Midnight Butcher was an extremely rare profession in Perfect Life, thus, it was understandably hard to obtain this profession. One had to overcome layers of challenges to become a Midnight Butcher and that showed the actual value of this profession. The unlocking difficulty and the strength of a profession was proportional. To become a Midnight Butcher, one had to go to the hidden map to complete a very hard hidden mission, no player in the normal version of Perfect Life would be able to accomplish that. ‘What exactly is the purpose of these profession assessments? It feels like the system is grading me, to see if I fit this profession or not.’
After letting the black cat go, Han Fei did not stay for long. He memorized the location of this fork and continued on his journey. ‘The mission given by the system looks deceptively simple, it only requires me to kill something with a blade. But somehow I have a feeling that even if I did do that, the system might not afford me the profession of Midnight Butcher. I have to say, this system is rather useless, cunning and has a tendency to toy with its host.’ If he did not know about the history of Cattle Alley, Han Fei would have done things completely different but as fate would have it, he did find out about Spider from real life. In fact, to play Spider, he even went to Spider’s former home to experience Spider’s life. As he continued to submerge himself into Spider’s life, whenever Han Fei came to a problem inside Cattle Alley, he would ask himself this question often: What would Spider do?
Ignoring the influence from the other 8 personas, Han Fei would only consider things from the main persona’s perspective. ‘The Cattle Alley is created into existence to record the world in Spider’s eyes. It was his first book and it is only wise to follow the man’s mindset when I am literally living in his world…’ Han Fei was mulling over things in his mind, he hadn’t left the fence for that long when the anaconda slithered close to him as if it could sense something. ‘Hmm? What’s wrong? I didn’t hear any footsteps.’
But out of trust in the anaconda, Han Fei halted and took careful steps back. After waiting for a long time, and seeing no change in the surroundings, Han Fei and the black anaconda moved forward again. However, as they did, the blood in the air conspicuously thickened. The muddy alley was splattered with blood and unknown stains, it was sticky to the touch. Even if Han Fei was very careful, his shoes squelched noisily with each step. ‘The ground and walls are covered in still-drying blood, a violent battle has occurred here not too long ago.’
Out of concern for safety, Han Fei intended to turn around and take another road but the red paper doll suddenly stood up in his palm. It seemed to suggest that Xu Qin was not too far ahead. ‘These blood stains are related to Xu Qin?’ As this thought bubbled up in Han Fei’s mind, he couldn’t stop himself from taking steps forward. Inside the dangerous Cattle Alley, this name symbolized an inexplicable sense of security for Han Fei and the black anaconda. To soften the sound of his movement, Han Fei took small steps.
The smell of blood and stench in the air was suffocatingly strong. After Han Fei turned another corner, his eyes narrowed. An impossibly large pig-faced monster collapsed on top of a pile of garbage. A giant hole was punctured through its stomach even though its chest was still rising and falling. The mask was cracked and splintered. A baby-like sobbing could be heard coming from underneath the mask. The sobbing was weak which suggested that the time of the monster was not long anymore.
‘Who or what did this?’ Han Fei’s pupils narrowed, his calves tensed and he took out the bone-paring knife when he saw the dying monster. He needed to kill a life to complete the profession mission and now he was presented with a perfect chance. The pig-faced monster was weakened and heavily injured. It could barely even move. A better chance wouldn’t come Han Fei’s way. ‘The hole on the stomach is caused by tearing, Xu Qin’s choice of weapon is table knives, in other words, the thing that injured it wasn’t Xu Qin but something else.’ Han Fei’s hand that held the knife trembled as he slowly approached. The family of six wanted revenge, their hatred was palpable, making the blade sharper than usual. Han Fei inched forward, his mind contemplating every possible detail that he could have missed.
‘The monster wasn’t injured by Xu Qin and the blood was in a spray pattern. The whole alley is coated in broken flesh and blood. That suggests that it was chased here by something. The culprit was torturing it out of pure joy. A predator that likes to torment its prey will let its prey go just like that?’ Han Fei hadn’t even reached the injured monster when he saw a wooden door next to the monster being pushed open. Another pig-faced monster which was almost 3 metres tall and had an eye blinded walked onto the scene. The lower half of its mask was damaged and its ugly porcine face was peeking through. It held a heavy cleaver in its right hand and his left hand dragged along a string of human heads bound together by a thick rope.
