46 Fifth Floor

 

Han Fei was no detective, he sensibly left the more dangerous case-solving to the police. His role was to only provide some clues now and then. Knowing that the case was progressing, Han Fei felt better.

“Before the murderer is apprehended, I better keep a low profile.” Turning back to glance at the set for Flower of Sin, Han Fei was slightly worried about the crew. After all, they were shooting a movie based on a real event. There was no telling if they would be targeted, after all, many serial killers had the sick hobby to admire their own ‘work’.

After stopping for some food, Han Fei headed home. At the door, before he walked in, he looked around to confirm he was alone. ‘Every day I’m under such tension that I’ve even started to develop these strange habits.’

He closed the door and switched on the television. Some life breathed into the small room. After taking a comfortable warm bath, Han Fei sat down on the couch. Pumping a dumbbell with one hand, he read a criminology textbook with another. “When a person’s criminal psychology develops until it initiates changes to his personality, it means that the person’s criminal personality has stabilized. It will take extremely complex, detailed and complicated work to correct such a fixed personality…” Studying was a long process. Han Fei thought that should his actor dream fall through, at least he could become a good police officer.

At 11.50 pm, Han Fei connected all the wires and crawled into bed with the gaming helmet. “I still cannot communicate with the victims in Room 1044, but after what we’ve been through, at least they have temporarily dropped their extreme hostility towards me. That is a good thing.” When midnight arrived, Han Fei put on the gaming helmet. As the blood dripped, the robotic voice rang in his head. “Welcome to Perfect Life where you are free to choose your own perfect life!”

Opening his eyes, Han Fei glanced around the eerie living room and he groaned, “Fine, where are the choices then?”

The wall clock pointed at 00:00. Han Fei picked up the cleaver and turned towards the innermost bedroom. Of the entire Room 1044, only that door remained firmly closed. Han Fei still did not possess the courage to knock on it. The 7 victims would only retain their sanity when they were separated. When they combined together, they’d turn into a monster dominated by pain and despair. “Now that I’ve completed all the New Player Missions, a jaunt outside the house seems inevitable.”

Han Fei opened the mission interface. The original New Player Missions had disappeared. Instead a new mission replaced them—Visit and greet your 5th floor neighbours.

“From the name alone, it does sound like a plausible mission in an Iyashikei game.” Han Fei chuckled awkwardly. “According to Meng Si, there is a crazy woman on the 5th floor named Xu Qin whom I can befriend. Since I’m going to do this mission anyway, I might as well take this opportunity to get to know her.” Before playing this game, whenever Han Fei encountered someone he was not close with, he’d avoid them like the plague but after starting the game, he became quite a social butterfly. “What kind of present should I bring since I’ll be visiting her for the first time?” Han Fei glanced at the cleaver he was holding, “Hmm, I guess it’ll depend on how the meeting goes.”

After the decision was made, Han Fei switched on the television. He wanted to try and see if he could lure his roommates out. If his roommates could provide him with a new mission, then he wouldn’t have to leave this safehouse. Han Fei stared at the grainy screen for 3 full hours. He flipped between all the non-channels until 3 am but there was still no sign of his roommate.

“Looks like I’ll have to go out for the mission after all.” Han Fei picked up the cleaver and checked his inventory. “The landlord’s ring can be used to detect ghosts and the landlord’s keys should enable me to open all the doors. The problem is none of the keys are marked. I’ll have to try them out one by one. The landlord’s diary is still blank. Temporarily, I have no idea what it’s for. Lastly, the 3 cigarettes…” Han Fei clicked on them and 3 cigarettes materialized in his palm. “The landlord’s 3 children laid down these 3 cigarettes for him after his death. They are labelled as consumable. I wonder what purpose they serve. They are additional rewards from the increased difficulty to the sleeping mission. Assuming the rewards are proportional to their difficulty, then these cigarettes should be quite powerful.”

Han Fei rummaged through the kitchen and found a lighter. When he was cornered, he’d light one. After preparing everything, Han Fei hurried to the anti-theft door. He looked through the peephole and opened the door after he was sure there was no one lying in ambush. Throughout the whole process, Han Fei made zero noise. The corridor was dim. The whole experience placed him right into a horror film. ‘My New Player Period of Protection is over, there might be more malicious ghosts around, I have to be extremely careful.’

To prevent the door from fully closing, Han Fei dragged a chair from the living room and used it to stop the gap. That way, when he needed to rush back, he didn't need to waste time opening the door. Other than that, if a curious neighbour came to visit when he was away, they could enter the house freely. Honestly, Han Fei wished his roommates could make more friends.

Taking a deep breath, Han Fei slipped away from Room 1044. This was the first time Han Fei left Room 1044 after his protection period was over. He could feel some conspicuous changes to the apartment building. His body felt like he had waded into a sticky dark ocean and his mind was slowing down. Han Fei stayed close to the wall as he moved up to the fifth floor. He made sure to hide at the blind spots. Han Fei had not been to the 5th floor before. He moved very slowly. He used 1 whole minute to move from the 4th floor to the 5th floor.

When he arrived, he stopped to first observe his surroundings. There were 4 units on the 5th floor. One of them was open and a black figure stood before the door. At 3 am, inside the quiet corridor, a person stood quietly before an open door that might or might not lead to his house. This whole scene screamed suspicion.

Han Fei halted his movement. However, the black figure appeared to have spotted Han Fei regardless. When Han Fei next blinked, the black figure disappeared. ‘What was that?’

The figure disappeared but the door was still open. Now Han Fei was afraid that once he crossed the open door, he’d be dragged into the room. Standing at his vantage point, Han Fei was unable to see into the door. That heightened his sense of unease.

‘Xu Qin lives at Room 1052, and the figure stood before Room 1051 earlier…’ Han Fei nudged his gaze to Room 1052 and his small courage depleted some more.

The door to Room 1052 was covered with the character ‘Death’, and black brown blood trickled out from underneath the door.