My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 408: The Disappearing Plastic Surgery Hospital

Chapter 408: Chapter 408: The Disappearing Plastic Surgery Hospital

"If it’s at eight in the evening, time is a bit tight, but I’ll try to make it."

Han Fei didn’t care who else would be there; all he thought about was as long as it didn’t disturb his game playing.

"So I’ll take that as a yes from you?" Director Zhang’s assistant breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Han Fei might refuse.

This young actor was good in many ways but unlike a regular actor; while others couldn’t wait to walk the red carpet and attend events to boost their visibility, he was content with just filming and helping the police solve cases.

If it was said that he used to investigate murders due to the pressures of life and making ends meet, Director Zhang’s assistant now believed that Han Fei did it purely out of interest and love for justice.

It wasn’t just him who thought this way; other crew members on the set felt the same.

"Teacher Han, I’ve reported your information. Have you considered joining any company lately?" Director Zhang’s assistant approached Han Fei. "If not, don’t worry just yet. Wait until you win an award; your value is definitely going to skyrocket."

"I have no plans to join any company; I act simply because it’s all I know how to do,"

"The sinners you caught probably wouldn’t think so," Director Zhang’s assistant accidentally spoke his mind and quickly changed the subject: "I’ll notify you again before the event starts. Director Zhang knows you don’t have an agent, so you can contact me directly for anything."

After speaking, he hustled away as if staying too long with Han Fei would suck away his soul: "I’m much older than him, but why do I always feel nervous talking to him? I’ve met many top stars before, and their aura is completely different from Han Fei’s."

Watching the assistant’s receding figure, Han Fei shook his head: "Why does this guy always speak his mind? Do I really have such an intimidating presence among the staff, or is it that some talents I’ve gained in the game subtly affect those around me?"

Riding back to the Old City District, Han Fei tried using his game-derived talents and abilities on the way, only to attract sympathetic glances from passersby.

Before even entering the residential community, Han Fei saw a face he least wanted to see—his former company’s leader had come over with Acheng again.

"Are you guys ever going to stop? Coming to my place as if it’s some humble cottage?" Han Fei was quite unfriendly in his speech, having no fondness for that leader.

"Han Fei, don’t think that just because you’ve filmed with Director Zhang, you can speak to us like this..." Acheng hadn’t finished speaking when Han Fei walked past him.

"You!" Acheng was very annoyed by Han Fei’s attitude. The better Han Fei’s career went, the more jealous he felt. He believed that everything Han Fei had should have been his; if not for Han Fei taking his lead role, he would have been the one filming with Director Zhang and being fiercely courted by major companies.

Fury flared up instantly, and he reached for Han Fei’s shoulder, but just as his palm was about to land, Han Fei caught his wrist and palm.

Being quicker off the mark, Han Fei’s grip was like iron tongs, immobilizing Acheng.

"Ouch, ouch, let go! Let go!" Acheng grimaced, his other hand reaching for Han Fei’s face.

Han Fei took a small step back and then yanked hard, causing the off-balance Acheng to kneel on the ground.

"If your mouth were as clean as half of your clothes, you wouldn’t be taken down today." Han Fei, while holding the screaming Acheng, coldly glanced at the leader: "I hope you realize one thing, it has never been you giving me opportunities, rather, I have been giving you opportunities."

After speaking, he casually threw Acheng to the ground: "Your hands are well-maintained; remember to maintain your mouth as well."

Leaving briskly, Han Fei didn’t want these trifling characters to affect his mood for gaming.

"Damn! To dare and attack an actor on the street! I have over a million followers! Han Fei! This isn’t over!" After Han Fei had gone some distance, Acheng got up from the ground and shouted towards the building.

"Alright, it seems he really doesn’t want to cooperate with us." The leader got back into the car, his eyes dark and ominous.

"I really don’t understand why you insist on reaching out to him. That man is connected to a murderer; he’ll eventually bring major trouble!" Acheng, standing outside the car, covered his hand, which had turned purple where Han Fei had grabbed it.

"The film festival is just around the corner, and I wouldn’t come to him if any actor in the company could compete for an award," the man turned up the car’s temperature, "Drive! A bunch of useless guys; throwing money at them is pointless, and they just keep causing me trouble."

