510 Red, White and Colorful
Han Fei could understand Director Zhang’s excitement. The audience had high hopes for Thriller Novelist but no one expected the movie to do as good as it did. Many movie critics had released their reviews and analysis of Thriller Novelist online. The movie not only had a tense plot, but it also had the positives of a movie from a thriller genre. It had great twists, sidelines, and things for the audience to think about.
In today’s day and age, once something went on trending, it was very easy to gain traction. Director Zhang and the team were very happy. Han Fei felt a rare emotion of happiness too. He walked deep into the darkness but when he turned around, his once beautiful dreams were now a reality. Sitting on his bed, Han Fei had many thoughts. A few months ago, he was trapped at home, drowning his sorrows with games, and now… well, it was still the same.
“Han Fei, this year’s best new actor award should be yours. You are probably going to be the first artist to get that award without the backing and manipulation of any agency.” Director Zhang was quite drunk and he blurted out the truth. Actors without an agency normally wouldn’t even be given a movie role. Like Han Fei before his big break, they would only fester in the background, no one cared about them. What if they were the best actor, how were they going to be seen if they were not given the stage?
During the shoot of Twin Flowers, if Ah Cheng didn’t surrender his role, Han Fei would only be an extra. Furthermore, if Han Fei didn’t help the police to solve the human jigsaw case and gained popularity from that, Director Jiang couldn’t persuade Yui Long Culture to let Han Fei be the main lead. Due to the popularity of Twin Flowers, Han Fei was spotted by Director Zhang and only veteran directors like Director Zhang had the right to choose his own cast and script. Many accidents and Han Fei’s flawless acting made it possible for him to compete with actors from big companies.
“Director Zhang, it’s the movie festival tomorrow, you should rest.” Han Fei could hear the drunkenness in Director Zhang’s voice.
“It’s fine. I’m very happy today. Earlier, I was worried that the public wouldn’t accept the movie but I’m completely relaxed now. This year, at least we can get the best new actor and best director. 1 movie, 6 nominations, and 2 wins, I’ll see who dares to say I’ve run out of talent!”
Director Zhang then rambled about his past. Han Fei was helpless, looks like everyone would be different after they were drunk. They talked for 10 minutes before Han Fei hung up. “The movie festival is an annual event, I should be formally dressed.” Han Fei opened his closet and decided he needed to go buy a suit. Even though he didn’t voice it, Han Fei was actually very happy. To attend the movie festival was the dream of many actors, much less winning an award.
Han Fei called the cab to head to the mall. He realized Xin Lu was a lot livelier than before. When he asked the cab driver, he was told that there were many big events happening at Xin Lu because the city was the nation’s representative intelligent city. Other than the annual movie festival, upcoming events included the nation’s biggest manga con and book fair. Other than that, the photography committee had started a photography contest that everyone could enter so they could explore the beauty in real life and not be too immersed in virtual reality. The top 100 photographers would win a lot of money.
Xin Lu’s intelligent city became more vibrant but at the same time, life was seeping away from the countryside and neighboring cities. The international intelligent city was sucking the life out of the states close to it.
Han Fei who was in a good mood chatted with the driver. The driver recognized him eventually. The driver said Han Fei was not what he imagined. The driver thought Han Fei was the kind who had sharp eyes and was hard to be with. However, after actual interaction, Han Fei was very kind and quite shy. He was like a boy next door. Han Fei was embarrassed by the driver’s praise. He hadn’t heard such praises in the cryptic world before. After gaining a new fan, Han Fei entered the mall to buy a set of formalwear and had a meal. This was a rare resting day for Han Fei so he spent some time outside. After the sun set, Han Fei returned to his rental. He started to look for info about plastic surgery to get to know the field better. When it was almost midnight, Han Fei received another call from Director Zhang. The man was calling to remind Han Fei to attend the festival tomorrow. For the entertainment field, tomorrow was the most important day of the year.
After giving Director Zhang his promise, Han Fei entered the gaming hub and started the game like normal. Blood fell and Han Fei suddenly felt an immeasurable pressure like the sky above him was falling. He looked down the distance and saw the blood-red figure stop between the theme park and an unknown zone. “He appears to get closer.”
The pressure from the Unmentionable caused Han Fei’s heart to race. After he logged into the game, he raced to the window. The mist blocked everyone’s sight but Han Fei. The mist was his eyes.
“I cannot let Big Sin leave the mist! The Unmentionable is close, he is hesitating between the theme park and another zone. He is unsure which path to take.” The figure’s hesitation gave Han Fei a lot of info. First, the mist could indeed eclipse the Unmentionable’s senses. Big Sin was temporarily safe here. Second, Han Fei had underestimated the theme park, even the Unmentionable didn’t dare to wander into it casually. “I heard from Huang Yin that at least 2 teams of players still haven’t left the maze. I doubt they’re still alive.”
He found Laughing and Feng Ziyu. Even though Han Fei was not the Ziggurat’s most powerful ghost, he was the manager and everyone thought this was normal.
“Han Fei, Doctor Yan is awake, he wishes to see you.” Laughing led Han Fei downstairs. “Something also happened at the plastic surgery hospital’s zone. The place is suddenly deserted, you can’t even find one wandering spirit. You should ask Doctor Yan, he should know some things.”
