324 Level 13

 

The messages left behind by Feng Ziyu would be incomprehensible to most but Han Fei. “Room 4444?” Han Fei noticed that the Room numbers at Ziggurat had a certain numbering rule to them—The 1st number was the Building Number; the 2nd and 3rd numbers were the floor number; while the 4th number was the room tally. However, if all four buildings at Ziggurat only had 24 floors, then there wouldn’t be a Room 4444. ‘When I accepted the Death Curse mission, the hint given to me was Room 4444 and now Feng Ziyu is missing and he dreamt that he was in Room 4444…

‘Based on my earlier prediction, there should be an opening connecting the cryptic and surface worlds at Ziggurat, could that opening be Room 4444? It was how Butterfly managed to keep sending non-locals into the cryptic world and turn Ziggurat into its lair? When I obtained the key to Room 1244, the term used by the system was unique. It said I had obtained the key to Heart Room 1244. Looks like it might be more symbolic than I thought. Every room at Ziggurat might be the ‘heart’ of an individual, containing their past and secrets. If that is the case, whose heart did Room 4444 correspond to? The Butterfly or Fu Sheng?’

Han Fei memorized every word in Feng Ziyu’s messages because he might see the man at Ziggurat that night. ‘If I can find Feng Ziyu and rescue him, I’ll get to know the secrets of Room 4444. That might help me get to know the Butterfly better.’ Feng Ziyu’s messages showed that he was at Building 4 and that was the most dangerous building at Ziggurat. Not only the Butterfly but the Singer was there as well.

“Han Fei, do you think it was because of me that the Butterfly came after Ziyu?” Huang Yin’s voice came from the phone, “The Butterfly appears to have the ability to look through people’s memories when it is in their dreams. It should know everything about me but it didn’t come after me but instead it was Ziyu who has gone missing.” Huang Yin’s memory was too normal and that was abnormal for the Butterfly, therefore, its first target was not Huang Yin. Of course, Han Fei didn’t tell Huang Yin that. Cluelessness was the best shield for Huang Yin. “I’ll handle things with Ziyu, but what about you? Did you still dream about your mother at night?”

“Not only in dreams, she appears to have stepped out into reality. It’s hard to explain. For example, I’ve dreamt about her pouring a glass of water for me and then when I woke up, there would be a filled cup of water on my bedside table.”

“Perhaps it was the Butterfly who infiltrated your mind during REM sleep and made you pour the water yourself. After you woke up, you wouldn’t have any recollection of it.”

“Perhaps.”

“Brother Huang, Butterfly’s influence will slowly move from the dreamscape to reality. You can use it to lessen your guilt towards your mother but remember this, it is ultimately a madman pretending to be your mother, you mustn’t ever forget about that!” Huang Yin’s words concerned Han Fei. When Butterfly went all out on Huang Yin, it would be the moment when Huang Yin’s true vulnerability would be exposed. Butterfly would take the wildest revenge on Huang Yin for ‘fooling’ it for so long.

“Understood.”

After hanging up, Han Fei pondered many things but the speed by which he controlled his character didn’t slow. He cleared the maps again and again to reach Ziggurat but always ended up dead inside Room 1244. This series of endless death was like some kind of omen, it was quite unsettling. At 10 pm, Han Fei woke up Zhuang Ren who had fallen asleep. He reminded the director to be careful before he left.

As he exited the neighbourhood, he was greeted by the large virtual screen in the sky. The number had dropped down to 4, meaning there were 4 more days to the OB of Perfect Life. There was a celebratory atmosphere in the air as the public discussed this game which would change the era. As the countdown approached, many players couldn’t reign in their excitement anymore. Han Fei stood out against the ecstatic crowd. Under the shadow of the virtual screen, he walked into the darkness.

After he got home, Han Fei picked up the books on his table to read. In this era, there were not that many readers left. Han Fei didn’t like to read in the past either, but after starting Perfect Life, he fell in love with this obsolete form of entertainment. Only with a real book in his hand could he find some peace. “Psychopathy is hard to define. The general consensus is that psychopathy originates from trauma and pain, or the malfunction of hormones…”

At midnight, Han Fei took one glance out the window. He put down the book, crawled into the gaming hub and put on the gaming helmet. “Time is counting down for me. Playing the game with my life on the line, it’s quite exciting.”

Han Fei who fell back into the cryptic world was not only fighting for himself, he also wanted to save everyone from the evil clutches of the Butterfly. The story of the jumper woman affected him deeply and the sad thing was hers was not an exception to the rule.

The smell of decay crawled into his nostrils and Han Fei’s eyes flew open. The top floor of Building 1 was crawling with blood vessels and the walls cracked. While Han Fei was away, the conflict appeared to have escalated. Without wasting any time, Han Fei rushed towards his destination. He remembered where he stood when he logged off and his location in relation to Room 1244. Several seconds later, Han Fei found himself standing before Room 1244. He took out the key and stuck it into the keyhole. Han Fei could only leave the game after he completed a mission and stayed for 3 hours, therefore, everything came second to completing a mission.

Han Fei had a clear assessment of his situation. Only when the ‘exit’ button lit up could he explore the building more fearlessly. The key covered in black curses slowly turned. As the blood red anti-theft door opened, the black curse on the key crawled onto Han Fei’s palm. But to Han Fei’s surprise, when the black curse came up to the blood red pattern on the back of his arm, it stopped. ‘The bloody pattern is similar to the ones on Big Sin, is it helping me?’

In any case, now was not the time to ponder that. Han Fei pushed the anti-theft door open and walked in. The yellowed talismans slipped from the door. As Han Fei entered Room 1244, the notification from the system came.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve completed Grade F Hidden Mission—If I touch you, you’ll die! Obtained 3 free skill points! Obtained unique mission reward—Welcoming Present from Heart Room 1244.

“Welcoming Present from Heart Room 1244: Every object inside Room 1244 contains the memory of its owner, you can choose one and take it away with you. Warning! Selecting the right object will help you increase friendliness level with the owner of Room 1244 but if you select the wrong thing, then she might chase after you forever.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve successfully reached level 13, obtained 1 free attribute point!”

Ziggurat was a Grade E Hidden Map. It was highly dangerous but the missions here also provided a lot of EXP. Of course, it also helped that Han Fei was severely underleveled. After all, a normal level 12 player would still be at the Happiness Neighbourhood, so after completing 2 consecutive hidden missions at Ziggurat, Han Fei earned enough EXP to reach level 13.

Even though his overall level was low, thanks to the buff from Midnight Butcher, his stamina was passable. After adding the new attribute point to stamina, Han Fei now had 19 stamina points. The increase in strength was good but the important thing was now he could run faster.