CH 467

The chef was one of the 10 Fingers, he had been inside the memory world many times and was familiar with every inch of this underground storeroom. Therefore, it came as a surprise to him that there would be a hole where the wall was. As his body fell into the well, the chef looked at Han Fei in the beast mask and the uniform he was wearing. ‘As the employee here, why would you make such a big hole in your boss’ shop?’

When his arms touched the water, the chef realized something was wrong. No ‘humans’ could kill them in the memory world but it didn’t mean the altar couldn’t kill them. There were several taboo places in the memory world and the wishing well was one of them. The chef immediately abandoned half of his body and tried to escape but he was still too late. The flesh that dropped into the water was bitten by the floating human faces. Han Fei alone wouldn’t be able to stop the chef from escaping but there were endless resentful spirits in the well.

The ‘sacrifice’ inside the well bit at the chef like crazy, dragging every piece of the chef into the well. Noticing Han Fei who was pulling at him with the endless spirits, the chef turned red with anger. “Even if you die, you want to drag me down with you?”

The chef knew the consequence of falling into the well. He dissolved all the tattoos on his neck and used them to shield his heart. Retreat was impossible, the only chance now was to protect his core before the well soaked into his soul. The chef’s heart was the key for him to become a Pure Hatred. Everything else could be abandoned. As long as the heart was still present, he had a chance to be reborn in hatred.

While the chef was trying to save himself, Han Fei had started to make his wish. It was not easy dragging his most important enemy into the well, so he decided not to waste it. “I wish…” Han Fei just had that thought when he heard a voice in his right ear. “Do not wish for anything from him, once you make your first wish, you will never be free again! Even a free wish will have you bound forever! The price of the free wish is your everything!” Han Fei’s right ear was the reward given to him by the altar owner. It contained the owner’s memory. Since it had spoken, then Han Fei had to be careful.

The wishing well was bottomless like human desire. Once you fell into the hole, you would keep sinking. Han Fei lowered his head and he noticed there were swimming heads around his legs. The people who were pushed into the well turned into a fish-like monster. They bit on Han Fei’s legs and clothes, dragging him madly deeper into the well.

The light from the mouth of the well blurred like a cloudy night. The human head fishes swam around Han Fei and the chef. But they were not even the scariest thing in the well.

‘The system will not give me an unsolvable mission.’ The water in the wishing well was condensed from resentment, it had gathered the most negative emotions of the human world. Everyone thrown into the well would be transformed by hatred before becoming a total monster. Compared to Han Fei who was surrounded in mist, the chef who radiated resentment was more popular with the monsters in the well. The tattoos on his body were triggered, the chef’s power was increasing, he was waiting for the moment when he was pushed out from the memory world. He shielded his heart and waited for escape.

Han Fei grabbed the chef. He could guess the man’s thoughts. If the chef left, then Han Fei would have done all these for nothing. Han Fei was so furious that he had forgotten he was inside the well because of his mission. Technically speaking, the chef was the innocent party, he was dragged into the well by Han Fei.

Pulling out Rest in Peace, Han Fei plunged it into the chef’s leg. Weak light burst in the water, it scared off the human face fishes. This was a pleasant surprise for Han Fei. The ‘people’ who were trapped inside the well had joined with the resentment, they had gotten used to darkness so they were afraid of sudden light. The chef didn’t expect aggression from Han Fei. He shook from anger but there was nothing he could do. There was limited space inside the well and that made evasion hard. The chef also had exhausted all of his energy to protect his heart. Wounds appeared on the chef’s legs and stomach. He realized the wounds made by Rest in Peace were hard to heal.

More monsters surrounded the chef. The chef was feeling tired. They had been sinking for a long time already but the well appeared to be bottomless.

It was tiring to use the knife underwater. Plus Han Fei was already injured. He too had reached his limit. Death formed a noose and tightened around his neck.

Opening the menu, Han Fei used his last hope to look through his inventory. He had one more chance to take something out from his inventory but there was no item which could help with his situation. His skin was scorched by the water and his body felt like it had been dropped in a sea of fire. Pain came from all parts of his body. Han Fei’s mind was suffused with negative emotions. Pain and despair heightened them. The trembling pupils scanned the menu quickly. There was a voice helping Han Fei and his eyes focused on one talent.

