My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 143: That’s the Sound of the Cage Breaking! (Requesting Monthly Votes)

Chapter 143: Chapter 143: That’s the Sound of the Cage Breaking! (Requesting Monthly Votes)

After a lengthy introduction and presentation of the movie guests, Han Fei, as the main actor, stepped out from behind the curtain.

Light shone on Han Fei, and in that pitch darkness, he dazzled for the first time.

As an actor, he walked to the center of the stage, a place he had once longed for desperately.

Listening to his own heartbeat, with blood flowing through his body, his fingers slowly clenched into fists.

It wasn’t because of nervousness; he was just thinking about his past self, the one who practiced smiling in front of the mirror every day.

"Here is the male lead of ’Twin Flowers’! In real life, he assists the police in solving cases, and in movies, he plays dual roles. Please welcome him to answer questions from netizens."

The host, holding a card in his hand, walked off the stage and was about to secretly send a message on his phone when Director Jiang suddenly rushed over and grabbed his collar, "Weren’t the questions pre-arranged? What are you playing at? This isn’t like the rehearsal at all!"

"I was just reading from the teleprompter. If you have complaints, go talk to the venue staff," the male host replied discourteously.

"What’s the matter?" Sister Long also came over; she was taking this live broadcast press conference very seriously and had come in person.

"Han Fei is a kind of actor who focuses intensely on acting. He has no experience attending public events; this is the first time being watched by so many people. Under such circumstances, he has to improvise answers to questions from netizens; I’m worried he won’t withstand it," Director Jiang explained.

"With his talent, he’s bound to go through this sooner or later. Don’t worry," Sister Long waved her hand dismissively, "I thought something serious had happened."

"You don’t know!" Director Jiang hesitated, then looked worriedly at Han Fei, "He suffers from severe social anxiety and inner turmoil; it seems he has pathological laughter disorder. Initially, I never thought of casting him, but after talking with his therapist, I knew his condition was terrible. If I didn’t help him out, that kid would have been ruined."

"Severe social anxiety? Pathological laughter disorder?" Sister Long was shocked, "Why are you only telling me this now?"

"If I had told you... would you still have let him be the lead?" Director Jiang clenched sweat in his palm, gazing intently at Han Fei under the spotlight, "Initially, I just wanted to cast him in a minor role, but he’s genuinely a genius. Such genius should be seen by everyone!"

After the host left, Han Fei stood alone on stage, with a huge screen above the venue broadcasting the live stream in real time.

There was also a massive backdrop behind him projecting the live stream, allowing all the audience present to watch the online broadcast.

"It’s a bit different from the rehearsal."

Han Fei’s prepared answers were of no use, and he looked up towards the screen above the venue.

After he appeared alone on stage, the live room’s popularity exploded from one hundred and fifty thousand to three hundred thousand abruptly.

While everyone thought this popularity was all because of Han Fei, a harsh comment suddenly scrolled past.

"He’s just lucky; no way, no way, no one actually thinks he can act, right?"

Following this harsh comment, countless more hateful comments suddenly surged, appearing all at once during the segment when Han Fei was supposed to answer questions from netizens!

"He’s so ugly; I bet he’s had plastic surgery."

"Using a criminal case to boost his own popularity, disgusting!"

"I don’t have any works, day by day ranting about ’Righteous Hero’, my help has already revived you."

"This person had notoriously bad relationships at his previous company! Nobody liked him! There were even allegations of him stealing from the company!"

"Holy crap! You all need to check Wiki! This guy is crazy! Now even a mentally ill person can become an actor?"

Row after row of scathing comments filled the screen, and the projector in the center of the stage cast the live broadcast onto the curtain behind Han Fei.

The branch venue was small, but it was packed with people; all the spectators saw those vicious comments, covering Han Fei’s body with cruel words.

He was stared at by pairs of eyes, constantly slandered, and berated by those who positioned themselves morally superior.

Scars in Han Fei’s memory were torn open again and again; he stood in the center of the stage, spotlighted, as if stripped bare, exposing a soul ripped open.

Anyone faced with such a scene would find it hard to remain calm, especially for someone who suffered from severe social anxiety and inherently avoided contact with the outside world.

The abusive comments flooded the screen during Han Fei’s first time on stage.

Looking at the large screen above the venue, Han Fei just watched silently, while the audience below couldn’t bear it, he suddenly smiled.

Ignoring the malicious comments streaming in the live chat, without getting angry or losing his sanity, he picked up the microphone and looked at the audience below. He saw Li Xue, saw Wei Youfu’s father, and many others he had casually met.

"My lifelong dream has always been to become a comedian. Do you know why?"

Han Fei briefly glanced at the countless insults, teasing, and laughter behind him, "When I was very young, I lost my parents, and people always bullied and laughed at me, so I thought, heck, I might as well find a way to take some of their money."

"Unfortunately, although I tried very hard to become a comedian, I realized I probably don’t have the talent." Han Fei pointed behind him at the countless harsh comments, "These trolls think they can crush me, but they don’t realize that I had tried everything, yet I didn’t even qualify to be slandered."

"From the way I dress, you can also tell, I am not like other stars who shine brightly, nor am I surrounded by dazzling starlight."

"I once lived a very terrible life. I couldn’t be an actor, I have social anxiety, I am reclusive and introverted, I even forgot what a smile was. But when I think about it carefully, I was already in such a bad state, what more could destiny do to me!"

Han Fei’s voice echoed in the venue, and someone beneath the stage led a round of applause; everyone watched Han Fei standing amid a sea of slander, still serene, calm, and elegant.

How could the malice of the Mortal World compare to the deepest despair?

If he hadn’t played that Healing-type game, Han Fei might have been crushed by the malice of the world, but now, he was truly different, he was no longer afraid of these things.

Compared to the ultimate pain and despair from Deep World, this cruelty seemed like the naive babble of a child.

After saying these things, the live stream’s popularity soared again; among the screen full of nasty comments, more and more benevolent comments emerged, with increasing numbers of people wanting to speak up for him, sending him embrace emojis.

Those bits and pieces of goodwill, Han Fei saw them all; he still couldn’t show his most genuine smile, but he had decided to let go of all concerns and bravely face everything in the future.

Although Han Fei hadn’t completely moved on from the past, at this moment, as he stood at the center of the stage he had long desired, under the spotlight where he was the focus of attention, he finally broke free from the cage that bound him in the past.