Butterfly’s dresser was a very unique cursed object, it was one with the Butterfly. It carved all of Butterfly’s nightmares in itself and inherited Butterfly’s pain. It was Butterfly’s only home and its prison. Because of that, Dresser 4444 obtained the power to connect nightmares and the cryptic world after Butterfly fell into the cryptic world.
But now that Butterfly had perished and its dresser collapsed, the main channel had been ruined. The other dressers started to transform, no one could tell what changes they would bring. Han Fei and the other tenants at Ziggurat already predicted that someone might enter the cryptic world through the dresser but none of them expected the ‘lucky’ winner would arrive so soon.
“This works too, we’ll make use of this opportunity to study him, to see what is so special about him, in preparation for the future.” Han Fei and Butterfly were two different people. If Butterfly discovered someone accidentally entered its dresser, it would determine the guest’s quality and slowly torment them with nightmares before consuming them; Han Fei was different, he wanted to find the law within this appearance and then helped the person.
The air in Room 4044 froze. Anyone would be shaking in their pants being targeted by so many ghosts. To ease the tension, Han Fei decided to send the Ziggurat tenants out first. He didn’t know the lucky winner, there was no reason for him to scare the person to death at first meeting. There was a procedure to everything, at least Han Fei needed to get to know the person first before deciding to kill or not.
Han Fei sent a message in the chat group, requesting the ghosts to make some noise outside the house. When the dirge rang out, Han Fei signaled for the other tenants to leave.
The tenants who were staring at the dresser suddenly turned around and walked out from the room as if attracted by something. Han Fei mixed among them and walked out too. “After I find out what’s really going on with that person, we’ll depart for Ancestral Hall Street.”
Putting on the Cattle Mask silently, Han Fei whispered something to Drake and then flipped on the masterful acting switch in his mind.
After a long time, when the dirge stopped, Han Fei pretended to rush down the corridor. He eased the door of Room 4044 open and soon rushing footsteps came from the corridor. Han Fei looked around in panic before his eyes landed on the dresser. After some hesitation, he pulled open the dresser door. When the door opened, Zeng Haicheng and Han Fei’s eyes met. Zeng Haicheng saw the unbridled fear in the eyes underneath Han Fei’s mask.
“I…” Zeng Haicheng had no idea what to say. Compared to the countless ghosts, Han Fei didn’t give him that much pressure. Furthermore, Han Fei was finding a hiding spot so they were probably allies.
“Shush, don’t speak. You might attract them!” Han Fei changed his voice line to become dark and harsh. He entered the dresser and squatted down beside Zeng Haicheng. When he closed the dresser door, Han Fei ‘accidentally’ brushed against Zeng Haicheng’s shoulder and in that moment, he saw the young man’s character profile.
Name: Zeng Haicheng
Level 1, Intelligence 7, Stamina 4, Luck 1, Charm 7, San Value 10, Life Points 100.
Hidden Talent 1: Sleepwalking (A very rare talent, you’ll have to explore the power of the talent yourself)
Hidden Talent 2: Spirit Connection (You were raised by a Spirit Medium, so you have natural connection with them)
Han Fei then at least had a base to work out of. He hid inside the dresser with Zheng Haicheng and neither dared to speak. Listening to the racing heartbeat, Zeng Haicheng wasn’t as afraid as before. He glanced at Han Fei and realized the edge of Han Fei’s mask was drenched by sweat. ‘He must be in extreme fear.’
Fear could be shared as well. When there were two of them, at least there was company. When the footsteps outside the door departed, the two players inside the dresser sighed in relief at the same time. Neither of them dared to leave, they stood side by side.
“Erm… Hello, I’d like to ask, are you a player? Is this Perfect Life?” Zeng Haicheng asked carefully. He was very polite, afraid that Han Fei might do something irrational, “I don’t mean anything by that, I’m just confused if I’ve logged into the right game.”
“I’m a player and this is Perfect Life.” Han Fei was telling the truth. He wiped away his sweat and turned to Zeng Haicheng. “I’m surprised to run into a second player in the hidden map. Which gaming studio are you from? What’s your beta tester account number?”
“Hidden map? Gaming Studio? Beta tester account number?” Zeng Haicheng was flummoxed. “I think you’ve misunderstood something. I’ve just logged into the game, I don’t even know anything. After choosing a random spawn point, I turned up here.” Zeng Haicheng felt like crying, the reality was so different from what he imagined.
“You’re a newbie player? Impossible!” Han Fei said confidently. “One has to satisfy several requirements to enter this hidden map. The player’s intelligence and charm has to be above 7 and their luck can’t be too high. At the same time, one has to possess hidden talent related to dreams or the supernatural. The gaming studio I’m affiliated to has attempted this for months with hundreds of players and I am the only one who managed to get here.”
Hearing the suspicion in Han Fei’s voice, Zeng Haicheng wanted to show his character profile to Han Fei but unfortunately that was impossible in the game. With a bitter smile on his face, Zeng Haicheng couldn’t tell if he was lucky or unlucky anymore. “I think I’ve met all the requirements you’ve just mentioned…”
“You’re not lying to me?”
“It’s real!” To prove that he was not lying, Zeng Haicheng recited his attributes and talents for Han Fei, this act of honesty earned him some brownie points from Han Fei.
“Sleepwalking, Spirit Connection? I have no idea such strange talents existed.” Using only his voice, Han Fei expressed his shaken conviction. He was slowly warming up to Zeng Haicheng.
“I swear I’m not lying to you.” Zeng Haicheng saw Han Fei as his saving grace. Mainly it was because Han Fei was a beta tester and he’d know how to survive better at this hidden map than he was. “Big brother, can you tell me how to leave this place? If you are willing to help me, I’ll listen to your orders from now on.”