Spirit-farer!

Well water gushed into his right ear. Fire burned inside his ear, weakening the warning voice. At the same time, another voice echoed in Han Fei’s left ear. “There is no other choice but to wish at the altar. Use an important person to trade for your life. When you are alive, you can save more people. One person’s life to trade for many more people's survival, is there a better choice?” The voice drilled through Han Fei’s left ear and echoed in his mind. The important people to Han Fei appeared in his mind. “Place your life and more people’s lives on the scale. Each soul has their own value, this is your last chance.”

The image in his memory clarified. Huang Yin dominated Han Fei’s sight. “He is your best friend so he will understand your choice. Use the smallest leverage to gain the biggest reward, why are you still hesitating?”

The water was extremely cold but it also burned at one’s soul like flames. It was too painful. The warning in the right ear had almost disappeared, the voice in the left ear echoed endlessly. Han Fei was too weak to hold onto the chef. His body sunk into darkness and his consciousness wavered. The water flowed into his right ear, soaked his left eye and pickled his internal organs. Memories that didn’t belong to Han Fei appeared. A long time ago, another person had jumped into the well like Han Fei. That person was the altar owner. After escaping from the western city, he was fatally wounded, his only leverage was himself. After losing his humanity, he lost all hope for this world, he used his body to make his last wish.

The altar owner’s memory overlapped with Han Fei’s. Han Fei was like the altar owner back then. They jumped voluntarily into the well and sank into the darkness. Before death, they made their wish.

The altar owner in the memory fragment slowly opened his mouth; Han Fei used his last shred of consciousness to chase Huang Yin’s shadow away. He would never use Huang Yin to trade for his own life. In the same despair, the memory of the altar owner opened his mouth and uttered his internal desire like many years ago. “I wish for the power to change everything!” The owner’s memory fragment made another wish while Han Fei chose to protect Huang Yin.

After the altar owner made his wish, Han Fei’s left eye, right ear and internal organ dissolved into the well water. At the same time, Han Fei could feel the gravity pulling him disappear. The memory that didn’t belong to him dissipated as well. Han Fei’s eyes widened as the thought flashed across his mind. ‘When the altar owner was forced to jump into the well in real life, his left eye had been dug out, his right ear was pierced and his internal organs were harvested. Therefore, when he made his wish in real life, his body was missing these organs. After I entered the memory world and helped the altar owner rectify his regrets, he rewarded me with these broken body parts and now he is using these broken body parts to make another wish. From this moment on, the altar owner will lose his agency, all of his memory has been taken by the altar.’

Deep inside the well, Han Fei didn’t sacrifice his best friend to make a wish to save himself, he once again made a different choice from the altar owner. The altar’s random missions were slowly directing Han Fei for him to experience all of the altar owner’s past and to rectify his regrets. The wishing well let Han Fei go. Han Fei swam upwards. When he passed by the chef, he took out Rest in Peace. Han Fei initially wouldn’t escape so easily but the appearance of the chef had helped him shoulder most of the pressure.

Currently, there were about 10 fishes biting on the chef and endless pale arms reached out from the wall to grab at the chef. These things were originally meant for Han Fei. “Thank you for your help, I will help you rest in peace now.” The blade stuck into the chef’s chest. The chef who was detained by the monsters couldn’t even evade and his chest was punctured. Resentment burst out from the heart and this excited the monsters even more. Han Fei didn’t stay, he quickly swam upwards. Han Fei’s eyes were on the rope dangling by the mouth of the well.

His body turned heavier as the monsters in the well realized what was happening. They started to swim towards Han Fei. The well water rocked as more terrifying things awakened. The talent of Midnight Butcher came in handy again. He swam faster as his Life Points dropped. With one last push, he broke through the surface. Before he grabbed the rope, Han Fei didn’t forget to grab the floating items. The mission required Han Fei to leave with 3 items but Han Fei was not going to waste this chance. He grabbed the red dress and used the dress as a makeshift net to salvage most of the pictures and small items floating on the surface.

