first map was to find puzzle pieces, but instead of finding human body pieces, the main character had to help a boy find normal puzzle pieces. The player had to locate 8 puzzle pieces on the large map by asking the various NPCs. Based on the familiar way he controlled the character, Zhuang Ren had played this game many times already. As he triggered the missions and searched for the puzzle, he got to know the neighbours and their troubles. He helped them solve their conundrums. This first map looked unfinished but it had a lot of content. By then Han Fei no longer thought Zhuang Ren was a crazy person, he sat back down and watched quietly.
Zhuang Ren used 15 minutes to find all the puzzle pieces. The finished puzzle was a picture of a child reaching for a butterfly. After finishing the first map, Zhuang Ren entered another map. The second map was called Qiu Yun Residence. Here, Zhuang Ren had to help the deliveryman deliver the packages through the complicated building pathways. While delivering the goods, Zhuang Ren would interact with different people and hear their stories of humanity. From the 2 current maps, Han Fei saw that the game creator encouraged a message of hope and hard work, in essence, they were trying to create an Iyashikei game.
After 10 minutes, Zhuang Ren finished all the mission and he entered the 3rd map, Happiness Street Temporary Homes. The temporary homes had quality and safety problems and the mission required Zhuang Ren to persuade all of its current citizens to move out. The game design was very interesting but Zhuang Ren hit on the button mechanically because he already played this who knew how many times already. He used the quickest path to finish all the missions. 3rd map, 4th map….
When it was around noon, Zhuang Ren reached the 8th map and the map’s name was Pear Blossom Neighbourhood. When he reached this map, Zhuang Ren’s speed conspicuously slowed down. It was like he was watching his life from another angle. Half an hour later, he cleared the 8th map. The game was hard but not impossible. Just as Han Fei thought they were going to proceed to the 9th map, the game restarted and the title Ziggurat reappeared on screen.
“That’s all?”
“No, the gate to Ziggurat is just opening.” Zhuang Ren clicked on the start game button but this time, he was sent into the 9th map. Just like how he had once helped piece the 8 puzzle pieces together at Happiness Neighbourhood to unlock that picture, the player had to finish the 8 maps once before they could access the 9th map.
The 9th map revolved around a very strange building. Whenever Zhuang Ren’s character tried to approach the building, they would die for no reason. He attempted entry from different directions but it was to no avail, he couldn’t find the entrance. The blood vessels in his eyes thickened and Zhuang Ren handled the controller rougher and rougher. Eventually he slammed the controller on the table and shouted angrily as he swiped everything to the ground. Shouting, screaming, lashing out, Zhuang Ren only calmed down after a long time. His hands were injured by broken glass but Zhuang Ren didn’t seem to feel the pain. Picking up the controller, he exited the game and restarted everything.
“I must have missed something or I need some kind of item that will grant me access to the Ziggurat.” Zhuang Ren’s hands were bleeding but his eyes were transfixed on the screen. Seeing Zhuang Ren who was lost in the game, Han Fei touched the controller and suddenly said, “Where did you find this game? And who told you your family is trapped at Ziggurat?” It might be grief but grief wouldn’t push someone to such extremes, Han Fei believed something else had happened to Zhuang Ren.
“You will not believe me, you’ll think I’m crazy.” Zhuang Ren worked the controller and said, “The game was given to me by Immortal Pharma’s director when we were young, it was about 40 years ago, at the time, he lived in this neighbourhood.”
“Immortal Pharma’s director?” Han Fei’s eyes shone with disbelief.
“I know, you’re thinking I’m creating stories. After all, the man’s already dead. To be honest, I don’t get it myself either. Why would the man who people claimed closest to God give me such a game? It was a mystery until I lost my family about 10 years ago…” Zhuang Ren looked at Han Fei. The latter’s eyes widened. “Yes, you saw the map for Pear Blossom Neighbourhood yourself. The game was given to me before the tragedy befell my family. The game had predicted my family’s death.” Zhuang Ren put down the controller. “Everyone says I’m crazy. Perhaps, I am really crazy or the world is crazy.” No one spoke and the room was eerily quiet. After a long time, Han Fei broke the silence, “Did Immortal Pharma’s Director say anything else?”
