Han Fei really didn’t think he’d trigger a Grade E Mission so casually. And he didn’t expect the system to grade something as easy as finding a hobby as a Grade E Mission. ‘It looks like one can only consider having a hobby after getting used to the Grade F and G Missions.’ Han Fei was rather nervous when he saw the mission details. Grade E Missions were often difficult. Plus, he only had 1 Life Points left due to the theme park altar. He’d die with a brush from a hostile enemy. ‘The system is forcing me to explore outside the three zones.’
Han Fei had a hard time triggering any new mission in the safe zone. To log off, he had to explore the unknown area. “Why would Fu Sheng set up this limitation? Because he’s not as talented as me?”
As annoyed as he was, Han Fei still moved toward the unknown zones. With Zhuang Wen and his neighbors protecting him, he slowly moved into the dark.
Every zone in the cryptic world had something unique about them. For example, the Ziggurat was covered in death curses because of Butterfly; the plastic surgery hospital had souls bound by life threads. The uniqueness of each zone could reflect the uniqueness of the zone’s scariest ghost. The zone adjacent to the theme park was similar to Xin Lu old city in real life. The more he entered the zone, the stronger the feeling got. However, different from real life, all the buildings here were covered in faded black mist, radiating death. It felt like death had occurred in every building, and every room was corrupted by hatred.
There was another thing different about this zone. The night was constantly raining. If one stood out in the street for too long, black raindrops would gather on one’s skin. “Is it raining? Will it rain in the cryptic world?” Han Fei looked up. The night sky of this zone was darker, like it was covered by a black rain cloud. Looking around, other than the skyscraper in the center, all the other buildings appeared to ‘shiver’ in the rain.
“That slate of darkness is probably not a cloud.” Zhuang Wen stopped. The hatred in her eyes flickered.
“Are you sure?” Han Fei pointed at the ‘cloud’ in the sky.
“It is more like a slumbering ghost.” Ever since Zhuang Wen found her rationality, she became chattier. She didn’t want to move further. “If a Pure Hatred enters this area, it’ll attract scary things. It might even awaken that ghost.” Then, before finishing that explanation, Zhuang Wen suddenly flew backward.
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“What’s wrong with her?”
“She already felt something was wrong the last time we were here. She probably has been targeted.” Drake was frightened by Zhuang Wen’s reaction. “Weaker ghosts like us won’t know things like that.” After Zhuang Wen left, the rain fell harder, and it appeared to carry a horrible stench with it.
“Boss, shall we keep on moving forward? Your body condition is not suitable for any adventure.” Drake guarded beside Han Fei. He was very loyal to Han Fei.
“Is the clubhouse chain you saw far from here?” Han Fei wanted to complete a mission before he left. With his neighbors around, it shouldn’t be too hard.
“It’s not far. Just around the corner.”
“Okay, we’ll go there now.” Han Fei and his neighbors moved forward. Before they even left that street, his neighbors started to act strangely. First, it was Weep. The tears he shed turned black. He used his body to shield the urn to stop the black rain from entering it, but he couldn’t stop all the liquid from filtering in.
Lee Zai tilted his head and walked to the back of the group. The man was very cunning. He would never take the lead if there were danger. He covered his chest with both of his hands, worried that his silly little brother would accidentally drink the black rain.
“Notification for Player 0000! The negative emotions in your heart have increased. Please adjust your emotions according!
“Notification for Player 0000! Your resistance to curse and hatred-type powers has started to decrease!
“Notification for Player 0000! Your neighbor, Weep, is affected by the malice. There’s a chance for his friendliness level to decrease. Weep successfully resisted the corruption of malice!
“Notification for Player 0000! Your neighbor, Ying Yue, is affected by the malice. There’s a chance for her friendliness level to decrease. Ying Yue successfully resisted the corruption of malice!
“Your neighbor, Lee Zai, has been corrupted by the malice. His friendliness level decreases by one!”
When Han Fei received the notification, Lee Zai looked up into the sky. His pupils trembled from fear. Lee Zai was a manifestation of tragedy, but suddenly he couldn’t control himself. He started to retreat, and his hands dropped. He seemed to lose the courage to even point at that cloud. “This is bad. That thing is waking up!” Lee Zai appeared to be able to see the things others couldn’t. He turned and ran back to the theme park.
“What’s wrong with him?” Drake took out the test tube he grabbed from Yi Ming Private Academy. He planned to collect the black rain for Mirror God to examine. Of all the neighbors, only Drake was not affected by the malice. The system didn’t mention him either. It was like his loyalty to Han Fei wouldn’t change no matter what happened.
They reached the end of the street after 10 seconds. If they walked further, they’d enter the unknown zone. “The clubhouse is right there.” Han Fei crossed the street and saw an old building. The first floor was a closed-down hotel and the second floor was a black clinic without a sign. Attached to the building was an abandoned warehouse. The clubhouse was remodeled with the warehouse and hotel kitchen. It didn’t have an official name, but it did have some strange symbols on the wall.
“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve discovered an unknown clubhouse. Please enter the clubhouse alone, select your hobby and try to become its member.”
“Alone?” Han Fei was stunned when he heard the system notification. He only had 1 Life Point left. He thought about leaving, but he didn’t want to waste the travel time. After some thinking, Han Fei made his decision. “You don’t need to follow me. Wait for me at the door.” He entered the place alone while the neighbors waited outside. “Don’t stray from this place!”
Han Fei was like a new kid at school. He turned back every few steps to check if his neighbors were still there. The walls covered with strange symbols greeted him. There were no killing weapons or any gory halls. There were only some abandoned gym equipment and a few patched-up punching bags.
“How is this place so different from the clubhouse in real life?” Han Fei grabbed the hilt of Rest in Peace and prepared to trigger Ghost Tattoo at any time. If there were any danger, he’d throw Nine Lives out. After all, it had nine lives.
The light stench entered his nostrils. The black rain slid down the window. Something like rats darted out.
“Was that a baby or a big rat?” Han Fei’s Adam Apple trembled. For the first time in a long time, he felt ‘nervous’. The last time he was in so much danger, it was the night before last.
“Who would find their hobby at a place like this? I have social anxiety. If not to survive, I would have spent my whole life at home.” Han Fei had entered the clubhouse, but he didn’t have any progress with regards to the mission, “Grade E Missions are always related to Pure Hatreds. Even normal missions will have traces of them. With my current condition, I won’t be able to escape from them.”
Han Fei couldn’t tell what dangers were lurking in this clubhouse, and that was the biggest problem. If even he couldn’t see what was wrong with this clubhouse, it meant that the clubhouse had hidden its darker side very well. Han Fei backed away. He planned to return when his Life Points were full. The rain outside fell harder. Han Fei watched his surroundings. He took three steps back when his back knocked into something. In his memory, there was nothing between him and the exit. Han Fei pulled the knife and swung without any hesitation. The light of humanity lit up the clubhouse. As the blade was about to fall, Han Fei finally got a good look at the person he bumped into. The blade dispersed. Han Fei held the hilt and carefully assessed the new arrival.
An old man about 70 stood in the dark. His eyes had been gouged out, and he held a broken radio.
“Sir?” Han Fei didn’t sense any ghostly presence from the elder. This blind elder appeared to be a living person who had stumbled into the cryptic world!
Before he explored the clubhouse further, Han Fei didn’t find anything, but he stumbled across this old man. ‘He has no resentment and Yin energy. How did he end up here?’