318 4 Hours

 

The tone was crisp but carried with it an undertone of resentment and confusion. Just the voice of it caused Han Fei’s skin to crawl with goosebumps. “Why is it a female voice? The neighbourhood doesn’t employ a female guard…” Brother Hwa was flummoxed. It only took a moment to fall from heaven to hell. Naturally Han Fei wouldn’t tell Brother Hwa that he had stuffed the walkie-talkie into the red dress due to desperation. But as a responsible guard, he would not let others take the fall for his actions. “Give it to me.” After he accepted the walkie-talkie, Han Fei matter-of-factly lifted the speaker to his lips. “I know who hurt you the most. I do not know if there’s anything I can say to alleviate your pain, but I will help you destroy the person who injured you the deepest! No, destruction is too simple an end for them. We’ll make them suffer thrice the pain that they have unleashed upon you.” From the way Han Fei was talking, you’d think he was catching up with his old friend, so much so that Brother Hwa and Xiao Fang wanted to ask, ‘Are you 2 friends?’

The static echoed in his ear, and Han Fei spoke again, “I have to stress that I didn’t mean to leave you behind. Tell me your current location, I will go fetch you now.” After a long time, the woman’s voice surfaced among the shrill static. “You want to come fetch me?” The red dress had been dumped again and again, this was the first time she heard someone was offering to come fetch her. “I’ve been torn into pieces, some are on the 23rd floor, others on the 24th floor.”

“Got it, wait for me!” After Han Fei hung up, Brother Hwa, Xiao Fang and himself entered the guard room. Before they started the patrol, the building was quiet, it was no different from a normal building, if a little bit eerie. But after the patrol, the whole building was covered in red. The top and ground floors were almost shattered. The building kept shaking, even the black mist around it stirred like they were hit by an earthquake.

“And that ends the first patrol of my life.” Han Fei picked up the patrol form that hung on the wall. Using his superb memory, he noted down all the broken devices and strange occurrences that they had encountered during their patrol. Xiao Fang and Brother Hwa stood dumbly beside him as Han Fei wrote crazily on the form. Those who didn’t know better would assume Han Fei was writing down his will. After he was done, Han Fei still didn’t receive any notification from the system. He scanned the form anxiously before his eyes settled on the signature columns. ‘Do I need the signatures of all 3 patrols? If one of us accidentally died, does that mean I would never finish this mission?’

With no other option, he had Xiao Fang and Brother Hwa drop their signatures. When Brother Hwa finished the last stroke of his signature, Han Fei finally received the notification from the system! “Notification for Player 0000, you’ve completed Grade F hidden mission, Night-time patrol! You’ve successfully completed your first patrol with the guidance of your two seniors!

“There are many firsts in our life. Only by taking on new attempts will our life become more colorful and interesting.

“Mission completion rate is 20 percent, you’ve gained the approval of your two colleagues but the tenants have some opinions regarding you and your actions. You’ve obtained 3 free skill points and the set of Ziggurat Guard Uniform (Basic attire with no buff)

“Due to the low completion rate and the complaints from the tenants, you were unable to unlock the unique profession—Ziggurat Guard.

“Warning! If you are able to gain the approval of all the tenants at Building 1 within the next 3 days, you will immediately unlock the hidden profession—Ziggurat Guard!”

Han Fei gave a long sigh of relief when he heard the system notification. He collapsed on the couch. As the building trembled, he fixed his eyes on the exit button which had finally lit up. He could always try again for the reward but to be able to exit the game was more important. ‘If I can gain the approval of all the tenants within the next 3 days, I’ll directly unlock the hidden profession?’ The hidden profession, Midnight Butcher, had helped Han Fei greatly. If he could get another hidden profession, even as a part time job, Han Fei believed it would benefit him greatly.

‘It won’t be easy to gain the tenants’ approval but it’s not impossible either. I should make that my goal for the next 3 days.’ Holding the walkie-talkie, Han Fei stood up. He radiated confidence. “Brother Hwa, Xiao Fang, you should stay here. I’m going to go fulfil my promise.”

“You’re leaving now? When the whole building is lurking with monsters?” Brother Hwa couldn’t understand Han Fei. Earlier it was Han Fei who ran the fastest but now he wanted to leave again.

“I only came back here to ensure that the two of you can be safe. Now that that is accomplished, it’s time for me to go do something else.” Han Fei shook the walkie-talkie. “Do you know whose voice that was?” Xiao Fang and Brother Hwa shook their heads. This was their first time hearing that voice.

“That was the red dress. We shouldn’t leave her out there all alone.”

“Wait, the red dress that can’t be destroyed and removed?” Brother Hwa stared at the walkie-talkie Han Fei was holding. Xiao Fang silently took out his own walkie-talkie and dropped it at the table far away.

“Yes, she has saved us, we can’t leave her behind. We have to have morals.” Han Fei picked up the walkie-talkie and ensured that his exit button was lit up again before he opened the guard room door. The scent of blood drifted into the room. After hearing the door open, several footsteps came from the stairwell. Ziggurat had never been as lively as it was that night.

“I have no idea if I can return safely. If I don’t come back in the next 24 hours, then most likely something has happened to me…” Han Fei glanced back into the room, “Stay here and don’t wander off. Take care of yourselves.”

The footsteps from downstairs became more frenetic. Han Fei closed the guard room door and headed up the stairs with determination. The chaos had spread through the entire building. Blood crawled. All the tenants had lost their minds, but the key issue was they seemed to have realized that their manager appeared to be missing!

Their suppressed anger and despair were unleashed. This was also the first time Han Fei experienced a massacre on this scale. Along the way, blood splattered everywhere. There were broken spirits and monsters everywhere, it was hell!

