Deep World was vast and perilous, and Han Fei didn’t know what awaited him outside the apartment building. He felt uneasy yet curiously compelled.
Packing away his gaming helmet, Han Fei quickly fell asleep on his bed, more exhausted than he had ever been.
At just past seven in the morning, the ringing of his phone alarm woke Han Fei from his sleep, and he groggily answered the call, "Who is this?"
"Han Fei, there has been a misunderstanding with the company before. We’ve decided to offer you proper compensation for the unilateral termination. Can we meet to talk? As far as I know, you haven’t joined another company yet."
Hearing the voice on the phone, Han Fei frowned and glanced at the caller ID—it was from his former company’s department head, "How could I forget to block him?"
"Han Fei, this is a rare opportunity. I hope you’ll consider it seriously; I made a considerable effort to secure this for you, considering our past relationship..."
After ending the call, Han Fei deleted the number and blocked it.
Phrases like "always leave room for others and you’ll see them with different eyes in the future" didn’t apply to Han Fei anymore. Ever since he started playing Perfect Life, he no longer wasted his time on unnecessary things.
"Why would my previous company suddenly call me? Could something have happened recently?"
Han Fei took out his phone; without even searching, he straightaway saw his name trending in the local hot search.
"Righteous Hero in Human-body Puzzle to star in a film adapted from the Human-body Puzzle case!"
"The toughest protagonist in history! I kill myself; I catch myself; I act as myself!"
"Experiencer stars in the film! Recreating every detail! Dive into the darkest depths and witness the Flower of Evil blossoming in human hearts."
Han Fei had no idea what was going on. Overnight, numerous reports about him appeared online, and the discussion feverishly surged, pushing him to the top of the local hot search.
His social media followers also exceeded thirty thousand overnight, but his comment section looked like a massive legal education site with Xinhu Police personally answering netizens’ various questions about the case.
In the comment sections of other celebrities’ accounts, all kinds of bizarre comments would typically appear, but Han Fei’s was peculiar—where police and citizens bonded over inquiring what case Han Fei planned to adapt next.
"What’s going on?" Han Fei called Director Jiang, and after just one ring, the call was answered.
"Han Fei? What’s the matter?"
"I saw a lot of news about me online. Is this an ad campaign from our crew?"
"You startled me; I thought you might not be able to come to the shoot today." Director Jiang clearly breathed a sigh of relief, "The online reports aren’t related to us. It’s mainly because of the excellent job you did yourself; people are actively searching for your name. Your popularity has skyrocketed now, but as time goes by, it will start to decline, so we need to complete the shooting as soon as possible!"
"I’m heading to the set right away."
After ending the call, Han Fei rubbed his temples, "Once I earn some money, I need to buy a Health Care Game Box that can connect to helmets."
Quickly freshening up, Han Fei hastily left the rental apartment. As he exited the building, he glanced inadvertently at a certain corner, then nonchalantly walked away.
A few seconds later, a middle-aged man wearing glasses came out from behind the van, holding very professional filming equipment: "Did that person see me? Impossible! I’ve been in this business for over ten years and have never slipped up..."
The somewhat unconvinced middle-aged man packed up his filming equipment and cautiously followed Han Fei. As he rounded a corner, he suddenly discovered that Han Fei had vanished.
"Are you looking for me?" Han Fei’s voice rang out beside the middle-aged man’s ear. As the man turned around, Han Fei had already grabbed his wrist and pinned him against the wall, "Why are you following me?"
The set of professional police apprehension techniques confused the middle-aged man. It took him a while to think of an excuse. But when he saw the terrifying look in Han Fei’s eyes, he couldn’t speak the lie he had crafted: "Don’t hit me, don’t hit me! I am a entertainment journalist from Xinhu Starlight, my name is Jin Jun. I felt there could be a big story about you, so I came here to stake out."
"Entertainment journalist, I am a professional."
Releasing the middle-aged man’s hand, Han Fei said seriously, "You better interview me in a proper setting. If you continue tracking and taking pictures secretly, I am afraid you might encounter danger. Those wanting revenge against me, the murderers, are also looking for an opportunity. You might run into them."
After giving the middle-aged man a warning, Han Fei stopped dealing with him and climbed into a car heading to the film set.
The crowd outside the filming location had grown again, including not just journalists, but also friends from individual media platforms.
In this era, anyone can become an internet celebrity. Many people pursue not truth but traffic and money.
They can often hype a sensational topic quickly and split the traffic. As for what happens to the person involved, hardly a few really care.
To keep up with the filming schedule, Han Fei didn’t interact much with the journalists. Unable to get the information they wanted from him, some professionals chose to continue their stakeout, while others with less integrity began to fabricate stories based on their imaginations.
After shooting continuously all morning, Han Fei only relaxed during lunchtime, but before he could take a few bites, Zhan Lele run over: "Bro, have you seen the recent news? Were the ’refrigerator corpse’ case and the ’plush toy corpse’ case also the clues you provided to the police?"
The cases Zhan Lele mentioned were indeed provided by Han Fei, but the police hadn’t made them public.
Frowning, Han Fei pulled out his phone to check the information. Online, some marketing accounts had attributed the recent murder cases solved by Xinhu Police to Han Fei. They spoke confidently, but in reality, they were just making things up.
They had no evidence, just creating topics for traffic and popularity, but the problem was that those murders indeed involved Han Fei!
"Teacher Han, they couldn’t be telling the truth, could they?" Zhan Lele’s jaw dropped: "Aren’t you with us filming every day? In your spare time, you help the police solve three murder cases? Are you the Xinhu version of Conan?"
"Stop nagging, let me have some peace."
"Teacher Han, being famous is a good thing!"
"Being famous is indeed good, but the problem is the murderers haven’t been caught yet. Those psychotic killers might come looking for me."
Hearing Han Fei say this, Zhan Lele’s face changed: "Dang! Aren’t we in danger then?"
"No need to be overly panicked. Even if they really come after us, it’s not certain who will take down whom." Han Fei looked at Zhan Lele and smiled slightly, his gaze a bit frightening. In that moment, Zhan Lele actually shivered.