My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 370 Death Building Owner Rights Protection Mutual Assistance Group

Chapter 370: Chapter 370 Death Building Owner Rights Protection Mutual Assistance Group

"If you can live, it’s best not to think about death."

An actor from a horror film and an actor from a comedy stood face to face, looking at the reflection of themselves in each other’s eyes.

Their futures may have been different, but the paths they chose had some similarities.

One, with the body of a living being, had become the Manager of the Deep World, while the other, dragging along a diseased body, had become the main support for a group of fellow patients. Both stood in their own dark nights, transforming into a glimmer of light beneath that night sky.

"I will live on well," the young man said, still with that smile on his face, "My Acting is excellent, and you’re the first one to learn my secret."

He controlled the game account left by Yanzu, looking at the messages and pictures that the child had left behind—proof that he had existed.

"You must have many such accounts, don’t you? Doesn’t constantly guarding them tire you? Maybe one day you will break down," Han Fei brought over a chair and sat next to the young man. He could sense that the man was in a terrible state, and the pain within him couldn’t be relieved; every time new pain arose, he forcibly suppressed it deep within his heart.

"This illness of mine is like this: normal people can feel joy and despair, but I can feel nothing. Everything around is desolate, very stifling, unable to convey anything, and nothing from the outside can come in." The young man didn’t even raise his head as he continued to look at the life of the deceased boy, "Before, I never even thought of sharing these feelings with anyone, but for some reason, you make me feel relaxed, as if... you’re the only one in this world who can understand my voice."

"Has a 52-hertz whale found another 52-hertz whale?" Han Fei knew the truth; it was merely his soul conversing with itself. In another sense, it was indeed a tragic fact.

"Yes, although we are meeting for the first time, you’ve made me feel lucky for the first time. It is as if I’ve persisted till today just to wait for you," the man talked as he browsed through the boy’s memories. After a long silence, he spoke again, "Could you promise me a small favor?"

"To keep your secret?"

"No," the man’s empty gaze refocused, "I will try to be the last bright icon in the group chat, but as you just said, if one night I suddenly can’t hold on any longer..."

The young man was extremely repressed inside. He showed all the things that could make others laugh to his audience, keeping all the sorrows to himself. In the process of communicating with Han Fei, his speech had already started to become intermittent, and his fingers trembled lightly, as if he felt very cold, so cold.

"I hope that when the time comes, you can take over the Yinghuo account, protect the traces of their existence, and guide the newcomers who join the group chat."

"Did the old man who made you a Manager say the same to you?"

"Yes, the night has no boundaries; even if the world ceased to exist, the night would remain. Compared with this night, we are as fragile and insignificant as a firefly. We cannot rival the night sky nor illuminate anyone, but we can choose our own way of living, not to let ourselves merge into the darkness." The right things, the principles of the Mortal World—the young man understood them all. Yet, understanding and healing oneself were completely different matters. The comedy actor had tried very hard.

Compared to the other patients in the group chat, the young man was very fortunate. He had met Han Fei that night, someone who could wholly understand him and resonate with his soul.

After saying all that, the young man shifted his gaze away from the computer screen. He looked at Han Fei earnestly, waiting for his response.

No ghost had shown up in Room 4094, and Han Fei was still unclear who was performing the Soul-summoning. Since entering the room, he had been conversing with his own soul, and now, he had finally reached an important turning point.

Han Fei needed to make his choice, and his decision would affect the subsequent choices of the owner of Room 4094.

"I can, when the time comes, I will also record your account and your past, but I still hope that day never comes."

After Han Fei gave his answer, the young man’s expression relaxed somewhat. For someone who couldn’t show a smile, this moment was unprecedentedly relaxed.

"Can you tell me your contact information? So we can stay in touch later," the young man pulled out his phone, and his black phone was still flashing with private messages from his group friends, as though his social circle on the phone now consisted solely of that group chat.

Han Fei mentioned his phone number, which he had used for many years, and as the young man was inputting it, there was initially no reaction. But when he was about to input the last digit, his finger could no longer press down.

"This number..."

Incredulous, he looked up at Han Fei, his eyes full of confusion, "How do you know my phone number?"

Blood flowed from his heart to his brain, and the young man’s skin turned pale. The person summoned by Soul-summoning Ceremony would immerse themselves in memories of their past life according to their recollections, but, upon realizing something abnormal, they would gradually awaken, understanding that they were but a solitary ghost.

"I not only know your phone number, which you’ve used for nearly seven years, but I also know that your phone will forever save a sentence—’The best actor, is the one in real life’ (from Chapter 1, stuck on the mirror)." Han Fei saw the changes in the young man’s body, and the temperature in Room 4094 also began to drop.

"How do you know that? I’ve never told anyone that phrase!"

"Because you are me. There is no second 52-hertz whale in the world, but there are us, who are willing to be fireflies in the darkness." Han Fei’s face showed the same gentle and tender smile as the young man’s, a smile that brought comfort to those around them. But only they, who wore the kindest of smiles, knew that behind the smile hid a soul that could not laugh at all.

"I will help you accomplish your last wish, become the new Manager, and protect all the patients, even if I end up being the only one with a lit icon in the group," Han Fei’s hand rested on the young man’s shoulder, "The things you insisted on are the same things I have always been doing. We have never given up, have we?"

