536 Why They all Want to Kill Me
The malicious people bullied the dying kitten, kicking him, humiliating him. They threw stones and rubbish at him. The kitten crawled forward with difficulty, and he did not call for help. He seemed to know that no one would help him. Dragging his body, the kitten guarded the black and white picture under him. As he buried his head into the mud, the scolding and beating suddenly stopped. He turned to look up. The streetlight landed on a man’s body. His shirt was undone because he came in a hurry.
“Another one who needs a beating.”
“Kick my ride? That was new!”
“Get him!” The ruffians charged at the newcomer.
“There is trash anywhere, so the correct choice is to open the black box on both ends.” Han Fei hid entirely in the darkness. He had never been so angry before. When he saw Fu Sheng being bullied, the rage consumed his mind. The purple hair charged in front. He was confident and arrogant. He sought joy in torturing others. The purple hair raised his fist to punch Han Fei’s nose, but he was too slow. Before he could approach, Han Fei kicked him on his knees. The purple hair lost balance, and as he fell, his fist was grabbed by Han Fei. The fist with rings was unable to move. The purple hair looked up, and he saw the scary gaze that he would never forget in his life.
Han Fei that entered the alley was like a hungry lion. His eyes consumed everyone, and there was a smile on his lips. Holding purple hair’s arm, Han Fei bent it backward. Purple hair’s scream echoed in the alley. Purple hair was in great pain, but Han Fei did not let go. He tormented purple hair in front of the other ruffians before kicking him to the garbage pile. The whole process took only three seconds. When the other ruffians saw the purple hair’s arms twisted into a bow, they were too scared to move.
“There are so many of you and one of me. Why are you so scared?” There was an oppressive pressure in Han Fei’s eyes. The two ruffians in front stopped moving while a ruffian at the back took out a folding knife from his pockets. As Han Fei moved forward, the three ruffians at the back flew at him. They yelled to give themselves confidence. The ruffian at the back hid the knife in his sleeve. He glared viciously at Han Fei, but he noticed with shock that Han Fei was staring at him too. The man’s eyes appeared to look into his heart. When they were only a few meters from Han Fei, the ruffian at the back suddenly picked up speed and pulled out the knife.
Grabbing the heavy trash can, Han Fei slammed it at the ruffians. The ruffian blocked the trash can, but Han Fei’s punch landed on his face after the trash can fell. The ruffian collapsed. Han Fei grabbed another ruffian and then flung him around like a ragdoll. “I, Fu Yi, am not a good man, so don’t think I will hold back.” Han Fei snapped the ruffian’s fingers off one by one. Han Fei listened to him scream and dragged him to his friends. Han Fei smiled, but his tone was chilly. “None of you is escaping because you’ve beaten him.”
The cries echoed in the dark alley. Han Fei did not give the ruffians the chance to call the police. When the last ruffian was dumped into the trash can, Han Fei walked towards Fu Sheng. Fu Sheng had already stood up. He was covered in mud, but the picture he protected was unharmed. Fu Sheng did not acknowledge Han Fei. He walked out of the alley towards the streetlight. He cleaned up the white flowers, replaced the girl’s picture, and then bent down to collect his scattered items. Lastly, he returned two new yogurts before the picture. He stood silently for a while before leaving. The child looked so lonely. It was like he was detached from the world. After he walked for a few seconds, Fu Sheng stopped. He slowly turned around to look at Han Fei in the alley. Fu Sheng said his first thing to Han Fei. “A faceless woman is standing behind you. She wants to kill you.” Then Fu Sheng turned back to walk away.
“Looks like Fu Sheng can see ghosts.” Han Fei walked out of the alley. He didn’t chase after Fu Sheng. He knew Fu Sheng still hated him. Han Fei sat beside the girl’s picture. He studied the girl and then Fu Sheng. “Fu Sheng is a child who would sacrifice himself to save an unknown soul. Why would a person like him end up choosing to destroy the cryptic world?” People bullied Fu Sheng, giving him pain and pressure. He was injured, but he chose to protect others. “He must be in great pain when he made that decision.”
