‘The sleeping mission will start in the next 5 minutes while I have until 4 am to complete the shower mission, technically I should have more than enough time to complete both of them.’
Han Fei started to chart out his schedule, ‘I’ll attempt the sleeping mission first. Based on the mission requirement, when I succeeded at the sleeping mission, I would have stayed for 3 hours in the game already. That means I would have fulfilled both conditions necessary for me to log off from the game. The shower mission requires me to stay inside a cramped space. It’ll be harder to hide from possible threats but by then I could have logged off at any time so it won’t be as dangerous as accepting it now.’ Han Fei did not accept the mission mindlessly, he had given it deep consideration.
Now that the New Player Period of Protection was over, who knew what had changed beyond the door of his in-game house. Instead of risking a new mission, it was much safer attempting the New Player Missions. After all, he had memorized more than 100 pages of case files just to survive in this house. Time ticked by. Han Fei bustled inside the room. He switched off all the light. He found the cleaver under the pillow and detached the wooden beam from the mop. The latter was his choice of weapon. The cleaver was more like a psychological comfort. Should a neighbour come to visit during the mission, he wouldn’t use the cleaver. Only when the neighbour refused to come in that he’d use the wooden beam to taunt them or politely invite them in. To prevent the anti-theft door from doing its job, Han Fei purposely left it slightly ajar.
‘If the monster inside the house went insane, I’ll run towards the exit; if a special neighbour comes to visit, and I can’t defeat them, I’ll run towards the innermost bedroom.’ Han Fei had set up his escape route. After everything was done, Han Fei entered the bedroom closest to the living room. He did the sleeping mission in this room last time. ‘I’ve failed last time because I was too nervous, I was so close to succeeding but I was too cowardly. This time, no matter what, I’ll have to stick around for the full 3 hours. Only by completing this sleeping mission that I’d have more wiggle room for the showering mission.’
Han Fei stared at the wall clock as if trying to hypnotize himself. When the clock reached 0.05 am, he laid down in bed and covered himself under the quilt. He left a gap near his eyes to observe his surroundings. ‘During the previous sleeping mission, the ghost in the bathroom appeared around 2.44 am. Today I started the mission at 0.05 am. Assuming if the ghost returns again at 2.44 am, I only need to stay for another 21 minutes after its appearance and my mission will be completed. It’s difficult but not impossible. Compared to last time, I even have a new passive skill this time. Hide and seek will help lower my presence. Hopefully the ghost will fail to notice me.’
Han Fei was quite confident when the mission started. ‘The beginning hours of the mission are quite relaxing, the key moment to this mission occurs at the last half an hour. However, I shouldn’t let my guard down. According to the system, the mission difficulty will increase with each failure, so I have to be ready to deal with sudden changes.’
Hiding under the quilt, Han Fei gripped the cleaver with one hand and the wooden beam with another. His muscles tensed. Like a beast in prowling mode, his expression was stern and his eyes sharp. Who would have thought that several days ago, this was the same man who had locked himself up in his rental house and surrendered himself to gaming addiction?
The house was quiet except for the ticking of the wall clock. Han Fei counted along with it internally as his eyes fixed on the bathroom door. His entire focus was on the bathroom. But at 0.14 am, a creaking sound came from outside the quiet bedroom. ‘The bathroom door hasn’t moved, the sound came from somewhere else!’
Inside the tomb-like house, any sound would be greatly amplified. Han Fei perked his ears up to locate the source. His eyes slowly moved away from the bathroom door. ‘That sounded like a door opening… I have left the front door open so the chance of the sound coming from that is low… That means the door of the innermost bedroom has been opened!’
Han Fei’s slow-moving gaze finally settled on the bedroom door. He saw half of a child’s face outside the door. The child’s facial feature was blurry as he slowly poked his head into the bedroom. Han Fei held his breath and froze his body. The child looked around for a while before he dragged his broken body and slunk past Han Fei’s bedroom.
‘Jesus, it’s only 0.14 am. I refuse to believe this is just a ‘slight’ increase in difficulty!’ From the bed, Han Fei could only see the living room and bathroom. He was unable to see the innermost bedroom. It was the sound of the door axle moving that he realized his roommates had decided to come out to play. ‘The innermost bedroom is the most dangerous place in this house. The sleeping mission has changed. The ghost has appeared much earlier than expected but the good news is they do not seem to be that interested in me.’
The child wandered around the living room before he sat on the couch. Han Fei could see the back of the child’s head from his vantage point. He worried the child’s head might suddenly turn around for 180 degrees to make eye contact with him. The air was thick with uncertainty. Han Fei hid under the quilt and was too afraid to even poke his finger out. ‘It’s alright. The plan is still the same. I just need to stay here for another 2 hours and several minutes.’
The child stayed unmoved on the couch. It was not until 0.44 am that a woman with long hair shuffled past Han Fei’s bedroom door without warning. She too headed towards the living room.
‘Another one?’ The woman’s figure was equally blurry. She picked up the television remote and silently sat down beside the child. The two ghosts sat facing away from him. Han Fei’s hair stood on end. Even when they were not staring at him, his heart was quivering. His heart would probably explode if they suddenly decided to turn their gazes on him. Time seemed to slow down, every second moved glacially. Ever since the two ghosts appeared in the living room, Han Fei’s body had frozen solid. He did not even dare to breathe too loudly.
Tik tok, tik tok… There was an undercurrent of a different sound mixed into the ticking of the clock… it sounded like dripping water. At 1.04 am, the kitchen door was pushed open. A woman with short hair stood at the door with her head lowered and a fruit knife in her grasp. She seemed to be searching for something.
At 1.14 am, the sound of high heels clicking came from the innermost bedroom. At 2. 44 am, the bathroom door trembled slightly, and soon the door opened a gap. From that gap, an eyeball glanced into the bedroom where Han Fei resided. A pale arm reached out from inside the bathroom. Wet hair stuck to the face. The person crawled out from the bathroom and the next moment, it disappeared from Han Fei’s field of vision. The temperature in the bedroom dropped. Han Fei gritted his teeth tightly. He heard something brushing against the mattress. Han Fei’s eyes stretched as far as it could without moving his head and he believed he saw someone kneeling by the foot of the bed. With their head lowered, it looked like the person was ready to crawl into bed with Han Fei.
Han Fei swallowed a scream as he kept a close tab on the kneeling figure. It was now 2.45 am. The mission time was almost over. Chill crept into his heart. Han Fei’s face was purple from the gargantuan effort needed to still his heart and body. Just as his heart was about to give out, the television set in the living room switched on. The cold light filtered into the bedroom and the chill inside the room dissipated.
Han Fei relaxed his closed fists. When he looked towards the living room again, there was a new figure sitting on the couch.
