CH 427

“Building manager!” Seeing Han Fei walk out from the building safely, his neighbours from Happiness Neighbourhood surrounded him, “Are you alright?”

“What happened? Why are you all looking at me like that?” Han Fei had never felt better, he comforted everyone and then turned to the Mirror God. Mirror God was the most rational and mature of everyone present. Before Han Fei fainted, he had Mirror God guide everyone should anything happen to him.

“The memory fragment of the previous building manager appeared. It was his plan for you to trigger the altar. From the start, it was his wish for you to inherit that altar.” The Mirror God paused before continuing, “He wishes for you to walk his old path.”

“Fu Sheng used his personal experience to tell me that his old path will only lead to a dead end, I will not make the same choice as he did.” Han Fei caught the Mirror God’s meaning immediately.

“Sounds like you already knew Fu Sheng would appear.”

“Yes.” Han Fei nodded. “Whenever I open my eyes, I see a world frozen in red. The Singer had been waiting for me, holding Fu Sheng’s head. He hoped that I would go find him.” While Han Fei spoke, Xu Qin walked to his side holding a bloody wooden plank. “The Singer took away the music box, it was the only thing Fu Sheng left for him but in return, he has left you with this wooden plank removed from the altar.”

“You’ve let the Singer go?” Han Fei shook his head. “He is in his weakest state now. If not for the things that happened, we could have gathered all of our strength to kill the Singer.” Han Fei turned back to the building he just exited. Fu Sheng said he didn’t care about any ghost in the cryptic world but he had shielded the Singer. “He voluntarily surrendered the altar so that I could inherit it. He forced me to activate the altar, thus causing me to get injured. That way I wouldn’t be able to target the Singer. He has completed his goal while managing to protect the Singer, he is truly a cunning old fox.” The Butterfly had heavily injured the Singer when it shattered the altars. This was a perfect chance for Han Fei to take down the Singer.

Accepting the wooden plank from Xu Qin, when his finger touched the plank, Han Fei heard the robotic voice.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve obtained a unique Grade G Item—Murder Map.

“Murder Map: The owner of this map was a madman dominated by hatred. He has marked out all the places he had massacred. If you’re his friend, remember to stay away from these places.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve obtained the item required to unlock the hidden profession, Executioner. After you’ve explored all the locations marked out on the Murder Map, you would activate the hidden profession, Executioner.”

The wooden plank was small but many small paths were marked out on it. This Murder Map could fill in the blanks in the map left behind by Fu Sheng at Happiness Neighbourhood. “With this map, our exploration will be easier.” Placing the wooden plank in his inventory, Han Fei looked around and his expression darkened, “There are people who are still trapped inside the mall?”

“Weep was unable to escape because he helped us keep the door open; the red dress voluntarily walked deeper into the mall because she said there was something calling her, something that can help her evolve into a Pure Hatred.” Laughing was smiling but he looked so sad.

“We can’t abandon them.” Han Fei said without hesitation. His determination made many people willing to follow him. Perhaps this was his biggest difference from Fu Sheng. Many times, Han Fei didn’t weigh the pros and cons but he’d rush into things for the sake of his friends. It was how he had won people over to his side.

“The mall used to be a place where patrons could exchange souls. There is a black altar hidden underneath the mall. The altar serves a very evil spirit, his biggest hobby is to collect different souls. If someone can sacrifice to him rare souls, he will satisfy the person’s desire based on his mood.” The Mirror God stopped hiding. He knew Han Fei planned to infiltrate the mall to save the other neighbours so he told him everything he knew.

“Based on his mood?”

“Yes, if the Unmentionable was in a bad mood, he not only wouldn’t satisfy the patron’s wishes, he would consume the patron along with the offered souls.” The Mirror God looked into the night sky, he hadn’t thought about the past for a long time already. “The owner of the altar was vanquished by Fu Sheng and his children. The souls he collected and the altar were abandoned under the mall. After a long time, those souls joined with the altar to form a unique space. Everyone who enters the underground of the mall will be affected by the energy left inside the altar. They will be dragged by these rare lingering spirits into the altar owner’s memory world.”

“Ten Fingers can draw power from the altar?” Han Fei cared more about that.

“Even though Ten Fingers has become a Pure Hatred, he hasn’t gained full control of the altar. After he was frightened, the first thing he did was to seep underground. He probably intends to rush to get the altar’s approval, to become the altar’s new owner.” The Mirror God knew the mall very well. “The shadow projected by the mall was actually the amalgamation of endless souls. They form the Spirit Shadow. If he had controlled the altar, Ten Fingers would be able to project the Spirit Shadow freely and not rely on the mall.”

“Ten Fingers represents 10 ghosts and one of them is a Pure Hatred. We won’t win him in a face to face fight, looks like we’ll have to target that altar.” Han Fei stood before the Mirror God. “Mirror God, if you are to contest the ownership of the altar with the Ten Fingers, how confident are you that you can win?”

Mirror God shook his head. “I can’t even leave this mirror, much less fight for an altar.’

“Then who do you think among us is the perfect candidate to fight for the control of the altar? Our biggest advantage now is that you know things about the mall that Ten Fingers doesn’t. We can send a group of people to distract their attention, pretending to fight for the ownership of the altar, while the rest can go save the red dress and Weep.” After Han Fei shared his plan, he realized Mirror God was staring at him, “What’s wrong?”

