16 Landlord's Ring

 

The neighbour’s vicious curses soon faded away. He was dragged by the monster into the innermost bedroom. There were two bedrooms in this house. The deeper one was locked. Han Fei did his sleeping mission in the other bedroom.

It was false to say that the disappearance of a man into the darkness did not faze Han Fei. He was thankful that he had run into such a kind and helpful neighbour. If his 6th floor neighbour did not come to welcome him today, he’d be the one being dragged into the bedroom.

‘But why would the monster drag the man into that particular bedroom? What is so special about it?’ Han Fei had not explored that locked bedroom before. This was one good thing about Han Fei, the man had the uncanny ability to silence his own curiosity. He’d know when to keep his mouth shut and when to stay put. His neighbour’s wails gradually disappeared. Studying the ring of keys in his hand, Han Fei started to consider how he was going to lay claim to his neighbour’s estate. ‘After the monster calms down, I should try to enter that bedroom. If I can locate the neighbour’s key, I can make his house my second base.’ Since Han Fei could quit the game any time he wanted, he was not worried about walking into danger. After cleaning up the room, Han Fei leaned against the front door and inspected his character profile.

“Notification for Player 0000! After every level gain, you will gain a free attribute point. After gaining 10 levels, you can choose a new profession!

“Notification for Player 0000! New Player Mission, watch a television show completed! Obtained 1 free skill point. Obtained mission reward—landlord’s ring.

“Inventory function unlocked. Mission reward will be placed inside inventory after mission completion.”

Honestly, when Han Fei saw the notifications, he was quite disappointed. He had taken such a huge risk during the mission but the rewards did not appear proportionate to the peril he had placed himself into. Han Fei clicked open the inventory and retrieved the landlord’s ring.

“Landlord’s Ring (Grade G Blood Red Item): After the landlord passed away, his beloved family made a ring out of his ashes. Memories bridge the gap between life and death. You’ll feel their presence once you put on this ring.”

“Them?” Han Fei had a rudimentary understanding from the item description, “This ring will enable me to see ghosts?” Han Fei put the ring on as a trial. The moment he did, he felt a chill coming from his ring finger. The closer he walked towards the innermost bedroom, the more pronounced the chill. “This ring can act as an alarm. The scarier the ghost, the chillier the presence they’ll emit from this ring. Huh. Well, I stand corrected. This thing is quite useful after all. With this ring, I can avoid wandering too close to dangerous areas.”

Han Fei had no idea what Blood Red item meant precisely. When he researched on Perfect Life, he did not encounter that particular concept. After he finished studying the ring, Han Fei turned to the skill point and attribute point he just gained. ‘I have a free skill point but the problem is, the skills that I currently possess, cooking and acting, will not help me in a fight.’ After giving it some thought, Han Fei decided to improve his acting skill. In this hellish game, acting might come in useful, at least Han Fei could imagine it being more useful than cooking.

“Player 0000, your acting skill is now intermediate level 2. When you reach intermediate level 10, the skill will automatically upgrade to Advanced Acting.”

‘It’s surprisingly hard to level up one’s skills in this game. But then again, this is just a new player mission. It’s understandable that the rewards won’t help my character progress much.’ Before gaining a new skill, Han Fei decided he would focus on training his acting skill. After all, his intention was to shed his living human identity and join the big family here as soon as possible.

For the attribute point, Han Fei used it to improve his stamina after a quick deliberation. His original stamina was a measly 4, it was too weak. When he apprehended his neighbour earlier, he almost let the man get away. After doing that, Han Fei swung several fists into the air. He could feel his body gaining power and his movement becoming more fluid. ‘This is just from the addition of one point. If my level continues to increase, I might one day be able to outrun a ghost!’

With the get-out-of-jail free card in his pocket, Han Fei treated his situation more relaxedly. It was not until then that he felt like he was playing a game. Picking up the cleaver, Han Fei turned towards the front door. He did not intend to disturb the Frankenstein monster but instead planned to go visit Meng Si. ‘The old lady is not an innately bad person. If I help her with her problems, she might help me back.’

He had a new appreciation for this game. Other Iyashikei games meant to bring healing to the players but this game aimed to heal both the players and NPCs, it was truly a ‘masterpiece’ of gaming. The moment Han Fei stepped out from the front door though, he felt the chill from his ring finger. Clearly, something was wrong with the corridor. ‘This place is quite literally a deliveryman’s nightmare.’

The chill from the ring was within Han Fei’s acceptable range. Han Fei slowly entered the stairwell armed with the cleaver. He lived on the 4th floor and the granny on the 3rd. There was only one floor  between them but Han Fei was still extremely cautious. The corridor was eerily silent but the strange thing was Han Fei noticed the voice-activated lights on the 6th floor kept flickering on and off. Slinking down the stairs, when Han Fei reached the landing between 4th and 3rd floor, he stopped. Slowly squatting down, Han Fei looked up through the gap in the banister. The lights on the 6th floor were still coming on and off even though Han Fei heard no sounds that would prompt them to do so.

‘Is there someone there or not?’ Nudging his feet, Han Fei moved towards the 3rd floor. At the last step, the chill suddenly intensified. ‘What’s happening?’

Han Fei did not retreat because if the situation demanded it, he could quit any time he wanted. He continued to move downwards and saw the door of the tenant opposite from Meng Si’s home was open. The cracked Ba Gua mirror still laid on the ground. However, most of the talismans on the door had been peeled off. ‘Meng Si kept her door closed due to the presence of her neighbour?’

Han Fei slowly moved towards Meng Si’s home. He was finally within range of the old lady’s front door. But before he could even knock, a bone-piercing chill came from his ring finger!

Han Fei whipped his head around and saw a little child running at him with a bright smile!

In just the blink of an eye, the child moved from the inside of the house to the front door. Han Fei’s nerves pulled taut and he immediately chose to quit the game. Blood once again covered his world. The nervous connection was severed. Once Han Fei regained control of his body, he pulled the gaming helmet off immediately.

He collapsed weakly on his bed. Han Fei’s hands shivered uncontrollably, “I was already so careful but without that ring, I would be dead by now. This is one hell of an impossible game.”