646 Bait

 

“Why is the cover like this? Had I voluntarily welcomed death to forget about the past? Why?” What could have a person experienced that he’d be mad enough to forget his past actively? Han Fei’s heart pounded. This time, it was not because of fear but another emotion that he couldn’t decrypt. “Someone wants to kill me, and he has already succeeded ninety-nine times, or I have cooperated with him and died ninety-nine times…” His mind only had some death memories left. Han Fei stood under the bloody night and scanned the other players.

“Who can that person be? Whose body does he inhabit? Is it one of the players, my parents, or my doctor?” The clown gave Han Fei a lot of important info. This appeared to be their deal. The clown’s appearance confirmed something for Han Fei. He was not a scriptwriter. He was most likely the player who had gotten ninety-nine points.

Putting away the piece of paper, Han Fei’s face darkened under the blood night. ‘The clown killed someone without mercy. I felt like he had killed me many times too. He is not a good person, but he didn’t seem like he was lying to me. What kind of choice do I need to make? Or what is the right choice?’

While Han Fei was pondering this, the other players panicked. A group of players surrounded the dead player, and they wanted to wake him. The stronger players focused on the monster called Bliss. The more it was attacked, the crazier it got. The twenty-two arms represented strong determination to tear everyone into pieces to become fertilizers.

“F! Someone’s dead!”

“I can’t do this anymore! Retreat!”

“Let the people with special talent go first!”

The players shouted. F avoided the monster’s first wave of attack and said coolly, “No one is leaving! The ghost who killed Short Hair is in this building. If you run away in panic, you will be killed! Do you want to be the next Short Hair?” F didn’t order the players to stay. Instead, he gave them a valid reason.

“The ghost has already left. If you want to escape, this is your only chance.” Han Fei didn’t mean to go against F but the anxiety in his heart disappeared so that could only mean that the clown had left. However, if they stayed here, they might attract other ghosts. After all, who knew how many ghosts resided in this building.

The players didn’t react, but F’s gaze changed. He didn’t like opposing voices. If there were two voices in a group, progress would be halted. The other players had reservations about Han Fei’s words too. They didn’t know Han Fei, so why should they believe him? Furthermore, Short Hair’s body wasn’t even cold yet. The exit was right there but no one dared to leave.

“F, the presence of death there is dissipating.” Worm agreed with Han Fei, and he was pushed to the monster by F.

“How can you survive in this nightmarish world if you’re always a coward? Show us your other side. I will teach you to be a better version of yourself!” The last sentence caused Han Fei to frown.

“No. I really can’t do this!” Worm was most afraid of F. He had an innate  fear of F. This was something he honed after approaching death several times. He knew that if F wanted to kill him, he wouldn’t have the chance to survive. Worm didn’t have the chance to evade. He was grabbed by the monster’s arm. He screamed for help, but no one wanted to face the monster. At the end of the day, this group gathered for profit. They could help each other but they wouldn’t risk their lives to help another.

The giant monster placed a lot of pressure on everyone. Even Thousand Nights with the highest stamina hesitated. He glanced at F as if trying to read his thoughts. F, in a black trench coat and white mask, stood closest to Worm and the monster. He didn’t abandon Worm, but he didn’t move to help Worm either. He really wanted to force out Worm’s true potential. Perhaps he was not wrong, but many players thought he had gone overboard.

“Follow the original plan! Take your places! Don’t waste this chance created by Worm!” F was too weak compared to the monster. He needed someone to distract the monster before he could attack the monster’s weak point. Worm screamed for mercy. Many arms grabbed his body to tear him apart.

“Move!” F gave the order, but only half the players heeded it. The other half hid in the back. “If you don’t follow my orders, we’ll all die here! We have no other choice!” Cold order came from behind the mask. F was always like this. He was cool and aloof. He only asked for the best result. No one knew what he was thinking. However, one could hear his confidence from his words. Everything could be resolved by following his order. Thousand Nights, who was closest to F, made his move first. He led the players with special talents to attack the monster. They had practiced this before. Everyone had their role. They helped create an opening for F. But Worm was not that lucky. His bones cracked. A hand with the medicine bottle shoved the pills down his mouth.