“It was so long ago, I could only remember one blurry scene. That night, I saw him talking to himself alone at the corner of the neighbourhood like he was possessed. He kept mumbling about his older brother.” Walking down memory lane, his body leaned into the sofa. “At the time, I was still young. Out of kindness, I wanted to help him but he turned to ask me a question that I couldn’t understand until now.”
“What question?”
“He asked me whether there are ghosts in this world or not.”
“How did you answer?”
“I told him there wasn’t and then he gave me this game.” Zhuang Ren stared at the screen and the wrinkles on his face seemed to deepen. “He even told me, if I ever lost something important, I could look for it inside here. Perhaps they haven’t left, they are just trapped inside a black building and unable to leave.”
Everything matched but what Zhuang Ren didn’t get was the Ziggurat mentioned by the Director was a Ziggurat inside another game.
Chapter 299
299 The Real Iyashikei Game
The black box’s previous owner was Fu Sheng, or the Immortal Pharma’s Director’s older brother. Han Fei believed that was the case but after interacting with Zhuang Ren, Han Fei realized the director who stayed at Pear Blossom Neighbourhood didn’t have an older brother, or at least he had never seen that brother before. Not only Zhuang Ren, even the director’s family as well as the group of lawyers he hired before his death didn’t make any mention of an older brother. His brows creased, Han Fei came here for answers but he found himself with another mystery.
‘As the previous owner of the black box, his younger brother became the man closest to God and changed the whole world. The man himself, though, couldn’t even live a normal life, why was that? Why was Fu Sheng killed in the end and had his memories shattered?’ Questions surged into his mind. Han Fei wanted to hurry back into the game, to find the previous manager’s memory fragments. He needed to know the truth. ‘My current area is still considered the starting map. The real world will open after I clear Ziggurat.’ While Han Fei was contemplating these questions, Zhuang Ren started the game again. He controlled the character and once again died at the Ziggurat map.
As the afternoon rolled by, Han Fei had watched Zhuang Ren play the game so many times that he could already memorize the procedure himself. After getting Zhuang Ren’s permission, he decided to give it a try himself. There were many hints inside this game, the kid who caught the butterfly at the Happiness Neighbourhood, the older brother who was unnamed at Pear Blossom Neighbourhood and the Ziggurat which would always bring death with it. The game only had 8 maps but the stories in each of the maps had endless ways of reading them. Zhuang Ren had sought out the most expedient way to clear all the maps but he still couldn’t finish the game.
Han Fei decided to approach the game differently from Zhuang Ren. Clearing the game was not his goal, instead he wanted to find out the message which was inherent in this game left behind by the director. He had personally participated in the human jigsaw case, lived under the same room with the 8 victims, and became the building manager of Happiness Neighbourhood Building 1. He was the person who understood Happiness Neighbourhood the best in this world. When he controlled the main character to interact with the neighbours, Han Fei couldn’t stop frowning. The game’s message and image were warm and peaceful. Even if there was conflict between the neighbours, in the end, they would be resolved peacefully. This was a fully fleshed-out Iyashikei game.
‘This feels like an extremely early version of Perfect Life. It has a pretty and warm appearance but underneath that appearance is a demon who survives on people’s despair and negative emotions.’ That was how Han Fei felt because he had been to the cryptic world himself. ‘This game was made more than decades ago and 8 puzzle pieces were hidden inside the Happiness Neighbourhood map. That coincides perfectly with the details of the human jigsaw case but the human jigsaw case only happened 10 years ago. The director prophesied the human jigsaw case? Or someone started to commit the series of cases based on the game detail left behind by the Director? Could Butterfly have known about the existence of this game? Or Zhuang Ren is the Butterfly? Or… Butterfly is the Immortal Pharma’s Director? This game is not a prophecy but a calling card?’ With that in mind, Han Fei’s heart chilled. But soon, he calmed down again. The chance of the Butterfly being the Director was small but they should know each other. To verify his suspicion, Han Fei planned to reconstruct the human jigsaw case inside the Ziggurat game. To do that, one had to know the killer’s modus operandi, and the location where the human pieces were hidden. Only Han Fei and the police involved in the case would know about these details.
