CH 408

“If it’s at 8 pm, the timing is a bit rough but I’ll try my best to attend it.” Han Fei didn’t care about the guest list, he was only concerned if the event would cut into his gaming time.

“Then I’ll take that as a yes?” Director Zhang’s assistant sighed in relief. He was really afraid that Han Fei might say no. This young actor was perfect in every aspect but one. Normal actors wouldn’t give up any publicity opportunity but Han Fei spent his time instead helping the police solve cases. People said that Han Fei had been helping the law enforcement because he yearned for the reward money but the assistant believed Han Fei did this out of a passion for justice. Actually not only the assistant, most of the crew members also shared the same view.

“Mr. Han, I’ve already registered your information with the organizer. By the way, have you considered joining any agency yet?” The assistant leaned closer to Han Fei, “If you have not, then I’d advise you to wait some more. After you win the award, you will be able to get a better contract.”

“I don’t have any plans to join an agency. I’m an actor purely because I know acting.”

“Tell that to the criminals you caught!” The assistant accidently voiced his real thought so he quickly changed the subject, “Before the event starts, I will inform you again. Director Zhang knows you don’t have an agent, so if you need anything, you can contact me.” Then the assistant jogged away like if he stayed too long with Han Fei, his soul would be sucked away. The assistant thought, ‘Why am I so nervous around him when I’m so much older than him? I’ve interacted with a lot of A-list actors before but none of them has a presence like Han Fei.’

Han Fei shook his head as he watched the escaping assistant, ‘That brother has accidentally said what was on his mind again. Am I that imposing in the crew members’ eyes? Or the talent I’ve earned in the game has slowly affected the people around me?’ Han Fei took a cab back to the old city, he tried using his in-game power and talent along the way but nothing happened.

When he arrived home, Han Fei saw a face that he didn’t want to see again. It was Ah Cheng. “Don’t you ever get tired? Why are you here again?” Han Fei was very brusque, he had no good impression of Ah Cheng. He also knew Ah Cheng was there because he was ordered by that manager from his former agency. The man was sitting in his car down the street.

“Han Fei, who do you think you are? Don’t think that just because you’re working with Director Zhang…” Before Ah Cheng finished, Han Fei already walked past him.

“You!” Han Fei’s attitude grated on Ah Cheng. The better Han Fei’s life, the envious Ah Cheng was. His opinion was that Han Fei had stolen everything that should be his. If not for Han Fei stealing his main character role, the person working with Director Zhang would be him. With fury running through him, Ah Cheng grabbed Han Fei’s shoulder. But before his palm fell on Han Fei’s left shoulder, his wrist was detained by Han Fei. Han Fei’s hand was like a vise, Ah Cheng couldn’t even move.

“Ouch, ouch! Let go!” Ah Cheng hissed through his teeth as his other hand tried to scratch Han Fei’s face. Han Fei moved a step back and then pulled. Ah Cheng lost his balance and knelt to the ground.

“If your mouth is half as clean as your clothes, then you wouldn’t be toppled over so easily.” Han Fei told the teary-eyed Ah Cheng. Then Han Fei shot an icy gaze at the manager who was sitting inside the car not far away. “I hope you people can understand one thing. It’s not that you’ve been giving me chances but the other way around.” Han Fei walked away but not before one last jab, “You took good care of your hand, you should do the same with your mouth.” Han Fei closed the door, he didn’t want his mood to be ruined by these people.

“Fuck, how dare you attack me? I have at least several hundred thousand fans! Han Fei, just wait and see!” After Han Fei left, Ah Cheng climbed up from the ground and shouted at the building.

“Enough, looks like he really doesn’t want to cooperate with us.” The manager shouted from the car. His eyes were dark.

“I really don’t understand why we have to beg him. The man is related to murderers, he’s a ticking time bomb!” Ah Cheng stood outside the car, he held his arm. The parts gripped by Han Fei were already bruised.

“The film festival is coming. If there is an artist from our agency that can compete for the award, then I wouldn’t need to come find him.” The man adjusted the temperature of the air-cond in the car. “Drive! What a bunch of useless monkeys. Give you all the resources but all you create for me is problems.”

