The stench of blood thickened in the air. A group of people in red surrounded Han Fei in the middle.
'What will happen if I don't go down?'
The elevator stopped at the 4th floor. As time moved on, the woman's body became like a tree that was injected with blood. Her blood vessels and hair tangled together, tearing through her skin and spreading towards the walls of the elevator.
If he stayed any longer, he would die. Han Fei controlled his character to walk out from the crowd.
After he left the elevator, the silver doors slowly closed. Through the gap, Han Fei could see a group of people in red standing with their backs to him.
Soon, the elevator doors closed and the number on the screen started to change.
Han Fei thought the number would stop when it reached '1' but to his surprise, the number on the screen dropped to the negative number. The elevator descended to the minus 18 floor.
'Does this elevator lead underground?'
He finally made it to the 4th floor. He did not want to waste this opportunity. He ran straight to Room 4044 and sneaked a peek at the door.
Room 4044 was different from the cryptic world. The door god on the door was intact, its head was not decapitated.
'I'd like to see what kind of face this door god has.'
Han Fei memorized all the key locations. He sneaked to Room 4044. As he stared at the door god on the screen, the door god suddenly blinked.
Its head appeared to move but at the same time, it did not. Han Fei could not put his finger on the strange feeling, he only felt chills run down his spine.
Sitting back down on the sofa, Han Fei turned to the screen again. He finally realized what was wrong.
The door god in the Ziggurat appeared to be staring at him, not at Han Fei's in-game character but at Han Fei through the television screen.
'What kind of technology is this?' Han Fei had no idea whether this was an easter egg or a trap. He tried to push open the door to Room 4044. At the same time, a conversation appeared on screen.
"Are you willing to help me send the head back?"
Without any notification or warning, this conversation popped up. There wasn't even a single NPC in sight.
'Is that the door god?' Han Fei clicked on the dialog box and something even weirder happened. There were three options behind the dialog box and all three of them were — No.
"Room 4044 is the closest to Room 4444. Send my head back, and I can help you end this endless nightmare."
"If you want to enter Room 4044, you have to help me do one thing. No matter what choice you make, you will eventually return to this place."
The dialogue in the dialog box kept changing, but all the options were still unwilling, as if this was something that was fixed and could not be changed.
"The evil you see must be evil, but the kindness you see must be kindness? You are too close to God. You should walk behind God and look at their backs. The more glorious their divinity is, the more filthy their humanity is. If you help me, I can tell you those unspeakable secrets. "
Reading the content, Han Fei's interest was piqued. The Unspeakable represented a special level in the cryptic world, the Door God's words had a deeper meaning.
"The Headless Door God probably wants to get his head back. Maybe I can use this to buy some time the next time I log in."
After a moment's hesitation, Han Fei did not make a choice. He did not like to follow the path that others had given him. But if he did not make a choice, the game would be stuck on this interface.
After a long time of trial and error, Han Fei memorized the Door God's face and then chose to exit the game.
As soon as he pressed the controller button, the game screen instantly turned pitch-black, and all the graphics disappeared.
"What's going on? I've played for decades and this has never happened to me before. Is there something wrong with the television? "Zhuang Ren walked towards the television in shock.
"Don't go over there! I think I've triggered something. "
Several seconds later, a pair of bleeding eyes appeared on the dark screen. The eyes flickered in and out of focus like they were greatly restricted and could not walk out from the television.
With the eyes as the center, the shallow bloodstains slowly spread out in all directions. Soon, the fine blood vessels covered the television screen, as if they were trying to tear something apart.
This reminded Han Fei of when he used Soul Farer. When he used this ability, the system's character panel would be crawling with blood vessels and then it would be torn from the middle like the Gates of Hell being forcefully opened.
'This is too similar. Just how many more secrets are hidden inside this game?'
Han Fei no longer treated Perfect Life as a normal game. Due to the existence of the black box, the game was inextricably linked to real life. It blurred the line between reality and the virtual world, broke down the barrier between the human brain and the computer, and blended life and death in a unique way.
No one knew what kind of secret was hidden inside the black box. Many of its owners had failed to unlock it. Han Fei was still a long way from unlocking the black box. However, the things that he had encountered along the way were enough to topple his understanding of the world.
He had a feeling that he was slowly peeling back the veil of the world and seeing the real world that he had never seen before.
The television screen was soon covered in blood vessels. The pair of red eyes stared at Han Fei before exploding. The blood mist morphed into a sentence — This is the first warning. After the third warning, death will come.
The bloody words quickly disappeared, and the pitch-black game screen did not change at all.
'The third warning? When I tried to tell others about the existence of the black box and the cryptic world, the black box in my mind would give me the same warning. After the third warning failed, the black box would explode inside my mind, killing me. '
Holding his face with his arm, Han Fei narrowed his eyes.
'The Ziggurat was created by Immortal Pharma's CEO when he was young. The black box in my mind was given to me by the CEO's brother. When I obtained the black box, the CEO had already passed away for some time. Was there a possibility that although the chairman of Immortal Pharma had passed away, he had attached his consciousness to the black box? Or is he hiding in one of the layers of the black box? '
Han Fei was just speculating. He did not have any concrete evidence. He was just a small comedian, it would be hard for him to go up against a giant like Immortal Pharma.
'The Fu Sheng brothers are the previous owners of the black box. I've gone through the building manager's memory, the brothers do exist. But Zhuang Ren said he has never met the CEO's brother. He even said the CEO often talks to himself. I'm curious, what is the relationship between the two brothers? One to explore the cryptic world and the other to explore the real world? One in his mind and the other in real life? '
Staring at the black screen, Han Fei put down the controller. 'Of the two brothers, one can see the future but is the future he sees really the future? Will the world develop according to the direction he sees? '
Han Fei did not think that was the case. At least the fact that he had opened both sides of the black box was something that the Fu Sheng brothers did not expect.
'It's better for me to walk my own path.'
Unplugging the power, Han Fei forcibly rebooted the Ziggurat. Everything that happened earlier appeared to be an illusion.
The game character reappeared inside the Happiness Neighbourhood. The surroundings were warm and peaceful but the main character was wearing a bloodied shirt.
'The game character has changed!'
Han Fei stopped playing. He leaned against the sofa and stared at the character silently. He felt the Ziggurat mini-game was very similar to the manager mission in the cryptic world.
Dying over and over again, the game character's memory might also be lost. If not for the fact that he was being controlled, he might have long forgotten everything, turning from a game character to an NPC in the game.
'Only by being controlled can I go further? This game is created by Immortal Pharma's CEO. Is he trying to tell me that only by being a pawn can I maintain my sense of self? '
Looking at the bloodied shirt, Han Fei chuckled nonchalantly. 'Ever since I entered film school, I've been a supporting character for so many years. Now that I've finally made it to the centre of the stage, how can I allow myself to be manipulated by others? Since this black box has been given to me, it's mine now. '
"Han Fei, how about … we go and meet my family first?" Zhuang Ren felt like he was being ignored. This time, he walked to stand before the television to block Han Fei's view. "As long as I can see my family from afar, I'll give you this house and my inheritance, much less this Ziggurat."
Seeing how determined Zhuang Ren was, Han Fei had no reason to continue playing. After all, he had already gotten what he wanted.
"Sure." Han Fei stood up to close the game. He placed the controller into the black box that stored the video cassette and emotional therapy device. "Why don't you put the game in here as well, I'll move the box away later."
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