Without waiting for Acheng to get in, the man ordered the driver to drive off. He sat in the car, not looking back, not even glancing at Acheng who still stood there dumbfounded.

"If you don’t want to help me, then don’t expect to have it easy either. Destroying someone is always easier than nurturing them."

The man pulled out his phone and dialed a number: "I heard that Director Zhang’s ’Mystery Novelist’ is almost finished filming. When they start promoting it, you guys play the victims’ relatives and start targeting Han Fei comprehensively. It would be best if you could force the ’Mystery Novelist’ crew to delete Han Fei’s scenes; I hear he’s just a minor supporting role anyway."

"Don’t worry, we’ve already arranged everything. This will definitely be a fatal blow! Let’s make sure he can never mix in the entertainment circle again!" a sharp male voice came from the phone: "By the way, the big boss is very angry recently. His initial setup in ’Perfect Life’ seems to have been completely ruined, and now he seems to want you to go back and take charge there."

"Completely ruined, what does that mean? Isn’t ’Perfect Life’ a healing-type game?"

"Last night, our two top accounts were maliciously killed, and we still don’t know how the killer did it. After dawn, when we contacted other studios to look into the killer, he showed up again and killed all our accounts that had talent!" the sharp voice was filled with suppressed anger.

"Did you guys offend someone?"

"How could we offend anyone if we haven’t even left Newbie Village? Everyone is in a race against time to level up, yet it’s only us this psychopath is targeting."

"After the film festival is over, I’ll return to the headquarters. You guys try to find the killer on your own for now." The man looked at the logo on his sleeve; the headquarters was part of a large entertainment conglomerate, and film was just one of its many business areas.

The car went straight back to Smart New City. The man exited from his residential community’s underground parking garage to wait for the elevator, and a painter, who also seemed to be waiting for the elevator, stopped beside him.

"Such bad luck."

He pulled out a handkerchief and covered his nose and mouth, then he stepped aside.

In a moment, the painter, carrying a bucket of red paint, entered the elevator.

The man frowned and hesitated for a long while before reluctantly entering the elevator.

As the elevator started, he faced the bright elevator doors and adjusted his collar, completely ignoring the painter standing in the corner.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Butterfly from Garden number 24?"

A voice came from behind him; the painter had suddenly spoken up, saying something inexplicable.

Exhaling a breath of foul air, the man couldn’t be bothered with the painter; he was just annoyed that the painter had brought the smell of paint into the elevator.

"Excuse me, are you..."

"You’ve got the wrong person!" the man waved his hand impatiently; he covered his nose, frowned, and gave the painter a look: "Are you new here? Who let you bring paint into the elevator? Standards are really slipping!"

"Sorry, really sorry, it’s my first time in such a high-end community, I didn’t know the rules," the painter apologized repeatedly, his attitude even described as humble.

The man felt it was beneath him to argue with such a person. He turned his head away, his gaze inadvertently catching the elevator display, which made him pause.

"Twenty-fourth floor?"

The elevators in the Smart District were indeed fast, but he felt that he had only exchanged a few words with the painter since entering the elevator, and moreover, his home wasn’t on the twenty-fourth floor.

Like a mirrored door, the elevator opened to the corridor of the twenty-fourth floor. The man had never been to this floor before; he stared at the empty corridor, temporarily bewildered.

Was it the painter who needed to come to this floor?

He didn’t leave but pressed the floor he wanted to go to and then turned to look at the painter.

As he turned, he saw through the bright, smooth elevator wall that the painter in the corner had been staring at him.

For no apparent reason, the painter’s eyes were fixed on his back.

Goosebumps broke out on the man’s neck, but he didn’t think much of it, as everyone who could enter the community had passed multiple checks by Smart Brain, and their citizen information evaluations were rated above B.

"Are you getting off on this floor?" the man stepped aside.

The painter shook his head, "I thought you were getting off here."

"Me?" The man had been preoccupied with company matters and only now felt something was off.

Unfortunately, by then the elevator doors had already closed. The elevators in the Smart New City high-class residential area automatically recognize faces; after owners enter the elevator, unless there’s a voice command or manual button press, it would automatically take them to their respective floor. During busy times, it would also arrange the most efficient delivery scheme.

The elevator started again, and the man slowly realized something was off about the painter beside him. The painter’s posture hadn’t changed since entering the elevator, always standing in the same spot; besides the strong smell of paint, there seemed to be a rotten odor, as if something was decayed.