He followed Zhuang Ren’s direction and finished all the side missions. Han Fei bonded with all the neighbours, and the place was radiating with happiness and warmth. When everyone was submerged in this haze of happiness, Han Fei accepted a mission to skin an apple at the kitchen on the 5th floor. After accepting the mission, he didn’t grab the apple but instead went to the first floor to initiate his plan. Zhuang Ren saw through Han Fei’s plan. His bloodshot eyes blinked. He said, “It’s pointless, I’ve tried killing all the NPCs on all the maps, it will only make you fail. The first 8 maps of this game require you to create healing memories, so that it’ll form a great contrast with the upcoming Ziggurat.”
Han Fei ignored Zhuang Ren, he remembered the death of each victim and to his surprise, the game provided him with all the tools to perfectly duplicate the human jigsaw case. The Ziggurat game had a day and night cycle, Zhuang Ren used 10 minutes to clear the first map, in comparison, Han Fei used 20 minutes just to prepare for his first kill. When he murdered all the victims and placed their body parts where they should be, the game really did change. Zhuang Ren, who had played the game to its ends so many times, didn't expect this new unexplored development. His eyes were round and his face was colored in shock. On the screen, Han Fei used the 7 victims’ body parts to piece out the last victim—Little Eight.
After the appearance of the dead girl, the cute and warm atmosphere turned immediately. Just as Han Fei placed Little Eight’s body inside Room 1044, the screen turned blood red. Little Eight was like a key that opened the other side of this map!
‘Little Eight is the key!’ Han Fei had heard that repeated many times by different people but he didn’t really understand why. Today, he finally saw it in action. ‘But why is she so unique? What secret is hidden on her?’ Han Fei was muddled by these questions but he didn’t have time to think. The map had changed, the previously friendly neighbourhood was now teeming with monsters and murderers. They would immediately kill when they saw the main character, they had lost their rationality and humanity.
“Why don’t you… hand it back to me?” Seeing the new change, Zhuang Ren worried that Han Fei might be overwhelmed by the monsters but a few seconds later, he realized he was worried for no reason. Using the various items inside the neighbourhood, Han Fei’s character carved a way out for himself. He was so familiar with the game that it felt like he had personally experienced this event before!
The way Zhuang Ren looked at Han Fei changed. The man didn’t even realize that it was the same way he had used to look at the Immortal Pharma’s Director when he was young. Han Fei successfully escaped from Happiness Neighbourhood and then he arrived at the second map. After triggering the change with Little Eight, all the subsequent maps had changed as well. This was the gory version Zhuang Ren had not played before. Just looking at it made his heart wince but Han Fei was perfectly at ease. The 2nd map, 3rd map, 4th map… Han Fei got more and more familiar with the control. The sound of the controller was the only sound inside the room. Han Fei poured his whole attention into the game because he believed there was a great chance he might run into these things inside Ziggurat. So on top of playing the game, he memorized the geography, characters and conversations that he encountered!
His pupils trembled and blood vessels crawled on the edge of his eyes. Han Fei stared at the screen and his hands flew like birds. While he controlled the character, his lips moved, memorizing all the content on screen. Zhuang Ren who sat beside him was stumped into silence, he also didn’t dare to disturb Han Fei. Compared to Han Fei, he appeared so normal and banal.
