Han Fei had a very clear planning for his life. After he finished adding all the skill points, he applied the attribute points to his intelligence, raising it to 7. ‘That should allow me to control the paper doll longer.’ Han Fei felt the effect instantaneously. He felt like his brain was moving faster. His train of thought was more logical and smoother. He also believed his memory skill had improved as well. ‘I understand that both stamina and intelligence are equally important, but there are only so many attribute points to go around’. Intelligence could help Han Fei resist and control cursed objects longer while stamina helped with his physical activities. The fact that Han Fei did not add the attribute point into his stamina like usual signalled a shift in his gaming attitude.
He crawled out from the mass grave. Han Fei left the hostel and returned to the convenience store. The shooting for Twin Flowers was already over so Han Fei did not hurry to quit the game. Instead with Weep and Lee Zai, he started a delivery service. Throughout the night, these three tenants from Happiness Neighbourhood brought unrivalled warmth and convenience to the nearby store patrons.
During this process, Han Fei noticed something important. It was hard for the spirits to retain their rationality especially after they consumed a certain number of souls. Both Weep and Lee Zai showed signs of going berserk during the delivery. Weep dropped down and cried without warning. His tears triggered Lee Zai who transformed into Lee Huo. He almost got into a fight with Weep. From this, Han Fei drew the conclusion that the more ghosts and monsters the spirit consumed, the harder it would be for them to remain sane. While Weep and Lee Zai could still control themselves, Han Fei brought them back to the Happiness Neighbourhood. Both Lee Zai and Weep’s power increased substantially that night, so did their friendliness level with Han Fei. More importantly, with their aid, Han Fei managed to complete a few more lower level normal missions. Grade G Missions were suitable for players between level 1 and 10 so before Han Fei reached level 10, he could still get quite a lot of EXP from them. However, these missions merely provided EXP and simple exhaustibles. There were no rewards worth mentioning. ‘With the amount of time I’ve clocked in, I would have reached middle to late game by now if I’m playing another game. But in Perfect Life, I’m not even level 10 yet.’
Han Fei stood beside the window of Room 1044 and stared out into the darkness. He was reminded of a quote—If the torch goes out, I will be my own light.
The old man at the hostel left a deep impression on Han Fei. There were many in this cryptic world who did not start with despair, they were turned into monsters via assimilation of their surroundings. They were once kind souls too. ‘Is there still a chance for this world to be cured?’ He too wanted to be other people’s light but it was hard when surviving on his own was a difficult chore. Han Fei’s head buzzed with exhaustion. He leaned against the window as he turned to glance around the haunted room.
He chose to quit the game. Blood poured over everything. Then Han Fei slowly lost his consciousness.
He removed the gaming helmet and sunlight shone on his face. Han Fei stared at the clock on the wall, it was already 10 am. ‘One of the big reasons I still have not lost my mind is because I can return to real life at the end of each session. There is always an immediate goal that keeps me going while I am in the despairing cryptic world, and that is to live and complete the gaming session.’
The warm rays caressed Han Fei’s cheeks like soft hands. He had never realized sunlight could be so comforting before. Pulling the sheet over his head, the tired Han Fei drifted off to sleep. At 3 pm, Han Fei was awakened by knocks on his door. The moment he woke up, he reached alertly for the stun gun under his pillow. Han Fei did not have that many friends, his only visitor was the police. He sneaked to the door and looked out the peephole. He saw Director Jiang and the floor manager standing there. Opening the door, Han Fei frowned with confusion. “Director Jiang, why are you here?”
“Brother! We’ve called you about 20 times already but they all went unanswered, we had no choice but to come here!” The floor manager said.
“I thought since the shoot is already over, there is nothing required of me anymore. I switched my phone into silent mode and planned to take a good long rest.”
“What nonsense. Hurry up and go and change. Sister Long has already contacted the nation’s biggest streaming platform. Our media conference later today will be streamed on their website, we will also showcase our latest trailers.” Director Jiang sighed quite helplessly. “You are the main character, you can’t be absent for this event!”
“But we just had our wrap party yesterday night, and we’re already having the conference today? The post-editing is already done?” Normally a movie conference would be released one week before the official release. Many celebrities and government officials would be invited but Twin Flowers was just a small budget indie movie. It did not have a conventional press release.
“We’re running low on time. We’ve been editing the film while shooting it. We even had to outsource some of the works. They are helping us rush the deadline.” Director Jiang had heavy dark circles under his eyes. The man had not had a proper rest for a long time already. “If we miss the deadline, all of our effort will be for nothing. Furthermore, you’re still on the hot topic list, we should make use of that.”
Han Fei was thus ushered by the duo into the bathroom to shower and change. “Okay, let’s go.”
“You’re wearing that?” Director Jiang asked when he saw Han Fei come out in T-shirt and jeans. “I should have brought Meng Changan’s movie costume with me. At least that’s a suit.”
“This’ll do. It’s comfy.” Han Fei shrugged. He did not put that much emphasis into his image management.
“Even though we will not have any important guests, it is still an official event. Wait… what was that thing you just shoved into your pocket?” Director Jiang had to stop and ask.
“A retractable fighting stick.”
“You’re bringing that to the conference?”
“Yes.” Han Fei answered matter-of-factly. Director Jiang was rendered speechless. Without time to waste, he and the floor manager shoved Han Fei into the car and they departed for the venue. Half an hour later, they finally arrived, but at first glance, Han Fei thought Director Jiang had gotten the wrong address. The VR projectors and advertising boards outside the conference hall were all about Secret Urban Romance. The parking lot was full and there were many youngsters in the crowd with placards of their idols, idols who were not part of Twin Flowers’ production.
“They have booked the main hall, we’re at the side hall. Don’t mind them. We’re doing an online broadcast so it doesn’t matter who has a bigger live crowd.” Director Jiang grumbled. Actually he was the one who booked the venue first but the crew of Secret Urban Romance forcibly squeezed their way into the venue and bumped Twin Flowers to the side hall by throwing money around.
The car eventually stopped at the entrance that led into the side hall. When Han Fei descended from the car, no one paid him any attention. They thought he was one of the venue workers. It was not until Han Fei walked towards the entrance and was demanded his work id by the security guard that Director Jiang had to step in.
“Han Fei, here is the press release script. It contains a few questions that the host might ask. Go and read through it. Then perhaps we can rehearse the Q and A.” Director Jiang left Han Fei to talk to the host. Han Fei disappeared backstage. Zhan Yueyue and Mian Nian were there as well. Compared to them, Han Fei appeared at ease. He took a quick glance of the script before he put it down. He started to plan his gaming route instead.
The online press conference started at 8 pm sharp. Technically, this would be the first time Han Fei showed himself before the general public.
Applause rang from the stage. When Han Fei heard the host call his name, he took a deep breath and headed for the spotlight.
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