My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 411 This world is not that bad

Chapter 411: Chapter 411 This world is not that bad

Public opinion had reversed.

When one victim’s family member after another willingly tore open their heart’s wounds to prove Han Fei’s innocence, those who spread rumors and incited trouble had already lost.

The edited videos, the pretend victim family members, and the accusatory and boycott articles ghostwritten by professional organizations—one lie after another was exposed.

The masterminds behind the scenes were actually very malicious. Han Fei had helped the police solve many murder cases, involving numerous victim families, who often did not know each other. So, they thought that even if they impersonated one or two, no one would notice.

Furthermore, those impersonating the victim families were not entirely unrelated to the victims; they might be a friend of a friend or a relative of a relative.

As long as the money was enough, some people had no bottom line.

Most of the online spectators wouldn’t delve into the relationships. They only wanted to see what they wished to see, such as a hot-blooded actor, known for being a righteous hero, who is in reality a cold-blooded scumbag trampling on the inner pain of the victim’s families behind their backs.

The planners behind the scenes didn’t even need to do much. They planted the seed in the wound, and the various negative sentiments on the internet would converge on that seed, ultimately allowing it to grow into an enormously ugly monster.

If there were ten victim families and Han Fei had helped nine but exploited one, many would feel that he was in the wrong and could never be fully cleared.

If the victim families of the Human-body Puzzle case hadn’t reacted so directly and vehemently, Han Fei would now be drowning in a sea of slander, without the chance to even raise his voice.

If Han Fei’s acts of seeing and taking action were truly just for his own fame, he would probably have been ruined by now and would no longer engage in acts of such courage and righteousness.

Unfortunately, none of those assumptions came to pass.

Han Fei helped the police solve cases not to use anyone or for any fame; he simply wanted to secure justice for his neighbors in Deep World.

This world is indeed terrible, but sometimes, it’s not that terrible.

The planners behind the scenes hadn’t expected the victim families’ reaction to be so intense, nor did they anticipate that Xinhu Police would intervene directly in the second stage of the public opinion spread. All the lies were exposed, unveiling an incredible truth—that there was truly nothing wrong with Han Fei.

Those who orchestrated it all realized they could no longer use the victim families to boycott Han Fei, so they decisively changed their approach, letting a large number of internet trolls spread different information, such as suspecting that the entire ordeal was an orchestrated part of a publicity stunt by the Mystery Novelist for their movie.

They began attacking the Mystery Novelist crew directly, with the same reasoning they had used against Han Fei.

They claimed that for movie promotion, the Mystery Novelist had torn open the wounds in the victim families’ hearts, ignoring their pain and despair.

This group of beasts spoke the most considerate words.

They talked high and mighty, righteous and eloquent, but they didn’t care at all about the lives or deaths of those victim families deep down.

However, by then, there were very few who were still willing to believe them. The vast majority of netizens retained the ability to think independently. The long video calling for a boycott of Han Fei had been deleted, and the account that first published the video had been canceled and fled.

Now, the internet was filled with videos recorded by several victim families. These videos were neither clear nor subtitled, but they were extremely genuine—so genuine that they made people’s hearts ache.

Heaps of slander had long been replaced by warm sentences, yet those disgusting and cruel words still lingered on social media platforms.

The mastermind behind the scenes fled, and the slanderers left; before long, the words they had said would be deleted or buried under other comments.

The one thing that remained unchanged was Han Fei, who had seen it all happen.

After nine o’clock at night, Han Fei’s name appeared on the national trending searches, probably the closest he had ever been to Huang Ying.

Watching his popularity surge, Han Fei stepped out of the dressing room and found Director Zhang on a video call with several men.

As soon as Director Zhang saw Han Fei, he immediately pulled him into the camera’s view: "These gentlemen are the producers and main investors of ’Mystery Novelist’, and I’m discussing with them how to strike back."

It used to be Han Fei’s own matter when they attacked him, but now that they were attacking ’Mystery Novelist’, it involved the entire movie crew, and even the film’s investors couldn’t stay calm.

Director Zhang appeared as if he had expected this all along, believing from the start that ’Mystery Novelist’ was the real target.

"Director Zhang, I have no issue with how you want to strike back, but you must absolutely stop involving the victims’ families," Han Fei said directly to the men on the screen. "The pain of losing a loved one, reliving it over and over again, it’s truly too cruel. I hope you won’t exploit the video released by the victims’ families and the attention it brings, and let all this subside as soon as possible."

In front of the director, key investors, and the producers, Han Fei’s stance was unusually firm, as though he wasn’t discussing with them but informing them of what they should do.

The people in the video gave each other looks; they had all planned to use this opportunity to further boost the popularity of ’Mystery Novelist’, which was inherently a promotion for Han Fei as well.

"Han Fei, look at your ranking among movie actors and the increase in your social media followers. This is really a great opportunity. Are you sure you want to give it up?" one man in the video call could not comprehend, showing Han Fei on his computer: "The internet is full of discussions about you—a movie actor with no company, no agent, who has not even topped up a social media platform membership—and yet you’ve used your film salary and bounty to help the victims’ families. Your usual good deeds have won you this chance to become famous! We will focus our promotion on you! This is just a gift from heaven..."

