Dried scabs covered the small living room. Every tile was soaked with blood. No one knew what had happened here. Thick capillaries intertwined inside the room, while binding themselves around two figures. One of them wore a red jacket. Her plump lips dripped with blood and many stained table knives littered around her. The other was a humanoid giant wooden mannequin. Its head was decorated with a mask painted with strange patterns. Several rotten hearts were placed around its chest.
“You dare to come to the 9th floor even though you’re just level 5? If not for the 2 of them, you wouldn’t have been able to escape even after several thousand deaths.” The bedroom door slowly opened. The previously sleeping boy came out from it. With each of his steps, his body aged rapidly. Wrinkles climbed on his face and his hair turned from black to white. When he stopped before the man, death was already written on his face. His life counter was ticking, “Do you still remember what’s your name?”
“Han Fei.” Heavy stench crawled into the man’s nostrils. He studied the name on his arm. His face was calm and his eyes serene.
“Then do you remember how many times you’ve died?”
“45 times.”
“You remember even that?” The old man nodded. “I knew we would meet again, I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon.” His body gradually disintegrated into blood threads, dissolving and becoming part of the room. “You have just experienced my childhood memories. Only the most unfortunate will possess the black box, it has chosen me and I have chosen you. Now it is your turn to make your choice.”
“Are you sure you want me to make the choice now? I’ve already forgotten so many things…”
“That is exactly why I need you to make the choice now. Only the choices made when you are free of the shackles of memory can reflect your real belief.” The man opened his chest and took out a black box. “You have now obtained the lowest qualification to be a manager. You have gained the right to choose your own path.”
“What are the choices I have?”
“Open the lid on the back if you want to destroy this world filled with tragedy, misfortune and absurdity; Open the lid on the front, if you want to salvage this world dominated by ghosts and monsters.” The old man’s body was still dissolving, he did not have much time left.
“Which choice did you make back then?” The man did not hurry to make his decision, he knew this was going to be an important choice.
“I chose to open the lid on the back but I failed. My memory was shredded into pieces and the black box was only able to retain the fragments of my childhood memory.”
The man hesitated for a while before he said, “Can I open both ends of the box? I wish to salvage this world but at the same time, I believe to do that, some of the things in this world need to be destroyed as well.”
“If you do that, you will face resistance from both sides! Do you know how dangerous that’ll be?!” The old man had never encountered someone who voiced such desire before. If both choices could be taken, then what was the purpose of making a choice then? After a quick pause, the old man added, “Think carefully about this. If you do this, death will become a luxury for you. You’ll only run into bigger and scarier challenges. Take for example, this latest Manager Mission, you died 45 times before you completed it. But for some other Manager Missions, you’ll only need to die once to be consumed by eternal darkness. Do you really have faith that you can do this?”
“I might not have faith but what does that have to do with anything?” The man gripped the box from both ends and opened both lids at once. Nothing changed. Inside the black box was another black box. “What’s this?”
“You’re now a Level F Manager, with every increase in your Manager Level, you can open another layer of the box. When you reach the end, you’ll see for yourself, what is truly inside the box.” The old man’s body was disintegrating. His final gesture was to reach out towards Han Fei’s chest. The space where Han Fei’s heart was cracked open like a drawer. “Remember, this black box is placed inside the deepest part of your consciousness so you have to stay conscious at all times.” After the black box was placed inside Han Fei’s heart, the stolen memory returned like waves. Han Fei felt his brain exploding. He groaned as he fainted.
After the old man sewed Han Fei’s chest back together, his body was already at its limit. His eyes colored with complication as he faded away. “Speed up your exploration. Open your eyes to this world before they extend their claws at you. Perhaps you might find hope somewhere in this misbegotten world. You have picked the hardest path but you should be able to do it, at least you’re much more capable than I was. You cleared the 9th floor at level 5. I only dared to get up here when I was level 19. A true madman, you are. Don’t you know that you’ll expire from cerebral death in real life should you die in game?” The fragile figure diffused into blood. The capillaries inside the room started to wilt. The oppressive presence dissipated.
“Notification for Player 0000! You have completed the Grade F Manager Mission—Building Manager! You’ve gained triple EXP, 2 free skill points and Grade F Manager Title—Building Manager!
“Building Manager (Grade F Manager Title): Increase the friendliness level with all the permanent tenants inside the apartment building for 10 points! Randomly obtain a Grade F Manager Talent! You can select a tenant with Amicable friendliness level to accompany you when you take an excursion from the building!
“Notification for Player 0000! Grade F Missions are recommended for players between level 10 to 20. Since you have completed the Grade F Mission beneath the recommended level, you have obtained an extremely rare, upgradeable Grade F Manager Talent!
“Notification for Player 0000! You have obtained Grade F Manager Talent—Spirit Farer!
“Spirit Farer (An extremely rare Manager Talent with 0.00001 percent of activating. It will upgrade alongside the player’s personal level): Possess a certain chance to summon a player with spiritual affinity in person before the user. The summoned player will exist in a unique form. Can only be used once per night.
“Notification for Player 0000! You have successfully reached level 6! Obtained 1 free attribute point!”
The headache ceded as the voices echoed in his mind. Slowly, everything came back to Han Fei. ‘Wait, that was the old man who sold me the gaming helmet!’ The discovery jolted Han Fei awake. His arms flew outwards from shock but it accidentally knocked against the figure beside him. Instantly a heady smell of blood surrounded Han Fei. Turning to look, Han Fei saw Xu Qin sitting beside him. She was polishing her table knives but for some reasons, the more she cleaned them, the dirtier they became.
“You’re awake?” The bright red lips curled upwards. Xu Qin turned to glance at him. “Did you come up here to find me?”
Seeing Xu Qin’s hands that wiped up and down the blade and the blood that colored her lips, Han Fei decided to tell the truth. Han Fei struggled to stand up to look Xu Qin in her eyes. “I’ve died 45 times in that dream, I thought I would never wake up again.”
Hearing that, Xu Qin showed no outward response except her hand that held the knife tightened slightly.
“Notification for Player 0000! Friendliness with Xu Qin increases by 20! Friendliness level with Xu Qin has reached Amicable!”
