Chapter 37: I Found the Final Puzzle Piece
Living alone in a rented house in the old city district, Han Fei's first action upon returning home from work was to turn on the television. He didn't watch it, only listened to the sound, to prevent the house from feeling too empty.
Living alone for so many years, his "home" had never been this "lively" before.
Seven ghosts sat on the sofa, watching TV. As Han Fei observed, another person appeared, but no one broke the peaceful atmosphere. It felt quite harmonious.
Since he could exit the game at any time, Han Fei's courage had been elevated. He wanted to get closer to his roommates, the victims, to find clues related to the killer.
The old-fashioned CRT television repeatedly played the memories of the deceased, and Han Fei engraved every detail in his mind.
The approaching time of 4 a.m. drew near. If he didn't complete the bathing task soon, the beginner task would likely be considered a failure.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, when it reached 3:50 a.m., Han Fei silently got up and headed towards the bathroom.
"I don't care anymore. I must give it a try. Gathering all the rewards from the beginner task will surely be beneficial to me."
Entering the bathroom, Han Fei didn't turn on the light. He recalled the requirements of the bathing task: "I have to use the in-game items to clean my body, face, and head, with a total cleaning time of no less than twenty minutes."
"Perfect Life" was essentially a life simulation game, so it wasn't too surprising for bathing, a mundane activity, to be included as a task. Although Han Fei knew deep down that it couldn't be as simple as just taking a shower.
Checking his surroundings, Han Fei noticed that the bathroom door lock was broken and couldn't be locked at all.
"I can't lock the door?" Han Fei frowned, but quickly adjusted his mindset. "Luckily, the task doesn't force me to undress and shower."
Turning on the shower, Han Fei stood under the water, fully clothed, holding a kitchen knife.
The cold water washed over his body, and the clothes clung to his skin, creating an uncomfortable sensation.
"The game really reproduces every detail."
After rinsing with cold water for half a minute, Han Fei noticed that the completion percentage of the bathing task in his task list was still at zero.
Once his body was thoroughly soaked, he looked at the washstand. There were shampoo, facial cleanser, and body wash placed there.
"Taking a shower in a haunted house close to 4 a.m. feels different. No matter how high I adjust the water temperature, it still gives me a chilly feeling."
He tried squeezing some body wash and applied it to his body. Finally, the completion percentage of the bathing task began to slowly increase.
"So, this is what it feels like to take a shower while wearing clothes. In the game, I can indeed try things that I haven't done in reality."
Han Fei gradually realized something. In the normal version of Perfect Life, there would be various constraints, but in the version he was playing, there were no limitations. No one would restrict him if he could survive, allowing him to try anything.
This place could be a hell of human nature or a blood-red heaven. It all depended on his choices.
The water temperature gradually increased, and a thin mist filled the bathroom. Han Fei remained highly focused.
After washing his body, as he prepared to wash his hair, the previously closed bathroom door suddenly opened on its own.
"Who came in?"
He leaned out of the bathroom, looking towards the living room. The television continued playing heartwarming scenes, but the seven victims sitting on the sofa had disappeared.
The water temperature rose, but Han Fei felt increasingly cold.
The narrow bathroom seemed to have frozen air, and Han Fei was on the verge of suffocation as he looked at the fog-covered mirror.
In the mirror on the washstand, besides Han Fei, there were seven other figures.
Afraid to turn around, Han Fei stared fixedly at the mirror.
Wei Youfu emerged from behind Han Fei, reaching out to write on the mirror's surface.
At the same time, words began to appear outside the mist-covered mirror—"The child is about to appear, help her."
This was the first time Han Fei had communicated with one of the residents of the haunted house. He read the words on the mirror and looked at Wei Youfu standing beside him in the mirror. A strange sensation suddenly arose within him.
In the reality outside the game, his assigned character was also Wei Youfu. At this moment, he was separated from the deceased he was supposed to portray only by a mirror.
Despite feeling fear from instinct, a different emotion welled up within him.
