47 Do Not Turn Back

 

‘Death covers the door and blood leaks out from under it, is this really someone I should befriend?’ According to Meng Si, Xu Qin, the tenant of Room 1052 was a bit kooky but she was a nice person.

Initially Han Fei had a certain anticipation of what Xu Qin would be like, he assumed she’d be a big sister type of character, but after he saw her place, he realized Meng Si’s assessment of Xu Qin was in comparison to the other tenants in the building. Among the group of mad murderers, ghosts and monsters, even the smallest goodness in Xu Qin would be greatly amplified.

Currently, Han Fei was caught in a tough spot. He had to complete at least one mission before he could leave the game, however, his more familiar neighbours could no longer provide him with available missions. Thus, his only choice was to wander to other unexplored floors. He knew the risk inherent in this, there was no telling if he’d return alive. ‘The new mission forces me to explore unknown territory. After all, when I first exited the game, I remember the system urging me to speed up my exploration progress.’

Staring down the dark corridor, Han Fei gripped the cleaver tightly and made his first move. ‘Since there’s no escape, I’ll have to push forward.’

Just as his feet left the stairwell and landed on the corridor, a metallic clang came from underneath him. It sounded like the chain on the building entrance had been removed. ‘That sounds like the steel door at the first floor. Does this mean someone has left or entered the building?’

The voice-activated lights on the first floor came on. Han Fei leaned close to the banister and adjusted his line of sight to peer downwards. A shadow appeared on the wall of the landing between 1st and 2nd floor. The shadow resembled someone crawling on the ground. ‘This does not look good.’

After he saw the strange shadow, Han Fei decided to retreat to his home for now. But just as he was about to turn around, the robotic voice echoed in his mind. “Notification for player 0000! You have entered the corridor at 3.04 am and triggered the hidden mission—Do not Turn Your Head Around!

“Hidden Mission: There are many random missions hidden in this open world game. The greater your luck, the higher the chance you have at triggering these rare missions.

“Do not Turn Your Head Around (One of the Corridors’ Hidden Missions): Within the next 15 minutes, no matter what happens, do not move backwards or turn around, if you do, you will die.”

When the voice finished, Han Fei’s heart frosted over. His body froze to the spot and the muscle around his neck tensed.

‘How is it that I’ve triggered another hidden mission?! Didn’t Huang Yin say that hidden missions are supposed to be extremely rare?! I’ve already triggered two at a mere level 3!’ Holding his breath and tuning his ears, Han Fei’s Adam Apple trembled, ‘I can’t turn my head back or move backwards in the next 15 minutes or I’d die?! This mission is too literal, there’s no wiggle space for me at all!’

Holding his posture, Han Fei stopped between the 4th and 5th floor. He knew for a fact that a crawling person was heading upstairs and he also knew that a shadowy figure was stalking the 5th floor. Both would pose great threat to him. His breathing stuttered. The mission requirement forbad Han Fei from moving backwards so if something really did come after him, the man had no choice but to move upwards and forwards. However, Han Fei also knew that the higher the floor, the more dangerous it was. Even a ghost as powerful as Weep had his arms torn off after he wandered too far upstairs. ‘What should I do? Is now the time to light one of the cigarettes?’

Wearing the jade pendant given to him by Meng Si, Han Fei sought out the lighter from his pocket. He had no idea what would happen after he lit the cigarette but he’d to be ready for everything. The voice-activated lights ceased flickering but Han Fei could hear unsteady footsteps coming from downstairs, it sounded like a toddler learning how to walk.

Han Fei prayed that his passive effect from the Hide and Seek skill would come into use as he sidled close to the wall. The skill would lower his presence but unfortunately, there was no usable cover in the corridor. It would take a blind person to not notice him. The footsteps from downstairs approached. Han Fei’s heart hiked up his throat. The mission requirement prohibited him from going backwards, but unless necessary, Han Fei was not going to head upstairs either, because the higher he went, the further he’d be from his safehouse. Standing in the corridor alone, deep in the middle of the night, with the footsteps echoing around him, Han Fei’s heart started to race irrationally.

His fingers tightened around the cleaver subconsciously. The footsteps continued to reverberate in his ears until all of a sudden, the footsteps disappeared. ‘Where did it go?’

Han Fei resisted the rising urge to turn around to check. He held his stance but seconds later, change occurred in the corridor.

Creak… The chair that he used to block against the door of Room 1044 had been removed. Someone then slid the door to Room 1044 gently shut!

The moment the door clicked into place, Han Fei felt a bond snapping. A chill climbed up his ankle to his chest. His calves shook involuntarily.

Tik tok, tik tok. Something viscous dripped onto his back. Han Fei could feel a presence stopping just behind him. He took an involuntary step forward. Just as he did so, two sets of footsteps echoed in the corridor.

‘That’s only 1 minute. I still have 14 more minutes to go…’ Han Fei tried to still himself but no matter how strong his heart was, he could not stop his body from reacting to the horror. ‘I shan’t panic. As long as I keep my head looking ahead for the next 14 minutes, the hidden mission will be completed. Once I achieve that, I’ll exit the game immediately.’ Biting on the tip of his tongue, Han Fei used pain to balance out the fear. ‘The thing probably has no intention to kill me yet or they’d move in for the kill already. They’re probably savoring my torment. That will help buy me some time.’

“Huh?” While Han Fei contemplated his next move, a very familiar voice came from behind him. “My friend, fancy seeing you here.” The voice evoked a sense of warmth and friendliness. It reminded Han Fei of an old friend but no matter how hard Han Fei raked his mind, he could not put a name to the voice. “Wait, you’re trapped here also? How did you get here in the first place?” The voice began again. However, Han Fei still did not turn around.

Even though the voice sounded familiar to Han Fei and the tone was exceptionally cordial, Han Fei knew that the chance of him meeting an old friend in this game was zero. After all, he suffered from social anxiety, he had no ‘old friend’ to speak of! Therefore, the voice must belong to a ghost, one who was trying to trick him to turn around.

The ghost standing behind Han Fei probably did not expect its prey to be such a social pariah that he’d have no acquaintance whose identity it could assume to pull off this masterful disguise. It continued to converse with Han Fei in a convivial tone. To buy more time, Han Fei quickly got into character as well. He cleared his throat thoughtfully as if the name attached to this ‘familiar voice’ was already at the tip of his tongue.