The 5th map, 6th map… There was no conversation and communication. Maintaining the same pose, Han Fei blew through the red hell. Han Fei, who never had a drop of water from noon to dusk, finally cleared the 8th map. By then the main character was already covered in red and the game screen had turned blood red as well. The room was incredibly quiet. Han Fei and Zhuang Ren stared at the screen transfixed. Blood dripped and the 9th map, Ziggurat finally appeared!
But different from before, the Ziggurat inside the map had its door open. The dark entrance was like the demon’s mouth, waiting for the living to walk in. The hands that held the controller were already soaked in sweat. Han Fei paused for a moment before he controlled the character to approach the Ziggurat. Zhuang Ren and Han Fei’s hearts rose. They had never been inside Ziggurat before. With two of them watching, the character in the game walked towards the door and into Ziggurat!
“You did it!” Zhuang Ren was so excited that it was indescribable. He was treated by so many to be crazy but he didn’t mind because he had a goal to achieve and this was the moment he had been working for.
‘To enter the Ziggurat, one has to know the details of the human jigsaw case and one has to be inside the cryptic world to get the crucial information that Little Eight is living in Room 1044. After knowing all these things, they have to clear all 8 maps which had gotten twisted without dying once. Only then would they have the right to enter Ziggurat.’ Han Fei cleared it at first try but he knew how impossible that was for a normal player. A normal person wouldn’t be able to do this. Compared to Zhuang Ren, Han Fei was so much calmer. He looked at the crimson screen and pushed open the first door they came across inside Ziggurat.
“Please choose a death curse that is most acceptable to you.” After entering the room, this sentence was written on the blood red wall.
Zhuang Ren thought aloud and tried to give it different readings. Han Fei turned to the corner of the room where a colorful butterfly had landed on a dead body. The butterfly was different from any butterfly he had met before. It had 2 scary ghost faces on its wings.
Chapter 300
300 If you Weep, You'll Die
Not all butterflies were beautiful in this world, some of them were ugly and poisonous like the pets of demons. Ignoring the message, Han Fei moved the main character to walk towards the dead body. When he got close, the butterfly on the body suddenly flapped its wings and flew around Han Fei. Interacting with the dead body, Han Fei noticed several yellowed notes around the body. Each of them had a red message on them. “If you’re afraid, you’ll die!” “If you look back, you’ll die!” “If you see your reflection in the mirror, you’ll die!” “If you eat inside the room, you’ll die!” “If you open your mouth to speak, you’ll die!”
The messages were spine-tingling. Han Fei had no idea which of the paper notes the dead body got but his death should be related to one of them.
“In the Ziggurat, you’ll only die if you do things which are written on the notes?” Zhuang Ren was already out of touch with the modern gaming world. He took things literally.
“That should be the case.” Han Fei’s eyes were locked on the butterfly. The butterfly circled Han Fei’s character several times, before it flew deeper into the room.
“Should we follow him? Maybe the butterfly is our guide for this map?”
“It is definitely not the guide, you’ll only die horribly if you follow it.” Just as Han Fei said that, the room where the character was in changed. After the butterfly flew out, the door closed on its own and this bloody message appeared behind the door—The death curse you’ve chosen is, if you move, you’ll die!
Han Fei didn’t really make any choice, all he did was to interact with the body and looked at the messages on the paper notes. No matter how good of a player he was, he’d have to stop playing if he ran into this curse. After a long hesitation, Han Fei tried to move the character forward. The moment he did, the character dissolved into a bloody pool and died horribly. The game returned to the starting page and the term Ziggurat reappeared on the screen.
“If we need to clear the Ziggurat, we need to choose a curse that is not so easily triggered.” Han Fei stared at the screen. He looked like he was playing the game but actually he was thinking about the cryptic world. Looking at the time, Han Fei believed he could manage to enter the ‘Ziggurat’ at least one more time. He stood up to work his kinks out from his body. Then he picked up the controller and said, “Zhuang Ren, do you know how to order take-outs? Just grab something easy to eat and we’ll continue with the game.” It felt like Han Fei was the owner and Zhuang Ren was the guest, but the latter complied without complaint. For Zhuang Ren, Han Fei was like his savior so of course, he would do everything within his power to satisfy him.