It wasn't sympathy or pity. As he looked at the pained and despairing faces of the seven victims in the mirror, it was as if he saw his former self.
Raising his arm, Han Fei's fingertips touched the mirror.
A chill ran through his mind as he nodded slowly. "I can help her."
After he uttered those words, Wei Youfu in the mirror showed a simple smile, but then his head and neck began to bleed, with terrifying wounds appearing one by one.
His body was violently dismantled beside Han Fei, like a shattered puzzle piece.
Bloody splatters adorned the pristine white walls of the bathroom. Han Fei had never experienced such horror before. He didn't even know if the liquid running down his body was water or blood.
But what shocked him even more was that Wei Youfu was only the first.
After Wei Youfu's body was dismantled, Ah Mei, Cui Tianci, Cui Caiyi...
Bright blood splatters bloomed in the narrow bathroom, and the world in the mirror turned blood-red. It couldn't be described as anything less than an earthly hell. Han Fei felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss, unable to control his trembling body.
As the bodies of the seven victims were all dismantled, their flesh and blood seemed to possess their own lives. Despair, resentment, and pain intertwined into black threads, reassembling the scattered limbs.
This seemed to be what the killer had done before, and now Han Fei found himself standing amid a murder scene.
Flesh and blood were used as puzzle pieces, and life was manipulated by resentment. An ugly, insane, and horrifying monster was reborn from the bodies of the deceased.
Its body grew larger and larger, the distorted faces of the seven deceased gradually emerging. They had all lost their sanity, screaming and shouting in madness. The room was filled with severed limbs.
The scene in the mirror was too bloody, but Han Fei still forced himself to look. He firmly remembered the words left by Wei Youfu. He had to see what they wanted him to see!
"The seven victims must have a reason for doing this. By disassembling and reassembling themselves in front of me, they must want me to see something!"
Veins protruded, flesh was devoured, and as the monster continued to expand, Han Fei finally discovered something in its heart.
Within the monster's body, he saw an unfamiliar face.
He had searched through all the information related to the puzzle patterns on human bodies but had never come across that face. The police had never released any information regarding that face.
"Is she the eighth victim? Is she the final puzzle piece?"
Living alone for so many years, his "home" had never been this "lively" before.
Seven ghosts sat on the sofa, watching TV. As Han Fei observed, another person appeared, but no one broke the peaceful atmosphere. It felt quite harmonious.
Since he could exit the game at any time, Han Fei's courage had been elevated. He wanted to get closer to his roommates, the victims, to find clues related to the killer.
The old-fashioned CRT television repeatedly played the memories of the deceased, and Han Fei engraved every detail in his mind.
The approaching time of 4 a.m. drew near. If he didn't complete the bathing task soon, the beginner task would likely be considered a failure.
Glancing at the clock on the wall, when it reached 3:50 a.m., Han Fei silently got up and headed towards the bathroom.
"I don't care anymore. I must give it a try. Gathering all the rewards from the beginner task will surely be beneficial to me."
Entering the bathroom, Han Fei didn't turn on the light. He recalled the requirements of the bathing task: "I have to use the in-game items to clean my body, face, and head, with a total cleaning time of no less than twenty minutes."
"Perfect Life" was essentially a life simulation game, so it wasn't too surprising for bathing, a mundane activity, to be included as a task. Although Han Fei knew deep down that it couldn't be as simple as just taking a shower.
Checking his surroundings, Han Fei noticed that the bathroom door lock was broken and couldn't be locked at all.
"I can't lock the door?" Han Fei frowned, but quickly adjusted his mindset. "Luckily, the task doesn't force me to undress and shower."
Turning on the shower, Han Fei stood under the water, fully clothed, holding a kitchen knife.
The cold water washed over his body, and the clothes clung to his skin, creating an uncomfortable sensation.
"The game really reproduces every detail."
After rinsing with cold water for half a minute, Han Fei noticed that the completion percentage of the bathing task in his task list was still at zero.
Once his body was thoroughly soaked, he looked at the washstand. There were shampoo, facial cleanser, and body wash placed there.
