494 Seaglass Cat
After telling the 3 players what to look out for, Han Fei left them to their own devices. He could only use Resurrection once per night so Han Fei needed 3 nights to send these players away. With regards to the player with 0 luck, Han Fei wasn’t holding out hope. They searched the hotel for a long time but they couldn’t find him. They shouted his name and got no reply either. Just like Yan Tang predicted, if he wasn’t killed by the ghost, he would have left the hotel before them.
Han Fei could only hope that the man’s luck would get better and was hiding in a building near the mist. The worst thing was for him to venture towards the plastic surgery hospital. Han Fei finished a Grade F Mission and saved 4 out of 5 players, it was a fulfilling night for Han Fei.
When he returned to Ziggurat, his neighbors were still digesting the merchandise from the mall. They were getting stronger. Han Fei didn’t disturb his neighbors. He had Feng Ziyu and the Ziggurat guards look over the players and then he left the game.
The blood fell. Han Fei was very familiar with all these. When he felt something approach him from behind, he wanted to greet the man but before he could say anything, his consciousness was pulled away. Opening his eyes, Han Fei removed the gaming helmet and crawled out of the gaming hub.
“If only every night can be so relaxing.” Han Fei looked at his investigation wall and was reminded of the wall at the hotel. “As long as I continue to become stronger, eventually I will turn this game into a real Iyashikei game.” A good Iyashikei game could not only heal oneself but also others.
Even though it was not yet dawn, Han Fei didn’t feel tired at all. He switched on the light on his study table and started to read. After he entered the cryptic world, Han Fei understood something, reading was key. In the past, he only focused on acting and had missed out on many things. He thought that acting was everything but now he had a different perspective. To survive in the cryptic world, he needed a wealth of knowledge, from criminal psychology to business management, from first aid to city planning, he had so many things to learn.
“I have to study hard, and crush those Unmentionables with my knowledge.” Han Fei became energized when he realized that this knowledge might save him at unexpected moments.
The sun drifted through the gaps in the curtains into the room. Han Fei who had been studying detective methods stretched lazily. He realized that as his stamina increased, his brain also rarely felt tired anymore. His body had to be resilient to sustain the pressure brought on by the altar inheritance mission.
“Li Xue should be awake now.” Han Fei glanced at the time and took out his phone to call her.
Before he spoke, Li Xue’s voice said, “You’re looking for someone again? Your calls are even more punctual than my alarms. What time do you wake up anyway?”
“I go to bed at midnight every day but I wake up earlier than most.” Han Fei brought up the info of the few players in his mind. He wanted to know what kind of people tended to be attracted by the cryptic world. After explaining the situation to Li Xue, Han Fei hung up. He then messaged Huang Yin, he wanted to know if Huang Yin had encountered anything special in the surface world. Huang Yin was Han Fei’s most important friend and assistance.
If the passage between the cryptic world and the surface world opened, Huang Yin could use his identity as the top player to do many things. Be prepared for the worst, Han Fei also didn’t know what would happen to Perfect Life in the future.
The video call was connected. Huang Yin didn’t look so well. The last time he looked so haggard was when he encountered Butterfly. “Brother Huang, what happened to you?”
“I reached level 20 and I was doing my profession upgrade mission yesterday night. Speaking of, I need your opinion.” Huang Yin sent another new document to Han Fei. “I can now take on a second profession. I have two choices, one is to upgrade Blood Doctor. As Blood Doctor, I am now wanted by the whole city.”
“Blood Doctor is a very powerful profession. Did you trigger a different hidden profession?”
“Yes, thanks to my Nightmare talent, I learn abilities related to dreams very fast. Since Perfect Life doesn’t have a limit for a player’s side profession, I studied all the professions related to dreams that I can find. When I reached level 20 yesterday night, the system told me that I have triggered a unique hidden profession—Dream Watcher.” Huang Yin trusted Han Fei unconditionally, he shared everything with Han Fei.
“Dream Watcher? What power does it have?”
“I am not sure but I believe it is not so different from hypnotist and psychiatrist, right? But for the profession’s mission, it is quite impossible. I need to enter NPC’s dreams and help them find the things they have lost in their dreams.” Huang Yin ruffled his hair. “In Perfect Life, each player could only have 1 main profession but at every 10 levels, they could choose to upgrade a side profession. I am now conflicted between Blood Doctor and Dream Watcher. Which is more suitable for me? Blood Doctor is Feng Ziyu’s final present for me, it is a healing hidden profession that is hard to find, but Dream Watcher corresponds more with my talents. So if I manage to unlock this profession, it will be my unique profession…” If a normal player triggered even the lowest level of hidden professions, they would be so excited that they couldn’t sleep but Huang Yin had to choose between two hidden professions. He was truly the top player.
