605 I Play Villain
Han Fei used a long time to crawl out of the gaming hub. He picked up the ringing phone and glanced at the caller id. It was a video call from Director Zhang. “The Director finds me more often than the police.” Han Fei accepted the call and saw Director Zhang, “Director, good morning.”
“Han Fei, why did you answer only now?” Director Zhang saw how haggard Han Fei was and he was shocked. “Did you help the police again? You need to be careful!”
“It’s fine.” Han Fei didn’t look like he had spent the night gaming. “How can I help?”
“Haven’t we met CEO Lee from Star Entertainment? The script for the new movie is set, so we’re starting the official shoot soon. If you have no problem, why don’t you come and sign the contract today?” Other actors at least had one manager, but Han Fei was unique. You had to call the man if you wanted to reach him.
“Star Entertainment?” Han Fei massaged his temple. He stayed too long in the memory world that his mind was blurry.
“Haven’t we just met with them a few nights ago? Star Entertainment is where Xia Yilan and Wu Wei are from. They are quite reliable among older agencies, and they place heavy emphasis on this thriller we’re making.” Han Fei finally remembered everything.
Through the altar inheritance mission, Han Fei understood Fu Sheng sank into the deepest despair at the plastic surgery hospital and saw the black box. The hospital was the start of Fu Sheng’s despair. However, when he became the black box owner, he didn’t stay away from the plastic surgery hospital but built one of his own. Supported by Immortal Pharma, the plastic surgery hospital constructed by Fu Sheng and Fu Tian was scarier than the one occupied by Du Zhu.
“You should rest. We’ll meet at Star Entertainment around noon. After signing the contract, their company will pour resources on you. It’ll be beneficial to your future.” Seeing how tired Han Fei was, Director Zhang told him the important things and hung up.
“Star Entertainment, Xia Yilan, movie based on plastic surgery…” Han Fei sat on the ground. “Fu Sheng’s personality was reconstructed at Du Zhu’s hospital and fell into despair. After that, he built a special hospital to create the perfect persona. Many children were his victims, including Qiang Wei, Seaglass Cat, and many other orphans.” Han Fei his head and crawled to the fridge as the memory was awakened. He took out his store of meat and started to eat. Eating could help him ease the pain. After he was full, Han Fei switched on the computer and scanned the trending page.
“Huang Yin is on the trending page every day. It’s such a shame that he’s not an actor.” On the national trending page, other than Huang Yin, there was a search for Happiness Neighborhood Committee. As the first player guild, the whole world was curious. Many players tried to find this place. They couldn’t enter the private territory, so they could only take glimpses when the fog lifted. Even a cemetery felt more lively than this place.
“Brother Huang is not really planning to bring the things from the cryptic world there, right?” Through the pictures taken by the other players, Han Fei could see strange statues around the neighborhoods. The statues resembled Han Fei. There were strange items around them. Even Han Fei’s eyes twitched when he saw them. He called Huang Yin, “Brother Huang, is everything in the neighborhood okay?”
“Don’t worry, and everything is within control.”
“I saw videos and pictures of the neighborhood on the internet. Isn’t your architectural style a bit too Gothic?” Han Fei trusted Huang Yin, but he worried that he might move to another extreme from the ‘healing’ of the game.
“It’s fine. That’s just the surface. The actual cores are at the center of the neighborhood.” Huang Yin promised, “Furthermore, this is private land. Without my permission, even the photon computer can’t get in, much less normal players.”
“As long as you know what you’re doing.”
Han Fei was about to hang up when Huang Yin said, “Han Fei, did you see the other players there? Twelve players disappeared in the maze, and now the six players sent to rescue them had disappeared too.”
“You mean Qiang Wei’s group?” This was a headache for Han Fei too. When he left the memory world, he had a conflict with the strange laughter from the theme park. It caused the outsiders to be chased out of the memory world. In other words, the players had been sent back to the theme park in the cryptic world.
“The others are fine. But there is a player among them called Boss. The man is the main sponsor behind Absolute Truth. He is also one of the top ten rising business stars at Xin Lu. He has many big companies behind him. If something happens to him, it’ll be big news.” Huang Yin investigated all the missing players.
“I will try to regain contact with them soon.” Compared to Boss, Han Fei was more interested in Qiang Wei and Worm. He had too little helper so he wouldn’t miss out on potential partners… except for Shen Luo.
Han Fei recovered somewhat after he hung up. He looked through the trending page out of boredom and caught a familiar name—No. 5 new drug tester of Immortal Pharma, Du Jing, has shown reverse growth! Humanity is one step closer to immortality!
“Du Jing?” Han Fei remembered what happened inside the memory world. As Du Zhu’s little sister, Du Jing was heavily tortured. She was Fu Sheng’s fellow patient and was trapped inside an isolation room. Han Fei clicked on the news, and many reports appeared.
“No 5’s physique is rather special. She has suffered from progeria since she was young. She took the name Du Jing after her mother died to inherit her mother’s legacy.
“The patient once occupied an important post at Immortal Pharma. She was good friends with the former CEO, Fu Tian. She even possesses some of Immortal Pharma’s original shares. After her body deteriorated, she volunteered to test Immortal Pharma’s new drug. She had achieved many breakthroughs with the medications, but yesterday night, she had shown signs of reverse growth!
“Due to this good news, the share price of Immortal Pharma has soared!”
There was much similar news. Han Fei could not see the good in this, but he sensed danger. He couldn’t tell why. It was an instinct.