Each careless death meant that one had to start over from the start. The complicated missions exhausted hours, when Han Fei reached the 9th map again, it was already 8 pm. He wanted to find out how exactly did one choose the death curse. Controlling the character carefully down the corridor, there were 12 rooms on the first floor and Han Fei took the first room on the left in his previous attempt. “Does the choice of room equal the choice of the death curse?” Han Fei was very cautious. But perhaps because he was dragging it out too long, footsteps came from deep down the corridor. Something was approaching. Several seconds later, the deliveryman who first appeared in the 2nd map made his return. His head was smashed in, flesh mutations grew on the ends of his fingers. With a giant delivery bag on his bag, he crawled towards Han Fei.
“You should find a room to hide in!” Zhuang Ren gasped. In a normal horror game, when the monsters appeared, the player only needed to find a place to hide until they went away. Shaking his head, Han Fei controlled the character towards the stairs. After the deliveryman disappeared from sight, he turned down a different direction. Without any fighting ability, just using geographical advantage, Han Fei managed to hide from the deliveryman’s pursuit again and again. “There’s not many things I know but the game of hide-and-seek is something I do know.” Using the stairs on both sides of the Ziggurat, Han Fei successfully shook the deliveryman off. But before he could sigh in relief, the character suddenly melted into gruesome goo and died on the spot.
“Why did you die again? You weren’t attacked by any monsters and you didn’t trigger the curse, so how did you die?” Zhuang Ren was confused. This game couldn’t be understood normally.
“I believe it’s because since you didn’t pick a death curse for too long, the Ziggurat arranged one for you.” Han Fei narrowed his eyes because he was reminded of something. Due to his intervention of Butterfly’s plan, he was cursed by Ziggurat and he would die in some kind of manner within a month. The Death Curse was similar to the curses inside this Ziggurat game. Then if he entered the Ziggurat, and chose another death curse, which curse would trigger first?
Then again, if he pondered this from another perspective, did that mean that he wouldn’t need to pick one when he entered the Ziggurat because he was already cursed? Ziggurat was not a normal game and Han Fei’s way of thinking was not normal either.
After the 2nd failure, Han Fei glanced at the time, he believed he could start a 3rd attempt. He was getting more familiar with the first 8 maps, and used less time to complete them. Soon Han Fei entered the Ziggurat for the 3rd time.
“Do you mind slowing down…” Zhuang Ren wanted to mimic Han Fei, to memorize Han Fei’s controls but he soon gave up. Sometimes he couldn’t even understand certain decisions that Han Fei made. Other times, even if he understood it, his hands wouldn’t keep up with the controls. At this point, Zhuang Ren gained even more respect for Han Fei, because if he needed to clear this Ziggurat alone, he probably wouldn’t finish it in his life. If he wanted to see his family again, he needed to rely on Han Fei.
Zhuang Ren, who was seen as mad by most, became a butler for Han Fei. Without Han Fei even requesting them, Zhuang Ren did things to make things more comfortable for Han Fei.
The previous 2 deaths provided a lot of information for Han Fei. For this third time, Han Fei tried to trigger yet another curse. After avoiding the 1st room, Han Fei examined each room door to see if he could get any clues. Unfortunately, he got nothing, only by entering the rooms that he’d know what was inside.
Calculating the time, Han Fei only entered the 3rd room on the first floor when he knew the deliveryman was coming. “There’s no butterfly and dead body in this room.” Instead the old room had red scratches everywhere. The room was decorated as a bridal suite but all the red was sourced from blood. The wedding decoration did not look celebratory but eerie.
“A bridal room?” Han Fei’s eyes narrowed. He walked through the living room and pushed open the bedroom door. On the top of the red nuptial bed hung a gigantic black and white portrait of the deceased couple. The groom looked normal and the bride was in a Chinese wedding gown and wore a red veil. Beside the portrait, someone had scratched out in blood—If you weep, you’ll die!
