360 Living Undead

 

“I can help you find your head, I know where it is.” Han Fei voiced his promise again. In the Ziggurat game, the door guardian promised to fulfill any wish Han Fei had as long as Han Fei was willing to help him. The head on the door guardian’s shoulders stopped speaking. Instead the eyes peered right at Han Fei, like they were trying to see through him. “I really can help you.”

“Has my head made the same request of you?” The rotten mouth suddenly asked. Han Fei had no idea what the door guardian meant but he nodded.

“I knew it was looking for me.” The incomplete mouth laughed. “Actually I should thank the person who decapitated me, if not for it, I wouldn’t have been born. I wanted to confirm its location with you not because I want it back but I want you to demolish it.”

“What do you mean?”

“This body has gained an independent consciousness, which is me. I am now the Ziggurat’s door guardian. The head is nothing but a vessel for my past memories.” The door guardian slowly melted into the door of Room 4044. “I do not need you to find my head back for me, I only need you to hide my existence while you bring me to find it.”

“Okay, no problem.” Han Fei promised readily.

“See if you can survive past tonight first. You were targeted by the Soul Chaser so you are one of its chosen.” The head on the door guardian’s shoulders leaned forward. He reached his hands to grab the head.

“Its chosen? I’ve just lost 3 souls, I need to…” It was uncommon for Han Fei to find a ‘person’ he could talk to at the Ziggurat so he didn’t want the door guardian to leave.

“I can’t tell you more, the only thing I can tell you is that tonight both the living and the dead will appear inside this building. The living will remember that they are alive and they will hide at home to sleep; but the dead will forget that they’re dead and they’ll go around acting like everything is normal. If you wish to survive the night, stay closer to the living and avoid the dead.” The door guardian’s body was almost flat against the door of Room 4044. The head on his shoulders looked at Han Fei with a fleeting smile. Han Fei had a feeling that the door guardian had discovered something in his brain because the change in his attitude was too drastic. Before this, Han Fei was an ant he could crush but now Han Fei became someone he could use.

“Is that all?”

“You better move. Your souls would have been inflicted by the Death Curses as well. And as time progresses, they will slowly forget that they are only part of your spirit and start to gain consciousness of their own, just like me and my head.” The head revealed a sickening smile, “My head wants to find its body back to regain control of it; while I want to destroy my head so I can remain.”

“They can grow to have their own consciousness?” Han Fei had seriously underestimated this Grade E Mission. The system didn’t warn him of many things!

“Of course, so move swiftly.” The door guardian plucked the head off his shoulders. The long blood vessels were sucked back into its body. “One last tip for you, I believe I saw one of your souls run into Room 4064 seconds ago.”

“4064?” Han Fei turned to look but he saw nothing. “How come I can’t see anything?”

“Soon, you’ll be able to. You’re now a living undead, not living and not dead. Tonight, you’ll see many things that you have never seen in the past like the Soul Chasers. But be warned, seeing is one thing but if you cross the line, you’ll never be able to return.” The door guardian’s body joined with the door of Room 4044. The human head in his hands was slowly changing.

“Living undead? What kind of status is that? Is it similar to what a person might experience when they’re approaching death?” Han Fei stared at the door guardian, he believed the door guardian was still hiding something from him. “Door guardian, you appear to be very interested in humans, why is that?”

“Well, I’ve always preferred to communicate with the humans.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at the heads on the ground, are there any that are not human?”

“Well, you have a point there.” Han Fei’s conversation with the door guardian was unique and probably only could be heard at the Ziggurat. “Door guardian, can you tell me what is inside 4044? Perhaps there is something I can use…” Before Han Fei finished, the door guardian squished the broken head. It dissolved into blood and slithered into the room. Everything on the 14th floor corridor returned to normal.

“He has gone?” Han Fei took a deep breath as his heart slowed down. Only then he realized his back was drenched in cold sweat. What was an Iyashikei game? 3 minutes after you log in, you have already had brushes with death for more than 10 times, it was impossible to not appreciate life in this game.

“One of my souls has run into Room 4064?” Han Fei glanced at the menu. He looked at his character status and discovered something worrying—Player is in a unique state and thus can’t quit the game at the moment. Resisting the urge to curse, Han Fei immediately made his way to the 6th floor. “Looks like the exit button won’t light up until I find all 3 of my souls.”

Even though Han Fei knew he was in a time crunch, his brain was still very clear. At least he had gotten a warning from the system, if his memory or ‘soul’ was stolen in the cryptic world, the incomplete version of himself would not be able to go offline. Han Fei’s nerve was tense because he had lost the godlike-skill of logging off anytime he wanted.

After the door guardian returned to the door, the corridor returned to normal except for the paper human heads on the ground, they looked like trampled white paper lanterns.

Han Fei didn’t waste any time. He put away Rest in Peace, avoided the Soul Chaser’s elevator and entered the stairwell. Before he could do anything though, the shrill dirge came from upstairs. The dirge mixed with the song from outside the building. After they echoed in his ears for some time, Han Fei thought the two singers matched each other quite well.