439 Free Bodyguard
“I’ve heard that voice before, it is calling after me, who is it?” Darkness swallowed the storeroom. All the light disappeared. His heart jumped, Han Fei had no idea what was hiding in the dark. He rammed against the door but the door didn’t even budge. He doubted that anyone would come find him. The only thing he could do was to find another way to leave.
“Why try so hard to live? What is so bad about staying here? I pity your stubborn soul.”
Han Fei was certain that the voice came from the storeroom. Resisting his fear, he walked back into the storeroom. ‘My mood points are still dropping. If this continues, it’ll reach 20 points in the next 10 minutes. Then I might die here.’ Without any hesitation, Han Fei passed through the shelves based on the memory in his mind. He charged down a direction. Even if it was a dead end, at least he had done something.
While Han Fei charged forward, a second hand laptop fell down from the shelf. Its monitor glowed coolly. ‘Isn’t this one of the stuff that I’ve just organized?’ The laptop was barely used. Earlier it was Han Fei who placed it on the shelf. The light from the monitor became the only light source in the storeroom. Han Fei’s eyes were involuntarily drawn towards it.
Someone had operated the laptop because it started to play a video. The video was a boy tied to a chair, he was being tortured and beaten, his body was covered in wounds. The boy was shouting something but the video had no audio. Han Fei had a feeling that he had seen this video before but he couldn’t remember where. The more he looked at the video, the more he felt like the boy was his younger self.
“Can pain be healed? If it can, how do you plan to heal this broken world?” All the 2nd hand electronic products flickered on. All the screens played the same video. Different children were tied to chairs. They didn’t have a name, they only had a number. It went from 0001 to 9999. The videos had no sound so all the children were screaming soundlessly. They were being subjected to various training and inhuman ‘healing’ until they died in that cold and small room.
As the children died, their faces would start to change and blur. The soundless torture and endless treatment caused all the dead children to take on the face of the first child.
The first child could act out different expressions and personalities based on the orders given but he couldn’t reveal a sincere smile. After all the children adopted the same face, the partition in the storeroom was opened. There was a darker room beyond it, like a black box.
The boy sat on the chair dumbly. He was led to another dark room. In the new room, he seemed to have grown slightly and he was given a new number—0000.
“Is this the meaning of your existence? Then you should stay, why don’t you stay?”
Han Fei’s heartstrings were pulled, the shocking image froze him to the spot. He was drawn by the face of the child, and memories which didn’t belong to him exploded in his mind.
Spending days with his mother, the memories from childhood, happiness and bliss blossomed like flowers on the edge of the cliff, bringing 4 seasons to this despairing world. But soon, the mother was diagnosed with cancer, and his father escaped on his own. All the pressure fell on the child. Pain, work, money, all these things became problems in life.
The memories which didn’t belong to Han Fei were forcibly melding with Han Fei’s memory. The person knew many things about Han Fei. It didn’t touch the deepest part of Han Fei’s memory, it only wanted Han Fei to become him. His mother was sick, he needed the money, he was scammed at work, he owed the loanshark, but most importantly he had killed someone. The memory was heavy. Han Fei felt like he was underwater, the giant pressure was pressing on his nerves and arteries.
“Everyone around me tells me that good people will have good karma. I donate to the homeless, I feed the strays, I help the bullied deliveryman, I believe in justice and fairness, I always put other people first, so why does this happen to me?”
Han Fei’s mind was muddled as he moved towards the other room. His hand touched something. At the deepest part of the storeroom, Han Fei saw an altar. The black altar was similar to the one placed at the 2nd hand shop but the presence it radiated was completely different. The doors were also nailed shut but someone had written something on the doors. “It is not embarrassing to sell your soul and principle, the embarrassing thing is that your soul can’t fetch a good price. This is an opportunity for you to begin anew. Open the altars and you will obtain all the answers you want.” It sounded like the system but also something else. In any case, with the guidance of the voice, Han Fei picked up the hammer that was beside the altar. After the doors were open, all the nightmare would disappear and truth would surface.
Han Fei’s memory was already corrupted by others. He was under the influence of another force. He was dominated by hatred, resentment and sadness. Raising the hammer, Han Fei’s eyes were bloodshot. He was under unimaginable pressure as he swung the hammer. There was a dull thud as the hammer smashed into Han Fei’s pinkie. The bone shattered and Han Fei bled. The pain helped Han Fei regain temporary sanity. He dropped the hammer and grabbed the black cloth to cover the altar back up.
“So this is your choice?” Different voices appeared in the storeroom, there were male and female, young and old. Their voices overlapped like they were standing behind Han Fei. “You will regret this…”
The storeroom lights flickered before they came back on. As the light chased away the darkness, the cold and robotic voice echoed in Han Fei’s mind. “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed the random mission, organize the storeroom! Not every soul in this world can be priced, you have made your choice!