Chapter 301
301 The Bride's Room
The message on the wall was dripping with intense hatred. After the game character entered the nuptial chamber, similar blood messages appeared on his body. “This curse is quite doable. As long as we don’t cry, we can survive at Ziggurat.” Han Fei remembered the location of this room but just as he was about to control the character to leave, the picture on the wall started to shift. The groom bled from all orifices but the scarier thing was the woman in the bridal gown and veil had disappeared.
Han Fei instantly moved towards the door but at that moment, all the doors slammed shut on their own and a woman in a bridal gown appeared behind the game character, standing in an awkward posture. Sharpened nails pierced into the character’s neck, she basically pinched and lifted the character up from the ground. Seeing as life drained away from the character, Han Fei did not panic, if anything, it appeared like an epiphany dawn on him. His eyes were not even on his character, instead they were fixed on the bride. He even tried to adjust the camera angle to try to look under the bride’s veil. After multiple attempts, Han Fei finally got a good look of the face under the veil just as his character died. ‘It is her. So she lives in Ziggurat’s first floor Room 3!’
Staring at the bride on screen, a professional smile carved Han Fei’s face, he was genuinely happy. The bride could be considered his aid at the Ziggurat. After knowing her location, he would go find her directly, that would aid greatly in his exploration of the Ziggurat. ‘Even just getting that information makes my trip here today worthwhile.’ His character had already dissolved into a blood pool but Han Fei was still staring at the bride.
Seeing Han Fei like this, Zhuang Ren sucked in a cold breath and silently moved away from the man. Technically there was nothing wrong about the young man before him, but Zhuang Ren just felt some kind of strange energy coming from him. Holding the controller, his character was already dead, but he was still looking at the scary bride ghost with such happiness and joy. It felt like Han Fei knew this ghost, like perhaps she was his first love. Zhuang Ren wanted to leave but then he was reminded of something. His own family was trapped inside Ziggurat and Han Fei said that he was experiencing the same thing, so could the bride really be Han Fei’s family?
Taking in the shock, Zhuang Ren breathed out, “Is that ghost your wife?”
“What are you talking about? Her husband’s picture is clearly on the wall.” Han Fei turned to glance at Zhuang Ren, he couldn’t understand the man’s thoughts.
The sky was already darkening. Han Fei put down the controller and prepared to leave. “Why don’t you stay here tonight? We need to clear this game as soon as possible!” Zhuang Ren’s most desperate wish now was still to see his own family.
“I still have something else to do at night. If everything goes smoothly, I’ll be back tomorrow morning.”
“If it doesn’t go smoothly?”
“Then you might not see me again.” Han Fei said in a serious tone. “Do not tell anyone about the game. There should be other people looking for it, other than me. And the person who murdered your family might be one of them.” Han Fei didn’t sugarcoat the truth, he really did think the Butterfly might have orchestrated the death of the director’s family.
“Murder?” Hearing that, the look in Zhuang Ren’s eyes changed.
“I’ve already memorized your family’s names and appearance, I’ll help you pay attention for them.” Han Fei was going to enter the cryptic world’s Ziggurat. If he met Zhuang Ren’s family there, he would try his best to help them. Han Fei had just exited Pear Blossom Neighbourhood when he noticed every pedestrians’ heads were turned towards the east. Han Fei then realized that the sky wasn’t as dark as it should be. He also turned his head to the east and realized there was a giant virtual screen above the intelligent city and it was filled with the number 5.
“That is… the official countdown date for Perfect Life’s OB? Isn’t this a bit much?” Han Fei had spent a whole day at Zhuang Ren’s home so he didn’t realize the chaos which had happened online. Deep Space Tech and Immortal Pharma finally released the final trailer of the game and the trailer didn’t take long to break records for most views of a gaming trailer online. The two giants were preparing for the game’s OB not only on the web but also in real life. The countdown screens were activated at the intelligent centres of the nation’s 7 biggest cities. Han Fei could barely imagine the amount of money that must have gone into this.
