498 The Perfect Face
“What can I do for you?” Seaglass Cat placed the lyric back in her bag. She sat up straight before Han Fei.
“Focus on Perfect Life. Use your talent and get stronger.” Han Fei finished the drink and stood up to leave.
“But I only have dream walking as my talent. I don’t even know what it can be used for. I haven’t even used it once in-game.”
“Any talent is useful and they correspond to some kind of hidden profession. I’ll let you in on another secret.” Han Fei pointed at the picture of Seaglass Cat and the old woman. “Many NPC in Perfect Life is based on the digital data and memory of real people. It is why Immortal Pharma has been madly purchasing citizenry data and a large amount of digital footprint of the dead.”
“You mean the people who died in real life will reappear in the virtual world?”
“That’s right.” Han Fei looked at the old lady in the picture. “Your grandmother was an employee at Immortal Pharma. Since she was the caretaker of one of the 31 children, then she wasn’t a normal employee. Also, she donated her brain to Immortal Pharma after she died and spent a lot to buy the gaming hub for you. That means that she wants you to play Perfect Life and she must have a reason behind that.”
Seaglass Cat was deep in thought. She tried to remember everything her grandmother had told her.
“She chose at the last moment of her life. Compared to the company’s experiment, she wanted to protect you. Go and explore in the game, perhaps you might find the things you’re missing.” Han Fei told Seaglass Cat to put away the picture and then they left the restaurant.
Seaglass Cat invited Han Fei to her house so that he could see for himself the traces of her life with her grandmother.
“Immortal Pharma is a big corporate, no one can stand up against them alone. The old lady probably has hidden something at a place where they can’t ever reach.” Han Fei stood inside the small room. The room was very warm and welcoming. The old lady really did love Seaglass Cat.
“You are the person who understands her the most in the world. You should be able to find the thing she left for you in the game.” After ensuring that Seaglass Cat was fine, Han Fei exchanged numbers with her and left.
The video about Han Fei saving a suicidal person was viral on the internet. If he stayed with her for too long, it would lead to unnecessary misunderstanding. He didn’t want that. “Other than Huang Yin, I’ve gained another friend.” After his experience in the cryptic world, Han Fei was very good at reading people. He could sense that Seaglass Cat trusted him fully but in that trust was fear. “I haven’t done anything to frighten her, why is she scared of me?”
Honestly, Han Fei was envious of Seaglass Cat, at least she once had a family who took care of her and gave her warmth. Han Fei had nothing. He kept failing until he fell into the cryptic world. “Hopefully, she can be healed by the game.”
Han Fei walked towards Bai Xiang Ge. After staying in the cryptic world for a long time, Han Fei knew it was a luxury to walk under the sun. Han Fei arrived early. He found a quiet place to sit. He took out his phone to study books like Understanding of Consciousness, Education, and Neuroscience.
At around 7 pm, Director Zhang showed up with CEO Lee. They didn’t spot Han Fei. They took the elevator up to the top floor. Han Fei stood up and followed them so that he could go home early to play the game.
He pushed open the door. Other than Director Zhang and CEO Lee, Xia Yilan, 3 young actors, and 2 scriptwriters were there. “Please sit. Everything’s casual today.” CEO Lee walked towards Han Fei. “I apologize for Wu Wei. After he has something to drink, his brain will be muddled. I’ve already lectured him. After he recovers, I’ll have him come to apologize to you in person.” CEO Lee gave Han Fei plenty of face. He did bring up Wei Wu’s injury, but he was willing to go for a truce.
“It was not his fault. I normally spend my time with the police so I was careless to have accidentally injured him.” Han Fei was kind with his words. It was mainly because he didn’t care about these things. He was more interested in solving cases with the police.
“No wonder your acting is better than most people your age. They can’t mimic this presence you have.” CEO Lee invited Han Fei to sit beside him. Xia Yilan walked over and sat on Han Fei’s other side.
“Do you mind waiting for a moment? We still have one more guest.” As CEO Lee said that, the door opened. A man in a black outfit and mask and cap walked in.
“Why are there so many people? CEO Lee, this is different from what you promised me.” The man frowned. He stood where he was. He didn’t give CEO Lee face at all.
“They are all main casts for this movie.” CEO Lee had the waiter close the door and tell the waiter that no one should disturb them anymore. “Let me make some introduction.” CEO Lee pulled the man to his side. “This is Xin Lu’s most famous plastic sur…”
“There’s no need for the introduction!” The man waved his hands. “There are too many people here. I’ll say my piece and leave.” CEO Lee wasn’t mad about being interrupted. In fact, he invited the man to sit. The man pushed away the drinks on the table. He took out a metal flash from his bag. He had his own drinks.
“You are still the same after all these years.” CEO Lee shook his head. He was about to sit when the man said, “He will sit next to me.”