“You’ve rectified 15 percent of the altar owner’s regret! You’ve obtained a large amount of EXP! Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed a random mission, you obtain a chance to open your inventory. You can choose an item to bring into the memory world.
“Notification for Player 0000, you’ve reached level 17, gained 1 free attribute point!”
Leaning against the shelf, Han Fei slid to the ground, he was still reeling from what had happened. After the lights came on, his mood points rose from 19 to 25. ‘The mission requires me to organize the storeroom before dawn… No, the mission didn’t really specify that, it only reminded me to organize the merchandise before dawn and price all the souls.’ Only then Han Fei realized the soul which was being priced included his own. If he had made a different choice, he might have ended up a merchandise on the shelf. ‘I’ve rectified another 5 percent of the owner’s regret. Looks like he was faced with the same choice but he couldn’t resist the temptation and open the doors.’ Han Fei raised his head to look at the altar under the black cloth. ‘The real altar is hidden at the deepest part of the 2nd hand shop’s storeroom. One wouldn’t know it’s here unless one works here.’
Climbing up from the ground, Han Fei held his pinkie which he couldn’t feel anymore. “It’s painful but this is a good thing. At least I can remind myself I’m alive.” Han Fei examined the altar again and he noticed something strange. “The black cloth can cover the altar fully but I remember when I first encountered it, part of the altar was already exposed! Someone has been in here to lift up part of the black cloth before I did!”
There were only 3 people who could have done that, Huang Li, Fei Yang and the boss Han Fei hadn’t met. ‘Who could it be?’ Han Fei didn’t waste too much on this, he added his new attribute points to stamina. His arms became more powerful. He felt more energetic. He was less than level 20 but his stamina was already 28. ‘At every 10 point, the attribute will break through a new threshold. After I have 30 stamina, perhaps I can unlock some new power related to stamina.’
Walking towards the staircase, Han Fei’s attitude was completely different from before. After he made his choice, he would lead a path different from the altar owner, he wouldn’t be controlled by the altar.
‘It’s relatively easy to level up in this memory world. All the missions here are equivalent to Grade F missions, I have to make use of this opportunity!’ Pushing open the door and walking up the stairs, Han Fei looked around for Huang Li but he couldn’t find her. ‘Where is she?’
Han Fei came to the counter to find the first aid kit. He used the bandage to deal with his finger and then turned to examine the computer. The inventory wasn’t completed but Huang Li had left the shop. “The water inside the cup is still warm, she probably left not too long ago.”
Han Fei’s mood point was recovering. As long as he didn’t leave the mall, his mood point wouldn’t be affected, at least that was what his experience from the night before told him. ‘It’s almost 1 am, it’s not safe around the mall, should I go find her?’
Han Fei was stunned when he saw 2 men in cast sitting outside the shop. They had been sitting there for a long time already. They were in the same black suit. The fatty had both of his arms in cast and the tiger tattoo was peeking through his suit. He was so large that the buttons of his suit couldn’t close. The other man had a knife scar on his face. It should look scary but with the bandage slung over his neck, he didn’t look that terrifying.
The man with the scar used his two fingers to hold a cigarette. Perhaps because the mall was anti-smoking, he didn’t light it. They sat on a piece of old newspaper. Shells of sunflower seeds scattered before them. Perhaps they were too bored so they had been snacking on sunflower seeds.
The door chimed. When they saw Han Fei come out, they finally got up using each other as support.
“You’ve taken the 20000 and we couldn’t answer to our brothers so you have to pay us back today.” The man with the scar demanded angrily. His eyes glared at Han Fei. The loanshark was beaten up by the person who took out the loan. If people found out, how were they going to show their faces anymore?
“What if I refuse?” Han Fei looked around for Huang Li.
“Then we will follow you forever until you return the money!” The fatty said.
“Free bodyguards? Wonderful, follow me then.” Han Fei glanced upstairs. The mall was dark. Neither the two night guards nor Huang Li could be seen.
“You…” The man with the scar gritted his teeth. “We will stay here and scare all your customers away.”
“Go ahead, it’s not my business anyway. But be careful, not every customer is alive.” Han Fei walked towards the fatty which caused the fatty to retreat in fear.
“Don’t worry, I was just worried about you because you have to wear a suit in such cold weather.” Han Fei helped fix the fatty’s buttons. But he gave up after a few failed trials. “By the way, have you seen a woman walk out from the store earlier?”
“Yes, she went up to the 3rd floor.” The fatty answered but he was glared at by his partner. Then he coughed and said, “I mean, I don’t know.”
“The 3rd floor is where they sell female outfits and it has been quite busy lately.” Han Fei then heard a loud sound. It sounded like a heavy thing falling.
“This sound occurred yesterday night too! The 2 guards became abnormal after they went to examine it.” Looking at the dark mall, Han Fei waved at the 2 loansharks. “I’m going to the 3rd floor, you two coming?”