Before Ah Cheng got into the car, the man had the driver step on the pedal. The man didn’t even turn around to look at the stunned Ah Cheng. “Since you refused to help me, then I’ll have to ruin you. Ruining a person is always easier than cultivating one.” The man took out his phone and called a number, “I hear that the shoot for Director Zhang’s Thriller Writer is almost done. When they start their promotion, you will act as the victims’ families and target Han Fei. Force the team to cut out all of Han Fei’s parts, after all, I hear he is only playing an unimportant side character anyway.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve already arranged everything. This will be a fatal blow that will end his entertainment career!” A shrill male voice came from the other end of the line, “By the way, the boss has been very mad recently. The company’s starting plan in Perfect Life has been totally ruined. I hear that the boss hopes you will come back to manage the work here.”

“What do you mean by that? Isn’t Perfect Life just an Iyashikei game?”

“Yesterday night, two of our main accounts were maliciously murdered. Until now, we haven’t found out the methods used. During the day, we tried to contact the other gaming studios. While we were trying to investigate the suspect, the killer struck again and killed all of our seed accounts who had good in-game talents!” The voice carried a barely-suppressed anger.

“Did you people offend someone?”

“Who could we offend in the newbie village? Everyone else is trying to level up but our company is being targeted by this crazy murderer.”

“After the film festival is over, I’ll return to the headquarters. Try to find the killer among yourself for now.” The man glanced at the logo on his sleeve. The headquarters was an entertainment business conglomerate. They were involved in many fields, drama and tv were just one of them.

The car drove back to the intelligent city. The man walked out from his neighbourhood’s underground car park. While he waited for the elevator, a house painter stopped beside him. He was waiting for the elevator too.

“How can I be so unlucky?” The man took out his silk handkerchief to cover his nose as he moved several steps away from the other man.

Soon the elevator arrived. The worker carried a bucket of red paint and entered the booth. The manager frowned and hesitated before he too entered the elevator unwillingly. After the elevator started, the man adjusted his collar using the reflection in the elevator door. He ignored the worker at the corner fully.

“Are you Mr. Garden Butterfly living in Number 24?” A voice came from behind the man. The worker suddenly asked.

The manager ignored the man and his question. He just felt annoyed because the elevator was now filled with the horrible smell of paint.

“I’m sorry but are you…”

“You got the wrong person!” The manager waved his arms impatiently. He covered his nose and frowned at the worker. “Are you new here? Who allowed you to bring paint into the elevator? Are you dumb?”

“I’m so sorry. This is my first time coming to such a high class neighbourhood, I don’t know the rules.” The worker apologized profusely. His attitude was very nice.

The manager turned his head around like he thought dealing with the worker was beneath his status. His eyes swept at the elevator panel and the words on it startled him. ’24th floor?’ The elevator at intelligent city was fast but the manager was sure he only stepped into the elevator not too long ago. Plus his house wasn’t on the 24th floor. The elevator door opened and the corridor for the 24th floor led outwards. The man had not been to this floor before. He looked at the empty corridor and his brain had trouble processing this. ‘The painter is coming to this floor?’

The manager stayed in the booth and then pressed the button for his own floor before he turned to look at the worker. The manager waited for the painter to leave when the latter did not, the manager thought to turn around to ask. Before he did, through the shiny booth wall, the manager noticed that the painter at the corner had been staring at him. The painter stared straight at the manager’s back like he was trying to bore a hole through it. Chills ran up the manager’s spine but he didn’t think much of it. Visitors and residents had to go through multiple checks by the photon computer before they could enter this neighborhood. They were all people whose citizenry database had a rating of B or above.

“Are you going to descend on this floor?” The manager asked the painter. The painter shook his head. “I thought you were the one who called the booth to this floor.”

“Me?” The man was so focused on the company's problems that he only noticed the anomaly now. By then the elevator doors were already closing. The elevators at intelligent city were all equipped with facial recognition technology. When the tenants entered the elevators, they didn’t need to do anything and the elevator would automatically send the tenant to their respective floor. When the booth had more than one person, the computer would calculate the most effective way to transport the tenants.

The elevator restarted. The manager slowly noticed something was not right with the painter. Ever since they entered the elevator, the painter had maintained the same pose, standing at the same corner. Other than the heavy scent of paint, there was a horrible stench on him as well, like something that had decomposed. Looking from the corner of his eyes, the manager realized there was a thin thread around the painter’s ankle. The rope looked very old and it didn’t match the rest of the painter’s outfit.