‘It’s him?!’ Han Fei’s eyes burned with fury instantly. The wounds on his shoulder and arm were all thanks to this pig-faced monster! Han Fei fought with all his might and even so, he only managed to blind one of its eyes. ‘It appears to have gotten stronger?’ Han Fei’s eyes glowed dangerously. ‘I will complete a mission if I can kill that dying monster, unfortunately there is another condition before I can leave the game and that is to stay in the game for more than 3 hours. So far, I have not reached that time limit yet.’
When Han Fei saw the new arrival, a risky plan surfaced in his mind. He would use his knife to deal the fatal blow to the dying monster and when the mission was completed, he would log off the game. If not for the gaming time requirement, he would have sneaked up to the back of the pig-faced monster already. ‘Since I still can’t quit the game, even if I manage to steal the kill, I will have a hard time escaping with my current physical condition.’ Han Fei was like a snake waiting to strike as his eyes stared at the back of the pig-faced monster’s back. He was the man who would save the injured cat but he was also the man who would not hesitate to eliminate monsters who had lost all humanity. ‘What I need now is an opening.’
The pig-faced monster dragging the human heads walked out from the house and looked around. Then he stepped harshly on the other monster’s open wounds. It hoped to hear the other monster squeal louder to attract more attention. After several stomps, blood soaked through the trash. The monster had a pig’s face but the blood was as crimson as human blood, as if telling Han Fei that these monsters were once humans too. The wounds tore open and the monster on the ground slowly lost the struggle. Its pupils dilated and its fingers loosened.
Putting down the string of heads, the other pig-faced monster seemed dissatisfied with its kin’s weakness. With a hiss, it raised the cleaver high. It aimed to decapitate its kin’s head and then trap its soul inside the cleaver. ‘Even the pig-faced monsters will kill among themselves? Or this particular pig-faced monster attacks indiscriminately due to the cracks to its mask?’ Han Fei watched everything unfold quietly. His eyes were devoid of emotions. The murderous intent was perfectly hidden by his masterful acting skill.
The cleaver was raised high. A chilling laughter came out from the monster’s mouth. As the cleaver came at the monster’s neck, the monster which had previously stopped all struggling suddenly nudged its body to the side. The heavy cleaver lodged into the monster’s scapula. As the blade got stuck inside the monster’s bone, the pig-faced monster yelled shrilly!
Its body arched like a fish as it took out a hidden dagger that was stuffed inside its open stomach. The five fingers closed around the dagger and then it stabbed mercilessly at the other monster’s chest. This happened too suddenly, no one expected the dying monster to launch a counter attack. The standing monster immediately let go of the cleaver but it was still one step too late. The dagger pierced through its chest and clawed out a long wound. The monster on the ground was too weak or else this ambush would have punctured the other monster’s heart.
As retaliation, the ambushed monster picked its kin up from the ground and slammed it angrily into the wall. The two immensely large monsters tore at each other inside the alley, the whole ground was shaking. The monster with the gaping stomach knew it was no match so it howled as loud as it could. It wanted to attract as much danger as it possible could. It wanted to drag the ‘man’ who killed it down into hell with it. After a final struggle, the monster finally had its head chopped off. Its dagger was shattered by the cleaver as well. The moment the dagger shattered, 4 wailing souls were sucked into the cleaver.
The already scary looking cleaver had a few more new scratches appear on it and the presence it gave off was even chillier. The hatred winding around it deepened. Kicking its kin’s head aside, the single-eyed monster clutched at the wound around its chest. It spat at its kin’s dead body. As if feeling that was not enough, it smashed a few times at the monster’s non-responding carcass. Regardless, venting his anger was not going to help close its wounds, if anything, the drastic actions tore open its wound further. It leaned against the wall and prepared to leave, dragging the cleaver with it. Blood dripped to the ground, it did not notice that a pair of cold eyes had been following it.
‘I think I’ve found the perfect prey.’ Han Fei silently eased out from his hiding spot. He moved towards the monster’s decapitated head and reached out to remove the thing’s pig mask.
