The old man bore witness to the interaction between Han Fei and Drake. He found it hard to believe that he could see something like this in the world forever enclosed in darkness.
“Family, huh?” The bloody phone lines extricated from the carcasses, the old man removed the curse from all the guests. All along, the guests had been the ones conversing with themselves on the phone. Just like the old man, their deepest desire became the curse that bound them to the hostel. The guests slowly awakened one after another. They had on different expressions, some were surprised, others looked feared. The most unusual among them was the man in the raincoat.
He hid the axe back under his coat. The dark eyes swept at Han Fei before he moved silently towards the hole. When he was about 1 metre away from Han Fei, he suddenly jumped at Han Fei!
The man was suspended in mid air as red telephone lines shot out to wrap around him.
“All I ever wanted was to be with my wife again. I could not even tell when that desire mutated but I knew why it had worsened into a curse. ‘She’ fed on their despair and came into a life of ‘her’ own.” The old man neutralized the man in the raincoat and dropped him before Han Fei. “In other words, I knew all about their inner secrets. After all, it was me who changed their desires into realities.”
“Sir, I am not a good person nor am I a saint. However, I believe in the power of justice, those who have sinned need to be punished.” Han Fei stood above the mass grave. “Why don’t you tell me the tales of all your guests? And we can decide together their future.” Some of the guests were trapped Animated Regrets, they were hypnotized and succumbed to the false happiness offered by the voices of their loved ones on the phone.
The others were pure evil animated. They had already lost their humanity, the example being the man in the raincoat. Overcome by jealousy, he murdered his ex-wife and then went after the child his ex-wife had with her new family. After the double-murders, his mind snapped. He would see his ex-wife’s faces on all the children and would assume they were bastards his wife had with other men. It was this man who injured Drake’s mother and brother. It was also because of him that Drake came to the hostel. Some of the guests were influenced by the phone’s curse while other tenants influenced the phone with their own malice, making this extremely rare cursed object even more powerful.
After knowing every guest’s stories, Han Fei unleashed Weep and Lee Zai. He allowed them to feast on the unsavable guests. Weep and Lee Zai were not Han Fei’s underlings, they were on equal footing. This was especially true for Lee Zai, he only chose to follow Han Fei because the latter promised him food.
Drake was heavily injured. He joined the ranks of Weep and Lee Zai, consumption would aid his healing. A gory scene occurred inside the hostel. It was even more terrifying than before.
“There are kind spirits and evil spirits in the cryptic world. For now, I do not possess the power to salvage evil spirits so the only way I can change this world is to allow the kind spirits to consume the evil spirits.” Standing in the bloody rain, Han Fei turned to the remaining guests and the old man. “I am also fighting for a chance at survival. Like you, I might die at any moment, but I promise you that as long as I am still alive, I will do my best to help you search for your family and friends. Hiding at this place, waiting daily beside the phones for comfort is self-deceiving. It will never bring you closer to your dream. Only by making actual efforts that you’ll get closer to them.” Most of the guests had been consumed. Only 3 guests were unharmed. They were Big Head and his mother as well as the drunkard. They had never harmed anyone, they were just victims of the cursed phone lines. “Feel free to move to the Happiness Neighbourhood on the opposite street, it is safe there. But if you insist on staying here, I hope you can cooperate with the ghosts from the convenience store next door. Look after and support each other.”
No one raised contention against what Han Fei said. The surviving guests looked at the man with both awe and fear. After consuming some Animated Regrets and Lingering Spirits, Drake was much better. However, the unfortunate fact remained that his mother had already fallen victim to the raincoat man. The truth was some time after Firefly and his mother moved into this hostel, she was murdered by the raincoat man. Firefly had been talking to ‘her’ through the phone.
“Mom would never allow Firefly to get close to the convenience store so when I saw him around the back alley, I knew that something bad must have happened to her…” Drake blamed himself a lot even though the fault was not his. At the time, he was still under the paper doll’s control. He could barely save himself, much less others. More emotions colored Drake’s only eye, this was a good sign. After consoling Drake, Han Fei walked to the old man’s side. He planned to wire one of the phones straight to Yi Ming Convenience Store. However, he did not plan to bring the phones to the Happiness Neighbourhood yet. Han Fei had to ensure the neighbourhood was completely safe before he allowed any external objects from entering it.
After handling everything at the hostel, Han Fei received the system update. “Notification for Player 0000!
“You have successfully completed the Grade G Normal Mission—Find the Missing Employee! Obtained rewards, 1 basic skill point and friendliness level with Drake increases by 20!
“You have successfully completed the Grade G Hidden Mission—The missing Big Brother! You have helped Firefly find his brother, Drake! Obtained rewards, 1 basic skill point, friendliness level with both Drake and Firefly increases by 20!
“Hidden Mission completion rate more than 100 percent. You’ve gained both EXP as well as additional rewards specific to Drake, Exposed Heart.
“After rescuing Drake several times, his perception of you changed permanently. Rest well in knowing that this employee will never betray you!
“You have successfully completed the Grade G hidden Mission—Midnight Hostel! Obtained 1 basic skill point and friendliness level with the hostel owner, Yan Zhong increases by 10. Obtained Grade G Cursed Object—Phone to hear the Dead.
“Phone to Hear the Dead (Grade G Cursed Object): I know I will never see you again but I still miss your voice.
“Notification for Player 0000! You have successfully reached level 8! Obtained 1 Attribute Point!”
The completion of 3 consecutive missions helped Han Fei rise directly to level 8. He placed all 3 new skill points into acting, making it Advanced Acting Level 6. It was only a matter of time until he reached Masterful Level. It was hard to imagine achieving such mastery at his young age. Han Fei himself could barely believe it.
‘According to the official website, they might add more skill levels beyond Masterful in the future. However, to improve skill mastery post Masterful level, one not only needs skill points but also to complete certain missions. However for now Advanced Acting should be good enough. I will cross paths with the most cunning sins in the cryptic world in the future. They will be as good in acting as I am, but that is for the future me to worry about.’
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