90 9th Floor

 

Ying Yue was basically a monster, a monster who had lost her humanity and mind. But even in the face of such a vicious threat, the two goldfish showed no fear. No matter what Ying Yue turned into, they would always be by her side. The arm that was intertwined with strong hatred ultimately limped against the aquarium. Ying Yue’s arm that leaned against the aquarium crackled with black threads. The giant shadow was dwindling. The bloody eyes receded from the room. When the last eye closed, the monster inside Room 1084 disappeared and in its place was a little girl in a red dress. With her eyes closed, she held the aquarium with both hands. On the other side of the glass, two small goldfish swam in circles around her fingers. Even though there was no actual contact, both parties could sense the other’s presence.

“Ying Yue, your mommy and daddy wanted to be your eyes, they want to be with you forever.” Han Fei slowly placed the aquarium on the ground. He knelt down on the side opposite from Ying Yue. “I am your parents’ friends. Do you know what their final wish is?”

The girl with the closed eyes slowly lifted her head. She looked cute and innocent, a perfect replica of her picture shown on the missing person’s advert. “Your parents wished that you’d grow up safe and healthy. They wish for you boundless happiness, and they hope that you will be able to witness the wonder of the world on their behalf.” Han Fei sidled close to Ying Yue. “I will accompany you to apprehend those who have hurt you. After they got their due punishment, how about we go and explore the wonders of this world together?”

The two hands held the aquarium tightly. The goldfish wiggled their tails happily, sending ripples down the surface. Han Fei sighed in relief. He tried to smooth out little Ying Yue’s hair. “Girl, I’ll be your family from now on.” Inside the haunted house, the kind and warm neighbourly big brother consoled the blind girl who had lost her parents. It was a plot straight out of an Iyashikei story. The room with the heaviest negative energy was the princess room. To neutralize that, Han Fei carefully moved the aquarium and placed it inside the princess room. He hoped that would help calm Ying Yue down and help her connect more with her human side.

Once Han Fei entered the princess room, he noticed the handicraft that he made last time was still there. The nailed Ming Yue’s doll was placed beside the pillow. “Looks like you appreciate these little things I made.” Han Fei noted with a smile but in his mind, he was planning something else, “I will bring that girl who bullied you here. Those who did wrong should be punished, that is only fair.”

Hearing the promise in Han Fei’s voice, the little girl who stood next to the aquarium suddenly turned her face towards Han Fei. Then she nodded lightly.

“Notification for Player 0000! Friendliness with Ying Yue increases by 5!” When the robotic voice announced that, Han Fei knew he was temporarily out of danger. ‘It’ll be difficult to draw a living human into Perfect Life but I still need to give it a try. Perhaps the answer will be found on the 10th floor, after all, the old man managed to trick me into the game somehow.’

Ying Yue squatted on the ground and her full attention was occupied by the aquarium and its inhabitants. Han Fei did not disturb her and returned to the living room alone. The feeling of being scrutinized had disappeared. The temperate also rose back to normal.

‘I should be able to leave now, right?’ He walked towards the front door. He grabbed the handle and the door eased open with a slight push. A chilling gust surged into the room and Han Fei got another system update. “Notification for Player 0000! You have completed Grade G Hidden Mission, House of Eyes! Friendliness with Ying Yue increases by 20! Obtained basic reward—1 Free Skill Point!

“Warning! Different completion rates of the hidden mission will garner different rewards! You have not only escaped from the House of Eyes, you have also eased Ying Yue’s pain and helped her regain part of her humanity. Mission completion rate is more than 90 percent! You have obtained a unique reward—Personal Passive Skill, Pied Piper!

“Pied Piper (Personal Passive Skill, cannot be upgraded with skill point): You have a natural affinity with children. You can easily gain their trust and be part of their group. You’ll be their friends, families and even a life mentor.”

After seeing the details of his new passive skill, Han Fei was startled, ‘Despite the seemingly innocent skill description, the Pied Piper is famed for his story of casting a spell over hapless children, right? What is the game trying to suggest here…?’

Once he gave it some thought, Han Fei realized he indeed seemed to share a good relationship with the children. The first ‘surprise’ he got in the game was from Chen Chen, and then there was that encounter with Weep and now he had just healed Ying Yue. The children inside this building did have a good relationship with Han Fei. ‘Hmm, in any case, with this passive skill, I should focus on trying to befriend more young ghosts in the future.’

Han Fei did not hurry to leave the 8th floor, instead he stayed to search for the 2 human jigsaw pieces. He eventually found them. ‘Now I only need the 2 remaining pieces from the 9th floor, then I’ll complete that Grade F Mission.’ That was easier said than done. ‘Tonight is the last night, if I fail to find all the pieces tonight, the mission will be deemed a failure.’

Han Fei did not want to surrender that easily. He knew the location of the last 2 jigsaw pieces. ‘Maybe I should go visit Xu Qin and get her opinion on this ’ When he reached the 5th floor, Han Fei noticed Xu Qin’s door was still closed but the ‘death’ characters on her door appeared to have grown in numbers. ‘She went grocery-shopping for 3 consecutive days? That seems unlikely… I hope nothing bad has happened to her.’

The 3 hours limit wasn’t up yet so Han Fei did not want to take too much risk. He went down to the 3rd floor to visit Ming Si. Han Fei wanted to get more information about the 9th floor from her but Meng Si had not been to the 9th floor before, she just stressed repeatedly that those who went there had never been seen again. Without any new information, Han Fei said farewell and went to visit Weep.

He wanted to use Weep to try out the new skill but he got a surprise reward instead. Perhaps it was the Pied Piper’s skill showing its effect, or maybe Weep himself had taken a shining towards Han Fei, they had a rather peaceful evening. Weep had completely put his guard down around Han Fei. When Han Fei expressed his intention to visit the 9th floor, Weep, who had been showing a levelled emotion, suddenly had fear enter his eyes. He pointed at the empty room and raised his still recovering arms. His expression was scary.

“You mean to say you’ve been to the 9th floor?” After much guesswork, Han Fei finally understood the boy. In the previous game of hide and seek, after he failed to find Han Fei, Weep trusted Han Fei’s words and sent out his friends to disturb the other neighbours. Some of his friends went up to the 9th floor and never returned. Eventually Weep went to the 9th floor to investigate. He only got to the landing between the 8th and 9th floor when he noticed something was wrong. The 9th floor was enshrouded in an extraordinarily thick haze of hatred. It only allowed entry and not exit.

Weep did not venture to the 9th floor. He merely stopped at the landing but even so he had to pay with the loss of his two arms before he could escape.