“Is this your first time here?”

“Yes?”

“Where did you work in the past?”

“I used to help out at my relative’s plastic surgery hospital. But after some patients died on the operating table, the hospital closed.” The painter explained evenly but the manager’s heart quivered hearing his story. The manager stopped the conversation and the elevator soon arrived at its destination. This time, the elevator was correct. It stopped at the 17th floor, the manager’s home. The manager quickly walked out.

As the elevator doors closed, the manager sneaked a look at the elevator. The painter was still staring at him. The manager noticed there was something like hair poking out from the bucket of paint.

“I must be mistaken.” The man walked back home. As he prepared to open the door, he noticed something strange. A pair of medical-use shoe covers was left at his door. The shoe covers looked old like they had been used for a long time already. “What is this?” The man kicked the shoe covers aside. As it rolled over, a child’s shoe dropped out from inside the covers. The shoe was small and very white. After staring at it for too long, the manager felt quite uncomfortable.

“Ever since I met that Han Fei, nothing has gone right in my life.” The manager ignored the shoe and used the password to open the door. Just as he was about to enter his home, he heard a sound. The closed elevator doors opened again. Unwilling to think much of it, the manager hurried into his house.

“How come you’ve been coming home so late recently? Have you gone back to your wife without telling me?” A cloying voice came from the living room. A woman walked over in her nightie.

“Something happened.” The manager removed his jacket which was stained with the smell of paint and walked into the bathroom.

“Why are you giving me an attitude? Do I not have the right to know about your life anymore?” The woman picked up the jacket and hurried after the man into the bathroom. The manager used warm water to wash his face. When he looked up into the mirror, he suddenly noticed his young and pretty girlfriend’s face was covered in stitches and there was a needle hole which was expanding.

Shocked, the man’s hands slipped from the basin and he almost fell to the ground. Carrying the jacket, the woman gasped in shock and confusion, “What is wrong with you?”

The manager turned around and when he saw his girlfriend’s face again, he realized she was still as beautiful as he remembered her. Her skin was supple and her facial features were amazing, she looked like a Barbie doll.

“I’m fine, it’s work. I’m just too tired.” The man waved his hands and locked himself up in his study.

“Hey! I’m still talking to you!” The woman knocked for a long time on the study door but the man refused to answer. In her anger, she slammed the man’s jacket on the ground. There was a thud and the woman realized a child’s shoe dropped out from the man’s jacket pocket. The shoe was pure white.

…

Back in Han Fei’s rental, there was still some time until midnight. He didn’t hurry to log into the game but instead took out his phone to check his account information. Director Zhang’s people worked very fast. Once the new contract was signed, the additional salary had already been added to Han Fei’s account.

Seeing the number in his account, Han Fei was reminded of the tenants from Ziggurat and Happiness Neighbourhood. They took great risk to walk past the plastic surgery hospital to head towards the theme park for Han Fei. Without the help of his neighbours, Han Fei wouldn’t be able to earn so much reputation on his own in such a short amount of time.

“I should use the money to help their families, it’ll also improve my afterlife karma.” With that in mind, Han Fei called the police and had them contact the victims’ family. He wanted to use the money to help those who were really in need. The police were greatly impressed by Han Fei’s kindness. Actually Han Fei was also doing this so that his afterlife karma could break the 100 threshold faster so that he could upgrade the altar. He rejected the police’s offer to help him release another media statement. Instead, he asked the police to give his name to the victims’ families so that they could come find him if they needed anything. After the money was transferred, Han Fei switched on the computer to start studying.

As a professional actor, Han Fei’s challenge this time was to act as the Pure Hatred from the plastic surgery hospital. As he studied on knowledge related to plastic surgery, he also started to search for murder cases related to plastic surgeries.

At around 11 pm, Han Fei had a surprising discovery. A long time ago, there was a famous plastic surgery hospital in the countryside of Xin Lu. But after a certain period, all the news about the hospital disappeared from the internet. The only reason Han Fei could even find traces of that hospital was thanks to the technique taught to him by Feng Ziyu.

As Han Fei dug deeper, Han Fei discovered that the hospital was sponsored by Immortal Pharma and the former CEO often visited that place.