“Don’t abandon Blood Doctor but try to unlock Dream Watcher too. You need both professions. If you lack resources, you can come to me to get them. Don’t worry, I have your back.” Han Fei heard of Dream Watcher for the first time. He had no idea how this profession was like but since this was going to be Huang Yin’s unique profession, they better hold onto it.
“Okay, I know what to do now.”
“Let’s talk about something else. What happened to the players who have disappeared inside the maze?” Han Fei cared about those people.
“They are still missing. Thankfully they are top players and belong to big companies. Every day, people will take care of them, they will be fine for another week.” Huang Yin was paying attention to them too. “Actually, for professional players, being in games for days is quite common. So no one really takes this seriously yet. Their boss probably thought he was lucky because his people managed to find the hidden map.”
“Hopefully they can survive. The theme park is very dangerous. Even I am not strong enough to go there yet.”
“We’re not responsible for them. They sought this out themselves.” Huang Yin was older than Han Fei, he was familiar with the working of the society. “They were the ones who put their chips on the table, they only had themselves to blame if they lose everything.”
Han Fei nodded. He wanted to ask Huang Yin something when he received a call from Director Zhang. Han Fei ended the call with Huang Yin and accepted Director Zhang’s call. “Director Zhang, how can I help you?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you so early.” Director Zhang had no idea Han Fei had been awake for several hours already. “Did something unhappy happen between you and Star Entertainment yesterday night? Their boss wanted to talk to you in private.”
“Star Entertainment?” When Han Fei first saw them, he injured their star artist.
“CEO Lee admires you greatly. Their company plans to collaborate with us to make a movie related to plastic surgery, there is a great chance that you’ll be the male lead.” Director Zhang’s words were alluring to all actors.
“I’ll be the male lead?” This was the first time Han Fei got such an invitation. This was different from his previous projects, he was going to be the main character for a whole movie.
“Star Entertainment is an experienced company but their luck is going downhill. They have been deteriorating, but with this collaboration, they might turn things around.” Director Zhang persuaded Han Fei. He really admired Han Fei and liked actors like Han Fei. His price was reasonable but his acting skill was amazing. He was a born actor.
“Okay, I will meet him tonight and look at the script.”
“Alright. The location is still at Bai Xiang Ge, I’ll be the host this time.” Director Zhang then hung up. Looking at the phone, Han Fei shook his head. Compared to Director Jiang, Director Zhang was more business-minded. It was why Director Zhang was a top director, while Director Jiang was still working with small internet dramas. Han Fei scanned his ranking on the internet. Thriller Novelist hadn’t been released. With Twin Flowers, Han Fei became the highest-ranked actor among the D list actors, he was close to moving to the C list. “The popularity ranking is always changing. It’s pointless to look at it now. When I am a B list actor, I should help Director Jiang make a movie that can really show off his talent.” When Han Fei was down on his luck, it was Director Jiang who helped him. Han Fei hadn’t forgotten about that.
Han Fei looked through his unread messages when Li Xue called him. “Found something so soon? Looks like they don’t have many secrets.” Han Fei accepted the call and Li Xue said with confusion. “How come there is no Yan Tang in the citizenry database? Are you sure he is alive?” Han Fei was startled immediately. “Yes, he’s alive. Haven’t I told you his appearance and physical property? You can’t find him?”
“Then pay attention to this Yan Tang, at least I don’t have the clearance to look into him.” Li Xue took down info on Yan Tang. “But other than him, I found info on the rest.
“The Auntie Lee you mentioned used to be a professor in law. Her husband worked for Immortal Pharma and her son is working for Deep Space Tech. They are a family of elites. But after her husband disappeared, she gave up her job. Due to her illness, she stayed at Immortal Pharma’s hospital for some time.
