91 Building Manager

 

Hearing Weep’s story, Han Fei was pained, but beyond that, he was more interested in what Weep saw that day. With his patience, Han Fei continued to dig. Weep gestured back and forth with Han Fei before the former eventually broke out in tears due to the latter’s stubbornness. “Please don’t cry, it’s not that I wish to tear into your painful past, I simply wish to know what is there on the 9th floor because I plan to go there tonight.”

Hearing the conviction in Han Fei’s voice, Weep gradually slowed his tears. He stared at Han Fei for a long time. Then he grabbed Han Fei’s palm and wrote down the following on it—Remember yourself.

“Remember myself?” Han Fei naturally had more to ask but Weep had disappeared into his ceremonial urn. ‘This boy… sure is unique.’

Han Fei did not leave Room 1034 despite the disappearance of his host. Sitting amidst the pile of talismans, Han Fei’s mind wrestled against itself. ‘The last 2 human jigsaw pieces are on the 9th floor. If I am unable to complete the puzzle tonight, I’ll fail the mission and my effort before this will all go to waste. I wish to save my roommates and to do that, I need to patch back their bodies. I wish to find out the secrets of this apartment building and to do that I need to reach the 10th floor. In other words, I’ll have to go through the 9th floor sooner or later.’ Han Fei knew the 9th floor was dangerous but he also understood the rewards from completing a Grade F Mission would be very worthwhile. ‘I’ll head up the stairs for now. If I sense any danger, I’ll run into Ying Yue’s home to hide. If all else fails, I can still quit the game.’

With the timer for the Grade F Mission reaching its final countdown, Han Fei exited Room 1034 and headed up the stairs. The strange footsteps did not return and Han Fei arrived at the 8th floor without any problem. Han Fei stopped to greet Ying Yue and left the door to the House of Eyes open. Should there be danger, he could skip the step required to open the door and rush into it directly. After doing all that, Han Fei still did not make his way up. Instead he leaned against the banister and tried to look up through the gap.

There was nothing too unusual that differentiated the 9th and 10th floor. It looked just like the other floors, a part of an old apartment building. However, Han Fei knew this normalcy was just an illusion. Ghosts could attack him from any corner so he could not let his guard down at all. Holding the banister, Han Fei scanned his surroundings while keeping his eyes on the quit button.

‘Time to go up and see.’ When he took the first step up to the 9th floor, nothing particularly disparate stood out to Han Fei. There was no strange smell or inexplicable sounds in the air. Han Fei eventually arrived at the landing between 8th and 9th floor without running into any danger. This was the location where Weep lost both of his arms. Standing on his tiptoes, Han Fei leaned his head as far as he could to peer at the 4 doors on the 9th floor. The 4 anti-theft doors looked unassuming. The four doors were painted with their respective room number. There was nothing unusual. Han Fei took another 2 steps before he noticed the first thing that was slightly out of place.

There was a ceremonial brazier placed before the door of Room 1091. Half-burnt paper money sat inside it. Next to the brazier was a picture frame and it contained a black and white picture with a faceless man. ‘Something doesn’t feel right…’ The picture sent a chill down Han Fei’s spine. When he took a closer look, Han Fei understood why! The person in the picture was wearing the same outfit as he did! His legs took an involuntary step back but when he did, Han Fei turned around to realize the steps behind him had disappeared. All that was left was a suffocating darkness.

“Notification for Player 0000! You have found all of the building manager’s remains. You have satisfied the condition to trigger the Grade F Manager Mission—Building Manager!

“Building Manager (Grade F Manager Mission): The basic responsibility of a building manager is to understand and have a handle over all the tenants, eliminate all safety hazards, mediate neighbourly conflicts, aid the vulnerable parties and most importantly, kill everyone else who wants to become the building manager.

“Warning! Since the mission difficulty is too high for the player’s current level, the system will provide the player with additional hints!

“In this world, every building or infrastructure will house a most dangerous, cunning, crazy and oppressive presence, some citizens of this world refer to them as the managers. Now you only have 2 paths before you, become the manager or be killed by one.

“Warning! Each Manager Mission is manufactured and constructed from the previous manager’s memory and past, in other words, during this mission, you will enter the manager’s memory. There is no death penalty here but with each death, you will lose part of your own memory.

“Warning! If you end up forgetting who you are in the process of doing the mission, then you will be permanently trapped inside the manager mission and become part of the previous manager’s memory. And it will use your body to regain a new lease at life!”

The sudden pings of notifications froze Han Fei to the spot. ‘Grade F Manager Mission? Grade F Mission is far more difficult than a Grade G Mission and it appears like Manager Mission is more difficult than a common mission as well. I can’t imagine how impossible a Grade F Manager Mission will be!’

The way back was swallowed by darkness, the stairwell had completely vanished. Han Fei tried to walk into the darkness and his Life Points plummeted. Now he finally understood why no one had ever returned from the 9th floor, it was because there was literally no way back!

Han Fei had no choice but to move up to the 9th floor. Then he encountered something even more bizarre. He tipped his head upwards and all he could see was the ceiling. It was as if the 10th floor did not exist and the 9th floor was the very top.  ‘Based on the mission description, all manager missions are based on the memory of the previous manager. In other words, I am now dragged into the memory of the previous manager? Only by getting his approval that I can complete this mission?’

Taking a deep breath, Han Fei tried to calm himself. But when he pulled up the menu, his forced composure shattered. Next to his character name, there was a new statement—Due to the unique status the player is currently in, the player is temporarily unable to exit Perfect Life.

‘Wait, I can’t leave?!’ Han Fei understood what this meant. If he was unable to finish this Grade F Mission, he’d be trapped inside this game forever!

Anxiety and apprehension gripped Han Fei. He took a long time before he settled down again. He knelt down before the door of Room 1091, by then, the person inside the black and white picture had fully taken on Han Fei’s appearance. ‘Everything’s still fine, I only need to complete the mission and then I can leave. I can do this.’ Han Fei stared at his own death portrait. In the picture, he was smiling brightly. The man himself could not remember the last time he had such a genuine smile on his face.

‘At this cryptic world, the difficulty level increases from normal mission, hidden mission and finally manager mission. Accepting manager missions will apply a unique status on the player. Does this mean that the manager missions are closely related to the core of the cryptic world itself?

‘If I am able to complete these unique missions, maybe I can  gain a deeper understanding of the cryptic world.’

Everything had its pros and cons. Han Fei did not let the challenge weigh him down. He knew that in this game, the risk was always proportional to the reward.