There were 5 chances to turn back, and Han Fei had already used two. Even so he still hadn’t seen the face of the Soul Chaser. He had no idea how to complete this mission. Time ticked by, if he couldn’t identify the Soul Chaser within the next 10 minutes, he’d die; if he was caught up, he’d die; if he used up all 5 chances, he’d die. The pressure on him was understandably big.
The only thing that gave him hope and strength was the fact that he could get offline now, but he wanted to obtain as much information as he could before he did so that his survivability would be improved to the maximum the next time he logged on. ‘I still have about 7 minutes left, that should be enough.’ Han Fei had decided to abandon finishing the mission and with that decision made, he felt more at ease. However, the next time he logged in, he would face the threat of death head on. ‘I’ll have to make use of the remaining 3 chances as best as I can. After I get offline, I’ll head over to Zhuang Ren’s place immediately to play the Ziggurat game, perhaps I can get some clues about this Soul Chaser in the game, that will help me in the cryptic world next time I get online.’
A time-limited Grade F Mission was really pushing Han Fei’s luck. The inescapable Soul Chaser seemed to exist in a different dimension than Han Fei. It was like how Perfect Life had been split into the surface and cryptic world.
The real scary elements were in the cryptic world, while the ‘harmless’ tenants whose memories were stolen were placed in the surface world. The Night of Resurrection was probably a crossing of both worlds, where the scariest thing in the cryptic world would return. There were currently 2 known bridges between the two worlds, one was Butterfly’s nightmare and the other was the Spirit Farer ritual/ability. Interestingly enough, they corresponded to Butterfly and Fu Sheng’s manager talent.
‘The scariest thing at Ziggurat is awakening. As the ritual progresses, the pressure on me will only intensify.’ It was already bad but it would only get worse. Being alive meant sliding deeper into despair. Ziggurat at the cryptic world was like a bottomless abyss, at this place, despair and pain had no end.
Han Fei evaded several attacks from behind. Not turning back even once, he made his way to the 4th floor. ‘The goal is Room 4041!’ Han Fei made a beeline for this room as his brain spun, ‘Feng Ziyu was dragged by the Butterfly into the cryptic world. With Butterfly’s personality, it would keep its prisoner detained so there is a good chance Feng Ziyu is still trapped inside Room 4041.’
Han Fei had the Spirit Farer talent, but he could only use it once every night. If possible, he wanted to attempt it on Feng Ziyu to see if he could send the innocent man away from the cryptic world.
But for that, he had to reach the man first so Han Fei was running as fast as he could. However, when Han Fei touched the handle of the safety door on the 4th floor, he knew something was wrong. His palms felt moisture and they came off stuck with bits of white rice.
As he entered the corridor, there was an inexplicable strangeness about the entire 4th floor. There was a fire pot placed before every door so one had to cross them before entering the house. However, instead of paper ash and money, the pots were filled with shredded photographs and voodoo dolls made from human hair. The corridor looked normal but as he ran through it, he could feel the bumps on the ground and the walls felt like they were closing in like he was running down a tunnel.
The 4th floor was home to a room which had three 4’s in its room number so Han Fei didn’t want to stay here for long. However, as per usual, he found out that to get to Room 4041, he had to first pass by Room 4044. ‘Since I’m already chased by the Soul Chaser, can it really get any worse? Maybe 2 negatives can make 1 positive.’ He charged towards Room 4041 but after he took 2 steps, he immediately felt the anomaly. It was as if the corridor had been extended indefinitely. He had taken 2 large steps, but it only covered a small distance.
Han Fei shivered uncontrollably, feeling someone’s eyes on him. He lifted his eyes to look ahead and noticed the couplets on each door were like lolling tongues, trying to trip him.
‘Where did the gaze come from?’ Turning his head, Han Fei’s eyes eventually fell on the door to Room 4044, that room was clearly different from the other rooms. The door had a model of a headless door guardian standing before it! It stood facing away from Han Fei.
Door guardians were traditionally used to ward against evil, but a headless one just looked creepy.
Han Fei’s instinct told him to stay away from the thing but at that moment, the safety door clicked behind him. The Soul Chaser had also entered the 4th floor. If he backed away, he’d die; if he moved ahead, there might be a 1 percent chance of survival, Han Fei had no choice but to choose the latter.
He dashed down the corridor, but somehow he still found himself close to the safety door. But strangely enough, his distance to the headless door guardian drew closer. ‘What could this door guardian be defending?’
The red background made it look like the door guardian was stepping on a river of blood. It was holding something in his arm and Han Fei swore the model’s body was turning around. The firepot before Room 4044 trembled. All the pictures inside the fire pot were headless, that should be some kind of clues.
Being chased by the Soul Chaser, Han Fei got inadvertently close to Room 4044 and the corridor before him changed. More blood dripped from the corner and the cement floor slowly morphed into a puddle of blood. The red liquid dripped on his face and they felt sticky. The anxiety within him grew. ‘This is probably what a trip to hell would feel like.’
Since stopping meant certain death, Han Fei could only keep going. When he was about to arrive at Room 4044, his injured arm suddenly winced with pain. The blood pattern started to pulse. Black blood vessels crawled out from the butterfly-shaped wound. Something was warning Han Fei to run!
“Big Sin?” When he was attacked by the Soul Chaser, Big Sin helped Han Fei block a fatal blow and now it was giving another warning to Han Fei. Han Fei halted immediately. As Han Fei looked up, the door guardian had already turned forward and it was holding a giant guillotine knife. As the blade swung, Han Fei chose to log off. Blood froze the world, and the blade almost reached Han Fei’s neck.
His consciousness started to detach and in that blood red city, Han Fei believed he heard an angry song. Just as Han Fei logged off the game, the Singer once again confirmed his location. As Han Fei slipped through its fingers once more, that incensed the Unmentionable further.
Removing the gaming helmet, Han Fei collapsed inside the gaming hub. He tried to push the hub door open but he didn’t even have the energy to lift his hands. This night was a busy one for Han Fei. He was either running for his life or going to run for his life until he was ultimately forced out from the game.
‘The next time I log in, it’ll be the scariest Night of Resurrection that occurs every 14 years. I have less than 24 hours to prepare for it.”
