319 April 4th

 

“I’ve obtained the key to Room 1244. The next time I log in, I only need to get into Room 1244 and stay inside for 3 hours.” For Han Fei, living another day was worth celebrating, life had never been so precious. “When I quit the game, I believe I heard the system mention a Heart Room 1244, why did it have a special name for Room 1244? Is it symbolic or literal?”

Han Fei considered it when suddenly his heart trembled like someone had kicked at it. His hand went involuntarily to his chest and his head turned to the clock on the wall. It was 4.44 am. “What is so special about 4.44 am to Ziggurat? Will Brother Hwa and Xiao Fang survive the night?” The heartache disappeared as sudden as it came. Han Fei crawled up from the ground. He called Li Xue on her phone because he needed her help to investigate 2 individuals. Han Fei didn’t know their names but he knew what happened to them. One of them was an optimistic female livestreamer who wanted to share beauty with the world but was forced to commit suicide due to the ugliness of humanity. The other died from falling from the rooftop of a building and she was the eldest daughter of a family.

After the police were told these 2 victims might be related to the Butterfly, they launched into a quick investigation without much urging from Han Fei. After doing all that, Han Fei left his rental and headed towards Pear Blossom Neighbourhood. The Ziggurat Game at Zhuang Ren’s home was deeply related to the Ziggurat in the cryptic world, so clearing the game in real life would help Han Fei immensely in his exploration of the Ziggurat.

There was a murder at the set of Thriller Novelist, even though the victim was the killer himself, it had caused some bad press. Rumours flew everywhere and the public's attention was drawn to the meat packing factory and its compound where Spider once lived. To avoid the press, Han Fei was told to stay away from the set for a few days, this presented him with the perfect time to play the game.

When the sun rose, Han Fei had already appeared at Zhuang Ren’s home. He knocked on the door lightly and soon footsteps came from inside the house. Zhuang Ren with bloodshot eyes opened the door hurriedly, it appeared like he had been waiting for Han Fei. “Zhuang Ren, don’t tell me you haven’t slept?”

“I wanted to try to clear the game myself but I couldn’t get to the actual Ziggurat map.”

“Go to sleep. I’ll help you. If I see your family in the game, I’ll wake you immediately.”

“It’s fine, I’m not sleepy.” It was clear that Zhuang Ren really cared about his family. He hurried back to the couch, poured drinks for Han Fei, fluffed the pillow and even polished the controller for Han Fei. It was rare for a former big director to treat an actor like this.

Han Fei didn’t waste time on pleasantries, he started the game and began to play. The most difficult part about the game was with each character death, the player would have to start over from the first map, it felt like the game designer never intended for people to finish the game. This mechanic had almost made Zhuang Ren lose his mind. Random objects were thrown against the wall out of anger, but Han Fei handled this with serenity.

Humans only had one chance at life, there was nothing after death, but the game only required you to start over, that was already kind enough. After taking half an hour, Han Fei finished all the requirements and successfully entered Ziggurat. This time, he didn’t choose a random room or stay standing there, instead he had a clear goal. He controlled his character to move to the 4th floor. When he turned the corner at the stairwell, the deliveryman appeared behind him. Han Fei allowed the man to chase after him until he reached Room 1044, the guard room. He opened the door and went inside to hide. 4 NPC in guard uniform were seated inside the dark room. They appeared to be the only normal NPC at Ziggurat.

“There are 4 of them?” Going close to them would trigger conversation and mission. Through the conversations, Han Fei noticed that the 4 guards were actually sharing ghost stories about the building. The building was already strange during the construction phase. There were many strange events that had happened here, especially on the April 4th of each year. There would always be new tenants moving in on that day, and some abandoned rooms would suddenly be ‘occupied’. April 4th was also the day when the guards were the most nervous all year.

The 4 guards consisted of 2 seniors and 2 juniors. The 2 seniors were sharing their wisdom with the newbies, there were rules that shouldn’t be broken and taboos that shouldn’t be challenged. Only by not listening, not asking, and not thinking that one could have a long career here. Han Fei was focused on the game when his phone rang. After he realized it was from the police, he walked out of the room to answer it. “Have you found anything?”

“The female streamer that you mentioned was quite famous. She died 14 years ago on April 4th by cutting her wrist. She was found inside her own home’s bathtub wearing a white dress. When she was discovered, she had already lost all vitals.” Li Xue said on the phone, “She was mentally unsound and she was under great mental pressure before she died. People faked her chat transcripts and posted them online. Others photoshopped her face into horrible videos and pictures.”

“Why would people do that?”

“Perhaps they didn’t believe someone as pure as her could exist in the world. That’s why they wanted to ruin her, to bring her down to their level.”

“Have the culprits been caught?”

“That’s the strangest part. After we reopen the investigation, we realize all the criminals involved in her crime have mysteriously disappeared.” Li Xue seemed to be flipping through files as she spoke, “The most recent disappearance happened to the main culprit behind the harassment. He was once a chef but was fired because he added dirty ingredients into the food. His mind is incredibly dark and twisted. After he lost his job, he took up making deliveries for a living, that was how he met the victim. Online harassment, attempted murder, food poisoning, he was sentenced to many crimes and was jailed for a long time. These people would have to report back to the law enforcement at regular intervals after they were released back into the public but one day, he just disappeared. There was no body found either.”

Li Xue’s words got Han Fei’s attention. He saw the deliveryman in the cryptic world, only Butterfly could do something like that. But why would Butterfly do that? If it wanted to help the red dress take revenge, it would trap the deliveryman inside the guard room, just like how Han Fei helped Ying Yue. But Butterfly didn’t do that, instead it used the man as some kind of bargaining chip to control the red dress.

‘Humans are pawns and everything is a tool in Butterfly’s eyes. The deliveryman is a tool and the red dress is probably just a stronger tool for the Butterfly.’ Butterfly and Han Fei could retain absolute rationality at the craziest moment, but there was a basic difference to their essence.

“Li Xue, other than the streamer, did you find anything on the other woman?”

“There are quite a number of people who committed suicide from jumping every year but there is only one who fits your description. Similarly something happened to her on the night of April 4th, 14 years ago.”