"Taking a shower in a haunted house close to 4 a.m. feels different. No matter how high I adjust the water temperature, it still gives me a chilly feeling."
He tried squeezing some body wash and applied it to his body. Finally, the completion percentage of the bathing task began to slowly increase.
"So, this is what it feels like to take a shower while wearing clothes. In the game, I can indeed try things that I haven't done in reality."
Han Fei gradually realized something. In the normal version of Perfect Life, there would be various constraints, but in the version he was playing, there were no limitations. No one would restrict him if he could survive, allowing him to try anything.
This place could be a hell of human nature or a blood-red heaven. It all depended on his choices.
The water temperature gradually increased, and a thin mist filled the bathroom. Han Fei remained highly focused.
After washing his body, as he prepared to wash his hair, the previously closed bathroom door suddenly opened on its own.
"Who came in?"
He leaned out of the bathroom, looking towards the living room. The television continued playing heartwarming scenes, but the seven victims sitting on the sofa had disappeared.
The water temperature rose, but Han Fei felt increasingly cold.
The narrow bathroom seemed to have frozen air, and Han Fei was on the verge of suffocation as he looked at the fog-covered mirror.
In the mirror on the washstand, besides Han Fei, there were seven other figures.
Afraid to turn around, Han Fei stared fixedly at the mirror.
Wei Youfu emerged from behind Han Fei, reaching out to write on the mirror's surface.
At the same time, words began to appear outside the mist-covered mirror—"The child is about to appear, help her."
This was the first time Han Fei had communicated with one of the residents of the haunted house. He read the words on the mirror and looked at Wei Youfu standing beside him in the mirror. A strange sensation suddenly arose within him.
In the reality outside the game, his assigned character was also Wei Youfu. At this moment, he was separated from the deceased he was supposed to portray only by a mirror.
Despite feeling fear from instinct, a different emotion welled up within him.
It wasn't sympathy or pity. As he looked at the pained and despairing faces of the seven victims in the mirror, it was as if he saw his former self.
Raising his arm, Han Fei's fingertips touched the mirror.
A chill ran through his mind as he nodded slowly. "I can help her."
After he uttered those words, Wei Youfu in the mirror showed a simple smile, but then his head and neck began to bleed, with terrifying wounds appearing one by one.
His body was violently dismantled beside Han Fei, like a shattered puzzle piece.
Bloody splatters adorned the pristine white walls of the bathroom. Han Fei had never experienced such horror before. He didn't even know if the liquid running down his body was water or blood.
But what shocked him even more was that Wei Youfu was only the first.
After Wei Youfu's body was dismantled, Ah Mei, Cui Tianci, Cui Caiyi...
Bright blood splatters bloomed in the narrow bathroom, and the world in the mirror turned blood-red. It couldn't be described as anything less than an earthly hell. Han Fei felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss, unable to control his trembling body.
As the bodies of the seven victims were all dismantled, their flesh and blood seemed to possess their own lives. Despair, resentment, and pain intertwined into black threads, reassembling the scattered limbs.
This seemed to be what the killer had done before, and now Han Fei found himself standing amid a murder scene.
Flesh and blood were used as puzzle pieces, and life was manipulated by resentment. An ugly, insane, and horrifying monster was reborn from the bodies of the deceased.
Its body grew larger and larger, the distorted faces of the seven deceased gradually emerging. They had all lost their sanity, screaming and shouting in madness. The room was filled with severed limbs.
The scene in the mirror was too bloody, but Han Fei still forced himself to look. He firmly remembered the words left by Wei Youfu. He had to see what they wanted him to see!
"The seven victims must have a reason for doing this. By disassembling and reassembling themselves in front of me, they must want me to see something!"
Veins protruded, flesh was devoured, and as the monster continued to expand, Han Fei finally discovered something in its heart.
Within the monster's body, he saw an unfamiliar face.
He had searched through all the information related to the puzzle patterns on human bodies but had never come across that face. The police had never released any information regarding that face.
"Is she the eighth victim? Is she the final puzzle piece?"
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