149 Don't Eat Other People's Food

 

Then again, considering how many Hidden Missions he had ‘stumbled’ across so far, Han Fei realized having a hidden map right by the street was not that unusual anymore. Han Fei shook the ceremonial urn, hoping that a spirit would tumble out but there was nothing. Getting down to the ground, Han Fei habitually leaned towards the wall. He felt safer with something solid behind him. Han Fei had the teacher’s id in his pocket. For all he knew, the moment he stepped on the sidewalk in front of the school, he had already entered the hidden map. And before he could react, he was deposited inside the school. He took out the teacher’s id and realized his own black and white picture was already on the id.

‘I can leave the game any moment I want, that is my lifeline. But for now, I need to figure out my exact location first.’ After getting over the initial shock, Han Fei swiftly accessed his situation. Someone had done something to the previous manager’s educator id. Han Fei who carried the id was immediately transported to an unknown location inside the school once he was within the territory of the hidden map. ‘The previous manager has placed all of his hope on me, he wouldn’t harm me for no reason. Is it possible that he has made this id to work in such a way that it’ll transport me to a spot closest to the manager’s memory fragment when I reach this hidden map?’ The more Han Fei thought about it, the more convinced he became. Even though the previous manager’s memories were shattered, the fragments belonged to the same person, there should be a bond between them, but of course, this was based on the premise that the manager’s memory fragment did exist inside the school.

Han Fei studied his environments carefully. There was a simple single bed and a wooden table painted yellow. On the table, scattered an attendance booklet, a bag of fruits and several pens. The room was small. A work report was hung unevenly on the wall. A hair dryer and electric stove were pressed up against the corner. They looked too dusted to have seen recent use. Han Fei moved to the table to open the drawer. It was filled with unopened envelopes. The envelopes were drawn with hearts and thank you’s.

“I appear to be inside the room of a hostel manager. Does this mean the previous manager’s memory fragment is inside a hostel?” Han Fei checked the attendance booklet. He noticed that it had both male and female names. “The names on the first and second floor are males and the names on the 3rd and 4th floors are females. This is a shared hostel? Is there only one hostel at this boarding school?” Han Fei did check up on Yi Ming Private Academy in real life but he found little useful information. He knew that Yi Ming Private Academy was a boarding school, but it had horrible management and less than stellar education performance.

With his impressive memory skill, Han Fei looked through the attendance booklet and memorized the names of each student and their rooms. He put down the booklet and turned to the envelopes inside the drawer. “These look like notes of appreciation. This hostel manager must be beloved by their care…” Opening the envelope, Han Fei’s expression froze when he saw the content. Someone used a red pen to write on a cute cartoon note inside, Go to hell! Go to hell! Go to hell!

The person must have been angry when they wrote this because the pen marks had scratched through the paper note. The note was not signed. Han Fei opened the other envelopes and the hatred became even more intense. “The handwritings are all different. They appear to come from different students.” From the words alone, Han Fei could feel the thick resentment behind them. “What could the hostel manager possibly do to them to deserve such harassment?”

Han Fei expected a comforting discovery but now he was only chilled. He placed the notes back into the envelopes before he turned to the bag of fruits. He picked out a banana and studied it closely. Han Fei noticed there was a very tiny hole near the stalk. He peeled off the skin and did not notice any problem. But when he pinched the top part of the banana off, Han Fei noticed there was a needle that was stuck in there!

The needle was pointing upwards. If someone had eaten this banana like normal, they would have the roof of their mouth punctured through. “This has gone beyond a prank.”

Han Fei replaced the banana and left the other fruits alone. He picked up the bag and moved to sit on the single bed. When his hand touched the bedding, Han Fei stood up again. With a frown, Han Fei noticed there was still warmth under the bed, meaning someone was just lying in it not too long ago. ‘Normally there should be spare keys to the hostel rooms inside the manager’s office but there is none that I can see. Looks like the manager has just gone out for a patrol.’

Calculating the time, Han Fei had a feeling the manager might return soon. He moved silently to the window and looked out. Through the window, he could see the corridor outside. There was no one at the dark corridor, the atmosphere was oppressive. ‘There are stairs on both sides of the corridor.’ One has to pass through a wooden door to reach the stairwell. Currently they were open and hence Han Fei was able to look through them. Han Fei surmised that the doors would be present at each floor, leading to the two staircases, as this was a mixed hostel. This was to prevent the students from wandering to the floors of their opposite gender. ‘At the corner near the left staircase, there appears to be the bathroom and toilet…’ Han Fei was still making his observation when footsteps came from upstairs. ‘The manager has returned?’ The footsteps came from the right staircase and it was moving quickly. Han Fei grabbed the needle he found inside the banana, opened the door and hurried to the left staircase. ‘Since the banana has been peeled, the manager would know someone has been in their room! It’s unsafe to hide inside the bathroom, I need to find a better hiding spot! The exit on this floor is locked, perhaps I should try my luck upstairs!’ Han Fei’s mind was not muddled by panic.

Since the footsteps came from the right, he had to go left. Han Fei’s plan was good but it was interrupted. When he entered the left stairwell, he heard another footstep coming down the stairs. The two footsteps were wildly different, the footsteps on the right staircase were powerful as if announcing to others about their presence; the footsteps on the left were soft as if someone was walking on tip toe.

Han Fei did not plan to expose his existence just yet but he was already inside the stairwell. It was too late to exit the door and run into the bathroom now. The footsteps from the right had exited the stairwell and were echoing down the corridor. It was coming closer and closer. With no better hiding place, Han Fei chose to stay behind the stairwell door.

The footsteps slowly approached. In the darkness, Han Fei only had the protection of the wooden door. If someone pulled the door open, he’d be exposed. Holding his breath, Han Fei did not dare to quit now because he’d log in next time still at this spot, it would be too dangerous. Thankfully, the footsteps from the right slowly softened before disappearing altogether. The person probably had opened the door to the manager’s office and entered it.

The footsteps on the left neared Han Fei before disappearing right before the door.

‘The person has stopped beside me?’ Han Fei froze behind the door. Moments later, he heard a boy’s voice saying, “Strange, the manager auntie didn’t take her fruits today?”