22 This Child Insists on Coming to Play

 

Han Fei knew the old lady’s story was modelled after her own. She was revealing to him her life story. The kinder a person, the greater the guilt they had to bear on their conscience. The guilt could progress to become an actual illness that crawled deep in one’s heart, causing ache when it was brought up. Seeing the state the old lady was in, Han Fei did not know what to say.

Human nature was so complicated. A person who lived her life in kindness might end up as an unwilling accomplice. Meng Si’s hands tightened around her chest and she ended her tale right then.

Through the conversation with Meng Si, Han Fei noticed something noteworthy. This old lady in the game did not seem to retain the knowledge that she was already dead, that was quite curious. The Frankenstein monster, formed from the victims of the human jigsaw case, carved the pain and despair during their dying moments onto their souls. It was the reason behind their loss of rationality and madness. The pain and despair overshadowed their other memories, leaving behind only the recognition that they had been cruelly murdered.

The situation with Meng Si was the complete opposite. She was kind and well-natured. She could remember details from her youth but did not seem to have any recollection of her death.

They were both from the world of the departed but Han Fei suspected this difference in them was due to the disparity in their dying state. Those who died from tortured death, those who harboured hatred and pain against the world would end up crazy and mad in the game. But people who had died due to other circumstances, like this old lady, managed to retain their human rationality after death. Perhaps at the moment of death, Meng Si did not carry much hatred, only regret and lamentation. In any case, this was just Han Fei’s speculation. The game was pretty much still an unknown to him, he would have to explore further.

“Notification for Player 0000! You have completed Grade G Normal Mission Accompany and Listen! Friendliness with Meng Si increases by 10! Friendliness Level with Meng Si has reached the required standard! Congratulations for gaining Meng Si’s friendship! Now you have learned how to form a peaceful neighbourly relationship!”

Han Fei moved his character profile to its last page and he noticed a new addition entitled Life Blueprint. Meng Si’s name appeared under the tab called Neighbours.

“Meng Si (Slight Regret): The old lady has a kind heart. She feels like she owes this world, and many people in her life. She has a selfless personality trait.”

Staring at the character information, Han Fei was confused, ‘What does the ‘Slight Regret’ affixed to the old lady’s name mean?’ He tried to tap on the term, and the robotic voice answered in his mind. “Most citizens in this world have regret in their hearts. They could originate from a lingering wish, a complication they are unable to let go or a past that they wish to return to.

“Regrets are delineated into 3 levels, Slight, Regular and Extreme. Regret at different levels will have different manifestation styles.”

Hearing the explanation, Han Fei’s confusion deepened. ‘Is this how the NPCs are differentiated in this game, according to their regret levels? No, wait. The system only said that most citizens in this world have regrets in their heart, that does not encapsulate all the characters found in this world! This world is populated by ghosts and all kinds of psychos! They probably have their own other categorization system.”

In other words, after gaining Meng Si’s friendship, Han Fei was clued into the level delineation of normal citizens, but to know the level delineation among ghosts and psychos, then he would have to befriend at least one of them first.

The 3 hours flew by so fast. Han Fei put on the old lady’s jade pendant and moved to the door. The ring from his finger gave off a constant chill. From that Han Fei knew that the child had not wandered too far. He probably still patrolled around the 3rd floor corridor.

“Granny, I suspect the child will guard this place forever unless we do something about it. I will open the door in a bit to lure him away. Then you will have to rush into the opposite house to find Chen Chen. Do not hesitate for even a moment.” Han Fei was worried about the old woman. After all, she was in her 70s already, she was not as agile as he was.

“Okay.” To save her grandson, Meng Si would give it everything she got.

“On the count of three, I will open the door. You have to wait until the child leaves with me before you come out.” Han Fei took out the ring of keys from his pocket and searched for the key to his house. “Ready? One, Two, Three!”

The door pulled back and Han Fei shot out like an arrow. Once he stepped into the corridor, his finger was instantly frozen. A child’s weeping drifted into his ears. He charged up the stairs and saw from behind him, a startlingly white child was crawling after him!

Han Fei took 3 steps at a time. When he reached the 4th floor, he felt a weight drop down on his back. ‘It has crawled onto my back?!’

The chill spread from his back to his neck and finally his cheeks. Han Fei refused to let himself be distracted. He rushed to the front door of his home and plunged in the key. He turned the key with all his might. He kept his head looking forward!

The chill caressed his cheeks. Just as the lock clicked, a child’s face peeked out from behind Han Fei’s shoulder and paused right before his face!

The two faces were only several cm apart. Han Fei’s hair stood from fear. Any person would have screamed in terror but the man gritted his teeth and continued to push the anti-theft door open.

To stop him, Han Fei’s neck was strangled out of shape. His breathing became difficult. The child wanted to pull Han Fei back downstairs while Han Fei was determined to collapse into his room. The door fell open and Han Fei tumbled in. He slammed against the solid ground. The child now sat on his shoulders. The pair of small hands covered his eyes.

A spine-tingling wail echoed in his mind. Han Fei tried his best to ignore it as he crawled towards the innermost bedroom. He remembered that was where the Frankenstein monster had disappeared to.

The extra point in stamina he earned from his recent level up was the deciding factor. He eventually reached the bedroom and knocked repeatedly on the door. The door vibrated. This haunted house had not been so ‘lively’ for such a long time already. “Wei Youfu!” The bedroom door opened with a shower of dust. A cold draft howled out from within. The hands that closed Han Fei’s eyes slowly loosened.

Han Fei finally saw there were 7 individuals sitting facing away from him by the bedside. The bedroom was like a morgue, it was dark and eerily frigid. At that moment, Han Fei did something that even the ghost did not expect. With the child on his shoulder, he crawled into the bedroom and closed the door behind him!

In the darkness, the child’s crying became more piercing. Han Fei could not see anything. He shivered and explained matter-of-factly, “This child is so lonely. I figured since we have so many people at home, he would enjoy making friends with all of you.”

When the pressure on his shoulder disappeared, Han Fei immediately opened the bedroom door and rushed out without a second’s hesitation. The child on his back disappeared. Han Fei noticed the child’s crying remained inside the bedroom. He slumped to the ground and sighed in relief, “That was so scary.”

When the child reached out to strangle his neck, Han Fei thought that was the end of it.

He checked the bedroom door to make sure it was locked. Then Han Fei ran back to the living room. “The system did not announce the completion of the hidden mission. Has something happened to the old lady and Chen Chen?”