In Fu Sheng’s memory world, Han Fei saw the child who tried to protect all the ghosts. This was different from Han Fei’s impression of Fu Sheng. “No matter how he is, I need to protect him because he is my child.” Han Fei looked at his bloody hands. “I will help him on his path…” After Fu Sheng left, Han Fei shouted at the alley. “If I notice any problem with this picture, you’ll all be dead.”
Then Han Fei turned to head back to his neighborhood. When he arrived home, Fu Sheng had trapped himself inside his room again. ‘There’s a start for everything. At least he has spoken to me today.’ Han Fei was in a good mood. When he removed his shoes, he realized the angle of his wife’s shoes had been changed. ‘She went out too?’
Han Fei pretended not to know anything as he slipped into the bedroom. He saw his wife sleeping in bed, and he moved slower. He crawled into the mattress on the floor. When Han Fei was about to sleep, he heard the system say, “Notification for Player 0000! Your wife’s hatred towards you has lowered by 1.”
‘Hatred lowered by 1?’ Han Fei was shocked. He had no idea what he had done to move his wife. Perhaps it was a collection of many things. ‘Either way, this is a good start.’ Han Fei soon fell asleep. His tense nerves unwound, and Han Fei slept until morning. The curtain was pulled back, and the sun fell on his face. When Han Fei opened his eyes, his wife was standing at the door. “You’re going to be late for work.”
“Okay, coming.” Han Fei crawled up. He folded the mattress and quilt before washing himself in the bathroom. When he was out, the woman had served breakfast. “Your feet are injured. You should have left the housework to me.” Han Fei finished the breakfast and glanced at the clock. “You should stay home to rest. I’ll bring Fu Tian to his kindergarten.”
“It’s alright. You should go to work.” The woman handed the briefcase to Han Fei and walked him to the door. “Are you coming back for dinner?”
“I will make dinner tonight, so of course I’ll be back. You need to rest until you recover.” Han Fei left. “I’ll be going.”
“Take… care.”
“I will.” Han Fei took the elevator downstairs. This time he was cautious. He checked the road before he walked out. He was conscientious and arrived at the company before 9 am. “I’m on time today. This is worth celebrating.” When Han Fei came to the office, his four members were working already. “We will get off work when it is time, but we need to focus when we’re at work.” Han Fei took his seat. He started another round of Plants versus Zombies when Lee Guo Er walked towards him.
“Leader, this is the new design you want.” Lee Guo Er handed the printed document to Han Fei. It had the corresponding pictures and explanation. The main plot was about a man being in a relationship with five women. After it was exposed, he was chased by five women and two female ghosts. There were sweet interactions, funny back and forth, but the main feature was horror and scare. Han Fei poured out in cold sweat as he read through the story. In Lee Gup Er’s pictures, the male lead died in worse and worse ways. She poured her soul into it.
Lee Guo Er leaned down and said, “ Leader, I’ve written seven different endings for seven deaths. But the game can’t have all bad endings. Nevertheless, I can’t come up with any way that the male lead can survive.”
“Hmm… I think he’d be dead too. But this is a game. We have to give the players a chance to achieve a positive end.” Han Fei put the document down. “Everyone has done well. We should stop to discuss this issue first. Let’s see how we can make the male lead survive until the end.” Mainly the question was for Lee Guo Er. Han Fei did not want to die at work suddenly. Among Luo Guo Er’s drawing, the male lead was pushed off the building and was stabbed in the neck when he was sleeping at work. Han Fei was not so scared before, but he shivered after reading her plot.
“I’ve thought about it for a long time. The male lead has no chance to survive.” The brother who watered the fake plant said, “Furthermore, I do wish for the male lead to die. I’m still single, but this dude is in a relationship with five women. He even has a wife. He deserves to die!”
Han Fei scratched his head. “Don’t place yourself into the problem-solving framework. You have to think of this from the player’s perspective! The player is in the role of the male lead. So you need to envision the problem from the perspective of the horrible man and figure out how to survive.”
“If I’m that horrible man…” Brother fake plant thought about it. “Instead of living in fear, I’d rather end myself. After all, I’ve already enjoyed everything.”
“That’s so pessimistic.”
“I was in a relationship with five women. What more could I want?” No one else spoke until Lee Guo Er gave her opinion. “I feel like the man will die no matter what. His best ending should be the one he died with the least pain. And before he died, he should try his best to lower the women’s hatred of him.”
