Staying alone at his rental, the first thing Han Fei did after coming home was to switch on the television. He was not really interested in the program, he just wanted a background sound so it would not appear too lonesome by himself.
After being alone for so many years, this was the first time his ‘home’ was so ‘crowded’. 7 ghosts sat on the couch to watch the television, a human being decided to join them. Surprisingly, it looked quite harmonious. Once Han Fei knew he could exit the game at any time, his bravery got a drastic boost. He wanted to get closer to his roommate and wanted to get more clues about the killer from his victims.
The old-fashioned television set broadcasted the reruns of the victims’ memory. Han Fei imprinted as many details as he could into his mind. However, time was ticking. If he did not attempt the shower mission soon, it would be automatically substituted by the system.
Glancing at the clock, when it was 3.50 am, he stood up quietly and walked alone to the bathroom. ‘Aiz, I’ll have to give it a try after all. I know collecting all the new player missions’ rewards will be of great help to me in the future.’ Perfect Life was essentially a life simulator so after Han Fei gave it some thought, assigning ‘shower’ as one of the missions was quite acceptable. However Han Fei also knew the mission would entail more than just a simple shower. After checking around, Han Fei realized the bathroom door’s lock was already ruined.
‘It can’t be locked?’ Han Fei’s brows furrowed together. Thankfully the man was good at finding the silver lining, ‘At least the mission didn’t require me to be naked.’ While fully clothed, Han Fei switched on the shower and stood under it. He was still holding the cleaver. The water plastered his clothes to his skin. It restricted his movement. It did not feel good. ‘The game really did simulate even the smallest detail.’
After standing under the shower for half a minute, Han Fei noticed the completion rate for the mission was still 0. With his whole body soaked, Han Fei turned towards the wash basin. A bottle of hair shampoo, body cream and face scrub sat on top of it.
‘It feels weird showering at 4 am inside a haunted house. No matter how high I adjust the water temperature, it’s still so freezing.’ He squeezed out some body cream and slathered it on his body. Finally the completion rate of the mission was climbing. ‘So this is how it feels like to shower with clothes on. Indeed, in this game, you can attempt many things that you wouldn’t do in real life.’
From his talk with Huang Yin, Han Fei noticed something. A normal Perfect Life game had many restrictions on its player but his version of Perfect Life seemed to do away with them. No GM was there to restrict his actions. As long as he was alive, he could do anything he wanted. This place was a veritable test of human nature. It could be hell or heaven depending on his choice. The water temperature gradually rose and the bathroom misted. Han Fei’s attention sharpened with alertness. After he put down the body cream and reached for the hair shampoo, the previously closed bathroom door opened on its own.
‘Who is it?’ Han Fei glanced towards the living room. The television was still playing the 7 victims’ memory but the victims themselves had gone missing. The temperature of the shower continued to rise but Han Fei felt much chillier in person. The air in the cramped bathroom seemed to solidify. The suffocating Han Fei turned to the misted mirror. Inside the mirror, other than Han Fei, there were 7 other faces. Han Fei fixed his neck in place and stared right into the mirror. Give him a million and he would not turn around.
Wei Youfu in the mirror slowly walked towards Han Fei. He reached his finger forward to write something on the mirror. Words started to appear on the surface of the misted mirror—the child is coming soon, help her.
This was Han Fei’s first time communicating with his roommate. Seeing the words on the mirror and Wei Youfu standing behind him, a strange feeling rose within him. Outside the game, he was arranged to play Wei Youfu’s character and at that moment, he was only a mirror away from the actual person his character was modelled after. His heart still quivered from fear but beyond that, there arose a different emotion. It was not pity or charity. Looking into the eyes of the 7 victims, Han Fei appeared to see his former self.
Raising his arm, Han Fei’s fingertip landed on the mirror surface. Chill surged through his finger into his mind. He nodded slowly but with determination. “I promise you, I will help her.”
With that, Wei Youfu gave a simple smile. Then blood leaked out from his skull and neck. Ghastly lashes materialized on his body. Standing next to Han Fei, his body was being brutally dismembered, like a jigsaw puzzle being forcibly pulled apart.
Blood splattered on the white bathroom wall. Han Fei had not experienced something as horrifying as this. Liquid splashed onto his body but he could not even tell whether it was water or blood. To his consternation, Wei Youfu was merely the first. After Wei Youfu’s body was completely dismembered, the similar cruel fate descended upon Ah Mei, Chui Tianchi, Chui Caiyi…
Fresh blood flowers bloomed in the narrow bathroom. The world in the mirror was blood red. Outside the mirror, Han Fei’s body felt like it had been dropped in ice. His body shook uncontrollably. Water slid down his face, blood slithered down the mirror.
Against his better instinct, Han Fei kept his eyes open. The horror and gore were beyond any horror flicks. The reality of it slit at his heart. This was how these seven poor souls died.
After all the 7 victims were in pieces, their flesh and blood in the mirror appeared to gain its own life. Despair, hatred and pain formed black threads that started to string the broken pieces together. After the killer harvested the organs he needed from the victims, he had done the very same thing. Han Fei was placed back at the crime scene. The flesh were puzzle pieces glued back together with hatred-filled wires. An ugly, scary, crazy monster reborn from the dead meat of the victims.
Its size grew. The twisted faces of the 7 victims slowly surfaced. They had all lost their rationality. They groaned and yelled in madness. Their broken, unused limbs littered the room. The scene was too gory but Han Fei forced himself to look. He had promised Wei Youfu, he would lend that child help. ‘Who is this child? There has to be a reason why the 7 victims have done this. They disintegrated and reformed before my eyes for a reason! They wanted me to see something!’
The veins bulged as the flesh melted together. The monster rose to the ceiling but its size was still growing. Blood poured like rain. Finally Han Fei spotted something at the location where the monster’s heart should be.
Inside the monster’s body, he saw a girl’s face which he had not seen before. It was a face which had not appeared in any of the case files. The police had not released any information about this person either.
‘She is the 8th victim? She’s the last piece of the puzzle?’