On the internet, people held different opinions. Some were very averse to Perfect Life, believing it would ruin humanity, trapping everyone inside their own dreams; others had deep expectations of the game, they saw it as the herald of a miracle, the chance for humans to create their own heavens. However, no matter where you stood on, no one could stop the arrival of the new age. Viewed from the future, this game’s OB might be a turning point in human history.
The changing of time was often initiated by a single individual. Using himself as an axle, Immortal Pharma’s Director had slowly turned the world on its axis.
Han Fei felt dwarfed by the large virtual screen. He stared at it for a while before pulling his attention back. ‘Regardless, this has nothing to do with me, my main goal is still to survive.’ Han Fei didn’t stop to admire the spectacle but took a taxi home. After reporting to the police his location and basic status, Han Fei inspected his room. After ensuring there was no danger, Han Fei crawled into the gaming hub. ‘There’s a reason for its price, this gaming hub is more comfortable than my bed, I should probably just sleep here in the future.’ Han Fei’s rental was so small that he was considering removing the bed and replacing it with another work table to analyse the cases. Time was ticking. As the clock moved towards midnight, Han Fei’s heart pounded faster. ‘The Unmentionable must hate me so much since I’ve escaped from it twice already. If I were him, I would stay at that spot until the end of time to wait for me to return.’
When the clock struck midnight, Han Fei connected all the wires, put on the gaming helmet and closed the hub door. Blood fell and Han Fei saw in his mind a city frozen in blood. Somewhere in the city, something sensed his arrival and a pair of horrifying eyes slowly opened. The moment the eyes opened, Han Fei’s eyes flew open as well. He had appeared on the 2nd floor of the security company.
Chapter 302
302 A Song for the Butterfly
In just one night, many changes had happened at the security company. The building looked like it had been singed, the fire took down the surrounding buildings as well. All the ghosts had been eliminated, forming a death zone where no one dared to enter. ‘The Singer looks mad but this is good too. The greater its destruction, the bigger the chance Butterfly would think it was The Singer who ruined the sea of flowers at the basement 4th floor.’ After narrowly escaping the Singer and shoving the blame of the company’s destruction onto it, Han Fei knew he mustn’t stay a moment longer at the security company. The elevator was not working. He came to the 2nd floor window. Just as he prepared to jump, the ground covered in blood and curse slowly protruded. There was rustling and then a black stone appeared in sight.
“Big Sin?” The poisonous insect with spines and menacing blood pattern rushed towards Han Fei happily. “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve been infected by Soul Poison, please seek immediate medical treatment!” Han Fei was glad that Big Sin was still alive but his Life Points didn’t allow him to do much celebration. Hugging Big Sin, Han Fei jumped down from the 2nd floor window. When he parted from his neighbours yesterday, he promised to meet them here at midnight. It was now midnight but there was no sign of them, they seemed to have run into trouble as well. There were hidden dangers at every corner of the cryptic world, other than Unmentionables like the Singer, no one dared to wander about freely.
“We should wait a little bit longer.” Han Fei couldn’t quit the game and he was alone. He felt extremely low on security. Time ticked by. Han Fei was pricked by constant anxiety but he had no idea where it came from. He only knew his heart was pounding very fast. ‘Perhaps it’s better for me to find a place to hide first.’ Han Fei signalled for Big Sin to follow him but it was acting very strangely. It was inordinately lively. It bounced about like it was dancing and the bloody pattern on its shell was startlingly red. “What’s wrong with you?”
As he reached out to touch Big Sin’s back, Han Fei received 2 more notifications. “Notification for Player 0000! Big Sin’s ability, Omen of Death has been triggered! It sees a thick haze of death on you, if there’s no surprise, you only have half an hour left to your life!
