“Well, they did stick to their promise.” Xu Qin extracted the knives out from the man’s ribs. Singlehandedly, she dragged the dead man’s body into the kitchen. “Care to join me?” Han Fei shook his head. He noticed after the man’s body was dismembered, black threads oozed out of his body. These threads wiggled inside the man’s body as if they were alive, “What are those black threads inside his bodies?”
“All of the non-locals have these black threads in their bodies, they appear to be some kind of curse.” Xu Qin dragged the man into the kitchen. During this process, the man’s body started to disintegrate and the black threads vaporized into black smoke.
“Curse?” Han Fei was reminded of something Chong Lou said, they carried an accursed picture with them.
“Yes, these curses are like drugs. They stimulate the non-locals’ already broken minds and make them even crazier, crueler and madder. Therefore, you shan’t show any mercy when dealing with them. If you do not kill them immediately, you’ll be the one getting killed.” Xu Qin then shut the kitchen door. In her way, this lady cared about Han Fei. Moments later, horrifying sounds came from inside the kitchen. But after listening to it for some time, Han Fei discovered a soothing rhythm to it.
“Big Sister, I’ll leave you to your cooking. I’ll return to the 6th floor to look around. Perhaps these non-locals might hide some goodies in their room.” Han Fei was worried that his loot might be stolen by others if he did not move fast enough.
“I would not advise you to leave now. You heard the footsteps from earlier, right?”
“The staggering footsteps?” Being reminded of that oppressive tapping sound, his spine tingled with apprehension, “Who is behind it? Is it our neighbour from upstairs?”
“I’ve not seen the tenant in person either, but I suspect they might reside on the 9th floor.”
“9th floor? There’s someone staying up there?”
“I believe so.” Black blood dribbled out from the gap in the door. Xu Qin’s tone took on a hue of excitement, like a child on Christmas.
“I wish to get to the 10th floor to meet the building manager so I’ll have to pass the 9th floor eventually. The meeting with the owner of the footsteps is inevitable…”
“My advice is for you to abandon that thought. The 8th floor is a forbidden zone at this apartment and if you value your life, do not get too close to the 9th floor.” The kitchen door opened a gap. To warn Han Fei, Xu Qin walked out. Her eyes were startlingly red as if she tried to sear the fear into Han Fei.
“Why?”
“You only need to understand this. The building manager is the building manager not because he was well-loved but because he was the only person who could traverse through the 9th floor freely.” Xu Qin’s morbid eyes stared at Han Fei. Her tone was sharp and cold. Worried about Han Fei, she placed heft behind her warning.
“Don’t worry. Before I am fully prepared, I won’t do anything stupid.” Just as Han Fei said that, a bloodied arm reached towards his neck. The tapered fingers caressed his cheek softly, “If you’re so intent on dying, I wish you’d come to me. I’ll gladly help you with it.” Xu Qin’s words were definitely scary but for some reason, Han Fei found a trace of concern in her scary promise. “Dying is not my intention, I still have very important things to do, like finding the most extreme flavor in the world with you.” Han Fei somehow had gotten an Iyashikei experience out of this hellish game.
After hearing that, Xu Qin’s crimson lips curled into a smile before she turned to head into the kitchen. Several minutes later, Xu Qin came out with a brand-new doily. “It’s a bit small, don’t you think?”
“The design is a bit too simple if you ask me. I heard from the non-locals that one of them has a man-faced butterfly tattoo…”
“Man-faced butterfly?” Xu Qin’s interest was clearly piqued.
“I’ll come to you when I have a new clue.” Han Fei stayed in the room with Xu Qin until 4 am and then they both left Room 1052 together. Xu Qin dragged Chong Lou’s body out from Room 1051. Han Fei looted Chong Lou’s clothes while Xu Qin claimed the man’s carcass, they both got what they wanted. Chong Lou was quite unique among the non-locals. Without Xu Qin’s help, Han Fei believed he would not have been able to defeat him. Rummaging through Chong Lou’s clothes, Han Fei found two rather interesting objects.
“Notification for Player 0000! You have found Heaven Cinema’s Work Id!
“Heaven Cinema’s Work Id (Grade G Normal Item): One of the prerequisites to trigger the celebrity profession. With this Id, you can enter Heaven Cinema freely.”
Han Fei noticed astutely that the item description only mentioned the Id allowed the owner to enter the cinema freely but not leave it freely. Han Fei predicted there were some problems brewing at that cinema, either the staff were all cursed, or they were all murderers.
“A place that’s easy to get into but hard to get out. That sounds dangerous but I’m quite interested in the celebrity profession, I just wonder if the word, celebrity here carries the same connotation as one in real life.” Perfect Life had no limitation to the amount of profession a player could undertake. However, to be an expert at a specific profession, one had to put in plenty of time and effort. A normal player would spend years to train a profession to its maximum potential. Han Fei had unlocked the mission for a hidden profession, he did not plan to give that profession up, he merely felt like he needed a normal profession to provide him with a front. If he ran into other players in this game, when they got to know each other, Han Fei couldn’t possibly say he was a Midnight Butcher. That would give him away too easily.
Other than the work Id, the other unique item Han Fei found was the black and white picture that he saw a glimpse of earlier. There were 17 people captured in the picture.
“Notification for Player 0000, you have found the accursed group picture!
“Accursed Group Picture (Grade G Blood Red Item): Every single person in this picture deserves a horrible death! That is my final wish!”
Reading the item description, Han Fei had a sneaking suspicion that this Heaven Cinema was more dangerous than he thought but that was a concern in the far future. He had not even explored the whole apartment yet, why would he venture out of it? He did not have either the ability or the guts to do so anyway.
After storing the two items away, Han Fei returned to the 6th floor alone. He entered Room 1064 and saw pools of blood as well as broken bits of bones inside the house. A horrible stench permeated the room. He looked around and realized the stench that heaviest around the bedroom. He pushed open the door.
“What is this?” The bedframe of the bed was hollowed out. It was stuffed to the brim with decomposing limbs. Among the decaying heap of flesh, Han Fei spotted a human cocoon that was almost blood red in color.
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