Han Fei hadn’t completed the conditions to leave the game, so no matter what happened in real life, he couldn’t leave. Even though he was anxious, he decided to keep exploring. If he had to choose, he would stay in the cryptic world because there were more things for him here.
“The things the dancer left behind are in the safehouse above floor 50. Should we go get them first?” Mr. Mo held the radio. “The dancer said the things there might help us leave.” “Do you know which floor they’re at?”
“We can still use the radio one last time…” Mr. Mo made the decision. “I have a bad feeling like my whole body is soaked in an invisible sea. A force is pulling me downwards. I wish to complete the last thing the dancer told me to do before I lose myself.” Mr. Mo also felt the Unmentionable’s influence. No one could see him, but God had influence everywhere.
“Okay.” Due to the pressure, they decided to find the safehouse first. Han Fei found an empty room. Big Sin guarded the door, and the others guarded the passage. Mr. Mo removed his jacket and carried the broken radio to Big Sin. The black flame burst at once. “Have it inject it with Soul Poison now!”
A scream came out of the radio. Soul Poison dripped, and the screams got louder. When the shell of the radio cracked, they saw a cursed ear and a half-ruined face. It was still bleeding like it was alive. “Is this the radio’s true form? Has the dancer been carrying a person’s severed ear around? What was he listening to?”
“This is a present given to him by his best friend! Ask him about the location of the safehouse!” Mr. Mo’s body was getting burnt with his clothes. His body was like a book covered with the character Death.
“We’ve passed floor 50. Where did you once stay?” Han Fei shouted at the ear. The half-human face shivered in the black flame and Soul Poison. The dancer’s voice came out of the torn mouth.
“I lived on the 80th floor. The first safehouse is on the 51st floor. The Taboo on that floor helped me. Don’t disturb anyone and find a Mausoleum filled with tombstones! Be careful of mirrors!” The dancer wanted to say more, but the face suddenly saw something scary. It dissolved into a puddle of liquid.
“A Taboo helped the dancer to escape from the skyscraper. I wonder who that Taboo is.”
“You better worry about us first.” The boy beside Ji Zheng appeared like he was about to lose control again. Ji Zheng pressed his head, but it was pointless. Something was triggering the boy.
“What do you think God’s power is?” Han Fei felt like he was losing himself. He knew he was in the cryptic world, but everything around him reminded him of real life. When he dealt with the figurine, he remembered that a figurine could completely seal up his powers and trap him within a special zone.
“The biggest difference between Unmentionable and a normal Pure Hatred is that Unmentionable has their own territory.” After Mr. Mo’s jacket burned away, he looked much weaker, “If this world is a giant first-generation ghost, we’re all souls living in his body. We need to abide by his rules. However, Unmentionables have broken away from that rule. They are the new ghosts.” Han Fei was suddenly reminded of the different levels of ghosts. Animated regrets, Lingering Spirits, Pure Hatreds, they were not called ghosts. They were manifestations of different emotions.
“You two better stop. Do you want to die talking about that in the Unmentionable’s territory?” Ji Zheng kicked away the ash and carried the boy forward. “Since we know the safehouse is on this floor, we need to hurry. The boy can’t handle this much longer.” Even though he had been corrupted, Ji Zheng’s heart hadn’t changed. He was not the best reporter, but he was once a kind reporter.
“I can help find a Mausoleum.” Li Rou cut her wrist and had her blood flow out. As a half Deviant, she could sense the location of the nearby large Mausoleum. “There aren’t many Mausoleums on this floor. They’re gathered at the northern side.”
When Han Fei’s group moved down the northern side, strange things started to happen. The paper dolls hid behind the doors to look at Han Fei. They seemed to come alive after Han Fei made some kind of decision. Even though they were paper dolls, Han Fei had this feeling that they were alive and mocking him.
“The power of verbal abuse is strong, but thankfully, I’ve gotten used to it.” The 51st floor was like a place for a child to play house. Perhaps God would visit this floor when he wanted to experience some kind of emotions. He treated these paper dolls as friends and family. They walked down two long corridors. Li Rou wanted to keep on moving when a rubber ball rolled out of a room. The door opened and a child with a ruddy face came out. He picked up the rubber ball embarrassedly. “I’m sorry…”
Before he finished, the boy saw Big Sin. He was stunned and peed his pants.
“Why is there a child on this floor filled with paper dolls?”
“Don’t put your guard down!” Ji Zheng took a picture. The boy was bound by two different colored fate threads. One was black as ink, the other red as blood. “This boy is a Dictator!”
The boy fell to the ground and screamed for his parents. The door was pushed open, and two monsters made from paper crawled out. The mother looked like a centipede. It had many small claws, and she kept cursing someone. The father only had one leg, but his body was as large as a monster. Whenever he jumped, a lot of black paper would fall to the ground.
“This boy was God’s childhood friend. God killed his parents so that he would become like God.” Ji Zheng heard stories about this boy. “The paper dolls are all coming this way. We can’t waste time here. It’s pointless.”
Han Fei nodded. He waved at everyone. “Run through them! We need to find the Mausoleum first!”
The wound on Big Sin’s head had healed. Everyone ignored the boy and charged down the corridor. The boy cried even harder. Many paper dolls came out of the room. They looked at Han Fei’s group, and their faces started to change. Some of them started to look like Ji Zheng, others looked like Mr. Mo, but most of them took Han Fei’s faces. Tears slid down his face. The boy lifted his head. He was crying, but his lips were smiling to reveal his uneven teeth. “Mom, dad, I don’t want a birthday present. I want you to kill him for me.”
The mother scolded the boy, and the father didn’t move. The two paper dolls hoped the boy could change his mind. The boy had a ghastly expression on his face, “My best friend said that you’ll always listen to my orders!” He took out a normal poker card from his pocket. It was the King of Clubs. “Kill him! Just like how you have run your car into that pedestrian!”
The fat boy’s emotions frayed. He twisted the card and held his brain as he commanded his parents. His brain was broken as if that was the only way to be God’s friend.
The boy revealed many secrets. The paper parents lost their rationality. They turned around to chase after Han Fei when footsteps appeared on the 51st floor.
As the footsteps approached, all the paper dolls that had Han Fei’s faces were mercilessly torn apart. A crazy woman was coming. The black flame of hatred burned. The boy shivered. He felt real fear. He sat on the ground and shouted his best friend’s name. “Gao Xing! I’ve done everything you asked me to! You need to help me!”
His best friend didn’t appear. However, his parents turned back from chasing Han Fei to guard beside the boy.
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