337 Run!

 

“It is him!” When the middle-aged man mentioned a big company, Han Fei already thought of Feng Ziyu. Back when the Ziggurat map hadn’t been deleted from the surface world, Feng Ziyu and his colleagues were the last to enter the neighbourhood, so it was understandable for the Butterfly to go after him.

“Feng Ziyu kept a very low profile and rarely interacted with people. If not for the sounds coming from his apartment, I would have thought the unit above me was empty.” The middle-aged man frowned with regret. “I should have minded my own business. The sensei already told me that I would face a major hurdle around age 40.”

“I’d advise you to trust in yourself rather than in fate.” Han Fei picked up the middle-aged man, “Has your neighbour acted unusually recently?”

“I haven’t seen him for the past few days, I believe he has been staying at home. Oh, wait! I kept hearing knocking in the corridor at night, I believe it came from his door!”

“Knocking at night?”

“Yes, it’s always around midnight. I thought he was calling some kind of service, after all, he has been alone for so long.” The middle-aged man shrunk away from the clothes and carefully nudged closer to Han Fei. “Other than the knocking, I can’t think of anything else.”

“Can you remember the spot where you first woke up?” Han Fei wanted to trace his track, to see if he could find his way to Feng Ziyu’s place.

“I can’t, but I believe it’s from that direction.” The middle-aged man pointed behind him. “I was too flustered to note the route I was taking. But I did remember one thing. The spot where I woke up was scattered with shredded clothing and they all had black characters on them.”

Feng Ziyu had gone missing in real life. Based on the last messages he sent to Huang Yin, he was probably led by Butterfly deep into the dream and Room 4444. Assuming Room 4444 was the channel Butterfly used to connect the real world and cryptic world, then Feng Ziyu should be inside the cryptic world as well. The middle-aged man’s appearance here was an accident. Butterfly most likely dropped him into the dresser because it had no use for someone like him.

Han Fei tried his best to string all the limited information together. ‘Real world, dreams, cryptic world… Is it possible that Butterfly in Room 4444 could connect to people in the real world via dreams and then use the dresser in Room 4444 to send these people from real life into a cryptic world? After all, Room 4444 technically shouldn’t exist in Ziggurat, it wasn’t part of the Ziggurat. But in that case, what is Room 4444? Is it really a room?’ With the black box and Spirit Farer talent, for Han Fei, the entire Perfect Life game was his Room 4444. As long as people logged into the game and fitted certain requirements, he could summon them to the cryptic world. If that was the case, what would Butterfly’s Room 4444 look like?

‘Looks like I’ve been fooled by preconceived notions and assumed that Room 4444 has to be a room. But one thing’s for certain—If Room 4444 doesn’t physically exist at the Ziggurat, then perhaps this dresser is the only way to get there.’ With that in mind, Han Fei knew he couldn’t waste anymore time. While he could quit the game at any time, he needed to locate the exit as soon as possible.

“Come on, let’s go to find the spot where you first woke up.” Han Fei supported the middle-aged man and turned to the silent woman beside him. “Come along, I have promised to help you find your son.” Han Fei who used to have social anxiety now had unconsciously become the core of the group. Before the pressure of survival, he had metamorphosized. Walking through the maze of bloody clothes, time lost its meaning. The despair on the middle-aged man’s face thickened but whenever he thought about giving up, he would see the determination on Han Fei’s face. He couldn’t find any trace of fear on Han Fei’s face. This man who was much younger than he was, inspired him with power. The confidence and ease came from within, like he already had the solution in his mind and could leave this godforsaken place any time he wanted. Influenced by Han Fei, the middle-aged man and the woman didn’t feel as defeated as before. Han Fei had planted a small seed of hope within them—perhaps they really could find the exit.

There were more bloody clothes. After some time, Han Fei who was at the rear of the group suddenly tapped on the middle-aged man’s shoulder and then whispered into his ears. “Do not look back and maintain this speed.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Tell the woman before you that there is a monster disguised as bloody clothes following behind us, tell her to speed up after a minute to try and see if we can shake it off.” Han Fei used the most peaceful tone to describe something incredibly scary. They had been targeted by the scariest creature inside the dresser. The middle-aged man relayed Han Fei’s message word for word. A minute later, the woman suddenly raced off. Han Fei and the middle-aged man who were prepared followed after her.

After knowing it had been exposed, the monster revealed its true identity. Two red arms reached out from the sleeves and a face stitched up with patches of fabric appeared on the clothes. The red pieces of fabric were sewn into the flesh. The clothes had become part of it and it became part of the clothes. It moved very fast like a red shadow, it quickly caught up to Han Fei’s group.

After some running, the difference in stamina between the 3 survivors could be clearly seen. Han Fei ran at the front completely unfazed, the woman followed closely behind him, the middle-aged man though was already gasping for air. His legs were weakening. If they abandoned the middle-aged man now, Han Fei and the woman would have an easy escape. With the middle-aged man’s size, the monster would take a long time to digest him.

Perhaps due to fear, the middle-aged man tripped on a pile of clothes on the ground. When he collapsed, the man’s face turned ashen. At that moment, he was consumed by despair and his previously pristine shirt surfaced with patches of blood stains.

“Give me your hand!” Han Fei kept his eyes open even when he was making his escape. After so many experiences of running for his life, many things had become part of his instinct. Seeing the bloody clothes monster rapidly approach, Han Fei grabbed the middle-aged man’s arm and ran at his full power. Buffed by the talent of the Ziggurat Guard, Han Fei’s running speed was ridiculous. If someone saw Han Fei running like this in the middle of the night, they would think he was the ghost.