“Help! F! Save me!” If he swallowed the pills, even if Worm survived, he would become a monster. He was so scared that his voice was shaking. F watched everything coldly. He hadn’t found the opening, so he decided to wait.

The train of fate trundled forward. There was a split in the road. One rail had many people, and the other rail only had Worm. F was the train conductor. He turned to the rail that would kill Worm without hesitation.

“F! You lied to me!” The medicine approached. Worm saw the deadly pills inside. The pill had crying children's faces. The pills were made from their tears. They were covered in red fur.

Bliss’ four arms grabbed Worm’s four limbs. The fifth arm pressed the bottle against Worm’s mouth. The red pills rolled down the bottle. Just as they were about to enter Worm’s mouth, a knife flew by. It cut off the arm that held the bottle. Worm, who was crying, turned to look. Han Fei, in the white mask, weaved through the sea of flowers. He didn’t use any words. He used actions to approach the monster slowly. Han Fei inspired the other players, and they started to advance too.

F was dissatisfied with Han Fei, but when he saw that Han Fei was willing to cooperate, the dissatisfaction disappeared. He didn’t like Han Fei, but that was his personal feeling. He would use everything and everyone that could lead him to 100 points. No one could approach the monster, so only people with specific knives could damage the arm which held the medicine bottles. F’s black blade could do the same thing, but he didn’t do that. Worm would remember this.

The few players attracted around three arms. To Han Fei’s surprise, the players had very good training and knew how to deal with Bliss. It was like they knew they would encounter this monster beforehand. They were different from Han Fei, who was evading based on his reaction and instinct. These people were moving according to specific steps. ‘There is someone like the clown among the players. They already know the answer.’

F immediately appeared in Han Fei’s mind. The player was too strange.

Han Fei moved through the battery. His goal was clear. He wanted to save Worm and take back his knife. F appeared to be the real owner of Perfect Life Hotel. He had gathered a group of players. Han Fei would gain nothing from countering F head-on, so he decided to do it little by little. The other thing was after hearing Worm’s voice, he felt like he knew Worm and perhaps they were friends.

Han Fei’s every step was a move on fate. He stepped between life and death as he miraculously avoided the monster’s attack. He had practiced this many times, and everything was in muscle memory.

The closer Han Fei was, the more the monster panicked. Some of the arms reached for Han Fei. ‘Why didn’t it want me to approach it?’ Han Fei remembered the words behind the clown mask. ‘No. 11 knew that bliss is a monster, but he still chose to approach it. The children didn’t have much to ask for. Even if they get injured, they will move towards bliss.’

Han Fei found the key. He glanced through the arms of the 11 pairs of adopted parents and focused on the monster’s ugly face and the heart covered in prayers. ‘That is No. 11’s bliss. It is ugly and aggressive, but it is essentially the bliss of a child.’

Han Fei charged forward. F sensed something. He stopped hesitating and ran forward too. The arms were distracted. F was surprisingly fast. He was the ceiling for the players. He avoided the arms agilely and reached the monster’s essence with Han Fei. They stood on either side. They both stared at the exposed heart.

However, their reactions were completely different. F plunged his knife at Bliss’ heart while Han Fei reached out his arms to hug Bliss’ heart.

“Stop!”

“Stop!”

Han Fei and F shouted. But neither of them slowed down. Just as they were about to touch the monster’s heart, black briars grew out from the bushes near the monster. Interestingly enough, the vines didn’t stop Han Fei. ‘It’s because I’ve saved that kid earlier!’

The choice in the past affected the current result. Han Fei’s mind flashed with some memory. He reached Bliss’ heart first.

F reacted quickly too. He was not like a normal human. Risking the injury, he chopped off the vines. Then, he stabbed at the heart in Han Fei’s embrace. He planned to chop through Han Fei’s fingers. Han Fei wanted to save his hands, but the only choice was to abandon the heart. He hesitated at the last moment. He didn’t want to hand over this injured heart to F.

F’s black blade touched Han Fei’s fingers. The hilt of the black blade screamed loudly.