“Me?” Han Fei was confused. He didn’t know this man. CEO Lee smiled awkwardly at Han Fei. Honestly, Han Fei was intrigued so he swapped seats with CEO Lee. Director Zhang sat on the man’s left side, the man’s right side was Han Fei and opposite him was Xia Yilan. The man in black removed his mask. There was a nasty scar on his left cheek. It tore through his face. Seeing that, the 3 young actors were shocked.
“Scared? Then you can leave because it’ll only get scarier.” The man was brusque. He glared at the 3 young actors. “Before I begin, I need to warn you. I am against you making this into a movie because this is not some legend. It is real. You are the main actors so you better watch out or you’d end up like those people who died several years ago.”
“Stop scaring them. Nothing frightens me in the world more than poverty.” CEO Lee joked. “I believe everyone can agree with me.”
“Haha, when it happens for you, then don’t say I didn’t warn you.” After the man said that, he glanced at Xia Yilan. The unnaturally beautiful woman didn’t look so comfortable that night.
“I hope you are right because that’ll be great promotion for the movie.” Director Lee joked. The scriptwriter added. “Aren’t we here to discuss the script? Why make the atmosphere so serious?”
Everyone surrounded the table. The man sighed and told a story that happened many years ago.
“I was a doctor. About 20 years ago, there was a biotech boom. I very sensitively caught onto the field of plastic surgery. No matter the age, the pursuit of beauty was always going to be there. Therefore, I quit my hospital and started my own plastic surgery clinic with some partners.
“There were many people who shared my thoughts so similar beauty clinics were everywhere. The plastic surgery field was a mess, many people were scammed but it did nothing to stop people’s desire for beauty. Think about it, you have been mocked your whole life for your height, weight or some physical deficiency, suddenly there is a technology that can fix all that, will you not take it?
“Perhaps most people could resist the temptation but as long as 1 in 10 people fell for the temptation, the field could survive. We had many technologies. We could fulfill your every desire as long as you had the money. You probably couldn’t imagine it, but we could manipulate every aspect of a person just like how you’d create a gaming character. As technology continued to grow, we could do more and more. The darker side of the field also dipped into crazier experiments. To earn clients, they wanted to create a perfect human to use as an .”
The man paused. He twisted open the metal flask and a heady smell of medicine leaked out. However, the man didn’t seem to smell it. He downed two big gulps.
“Everyone’s definition of beauty is different so the perfect human is just a concept. But a hospital tried to put that concept into reality. They created an almost perfect human. Her beauty was like a whirlpool that could suck you in. Everyone would breathe out praises in her presence. The woman existed for real but her perfect face and body only lasted for a week.
“On the 8th day after her bandage was removed, her body started to react strangely. Her perfect face started to crack. The woman couldn’t accept this. She felt someone was trying to harm her, to take away her perfect face. She started to undergo more surgeries to attempt to piece the face back together. But the surgeries were futile. She became a crazy monster and died on the operating table.” When the man said that, his eyes kept moving to Xia Yilan. “No one knew her name and her info was sealed. However, many plastic surgery agencies took pictures of her face. Her perfect face that only lasted for 7 days.
“After that, many women wanted to have her face and then the real scary things happened. Everyone who had that face would have their faces slowly crack and they would find pieces of their flesh in their bedroom at night.”
Xia Yilan accidentally knocked over the glass beside her. The wine splattered like blood. And the shards of glass reflected her broken face.
“We’ll get people to clean that up later.” The man took another sip of his drink. “A certain pharmaceutical company has been searching for the limit of humanity. They want to create the perfect body and soul. According to rumors, they have referenced that woman’s picture too. Other than that, I also heard that the plastic surgery hospital that created the perfect woman also belonged to that pharmaceutical company.”
With the help of 2 young actors, Xia Yilan wiped away the wine on the chair. She didn’t seem to hear the man.
“The story will definitely be a hit. I feel like we can hold the celebratory party already. My mind is filled with inspiration.” The two scriptwriters started to whisper among themselves.
“Can you two be silent?” The man stopped looking at Xia Yilan. He continued. “The real scary incidents are to come. Everyone who took surgery to look like the woman said that they have seen her. They said that she has moved into their houses, living in their mirrors. When they used the mirror, they would see her.
“I know you do not believe me and I don’t believe it at first too until… I saw her.” The man pointed at his scar. “Ten years ago, I fell in love with one of my patients. She came to make her face look like that woman.”
“Can you give us more details?” Han Fei was very interested. This was more fun than attending some press releases.
“My wife loves me but I had no idea what she looked like. When she met me, she was beautiful. I fell inexorably in love with her. But not long after our marriage, I realized she has a unique habit. She likes to look at the mirror at night. There were a few times when I woke up in the night and I realized she was still awake. She was looking at herself in the mirror.
“I asked her what was wrong. She didn’t say anything. I walked towards her to kiss her hair but when I turned to the mirror, I realized the woman in the mirror was not her.
“It was a stranger’s face. The woman’s face was stuck to the mirror surface like she was trying to come out.”