The warmth from Han Fei’s palm brought a bit of comfort to the young man, whose face of astonishment and surprise slowly transformed into calm and serenity.

The young man’s skin had turned a sallow yellow, utterly devoid of color, and a deep strangulation mark appeared around his neck. His face was makeup-free, yet the corners of his eyes bore the distinct marks of strangulation, like a clown who had cried.

As more and more things were remembered, a foreign roar began to emanate from the young man’s throat, his sanity gradually being devoured. Nonetheless, under such circumstances, he still refrained from touching the computer and desk behind him that held the memories of his fellow patients.

Blood vessels protruded from his skin, the young man’s features becoming less and less like Han Fei’s; the other’s body seemed as though it had been desiccated, slowly shrinking.

Room 4094 also underwent changes alongside the young man: the spacious and grand decor was replaced with shabby furniture, cracks spread across the walls, and the ceiling pressed down, as if it were about to crush Han Fei and the young man standing in the center of the room.

Everything stopped only when the decrepit ceiling light touched the young man.

Room 4094 became extremely dilapidated, and the young man before Han Fei turned hazy and cloudy in consciousness.

"Snap!"

The sound of a clay pot shattering startled Han Fei; he drew his knife and turned around just to see the door of another bedroom being pushed open; a teenage student stood in the doorway.

At his feet lay a white clay pot filled with white rice and a piece of Yellow Paper with a name written on it—Yinghuo.

"Is this student the owner of room 4094?" Han Fei protected the young man behind him and watched the other warily.

The boy slowly raised his drooped head, holding a roster and a picture frame in his arms.

Unlike the other residents’ soul-summoning, the picture frame the student used for soul-summoning held no portrait, just a photograph of a video game character that seemed to have been used as Yinghuo’s avatar.

"Was it you who summoned Yinghuo’s soul into the Death Building? You don’t even know his real name or have a picture of him, so why must you see him?" Most souls summoned into the Death Building are living persons, which means the person called Yinghuo is now on the verge of dying.

"I couldn’t perform the soul-summoning alone." As the student spoke, numerous faces appeared in his mouth, surging forth like a tidal wave.

The wind raised by the faces made Han Fei unable to stand firm. If they had not intentionally avoided the young man behind Han Fei, he would have been hurled out of the window by now.

"I have never seen Yinghuo, nor do I know his real name, but to me, and to us, he’s the most important person." As the student spoke, Han Fei saw the walking dead within him, lurking in the darkness inside their bodies, shrouded by shadows. To them, skin and flesh were just clothing to separate themselves from the outside world.

"You all? Could it be that you are all members of the Happiness Residential Community patient group?" Han Fei’s mind raced, and he quickly guessed many things: "You wouldn’t happen to be the kid with the screen name Yanzu, would you?"

"That group’s name isn’t Happiness Residential Community. The soul-summoning went awry, and a fragment of your soul got mixed up in Yinghuo’s memories, weaving two different memories together and changing the scenes that were seen." The male student’s tone was cold, like that of a corpse, but to Han Fei’s relief, the other did not display a strong intent to kill.

"You have seen what just happened too. Yinghuo continues to keep the promise between you, and my soul is just like Yinghuo, someone who will carry on this most precious thing." Han Fei’s soul, filled with kindness and acceptance, entered Yinghuo’s consciousness. When Yinghuo himself was nearly collapsing from the strain of the soul-summoning ceremony, it was a fragment of Han Fei’s soul that steadied his consciousness.

Yinghuo himself was willing to embrace death, but Han Fei, who had been hardened in the Deep World for so long, was entirely different. His strong will to survive was like iron, robust enough to prop up even the dead.

"If you truly value the bond you shared in life, then let me take Yinghuo and leave together. Yinghuo has been seeking death all this time, but this experience might change some of his views. He has always been guarding the traces of your existence, and this time, I hope you can also give him a chance to start over." He had to take Yinghuo with him if he was going to save everyone in the building.

"We never meant to harm Yinghuo; we never thought the soul-summoning would actually work. Each of us has tried shouting his name, never once succeeding in fourteen years. But today, he really came here; he kept his promise for fourteen years, and this visit seems to be just to wait for you." The male student misunderstood some things; their successful soul-summoning tonight might have more to do with Butterfly returning their soul tonight.

"Really?" Han Fei pondered thoughtfully: "He seems to have asked me for something similar just now, hoping that I could become the new Manager here."

"Manager" carries different implications in the Deep World. As Han Fei uttered these three words, the student’s brow twitched slightly.

What was even more thought-provoking was that the male student did not correct Han Fei nor continue on the subject; he simply instructed Han Fei to take good care of Yinghuo’s cell phone.

After room 4094 changed, Yinghuo’s cell phone also became completely different, severely worn, with a cracked screen frozen on a group chat page.

The page’s header displayed the group chat’s name, but it wasn’t anything like Happiness Residential Community; instead, it was a line of death characters.

"This is us, the people Yinghuo has been guarding, turned into gray and never to come online again..." The student lowered his head as he spoke but then saw Yinghuo’s cell phone vibrate slightly.

By the time he realised what was happening, the group chat’s name had been changed; that hopeless line of death characters was now—Death Building Owner Rights Protection Mutual Assistance Group.

Seeing the words "group name successfully changed" on the phone screen, Han Fei also paused for a moment, glancing sheepishly at the male student.

"I just wanted to try it; I didn’t expect that an admin could change it directly."