“You have a point. Continue.” Han Fei memorized Lee Guo Er’s words because he planned to use her method to lower her hatred towards him.
“The wounds have been made. Even if the injury might heal, it will leave behind a horrible scar. There is no way to correct the past. If I were one of the women, I would not be able to forgive him. The best thing I could do is to kill him least painfully.” Lee Guo Er didn’t give any solution. She pushed on her glasses and returned to her seat.
“Xiao Guo Er, you’re too kind.” Brother fake plant shook his finger. “If I’m one of the women, I would cut off the man’s genitalia. That will make him suffer more than kill him! Leader, why are you looking at me like that? You agree with me, right? Only men can understand men’s pain!”
“Anyway, we should get back to work. We’ll try to finish the proposal by the end of work.” Han Fei looked at his screen. He felt the game of Plants versus Zombies was not so exciting anymore. He glanced at Lee Guo Er, and he shivered. The plot Lee Guo Er came up with was too real, like she had planned them before. ‘My charm is already -13. Why would I still run into missions like these?’
Han Fei pulled his hair with annoyance when the door opened. “Fu Yi? It’s your turn to clean the storeroom. You’ve forgone the chore for several months already.” An ashen middle-aged man appeared at the door. He was dressed casually, and he had a smug smile on his face.
“Octopus, don’t push it. It has always been your team who is responsible for cleaning up the storeroom.” Brother fake plant stood up.
“We were told to do these menial chores because we were free in the past. But now that we have to work on Immortal, where would we find the time?” The man shrugged. “Sister Qian agreed, so if you have a problem, go find her.”
Octopus left with an annoying grin.
“This octopus is revolting!”
“It’s alright. The four of you should continue to work and finish the proposal. I’ll check out the storeroom.” Han Fei stood up. He didn’t want to stay in the same room as Lee Guo Er, so this was the perfect excuse. He walked down the corridor. The store and filing rooms were deserted because not many people came here.
“My mood point hasn’t moved, so this is safe.” Han Fei pushed open the door. A giant mess greeted him. There were boxes of files, manufactured props, and broken monitors. “Sheesh, what a mess!” Han Fei walked in but soon noticed something was wrong. “The shelf is slanted, and why are the heavy props placed on the top?” Han Fei was a backstage worker before, so he was very familiar with these safety precautions. “Someone did this on purpose. Octopus wanted to kill me?” Han Fei closed the door. “No, but he did mention Sister Qian. It looks like it was Zhao Qian who wanted my team to come to clean up this room.”
Han Fei moved forward, and he noticed more problems. A roll of tape was hidden under a pile of shredded paper. The end of the tape was tied around the leg of a shelf. If one were not careful, they would bring the shelf down on them. Han Fei found a broom and swept away the shredded paper. Hidden under them were many plastic props, and most of them were pretty sharp. Usually, they wouldn’t harm anyone, but they would pierce into the body if someone fell on them.
“Who wants to kill me?”
“Lee Guo Er and the girl in the skirt will make a direct move. But this murderer is different. She hates me deeply, but she is very rational.” Immediately Han Fei thought of Zhao Qian. The mature woman was still single.
“No way. But there’s no record between Fu Yi and her on my phone. Has the record been deleted?” Han Fei shivered. “My subordinate wants to kill me, and my boss wants to kill me.” Zhao Qian was several ages older than Fu Yi. She was experienced, mature, and intelligent. If she wanted to kill Fu Yi, she would make it look like an accident. “I need to be more careful.”
Han Fei used the broom to peel off the tape. The already uneven shelf collapsed towards the middle path. Everything on the shelf fell. “They will hit the face, neck, and genitalia. The items are specifically placed…”
Footsteps immediately came from outside the door. Han Fei knelt to the ground. Several seconds later, the storeroom door was pushed open. The first to walk in was Zhao Qian. She glanced immediately under the shelf, but there was nothing there. Then she looked to the side and saw Han Fei. The latter was dumbfounded. She knelt and asked Han Fei with extreme concern. “Are you alright?”
Han Fei’s lips twitched. He nodded. “Yes, I’m still alive.”