“Du Jing’s daughter is still alive? I believe she should be as old as Fu Tian.” With Wang Pingan as an example, Han Fei believed he needed to find Du Jing’s daughter. The woman might not remember everything, but she should dream of something.
Han Fei still had pain from the back of his head. He closed his eyes to rest. Han Fei was woken up by his alarm around noon. He remembered the meeting with Director Zhang. He rushed to bathe and exited his house. Han Fei walked out and just took a few steps when he stopped. He sniffed the smell of paint in the air and turned back to look. Someone had painted a strange red symbol on his door. It looked like a bleeding face. “It’s quite artistic.”
Han Fei called Li Xue. After reaching the nearby police, they checked the surveillance camera installed before Han Fei’s house. At 4.44 am, the lights before Han Fei’s house flickered. Other than that, there was nothing too strange.
Since he was in a hurry, Han Fei left the police to continue the investigation on their own. Due to the paintjob, Han Fei was late. He arrived at the high-end restaurant around 12.20 pm.
“I’m sorry. I ran into something troublesome.”
“It’s fine. For an actor as popular as you, we can understand you have many things to deal with.” The man who spoke squashed the cigarette butt. His suit was tight. He was very muscular.
“Han Fei, let me make some introductions.” CEO Lee invited Han Fei to sit. He placed Han Fei beside Xia Yilan.
“This is Tang Yi, the nation’s best variety show producers. His shows have made famous plenty of stars. Now, he is preparing for a new variety called, April 4th’s Mystery Case Files. The new show will have elements of thriller, detective, adventure, and escape rooms. Different celebrities will be invited for each episode to enter a reconstructed haunted building to complete the game of escape room.” CEO Lee stood beside the man. The man smiled and said nothing.
“With Producer Tang today is Director Jia Jia. He is the main director for April 4th’s Mystery Case Files.” CEO Lee pointed at a fatty beside Tang Yi. “They will provide the celebrities with scripts. Even though the show will be shot inside haunted buildings, everyone’s safety will be protected.”
“Aren’t we here to sign the contract for the new movie?” Han Fei looked at Tang Yi and Jia Jia. He didn’t want to do anything extra.
“I’ve discussed a long time with Producer Tang. We decided that the first episode of his show should be shot at a plastic surgery hospital. To increase the popularity of our movie, I plan to have you and Xia Yilan participate in the first episode of April 4th’s Mystery Case Files.” CEO Lee raised his glass. “This is a win-win situation.”
Han Fei frowned. “You’ve decided the location?”
“Yes, it’ll be taken at an abandoned plastic surgery hospital near Xin Lu Countryside. That’s where the body in the luggage case was discovered not too long ago.” CEO Lee said excitedly.
“It sounds familiar.” Han Fei rubbed his temples. “The place where Bai Xian found the body?”
“You’ve helped the police with many cases. Exploring haunted buildings should be easy for you.” Jia Jia’s face had folds of fat. He looked like he was always smiling, but no one knew what he was really thinking.
“I personally don’t suggest you make that place your set. Something has really happened there.” Han Fei said seriously.
Tan Yi shook his head. “You are really different from your portrayal in the movie.”
Han Fei was at his weakest moment. The pain kept coming from the back of his head, and he looked sickly.
“CEO Lee, we’re still building the set at the hospital. I’ll go with Director Jia first. Come before 6 pm after you’ve done the discussion. We’ll start the shoot officially tonight.” Tang Yi had met many actors and because of that, he didn’t believe an actor could really help the police solve cases. He believed that was just some kind of promo tactic. Star Entertainment had passed its prime. Even though CEO Lee was annoyed, he didn’t dare to show it before Jia Jia and Tang Yi. He walked them out.
“Han Fei, I know you want to focus on acting, but times are changing. Participating in good variety shows will help your career.” Director Zhang didn’t force Han Fei to make any choices. He was Han Fei’s guide, he hoped the man could have the best career.
“Something is going to happen on his show.” Han Fei started to eat.
“It should be fine if everyone follows the script.” Xia Yilan leaned over. “You look so tired.”
Han Fei’s appetite faded away once he smelled the strange stench on Xia Yilan.
The door opened and CEO Lee walked back in. His smile was cold. “Ignore them. We should eat.”
After lunch, CEO Lee took out the script and the contract for Han Fei. They really hoped Han Fei could join the company, but they knew Han Fei was resistant to being tied to an agency, so they prepared two sets of contracts.
“Han Fei, this is our sign of sincerity.”
Han Fei glanced at the contracts, and his pupils danced when he saw the contract fee. Even though he was still a C-list actor, the fee was very high—no wonder the other companies tried every method for their actor to win the Best New Actor.
‘With this money, the victim’s family can live a better life, and I can gain more afterlife karma.’ Han Fei didn’t have many material wishes. He hoped for more afterlife karma.
Han Fei read through the contract and then the script. He signed the participating contract. He didn’t join Star Entertainment.
“Han Fei, this variety show tonight is a good chance for you. It’ll be a promo for our new movie. You only need to follow Jia Jia’s directions. Think of it as acting in a horror movie.” CEO Lee was very kind to Han Fei.
“Alright, I’ll go play with them tonight then.” Han Fei calculated the time. The shoot started around 6 pm so they should finish around 10 pm. He had time for gaming. ‘If something appears, I can get off work early.’
CEO Lee drove Han Fei and Xia Yilan personally to the set.
Looking at the familiar abandoned plastic surgery hospital, Han Fei revealed a handsome smile. “If I can’t go home before 10 pm, then this first episode will be their last episode.”