“All the ghosts have disappeared? They stopped coming to test the mist?” Han Fei noticed the severity of the situation. Previously the hospital’s ghost would enter the Ziggurat. Each twisted building contained several ghosts. The sudden disappearance of the ghosts had to do with the Pure Hatreds at the hospital. Perhaps they were preparing to invade into the mist.
Han Fei opened the door. When he saw Doctor Yan, he was shocked. The tall Doctor Yan stood in the middle of the room. He used the scalpel to carve out his face. The blood dripped to the ground to form the term, ‘Fate’.
“I’ve sent your wife to the hospital and your son is looking after her. If you don’t believe me, I can bring your wife back to see you when she is better.” Han Fei was very kind to Auntie Lee’s family. He was worried about her so he went to check on her in person. He saved her life not only in the game but also in real life.
Doctor Yan bent down and sat before Han Fei. He lowered his head and used the blood on the ground to write. “What do you want to know?”
“Tell me the power and weakness of the 3 Pure Hatreds at the hospital. And the hospital’s secrets too.” Han Fei sat down as well, he didn’t like to look down on others. Doctor Yan hesitated for a long time before he moved his fingers, “There are 3 Pure Hatreds at the hospital, they are Red, White, and Colorful.
“Red is a faceless woman, she was once the world’s prettiest manmade human but she only kept her beauty for 7 days. After she lost her beauty, she went after others who desired her beauty. She has been trying to regain her beauty and will do anything for it. Currently, she has created 5 faces for herself, they are smile, pain, despair, anger, and bliss. To kill her, you need to ruin these 5 faces, you’ve already destroyed the smiling face. The faceless woman’s power is to steal and control the emotions of others, my power is to give others emotions.
“White is a child with white shoes. He has the world’s purest soul, he should be the world’s happiest child but for some reason, his pure spirit became the purest hatred.
“Colorful is a grown man, he has painted many windows at the plastic surgery hospital. He is the hospital’s first Pure Hatred and also the most mysterious one, no one knows his actual power.” After writing down the Pure Hatreds’ secrets, Doctor Yan couldn’t return to the hospital anymore. If he didn’t want to be tortured, his only option was to side with Han Fei.
“Is there anything I need to pay attention to at the hospital? Is there any place particularly dangerous inside the hospital?”
“Altar.” Doctor Yan continued to write but he required more blood with each new stroke. “The hospital has 3 altars. Two altars are abandoned outside the hospital and one of them has been ruined by a black giant bug. The core altar is in the deepest room of the hospital. Other than the 3 Pure Hatreds, no one can get close.”
“Can you tell me more details about this altar?” Han Fei planned to destroy the altar after Big Sin managed to digest its curse.
“It is inside a room on the 3rd floor called Immortal.”
Han Fei remembered everything Doctor Yan wrote. “After we deal with the hospital, you’ll be free. You can take over the hospital. You need to get stronger to protect your wife.”
After communicating with the doctor, Han Fei found Yan Tang with his neighbors. The young man surprised Han Fei. He kept on exploring in despair. He even found a rusted cleaver at Cattle Alley. The spirit on the cleaver was gone but the lingering presence allowed him to deal small damage to Animated Regrets. Yan Tang was slowly getting used to the cryptic world. If a player’s potential could be quantified and categorized, then Ironman was Grade F and Yan Tang was at least Grade C. Despair didn’t defeat him but only made him push harder. To survive in the cryptic world, other than great stamina and intellect, one only needed a superhuman constitution. Han Fei had high hope for Yan Tang, the young man had passed the test. After Yan Tang tried another door, Han Fei slowly approached in the mist and used Resurrection on him.
“I need to donate at least 60000 in real life to earn a little afterlife karma, but sending away a player will earn me even more. They are my best solution to farm afterlife karma.” Han Fei decided that whenever he was free, he would summon a player to the cryptic world and then send them back again. Since his skills were going to refresh every night, why waste? “Monday, Wednesday, Friday will be for Brother Huang; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Yan Tang; Sunday… I wonder if Bai Xian plays this game or not…”
After sending Yan Tang away, Han Fei and his neighbors went searching for a mission in the alleys between the zones but perhaps his level was too high, it was hard for him to trigger a mission. This time, they had to wander around for an hour before they found a poor wandering spirit and triggered a Grade G Mission. With the aid of 8 Lingering Spirits, Han Fei soon completed the mission. Since the ghost was lost, Han Fei found him a new home. Threatened Rest in Peace and the urn, the ghost soon settled into the urn.
“Grade G mission is of no help to me anymore. The EXP gain is minuscule. Even so, there are not many Grade G missions for me to trigger anymore. It’s like the black box is working together with the system to push me forward.”
To leave the game, Han Fei needed to complete at least 1 mission. If he didn’t want to be stuck in the game, his only solution was to explore more dangerous places. “After the movie festival, I’ll have to focus on the plastic surgery hospital!”
After completing the mission, Han Fei returned to the Ziggurat. He and his neighbors came to Big Sin’s room. Big Sin continued to grow as it digested the things inside it. The patterns on its body became even more ghastly as they weaved with the curse of the Unmentionable. Han Fei had no idea if this was a good or bad thing. In any case, he remembered that the system said his blood could help Big Sin recover faster. To settle this sooner, Han Fei had Xu Qin prepare some meat while he sat on Big Sin. He poured his own blood while he ingested food. This increased Big Sin’s loyalty and Han Fei’s resistance against Soul Poison.