From the corner of his eye, the man spotted a half-snapped cord around the painter’s ankle.

The cord was old and didn’t match the painter’s clothes at all.

"Is this your first time here?"

"Yes."

"Where did you work before?"

"I was helping relatives at a plastic surgery hospital, but then they had a fatal accident, and the hospital closed down." The painter spoke normally, but in the confined space of the elevator, the man felt a chill run down his spine.

He decisively stopped the conversation, and the elevator soon came to a halt.

This time, there was no malfunction; it stopped on the seventeenth floor, where the man lived.

Looking out into the hallway, the man quickly stepped out.

As the elevator doors closed, he sneakily glanced back inside. The painter was still staring at him, and it seemed like there was something like hair in the paint bucket he was holding.

"Did I see that wrong?" As the man walked to his door, he noticed something amiss.

A dirty, used medical shoe cover lay in front of his door.

"What are these things?" The man kicked the shoe cover aside, and as it rolled, a child’s shoe fell out.

It was a small, pure white shoe, and staring at it for too long gave an unsettling feeling.

"Ever since I met that Han Fei, it seems like nothing has gone right."

He disregarded the shoe cover, unlocked the door with a code, and was just about to enter when he suddenly heard a noise—the elevator door seemed to have opened again.

Without giving it much thought, the man immediately entered his home.

"Why have you been coming home so late every day lately? Are you sneaking off to see your wife again?" A coquettish voice came from the living room as a woman in pajamas approached.

"There was an incident." The man, his jacket reeking of paint, went straight into the bathroom.

"What is that attitude? Don’t I even have the right to ask you?" The woman picked up the jacket from the floor and followed him into the bathroom.

As the man washed his face with warm water, he looked up at the mirror and suddenly noticed that his young and beautiful girlfriend’s face was covered with stitches and expanding pinholes.

"Thud!"

His hands failed to support him, and he almost fell to the floor.

The woman, holding the jacket, looked confused and surprised, "What are you freaking out about?"

Turning around, the man saw his girlfriend’s face still as beautiful and captivating as ever, with skin so delicate and features so fine, she resembled a Barbie doll.

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing, I’ve just been too tired lately," the man waved his hand and shut himself in the study.

"I was still talking to you!" The woman knocked on the study door for a long while, but the man didn’t open it, infuriating her, leading her to throw the man’s jacket onto the floor.

With a soft sound, the woman noticed a child’s pure white shoe falling from the man’s jacket pocket.

...

Han Fei returned to his rental, and with some time left until midnight, he didn’t rush to log into the game but instead checked his bank account balance on his cellphone.

Director Zhang had been efficient; right after signing the new contract, the additional acting fees were transferred to Han Fei’s account.

Looking at the digits in the account, Han Fei thought of the Death Building and neighbors in the Happiness Residential Community. They had willingly risked their lives through the plastic surgery hospital to enter the Paradise Area for Han Fei.

Without the neighbors’ help, Han Fei couldn’t have amassed enough reputation in such a short time on his own.

"This money is better used to help their families, it’s also a way to increase my Hidden Virtue." Han Fei had just received his fees and hadn’t had time to enjoy them when he called the police to contact the victims’ families, using the money to help those truly in need.

The police greatly appreciated Han Fei’s thoughtfulness. Han Fei, however, was also aiming to quickly accumulate enough Hidden Virtue to upgrade his Shrine, so he declined public commendation and only shared his name with the victims’ families, telling them they could contact him if they faced any difficulties.

After the transfer, Han Fei turned on both his computer and phone to study.

As a professional actor, if Han Fei wanted to embody the hatred of a plastic surgery hospital, he would have to thoroughly inform himself from all angles.

He studied literature related to plastic surgery and also began looking into criminal cases tied to cosmetic procedures.

Around eleven at night, Han Fei unexpectedly discovered that there had once been a notable plastic surgery hospital in the far suburbs of Xinhu; from a certain time onwards, there had suddenly been no more online information about the hospital.

And the only reason Han Fei could trace any information about that hospital was due to some special methods taught to him by Feng Ziyu.

After a deeper search, Han Fei found out that the hospital was funded by Eternal Life Pharmaceutical; back then, the Chairman of Eternal Life Pharmaceutical had frequented that hospital.