“You’ve been infected by Soul Poison, please seek immediate medical attention…”
“Omen of Death? I’m showing an omen of death?!” Han Fei looked at the Big Sin who was still twirling about and he was suddenly reminded of the feeling he had when he logged in earlier. Inside the blood frozen city, a pair of eyes slowly opened and locked onto him! ‘That can only be the Singer, it knows that I am here!’
Han Fei’s face twitched but he came to a decision immediately. He grabbed Big Sin and rushed towards the Ziggurat. ‘To exit the game, I have to complete 1 mission and stay for at least 3 hours. Big Sin already sensed death on me and the system said I only have half an hour to live, in other words, the Singer would arrive in half an hour!’ The bigger the danger Han Fei was in, the faster his brain would work. ‘Even with the collaboration of all my neighbours, they won’t be able to fight the Singer, so it’s pointless for me to return to Happiness Neighbourhood.’ Han Fei’s mind was clear. Since the Singer had targeted him and he had nowhere else to run, then he would go to Ziggurat. ‘Instead of just waiting for death, why not try to make something out of it? Even if I die, the Butterfly and the Singer would not have a good life, at least that would help the police and Huang Yin buy some time.’ After training in the cryptic world, Han Fei could maintain his clarity of mind at any moment, including when he was about to die. If he couldn’t change the ending, then he would make his death as valuable as possible.
Putting on the mask, Han Fei hid his presence and then raced towards Ziggurat with Big Sin attached to him. ‘The promise with the bride is that she'll come get me 4 days later. If I go to her home now, would she be there? If she’s not there but her husband is, things will be so awkward.’ Then again, Han Fei had no other solution. The Singer’s appearance had shattered all of Han Fei’s plans but in a way, it had already ruined the Butterfly’s plan as well. Everything was jumbled up and moved forward.
Ziggurat was the most dangerous locale at Yi Ming Street. The closer one was to Ziggurat, the stranger and scarier the ghosts one would meet. Han Fei was wise to hide from them. Han Fei found a second use for Big Sin. Whenever it acted with excitement, Han Fei knew immediately he had to turn around and use another path. Everyone saw Big Sin as the manifestation of disaster, but Han Fei saw it as a treasure. He didn’t blame Big Sin for predicting his death, it was not its intention, that was merely its nature. Furthermore, it was all thanks to Big Sin that Han Fei managed to know about the imminent danger. Before the Song arrived, Han Fei had already escaped from the scene. When he believed he was close to the Ziggurat, the strange song finally echoed from behind him. ‘It is here!’
Han Fei’s back straightened. He ran faster without even turning around to look. The Singer appeared suddenly and it moved incredibly fast. This time, it swore to not let Han Fei slip away again.
Han Fei abandoned his disguise and ran as fast as he could. Finally the cluster of buildings appeared at the end of the street. Compared to the other buildings, this cluster of buildings radiated a thick sense of death. The bottom of the buildings was covered in darkness. Han Fei could feel the buildings summoning him, calling him to join them. “Notification for player 0000! You are about to enter the Grade E Hidden Map—Ziggurat! You are 15 levels too early to challenge this map! Please consider this carefully!” The system kept giving warnings and hints, this had never happened before. But this also showed the danger and uniqueness of the Ziggurat.
The map left behind by the previous manager flashed in Han Fei’s mind, he had purposely circled out Ziggurat. This place was not only the most dangerous locale in this area, it also contained his memory fragment! If Han Fei could enter Ziggurat, he might have the chance to see Fu Sheng again. ‘I know this place is dangerous but I have no other choice!’
Han Fei was thankful that he had added all of his attribute points into stamina because the version of himself in the past wouldn’t have completed this journey in half an hour. The Singer was right behind him. Han Fei started his final sprint. His mind was clear as his fingers gripped around Big Sin. When the shrill song exploded beside his ears, he rammed right into the black mist.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve entered Grade E Hidden Map—Ziggurat! You’ve triggered the Grade E Hidden Mission—Death Curse!”