Han Fei gasped for air. But as he prepared to leave the well with the red dress, he felt incredibly weighted down. The pictures looked normal but they each weighed as heavy as a living person. They could float on the surface because the water was unique. The chef had already been consumed so the monsters charged at Han Fei.

“Quick, pull me up!” Han Fei held onto the rope. A paper doll appeared in the hole. She looked just like Xu Qin. When the dwarf and the chef came underground, Han Fei had already planned everything. He would kill one and then use the well to deal with the other. To fulfill this plan, he hid the paper doll among the shelves.

With the paper doll’s help, Han Fei escaped from the well with plenty of pictures. Without stopping, Han Fei replaced the shelf. Then he collapsed on the ground. His left eye and right ear had returned to normal but the strange power remained.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed the random mission—Wishing well.

“You jumped into the well before midnight and successfully took out 21 items, surpassing the mission requirement.

“You’ve rectified 60 percent of the altar owner’s regret! You’ve obtained a large amount of EXP, the right to use 21 items and a personality fragment of the original altar owner!

“Personality fragment: After an Unmentionable is vanquished, his memory has a small chance to leave behind a personality fragment. When the player’s soul melted with sufficient personality fragments, they might get the original altar owner’s broken personality or awaken a new personality.

“Warning! Each personality will affect your future! Good personality will increase your life, bad personality will ruin everything.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve reached level 18, gained 1 free attribute point!”

When the system notifications ended, Han Fei sighed in relief, “I’ve protected my friendship with Brother Huang.” Climbing up from the ground, Han Fei removed his drenched uniform. His uniform was soaked in well water. The resentment and hatred lingered on it like needles as it prickled him. “The chill has infiltrated my body, I need to leave this place as soon as possible.”

Han Fei glanced at the altar. The doors on the altar were open 2 fingers wide. It was blackness behind the doors and it made Han Fei feel uncomfortable. ‘Is the thing inside coming out?’ Covering the altar back under the black cloth, Han Fei dragged the red dress to the ladder. This time the door opened easily. Han Fei hugged the items and exited the storeroom. When the lights of the shop fell on him, Han Fei’s heart fell back into place. He opened the menu and added the attribute point into stamina without hesitation. Thanks to the buff from Midnight Butcher, his stamina was now 30!

When his stamina reached 30, Han Fei received another system notification.

“Notification for Player 0000! Your stamina has reached 30, the level a normal person wouldn’t reach without the influence of drugs! You’ve awakened a stamina-based talent!

“Choice 1: Super Strength

“Choice 2: Super Speed.”

Han Fei chose Super Speed easily. He knew he couldn't be stronger than a Pure Hatred but he could outrun them. “One day, I’ll be faster than all the ghosts.”

With Super Speed and the patrol talent provided by Ziggurat’s Guard, Han Fei’s movement speed was incredibly high at night. Han Fei exited the shop and tried out his new talent. While he was adjusting to this talent, he almost crashed into the shop next door. “As expected, every 10 increase in attribute will be a categorical improvement.”

Han Fei then turned to check the mission reward. He couldn’t find the personality fragment in the inventory, it felt like the thing had entered his soul. The altar had retrieved the altar owner’s broken left eye, right ear and internal organs but Han Fei could still use part of their powers, that probably had to do with the personality fragment.

“The plastic surgery hospital has ruined so many children to create a child with the perfect personality. In the cryptic world, after an Unmentionable perishes, there is a small chance for them to leave behind a personality fragment. Is a perfect personality really that important?” Han Fei noticed that once he collected enough personality fragments, he could awaken his own personality. Han Fei wanted to see if his healing personality really did exist or not.

Han Fei returned to the shop to go through his other pile of rewards. The system only required him to retrieve 3 items but he had almost salvaged everything on the water surface. ‘Now I have 21 new items.’ The items were assorted, Han Fei didn’t know what to do with most of them. He took out the old man’s family portrait and the bright red dress.

“The sister on the third floor has been trying on dresses, this should be the one she is looking for.” He found a bag to keep all the other stuff and left the shop with the red dress. His destination? The 3rd floor.