Reading the mission details, Han Fei was honestly a bit confused. What he had done since he logged in was have a single-way conversation with his roommates and suddenly the system notified him that he had somehow triggered a Grade F Mission.
Triggering a mission was a good thing but the problem was the difficulty of this mission was too high. The price to pay if he was not careful was the loss of his life. ‘There are 7 human jigsaw pieces hidden inside this building, that mirrors the situation at Happiness Neighbourhood Block 1 perfectly. There is definitely some kind of unique relationship between Perfect Life’s cryptic world and real world. The human jigsaw pieces in the game probably correspond to the yet to be discovered human body parts in real life. My roommates all have broken bodies, if I can return to them their missing body parts and piece them back together, perhaps that can help them move one step closer to closure.
‘The biggest difficulty of this Grade F Mission is to locate the 7 human jigsaw pieces. If one does not know their location beforehand, one would have to wander aimlessly around the building which is filled with death traps, searching through the rooms one by one. Thankfully, I have already memorized all the 7 locations. That will save me a lot of trouble so it is not impossible for me to complete the mission.’
Han Fei remembered the room numbers provided by Meng Changxi.
When he took another glance, Han Fei realized that on the mission interface, there was a new mission beside the Grade F mission. It was a normal Grade G Mission-- Explore the 6th floor. ‘Exploring the entire apartment is probably the whole main plot for the entirety of the first part of this game. Currently, only 3 rooms are occupied on the 6th floor. If Xu Qin is willing to help, it shouldn’t be too difficult to clear the floor out. Now the only thing I need to be careful of is the stumbling footsteps roaming the corridor.’
Han Fei planted himself down on the couch, he planned to sit there for 3 hours. Of course, he did not waste these 3 hours doing nothing. He revised the studies he did in the day and then took some time to further his combat training. Han Fei noticed that as bizarre as this hellish game was, his focus would be unusually sharpened whenever he was in the game. It helped tremendously with his studies and training. ‘When I connect to the surface world, perhaps I can open intensive self-improvement classes here. That’s not a bad way to earn some extra income.’
After a fulfilling 3 hours, Han Fei picked up the cleaver and exited Room 1044. The corridor was as quiet as before. It was as if there was no life inside the building. Han Fei did not close the door. Gripping the cleaver, he carefully moved up to the 5th floor. When he came to the landing between the 4th and 5th floor, he noticed all the doors on the 5th floor were all shut. ‘Strange, even the door to Room 1051 is also closed. Is Xu Qin not home tonight?’
Han Fei knew that Xu Qin would go for occasional ‘grocery’ shopping. The building manager left her with the apartment’s entrance key before he disappeared so that her shopping trips could continue unimpeded. ‘If Xu Qin is not with me, it’s too risky for me to venture up to the 6th floor alone.’ Han Fei stopped to think. ‘Still, l shall go and knock on the doors. If she’s really absent, I’ll go find Weep and spend some time with him until she comes home.’ With the plan made, Han Fei continued up the stairs. Suddenly hurried footsteps came from downstairs. When he turned back to look, Han Fei saw a scarred arm shut the door to Room 1044.
‘This is not good!’ Two bare-chested men stood before Room 1044. Their torsos had serious burns and multiple cuts. Both of them held sharp knives. ‘It’s clear that these two are coming after me! I don’t know too many tenants in this building and the only ones who have it out for me are the non-locals staying on the 6th floor.’ Han Fei’s brain spun quickly. ‘They probably were hiding on the 3rd floor waiting for me to exit Room 1044. Since they dare to attack me today, it does suggest that Xu Qin is away. Since she’s not home, running upstairs is equal to trapping myself so my best solution now is to run downstairs to seek help from Weep.’
The decision was made in a split second. The two non-locals moved towards the stairwell. One of them guarded the landing between 3rd and 4th floor to block Han Fei’s escape while the other launched an attack at Han Fei. At that moment, Han Fei decided the best defence was offence. He used his cleaver and met the attack.
When the cleaver collided with the knife, Han Fei staggered back two steps but the scarred man stood his ground firmly. ‘Damn, he is much stronger than I am!’
The non-local aimed to kill. Every wound on his body was like a split grin and they were cackling noiselessly. The man’s knife aimed for Han Fei’s chest. Caught in the narrow stairwell, Han Fei could barely avoid the attack. If he was slightly careless, there would be new holes on his body. The two men could easily apprehend him after he was injured. ‘Even though the 3 hours are already over, I have not completed any missions so I can’t quit the game yet. If I’m captured by these 2, who knows what they’ll do to me!’
His adrenaline shot up. Han Fei decided he’d rather be consumed by ghosts than be kept as a torture victim by these madmen. ‘I need to escape. Since I can’t go down, then I’ll have to go up! At worst, we’ll all die together!’
Gritting his teeth, Han Fei rushed up the stairs. He slammed crazily on Xu Qin’s door. ‘I need to make as much noise as I can! I need these ghosts and crazy murderers to fight over me. Then perhaps I can have the chance to slip away!’
The two non-locals easily guessed Han Fei’s plan. They quickly gave chase after their prey. The knives brushed past his body. Han Fei used his physical training to dodge the dangerous slashes. To prevent himself from being cornered, Han Fei slipped away from Xu Qin’s door and continued to run up the stairs. When Han Fei came to the landing between 5th and 6th floor, what he saw drained his energy. There was a non-local standing in front of Room 1062, blocking Han Fei’s path. The person had a unisexual appearance and they held a long syringe in their hands.
“Don’t be afraid, my child. You won’t be feeling any pain soon.” The pair of eyes followed Han Fei like a snake. The voice was laced with resentment. Han Fei did not stop to listen to what the person had to say. Instead of slowing down, Han Fei picked up his speed, charging towards the person. The person also raised the syringe in response. The sharp needle enlarged in Han Fei’s eyes. At the last moment, Han Fei lashed out his hand and the cleaver swiped at the man’s face.
Just as the person leaned back to avoid Han Fei’s sudden attack, Han Fei careened forward on his momentum and kneed the person right between their legs!
Han Fei realized then the non-local was a male because he doubled over with a groan. Han Fei did not stop to continue the fight. There were still 2 more crazy men chasing after him. He caught this opening and hurried up to the 7th floor.
‘Those lessons by Li Xue are definitely useful!’ The comedy actor charged up the stairs as fast as he could but due to the interruption of the man on the 6th floor, the two scarred men were catching up to him. When Han Fei arrived at the 7th floor, he remembered Meng Si’s warning that he should never go up to the 8th and 9th floor. Han Fei rammed into the first door he encountered. To his surprise, the door to Room 1074 was not locked and it opened easily. ‘Beggars can’t be choosers!’
Han Fei fled into Room 1074. The first thing that Han Fei saw was a full-length mirror that was placed facing the front door.
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