“Inheriting the altar is not a question of strength but a question of who can earn the approval of the Evil Spirit who occupies the altar. And the best candidate among us is you.”

“Me? You have to be joking, why would someone like me get the approval of an Evil Spirit?”

“I don’t mean that you’ll become an Evil Spirit or you resemble him, I merely feel like you have the best chance.” Mirror God explained.

“Ten Fingers is a Pure Hatred. If I am to contest with him over the ownership of the altar…” Honestly, Han Fei didn’t have that confidence.

“No, it’s too dangerous.” Xu Qin and Drake stopped Han Fei, they didn’t want him to take such a big risk.

“But this is the best solution.” Mirror God ignored Xu Qin and Drake, he kept his eyes on Han Fei. “If you’re willing, I can help you. Once you successfully enter the Evil Spirit’s memory world, Ten Fingers won’t be able to harm you. Once there you only need to try your best to earn the Evil Spirit’s approval.”

“So I won’t face Ten Fingers head on?” Based on Han Fei’s understanding, the memory world of the Evil Spirit should be something like the manager mission, however the owner was an Unmentionable, so his memory world should be bigger and more bizarre.

“Ten Fingers will appear in the memory world too, but before they gain the altar’s full approval, they can’t use their powers.” The Mirror God warned. “The most important part of this plan is how to infiltrate the mall and enter the Evil Spirit’s memory world without anyone knowing. No one else can do this but you because your soul is shrouded in Soul Mist. As long as you don’t actively expose yourself, Ten Fingers shouldn’t be able to spot you.”

“That’s why I’m the perfect candidate?” The longer they dragged this out, the more dire the situation for Weep and the red dress. After giving it some thought, Han Fei nodded. “Tell me what to do.” Han Fei agreed for 2 reasons, one, he trusted his neighbours, two, he needed to save his neighbours.

“Before the Evil Spirit was killed, he would open all the doors of the mall at midnight to conduct soul exchange. I know a path that can lead us underground, bringing you close to the altar.” The Mirror God hesitated for a long time before he shared this secret. “The path is only reserved for the most despaired individual. 1 minute after the path is open, everyone inside the path will be seen as merchandise by the Evil Spirit, therefore the path offers entry but no exit.”

“Understood, I will enter that path tomorrow at midnight, while I fight with Ten Fingers for the control of the altar, the rest of you will go into the mall to save Weep and the red dress.” Han Fei said.

“I will go with you.” After saying that, the Mirror God turned to walk deeper into the mirror as if in preparation for tomorrow.

“Everyone should rest and prepare, we’ll make our move tomorrow at midnight.” Han Fei forced a smile. “Don’t look so sad. The mall is dangerous but this is a good chance to improve yourselves. The mall has a lot of merchandise, there will be something useful to all of you.” After encouraging everyone, Han Fei turned to the mirror. He had a feeling the Mirror God was related to that altar. Everyone exited the building and returned to the Ziggurat. After giving some orders to his neighbours, Han Fei found a safe room and logged off.

“I’ll need to log in earlier tomorrow.” The mist was dyed red and the world turned bloody. Han Fei’s consciousness was firmer than before, he could hear a voice coming from behind him. “I…” He turned around and Han Fei couldn’t see that bloody man. He opened his eyes and he was back in the real world. Removing the gaming helmet, Han Fei didn’t feel drowsy at all.

“This is such a strange feeling.” Crawling out from the gaming hub, Han Fei stood before the window. His heart was calm. “What is a soul? Is human consciousness a soul?”

Han Fei rummaged through his fridge for food, he realized his appetite had gotten bigger. Before he started playing Perfect Life, Han Fei once suspected he had anorexia because he had no interest in eating no matter how delicious the food was.

“The game has healed me from my soul to my body.” Taking out his phone, Han Fei glanced at his unread messages. One of them came from Bai Xian. The brother did change his phone and phone number. The message contained his new phone number. Other than Bai Xian, all the messages came from Huang Yin. Huang Yin also became a real outgoing, happy person, this was the game’s effect too.

“Brother Huang, is there a problem?” Han Fei called Huang Yin.

The call was hung up and then Huang Yin called back with the encrypted number. “Han Fei, have you seen the news lately?”

“You’ve been on the news?”

“It’s related to Perfect Life. 6 players have died in less than a week since the game entered OB. Even though the law enforcement said that their deaths might not be related to Perfect Life, there are already many negative voices on the internet.” Huang Yin said.

“But what does that have to do with us? This should be Deep Space Tech and Immortal Pharma’s concern.”

“Their deaths are too suspicious, I suspect they have accidentally wandered into the cryptic world.” Huang Yin sent Han Fei a document. “During CB, some players have been searching for the black box and cryptic world, they believe firmly in these things’ existence. After the will of the Immortal Pharma CEO was released, the number of professional players searching for the black box skyrocketed! With the guidance from the CB players, they formed a large organization to collect everything related to the black box and the cryptic world. They call themselves the Absolute Truth.”

“Absolute Truth?”

“It’s an ironic naming convention. Absolute truth is something that is always valid, regardless of parameters or context. Since everyone thinks the cryptic world and the black box are just a lie, they insist on proving this ‘lie’s authenticity to the whole world.” Huang Yin continued, “These people are closest to the cryptic world, every day, they are in game trying to explore ways to enter the cryptic world. And out of the 6 players who died, 3 of them came from Absolute Truth.”

Han Fei frowned. “That’s too high of a ratio.”