46: Chapter 46 The Fifth Floor 46: Chapter 46 The Fifth Floor Han Fei wasn’t a detective, and he felt it was better to leave the solving of cases to the police; his responsibility was just to provide clues.
After confirming his role, Han Fei felt slightly more relaxed, “Before the criminal is caught, I must keep a low profile and make sure I don’t stand out from others.”
He glanced back at the filming site of the Flower of Evil Crew with some concern that the killer might find him, considering the movie they were filming was adapted from real cases, and many serial killers had a perverse fascination with admiring their own “work”.
After a simple meal, Han Fei returned home.
Upon entering, he didn’t immediately go inside but first made sure there was no one in the house.
“I’m always so tense every day that I’m beginning to develop some strange habits,” he mused.
After closing the door and turning on the television, his rented room finally felt lively.
After a comfortable hot shower, Han Fei sat in a chair, lifting a dumbbell in one hand and picking up a book on criminal psychology with the other, “The development of a person’s criminal psychology into personality changes indicates that this person’s criminal mindset has become fixed.
Correcting such a fixed personality requires extremely detailed, complex, and long-term work…”
Steady drops wear away a stone, learning is a long process, and with dreams of becoming a comedian, Han Fei believed that as long as he persevered, even if his acting dream shattered, he could definitely become an excellent Assistant Police.
At eleven fifty at night, Han Fei connected all the cables and lay on the bed with the gaming helmet in his arms.
“I can’t communicate with the victims in the 1044 Haunted House just yet, but familiarity breeds contempt, they seem to have no intention of killing me for now, which I take as a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.”
At midnight, Han Fei put on the gaming helmet, and as the blood-red descended, that cold, mechanical synthesized voice echoed in his “Brain Sea”.
“Welcome to Perfect Life!
Now you can choose your own Perfect Life.”
Upon opening his eyes, Han Fei looked at the gloomy and quiet living room and grinned, “How about giving me more options, huh?”
The electronic clock on the wall struck exactly midnight as Han Fei picked up the kitchen knife from the floor and looked toward the bedroom at the deepest part of the Haunted House.
Of the entire 1044 Haunted House, only that bedroom door was shut tight.
Han Fei still lacked the courage to knock on the door.
The seven victims could barely maintain their sanity when apart, but when merged together, they became a Monster dominated by despair and suffering.
“I’ve completed all the newbie tasks, looks like I might have to go out tonight,” he said.
Han Fei opened the task panel, and the original three newbie tasks had disappeared, replaced by a brand-new task—to visit the neighbor on the fifth floor and greet them.
“Just by looking at the task name, it really seems like a Healing-type Game.” Han Fei scratched his head, “Meng Shi mentioned that there’s a crazy woman named Xu Qin living on the fifth floor.
She’s a nice person and can become a friend.
Since I have to do this task, it’s a good time to visit her.”
In reality, Han Fei, when seeing people he wasn’t familiar with, preferred to avoid them and liked to be alone, but in the game, he became particularly fond of making friends.
“What should I bring as a gift for the new neighbor?” Han Fei looked at the kitchen knife in his hand, “Forget it, I’ll figure it out when I meet her.”
After making up his mind, Han Fei turned on the television as he wanted to try and lure out his roommates first.
If his roommates helped trigger the new task, he wouldn’t have to leave the warm safety of his home.
Until three in the morning, Han Fei forced himself to watch the television screen without a signal for three hours, cycling through all the channels over a dozen times, but his roommates still did not appear.
“I must go out to do the quest now,” Han Fei said, picking up the kitchen knife and checking his Item Bar, “The landlord’s ring can detect Ghosts and Monsters, the landlord’s key should be able to open all doors in the building, but the problem is there are no numbers on the key, so I’ll have to try one by one, the landlord’s diary is blank, it doesn’t seem to have any use for now, and as for the landlord’s three cigarettes…”
Han Fei clicked on the Item Bar and took out the landlord’s cigarette.
“The landlord’s three children offered three cigarettes after the landlord died.
These cigarettes are consumables, but I don’t know what will happen when they’re lit.”
“The initial sleeping task is not comparable to the sleeping task after the difficulty level has been raised.
If the difficulty and reward are proportional, then this additional reward should be quite good.”
After finding a lighter in the kitchen, Han Fei decided that when he found himself in a desperate situation, he would light a cigarette first to steady his nerves.
After getting all his equipment ready, Han Fei went to the anti-theft door.
He peered through the peephole to make sure no one was nearby before daring to open the door.
Throughout the process, Han Fei did not make any noise.
The corridor was pitch-black, and just looking at it gave a very chilling feeling.
“The newcomer protection period has passed, and the Fierce Ghost may be more active than before.
I must be careful at all times.”
To prevent the door of the Haunted House from being closed, Han Fei moved a chair from the living room and wedged it there.
In this way, he wouldn’t have to open the door when he returned, which could save time.
Moreover, if a curious neighbor entered the house, they could all gather together for a meal.
It’s just that while everyone else would be sitting on chairs, the neighbor might end up lying on the dining table.
Taking a deep breath, Han Fei quietly left Apartment 1044.
Moving his footsteps softly, this was Han Fei’s first time stepping out after the newcomer protection period had ended, and he could distinctly feel some changes had occurred in the apartment building.
It was as if his body had sunk into a thick black sea, his consciousness constantly sinking.
With his palm against the rough wall, Han Fei kept his body close to the wall as he walked upwards so as not to be seen by anyone above.
Han Fei had never been to the fifth floor, and he walked very slowly, taking a full minute just to reach the midpoint between the fourth and fifth floors.
Looking up, Han Fei stopped in his tracks.
Four families lived on the fifth floor, and one of their doors was open with a dark figure standing in the doorway.
At midnight, in the dead silent corridor, a person quietly standing at their own doorstep with the door open was a scene that felt eerie no matter how you looked at it.
Han Fei did not dare to continue forward, but the shadow standing in the corridor seemed to have seen Han Fei.
In just the blink of an eye, it vanished.
“What was that thing?”
The shadow had disappeared, but the door to its home was still open, and Han Fei was now very worried that something might pull him into the room if he went over.
The dark doorway offered no glimpse of what was inside, but it made one feel extremely uneasy.
“Xu Qin lives in Apartment 1052, and the shadow was standing at Apartment 1051…”
Han Fei shifted his gaze toward Apartment 1052, and the courage he had mustered up faded considerably.
The door of Apartment 1052 was covered with the word “death,” and below it, dark brown bloodstains were seeping out.