At 4.44 am, 4 hours after Han Fei joined the security team at Ziggurat, he came to the 23rd floor, wearing his red uniform, stepping over the dried blood. The walls of the staircase near the top floor had been engulfed by curse and blood vessels but Han Fei paid them no mind. He picked up the pieces of red dress and stored them in his uniform pocket. Following the trail of the shredded dress, Han Fei finally arrived at the top floor. The jumper woman had disappeared, only pieces of red dress remained on the corridor. When he reached the door of Room 1244, Han Fei found his walkie-talkie, it was covered by a large piece of the red dress. Each time the red dress was torn apart, she would become stronger with each recovery but her recovery speed slowed down and the connection between the shredded pieces weakened. A Large Lingering Spirit was scary but it was not like they had no weaknesses.

“I’m a man of my words, so here I am.” Han Fei picked up the scattered dress pieces. When he had a pile of them, Han Fei realized it was not threads that bound the dress together but bloody lines. The bloody lines near the edges twined together to weave out a more alluring and arresting pattern. “Only those who were kind and special in life could be so beautiful in death.” Treading through blood and curse, Han Fei collected the pieces of fabric. Even the red dress didn’t expect him to return!

She couldn’t understand this man at all. She had already planned to take revenge on the 3 security guards after she healed herself. But things had developed in a completely different direction. A living human was willing to take such a huge risk for a Lingering Spirit? Was his heart made from steel?

“The 3 of us would be dead without your help. You’re important for the 3 of us, we will not leave you behind!” Han Fei included Xiao Fang and Brother Hwa in his words because he was worried that the red dress might harm his colleagues after he logged off. The dress slowly regained its form. Han Fei had almost reached the end of the corridor when a sudden wail and howl came from inside Room 1244. Following that, the sound of limbs skittering came from the stairwell! The jumper woman was tipped off and she was rapidly ascending back to the top floor!

The broken face appeared beyond the safety door. The woman’s body had expanded several times in size. Her eyes filled with death fixed on Han Fei who was picking up the fabric pieces. Her fingers covered in black symbols pushed open the safety door. Her large body was imprinted with the Death Curse that looked as black as ink. “I see you! If I touch you, you’ll die! So die, die, die!”

Han Fei had escaped several times from the jumper woman, her hatred towards him was almost palpable. Even through the distance, Han Fei could feel the curse prickling his skin!

The wall started to crack. Every spot that the woman touched crawled with the character of death. Being in the presence of such a dangerous ghost, Han Fei patiently picked up the last piece of red fabric. The red dress was completed. The lines on the dress connected back together but it still needed some time to fully recover. But Han Fei and the red dress knew that the jumper woman wouldn’t give them that time. For Han Fei, tossing the red dress at the jumper woman was his only chance to escape. The jumper woman came from the left stairwell and Han Fei was close to the right stairwell, there was a long corridor between them.

“Actually, I just want to tell you that I meant you no harm. I’m the security here and it’s my responsibility to help you.” Han Fei said as he tested the tensile strength of the red dress. After he made sure the dress wouldn’t tear apart, he wrapped the dress around the walkie-talkie again. Just as the red dress thought she was about to be used as bait again, Han Fei held her beyond the banisters of the stairs. “This time, I’ll stay behind to stop her. If I manage to survive, I hope we can be friends.”

Then Han Fei let go. The red dress fell, pulled by gravity and the weight of the walkie-talkie. A pale face surfaced among the fabric. The hatred in her eyes was slowly overwhelmed by confusion. In this building dominated by death, someone was willing to give up his life for her?

Han Fei didn’t stay to watch the red dress fall, instead he reached into his inventory to grab a cigarette and lit it. After the manager died, his 3 ‘sons’ left 3 cigarettes for him. These 3 cigarettes were one of the earlier mission rewards he obtained. The 3 cigarettes had the presence of the manager’s 3 sons and they could be used as protection talismans. Han Fei used one when he first left the Happiness neighbourhood and now he was using another. The smoke rings rose into the air. Wailing souls could be heard from the dropping ashes. A pair of eyes appeared to open behind Han Fei. The black mist outside the building stirred harder. The presence of the manager’s son caused some changes outside the building but Han Fei didn’t have the time to care about that now. His eyes were following the heart of the jumper woman, specifically the key which was stuck there.

If Han Fei just wanted to survive, then he could have quitted the game now but that wouldn’t solve the problem. The next time he logged in, he still wouldn’t have access into Room 1244 and he’d still be chased by the jumper woman. To solve this conundrum, Han Fei came up with a crazy idea. He allowed the smoke to envelop him. Han Fei stared at the heart of the jumper woman and suddenly charged forward!

Neither party slowed down. Just as the collision was immediate, Han Fei’s hand reached towards the key. Activating Soul Depth Touch, Han Fei pulled out the key and shoved it into his inventory. The moment he heard the system notification, Han Fei logged out. “Notification for Player 0000, you’ve successfully obtained the key to Heart Room 1244!

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve been afflicted by the Death Curse of Room 1244!”

Blood froze the world. His eyes flew open and Han Fei removed the helmet and eased out from the hub. “I did it!” Han Fei slumped to the ground, his heart still pumping from adrenaline. He had been the security guard at Ziggurat for only 4 hours but he had not only completed a patrol but also gained the key to the most dangerous room at Building 1!

Next time he logged into the game, he could attempt the Grade F Hidden Mission directly. Laying there on the ground, Han Fei didn’t look like someone who had just finished a satisfactory gaming session but that was indeed the case.