132 Omen of Death

 

Han Fei collapsed on his bed. In just one night, he was promoted from employee to boss. Honestly, the man himself did not expect that. He worked the kinks out from his joints and Han Fei realized his fingers were trembling. He gripped them into fists. He had managed to survive another night and took over the convenience store. The result was positive but thinking back, there were so many places where it could go wrong and he’d die. He was risking his life and managed to squeeze out a tiny victory.

‘I’m still too weak. I’m only level 7, based on Perfect Life’s official website, the players can only unlock their first profession at level 10 which will bring them a brand new experience. The rules for the cryptic world and surface world should be the same. My available profession for now is Midnight Butcher…’ Han Fei could not find anything on that profession on the official forum. He had no idea what the profession might entail and what was its future career planning... if it even had anything. In a normal Perfect Life, levelling up was easy in the beginning, in fact, it was possible to rush to level 10 in one day. The first 10 levels were for the players to familiarize themselves with the controls of the game. The real charm of the game began after level 10 where one would gain one’s dream career and kickstart one’s dream life. That was the true meaning of perfect life. But for Han Fei, he did not dare to even wish for a dreamed life, he just wanted to survive to see the sun rise another day.

‘It’s pointless to fret about it now, I should focus on levelling up.’ Closing his eyes, Han Fei emptied his mind and soon fell asleep.

Han Fei woke up at 8 am by his alarm. He finished his morning routine and headed to the set. ‘I’ve signed a percentage-based contract with the crew. If the movie becomes a blockbuster, I’ll gain a windfall. Things will get a lot more convenient for me then.’ Han Fei hurried to the apartment. Before he entered the set, he saw Li Xue and another officer standing there.

“You’re not here to look for me, are you?”

“It’s not convenient for us to speak here, can you come with us?” Li Xue grabbed Han Fei by his arm. Her expression was serious. The three of them walked to a police car. Before Han Fei got into the car, the other officer took out a device to scan Han Fei. After ensuring Han Fei did not carry any dangerous object, he very politely ‘borrowed’ Han Fei’s phone. He placed it inside a special bag that seemed to be able to block electrical signals.

“Get in the car.” Han Fei obliged obediently. Li Xue and the other officer did not follow him but they guarded outside the car door. “What is happening?” For a moment, Han Fei thought the secret of the black box had been exposed but no matter how anxious he felt, it would not be reflected on his face. That was the basic requirement for an actor.

“Han Fei, the sole survivor of the Bloody Night at Happy Orphanage. Ever since your info appeared in the citizenry database, you’ve been a model citizen. In fact, your hazard rating is rare 0.” Sitting at the backseat, there was a senior police officer looking at his phone with his head lowered.

“Who are you?” Han Fei sat next to the old man and scanned the phone from the corner of his eyes. The senior officer was not logged into the citizenry database, instead the screen showed the picture of a butterfly with a broken wing.

“Over the past 30 years, technology has improved greatly. Things we thought were impossible were now commonplace in households. In fact, human imagination can barely keep up with technology anymore. This changed our lives but also brought with it some problems. Compared to decades ago, today’s criminals are harder to apprehend. They can hide themselves better and commit more dangerous acts.” The senior officer put away his phone. He lifted his head to look at Han Fei. He had a common face, the kind that would disappear into a crowd but his eyes were special, like a calm sea.

“Sir, I’m on a tight schedule. Do you mind cutting to the point?” Han Fei had a good impression of the law enforcement. They had been cooperating with each other. They were even friends on social media.

“I am Li Xue’s teacher. I’ve been hospitalized so I only manage to come thank you in person now.” The officer was seated in a relaxed pose but there was no weakness exposed.

“Is it due to the human puzzle case? There’s no need for thanks, I was merely doing my citizen duty.”

“No.” The old man shook his head and said seriously, “It’s because of the butterfly.” Then the old man said something important in a very casual tone, “The citizenry database delineates criminals into 6 levels based on their hazard rating, A to F. However, there is one beyond these 6 levels, the kind that cannot be identified by the computer system. They are far more dangerous than Grade A criminals. They are cunning and cleverer than a computer. That’s how their hazard rating according to the system is a solid 0.”

“How come it feels like I’m being interrogated?” Han Fei knew his own hazard rating was 0.

“We law enforcement call them Grade S Criminal, some call them super criminals. This Butterfly is a super criminal we’ve been chasing for the past 10 years.”

“You’ve been investigating the Butterfly?”

“The Butterfly is responsible for many brutal murders but they never dirty their own hands. The victims died in accidents, suicides or through unknown strangers’ deeds. Oftentimes, we cannot even tell whether a murder is related to the Butterfly or not.” The senior officer said evenly despite the rage in his eyes. “The methods of death can only be described as creative. Our investigation into the Butterfly has been slow until recently we have a breakthrough in capturing the culprit of the human jigsaw case.”

“You found clues about Butterfly?”

“Meng Changan is the only one we have who has recorded contact with the Butterfly. With science, our interrogation tools have improved as well. We managed to get many information from the man. The more we know about the Butterfly, the crazier they’ll become.” The officer stared long into Han Fei’s eyes. “Other than to come thank you in person, the main reason I’m here is to warn you. The Butterfly will definitely come after you, you better don’t leave Xin Lu, go out alone at night and stay away from schools and hospitals.”

“Why the need to stay away from schools and hospitals?”

“Based on the information we derived from Meng Changan’s subconscious brain mapping, whenever we brought up the Butterfly’s appearance or identity, his brain would provide response towards the careers of teacher and doctor.”

“Is it possible that it is because Meng Changan views the Butterfly as his teacher and doctor?” Han Fei gave his thought.

“Of course but there is other evidence. From Meng Changan, we discovered the Butterfly was connected to another case. The case happened at Yi Ming Private Academy in the countryside. At the time, everyone thought the kid’s death was an accident but when we reopened the case, we realized the student’s death was premeditated.”

“Yi Ming Private Academy?” For all intent and purpose, it looked like Han Fei heard this name for the first time. “What happened there?”