My Iyashikei Game

Han Fei was touched that Ying Yue’s parents would leave such a surprising and wonderful present for their daughter. Now he understood why Ying Yue would still remember that birthday present even after lunacy had claimed her.

“Li Xue, do you know what happens after that? Why didn’t Ying Yue get the transplant?”

“After a cornea is removed from the body, they can only survive for a maximum of 6 weeks inside a nutrient vial. At the time, the doctors suggested for Ying Yue to undergo the transplant immediately. Since both of Ying Yue’s parents had passed away, the decision fell on Ying Yue’s temporary guardians. They decided to delay the surgery for some reasons.”

“Was it due to the high surgical fee?”

“I have no idea but that shouldn’t be any problem, because Ying Yue’s parents left their daughter with a huge amount of inheritance. In any case, Ying Yue’s guardians took their time to make their decision despite the urging from the doctors. Eventually the 6 weeks passed, and Ying Yue’s parents’ corneas couldn’t be used anymore. The doctors thought this was such a huge waste so they admitted to violating the law and slid the vial containing Ying Yue’s parents’ cornea to the little girl. They knew it wouldn’t help much but that was the least they could do under the circumstance.”

“Then what happened to that vial? Do you know?”

“I’ll call the interrogation room to ask, wait a minute.” Li Xue called back a few minutes after she hung up, “According to Ying Qingmei’s daughter, she mistook the vial for an aquarium cleanser so she poured the whole vial down their home aquarium. When she realized the mistake, she quickly refilled the vial with the water from the aquarium.”

“That little bitch! That was no accident!” Han Fei cursed but he soon calmed himself, “Is there going to be punishment for Ying Qingmei’s daughter?”

“Both the mother and the daughter have pushed the murder onto the father. If there’s no surprise, the father will receive the death penalty.”

“What about the mother and the daughter? Will they escape unscathed?”

“Of course not! We suspect this is a premeditated murder, all 3 of them are accomplice.” Li Xue warned Han Fei, “Please leave the case to us. Don’t do anything out of line.”

“Don’t worry.” Han Fei promised gently. However, if he had the chance, he would not hesitate to invite the pair of mother and daughter into Perfect Life to play with Ying Yue.

“Humanity can be as bright as the sun, or as dark as the abyss. I’ve encountered many horrible incidents in my career. The correct thing to do is to submit these criminals to the judgement of law, to prevent these people from harming more innocents.” Li Xue advised Han Fei before she added, “Wait, shouldn’t you be busy with the movie shooting? Where do you find time to investigate this case?”

“The two are not mutually-exclusive. Acting is my main gig, but I can have many side gigs.” Han Fei finally finished the boxed lunch and he then glanced at his watch. “The break is almost over. I have to return to work now. See you later.” When he hung up, Han Fei only noticed Zhan Yueyue and Mian Nian who were waiting for him, “How can I help you?”

“Teacher Han, we wish to get your opinions about our characters.” No matter what kind of outfit Zhan Yueyue wore, he had that air of a comedic actor. “I still have trouble mastering my character. I can’t seem to jump out from my usual comedic personality, but you’re different. You are able to snap into the different characterizations with ease every time. How do you do it?”

“Well, you first have to…” Han Fei patiently shared his experience with Zhan Yueyue and Mian Nian. Then he threw himself into work. Twin Flowers had many scenes that involved Meng Changan and Meng Changxi so Han Fei had a heavy workload. Considering the fact that he needed to keep his night free to play the game, Han Fei worked extra hard, so that he would not be required to stay overnight at the set. Han Fei finished all his scenes for the day by late afternoon. Han Fei’s great efficiency meant that the crew would wrap up early as well. That endeared the young man greatly to Director Jiang and his team. After his job was done, Han Fei bade farewell to everyone and left the set on his own.

He stopped by a roadside stall to have a simple dinner. Normally, the crew from the opposite street would come out to snicker at Han Fei but less and less of them showed up these days. They probably found out through the grapevine that their agency had accidentally let a very talented star go. However, they consoled themselves with the fact that Han Fei was just a nobody, no matter how talented he was, in this business, popularity and fame meant everything. And fact was Han Fei had none so the agency wasn’t kicking themselves for firing him.

Han Fei set the alarm and took a quick nap after he reached home. When he woke up, he took a shower and planted himself before the computer.

“Today is the last day for me to complete the Grade F Mission, based on my current progress, the chance of completing it is very low. My imminent goal is to save my own hide and escape from Room 1084.

“Before Ying Yue got consumed by madness, she repeated the term ‘birthday present’. Maybe I can use that to reach out to the lingering humanity within her. After I log into the game this time, I should hurry towards the aquarium which I saw in the living room and see if I can find the present her parents left for her.” Han Fei had no guarantee if he could survive that night. He studied the picture of Ying Yue he had pinned on the wall. “If I can’t reason with Ying Yue, then I’ll probably be stuck in Room 1084 forever as a pair of eyes.” The thought of it caused Han Fei to shiver but he had no way out. The game’s rule was that he had to stay for more than 3 hours and complete at least 1 mission before he could quit the game. Currently, he was trapped inside Room 1084 and the only mission he could get was the hidden mission—Escape Room 1084.

“Ying Yue lives on the 8th floor, further up is the scary 9th floor and then the 10th floor where all the secrets are hidden.” Han Fei was curious about the 10th floor. He wanted to know what was hidden inside the building manager’s room and whether that was related to the black box’s secret or not. But now he was still too weak. Furthermore, he knew nothing of the game world beyond the apartment building. “I need to live, I need to at least survive until I get to the 10th floor!”

After making sure he had everything done, Han Fei’s heart started to race as the time ticked towards midnight. When the clock chimed at 12, Han Fei put on the gaming helmet. Blood covered everything. When Han Fei opened his eyes, he realized he was still sitting inside Ying Yue’s room. The frost engulfed him. Endless eyes blinked open to greet him. All the dolls lifted their heads, their gaze focused maliciously on the stranger inside the room.

“Ying Yue! I’ve found the present your parents left for you!” The plushies rolled together to form a giant shadow. An arm shot out at Han Fei’s head. Without wasting any time, Han Fei climbed up and flew towards the living room. “The aquarium! The girl dropped your present inside the aquarium!”

Instead of heading towards the front door, Han Fei used every bit of his strength to lift up the sizable aquarium. “Look! I’m not lying to you!”

The giant shadow loomed over the living room. Han Fei raised the aquarium to block before him. The chill caused cracks to crackle on the surface of the aquarium. Two goldfish hidden at the bottom of the aquarium swam out from the commotion.

Initially, neither Han Fei nor the shadow paid the goldfish any attention. But when the shadowy monster struck forward to shatter the aquarium to grab at Han Fei’s head, something happened. When Ying Yue’s hand reached the aquarium, the two goldfish did not swim away from fear, instead, they fluttered closer to the glass as if to kiss Ying Yue’s fingers.

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