“Leave? Do you know how many people want to come here but they can’t? If you don’t believe me, go to the official website and look for information on hidden maps.” Han Fei gasped in disbelief, “You’re sitting on a treasure trove and you want to leave?”
“It’s mainly because this place doesn’t seem too hospitable to humans…”
“Since you are here, you need to appreciate this opportunity.” Han Fei lowered his voice, “There are many better and secret ways to utilize Perfect Life but they all require a very high specific player attribute. However, that attribute is decided by the players’ own determination, there’s no in-game item that can increase that attribute.” The devil whispered and Satan took out the Apple to seduce Adam.
“What attribute?”
“San Value.” Han Fei’s voice possessed some kind of magical power, his tone was slowly becoming different from before. “Only by completing Perfect Life’s hidden map can a player increase their San Value. In the early stages, the San Value might not appear to be that important but as the game progresses, you’ll realize this attribute decides how you see the world.”
Zeng Haicheng’s eyes widened. He was deeply attracted by the world Han Fei’s words painted. Han Fei was a professional player who had participated in many Closed Betas, he had access to extremely confidential information. He, on the other hand, had managed to obtain this chance to change his virtual life thanks to his ‘good’ luck. Perfect Life would change the whole era and professional players could get rich overnight in this game. Zeng Haicheng’s ideals for entering the game hadn’t changed, it was to relax and heal, but if he could do that while earning big money, why would he reject it?
However, the problem was, with high risk comes high reward.
“There’s a time limit to how long a player can stay in a hidden map. After you’re in it for 24 hours, even if you don’t want to leave, the system will kick you out so you better appreciate your time here.” Han Fei’s Resurrection could only be used once per day so he came up with this white lie.
“Big brother, what do I need to do then?” Zeng Haicheng now relied fully on Han Fei.
“You only need to remember 2 points. First, whenever you make a choice, follow your heart. Kill those that need to be killed, save those that need to be saved; Second, do not ever leave this building. No matter what happens, do not step out of this building.” After giving him the advice, Han Fei opened the dresser door. “Use all of your intelligence and power, try and survive here as long as you can. Do not hide your real self, only then you’ll obtain the unimaginable reward.”
Han Fei exited the dresser. While Zeng Haicheng was chewing over Han Fei’s words, the latter had already left Room 4044. “Fuck! Big Brother! Where are you going?” Zeng Haicheng didn’t dare to chase after Han Fei. He hesitated inside the dresser.
Han Fei went to find Feng Ziyu, he decided to perform a series of tests on Zeng Haicheng like how he was personally tested at Cattle Alley. If Zeng Haicheng proved to be a good person, then he’d reward Zeng Haicheng. One of the real estate contracts obtained by Huang Yin would be a great reward for a normal player. Of course, the premise was that Zeng Haicheng could survive the tests. If Zeng Haicheng failed, if he had evil at heart, then he would have to meet Big Sin.
Han Fei handed the task over to Feng Ziyu, after all, the man participated in the game design of Perfect Life, he was also an internal tester, he knew the various missions very well. Observing the players and coming up with mission objectives, that was Feng Ziyu’s day job.
“Do not see yourself fully as a mission designer, you have to consider things from the perspective of humanity. See the player as someone you’re interviewing, find the brilliance of humanity in them, and dig out their hidden evil.”
After explaining the situation to Feng Ziyu, Han Fei led the most powerful spirits from Ziggurat and Happiness Neighbourhood to Ancestral Hall Street. Zeng Haicheng’s arrival signified a new start, he made Han Fei feel like a real mod. However, to last longer in that position, Han Fei needed to get stronger.
After completing a Grade G Mission along the way, Han Fei, who could log off at any time, walked at the front of the group. He wore the Cattle Mask, put on a clean set of clothes and carried an urn in his arms.
Han Fei walked along the old streets to slowly approach the fringe of Ziggurat. In the past, due to the presence of Butterfly, there were not many ghosts in this area. But now the place was filled with strange creatures.
Some were souls of the dead. Their bodies had strange blood threads like they were controlled by something.
Other than lingering spirits and animated regrets, some of the monsters Han Fei had never seen before slowly encroached upon the Ziggurat’s territory. This sparked the alarm in Han Fei’s mind. With Butterfly’s death, Spider’s disappearance, and Little Eight’s injury, the only ghost who could rival a Pure Hatred was Zhuang Wen. Han Fei glanced beside him, Zhuang Wen was still extremely unstable. If she really fought with a Pure Hatred, she would soon be consumed by the black flame of hatred in her heart.
A normal Pure Hatred would metamorphose from the black flame but Zhuang Wen failed due to Butterfly’s interruption. The senior monster would have been the next Pure Hatred but he sacrificed himself and his lineage to kill Butterfly. They were now part of Rest in Peace. Holding the hilt of the blade, Han Fei felt the weight on his shoulders. If there was a chance, he would bring hope to all the souls inside Rest in Peace.
As he walked forward, a strange gospel entered his ears. Han Fei looked ahead and there was an eerie temple at the corner of the street. The temple was small, it looked like it was reconstructed from a newspaper kiosk. The windows and doors were pasted with strange talismans. The entrance was covered with half-completed holy figurines. They were not yet painted.
“Is this Ancestral Hall Street?” Han Fei walked forward, remembering the Singer’s location in his mind. Just as he stepped into the street, the robotic voice announced, “Notification for Player 0000, you’ve triggered Grade F Hidden Mission—Ancestral Hall Street.
“Ancestral Hall Street: Do not approach or bring home the abandoned holy figurines you see on the street. It’s best to leave immediately. If you stay for too long, the thing inside the figurines might choose to follow you forever.”