“Seaglass Cat is an orphan, she once stayed at the orphanage built by Immortal Pharma. When she was 10, she was adopted by an old lady. She likes to dance and sing. After the old lady passed away, she never laughed again. Strangely enough, even though she has inherited the old lady’s estate and money, she didn’t spend any of them, she insists on working to earn her own money. Actually, it’s quite touching. The old lady knew she wasn’t long for this world so she spent a lot of money to purchase the gaming hub for Seaglass Cat. The old lady donated her brain and her digital asset to Immortal Pharma.
“Shen Luo is a professional investor. But he has no active projects. However, he has 2 houses in the intelligent city, even I have to suspect if he is money-laundering.
“Ironman is a professional gamer, his father is a manager at Immortal Pharma. He ran away from home when he was 17. He still hasn’t returned home.”
Han Fei memorized everything Li Xue said. He noticed with shock that other than Yan Tang and Shen Luo, the other 3 were all related to Immortal Pharma. “Han Fei, the people that you look for are all related to Immortal Pharma. Do you think Butterfly is hiding there?”
“I can’t be sure but I do know that once a company with the top technology loses control, it’ll be scarier than the Butterfly.” Han Fei chatted with Li Xue for a while before he hung up. Too many players had slipped into the cryptic world this time or else he wouldn’t be curious to find out more about them.
“Immortal Pharma…” Han Fei logged into his computer and started to search for Seaglass Cat. “The girl used to stay at Immortal Pharma’s orphanage so she might have been given a personality transplant.” Han Fei logged onto a video-sharing platform and searched for the user Seaglass Cat. A user with about 100 fans appeared before his eyes. Most of the videos were of the girl singing. 2 videos had higher views, they were both of her dancing. Han Fei clicked on the video. Seaglass Cat had a beautiful voice but she didn’t cover popular songs. She sang her own music. Every song sounded melancholic. This appeared to be her way of communicating her feelings to the world. Her singing videos had very low views. There were one or two comments. Some praised her for her voice but most people found her to be rather creepy and annoying.
“Sounds like her voice is getting more and more despaired.”
Han Fei started to watch the videos, beginning from the first. The videos at the beginning were fine. There were few viewers but she looked at ease. But as more people saw her, strange comments started to appear. Seaglass Cat started to upload dancing videos and to Han Fei’s surprise, she was a very professional dancer but most of the comments were about her body and face. Han Fei frowned as he read the comments. He was only halfway through when the website told him that the video he was watching had been deleted. When Han Fei refreshed the page, he realized Seaglass Cat’s videos were rapidly disappearing. The girl was taking them down one by one.
“Why is she doing this?” Han Fei quickly looked through the remaining videos. The latest video was released 2 days ago, the video was black and white. Black words appeared on white background. Seaglass Cat shared a story with strangers online through the video. “My world is now only black and white…” She grew up in an orphanage. She was bullied. She was fragile like a glass toy but no one was willing to protect her. In her memory, she had never smiled happily before. Since she was 5, she was brought to different places. She started to become lethargic. She felt like she had forgotten many things. She became more sensitive and fragile. Many times, she imagined her heart as glass and a small touch and it would break.
This situation worsened after she was 8. She couldn’t look after herself. She felt like everything around her could break her. She often curled up at the corner. She felt safe leaning against the wall. She lived this life until she was 10 and an old lady adopted her. The old lady was an employee at Immortal Pharma.
The pair started their life together. The old lady used 5 years to open up Seaglass Cat’s heart, to help her forget her childhood pain. She taught her how to sing and danced with her. Seaglass Cat felt happiness for the first time but not long after she had her 19th birthday, the old lady died. The scariest thing was on her death bed, the old lady finally told her the truth. Actually, the girl’s life was an experiment, after the old lady died, the experiment result would be revealed.
The world collapsed. Seaglass Cat tried to stand up but her personality was like broken china, she couldn’t support herself anymore. Endless pain swallowed her.
At the end of the video was a row of black sentences. She didn’t have a name, her number at the orphanage was 031, so she decided to return everything on the 31st of this month.
Not many people watched this video but there were still few comments. None of them take it seriously. Some even commented that the script was very well written.
Seaglass Cat didn’t say that the video was referring to herself but Han Fei knew it was. He stood up and rushed out. He called Li Xue. “Where does Seaglass Cat live? She is very unstable mentally! She might do something stupid!”
Han Fei got into the cab and showed the driver the address sent over by Li Xue. When Han Fei checked the website again, Seaglass Cat’s page only had that black and white video left and she changed her account name to Number 031.
The girl had drained the colors and songs from her life, she left only a number for herself.