"There’s some decency to observe in promotion and hyping up popularity. Besides, I wasn’t risking my life to assist the police for fame or reward," Han Fei’s voice was low and powerful as he stared at the people in the video, and at that moment, not one person spoke up to contradict him: "Stop bothering the victims’ families, let’s leave it at that."

Despite Han Fei’s resolute attitude, the men in the video continued to persuade him, but their looks toward Han Fei were now tinged with respect.

After filming intensively all day, then seeing the endless slander, false accusations, and insults on social media, Han Fei was also tired.

What mattered most was his excellent memory, which could be described as photographic, yet this also meant it was difficult for him to forget what he had seen, involuntarily recalling it at times.

"To have been insulted for so long and to be merely tired shows I’ve matured quite a bit," Han Fei didn’t know if such events would continue, but he wouldn’t stop his stride because of them, after all, he had countless peers behind him.

After greeting the staff who cared about him one by one, Han Fei prepared to leave.

Having changed his clothes, Han Fei had just stepped out of the set when he heard the sound of a motorcycle engine starting.

Looking up, he saw Li Xue in casual wear waiting outside.

"When did you come over?"

"I’ve been waiting for a while," Li Xue tossed a motorcycle helmet to Han Fei: "Get on, Butterfly hasn’t been caught yet, and the leaders at the station are worried about you traveling alone at night, so they asked me to take you home."

"Well, thank you for your leadership then,"

"Do you really believe that?"

The motorcycle roared to life, and Li Xue, carrying Han Fei, shot out of the Meat Factory Courtyard for Family and raced along the highway in the Xinhu Far Suburb.

The headlight cut through the darkness, slicing through the desolate suburb, moving through the night wind.

"Did you think you’d run into this much trouble before you helped them?"

"No,"

"Would you help them again in the future?"

"Yes,"

The response from Han Fei came from the back seat of the motorcycle. Li Xue didn’t speak after hearing it, she just sighed deeply.

Street lights illuminated the road ahead, and right after getting off work, Li Xue had rushed to the set once she heard about what happened online.

After entering the city district, Li Xue slowed down.

"Want to go for a drink?"

She had seen Han Fei’s social media, the unspeakable insults and defamation could drive a person mad, so she wanted to help Han Fei shift his focus.

Getting drunk could blur the troubles away.

"Do you police officers usually drink after work?" Han Fei looked at the food stalls on the roadside, only the Old City District still had such small eateries, and if the Smart District were to be expanded, these small diners might slowly disappear.

"Who says cops can’t drink after work? Everyone’s human, just like you."

"Forget it, you still have to ride the motorcycle home. Don’t ride if you drink, and don’t drink if you ride."

After being dropped off at the gate of his neighborhood by Li Xue, Han Fei invited her for a meal outside, and they talked a lot during the meal, mostly about the murder case that happened in Xinhu, scaring the waiter so much that his hands trembled as he served the dishes.

It wasn’t until eleven o’clock at night that Han Fei returned to his home.

He took a cold shower, then picked up his phone and called Jin Jun.

"Did you find anything?"

"I did find something, but it’s a bit thorny." Jin Jun hesitated: "That guy’s a madman who does things for money. I think it’s better not to provoke him for the time being."

"A madman? How mad?" Han Fei’s lips curved slightly, his eyes looking terrifying.

"Most in our line of work are like me, operating alone. However, there are a few who make a living off blackmail and have formed their own little circle called Flowing Light. The meaning is simple: no matter how bright a star is, they can turn it into a meteor. This group has no limits—they’d stoop to taking pictures stealthily, recording, fabricating stories, threatening, anything. For money, they wouldn’t just eat ’human flesh buns,’ they could even eat shit."

"Was it them using the victim’s family?"

"You’ve made a big scene this time. It was their leader who did this," Jin Jun sighed. "Are you sure you want to take them head-on? They’ll probably do everything in their power to defame you, attack you, constantly watch you, and even use public opinion to force you to the edge."

Jin Jun spoke very seriously, "That beast has indeed pushed someone to death for money before. I’m not lying to you, it’s still searchable online, about ten years ago a live-streamer with a terminal illness was driven to suicide by them."

"A female live-streamer with a terminal illness?" Han Fei found the story vaguely familiar, and suddenly he remembered the Delivery Ghost who had maliciously slandered Red Skirt.

He faintly remembered that the Delivery Ghost’s ID in the live-streamer’s room was called Flowing Light No.1.

"They weren’t playing so big ten years ago, now their methods are dirtier. Just recently, their leader destroyed a female movie star, claiming she abused drugs and had transplanted someone else’s face. Then they kept a relentless watch over her, like a pack of flesh-devouring maggots...."

Jin Jun told Han Fei everything he knew without leaving anything out.

In fact, the moment he knew Han Fei was preparing to take a tough stance against them, he realized the seriousness of the situation.

Flowing Light gathered a bunch of beasts; they were more than mere trolls or paparazzi but a pack of mad dogs that, even if they drove someone to death, would still count their money and revel in it.

So far, no celebrity has been willing to provoke them willingly.

"Han Fei, think carefully. They’re deeply hidden and there are many of them, capturing the ringleader doesn’t mean it’s over. Plus, think about it, they collectively fabricate rumors and drive people to suicide, the main culprit gets at most a few years’ sentence, and then his people will continue to attack you non-stop. With your bright future, is it really worth it fighting these maggots?" Jin Jun advised earnestly.

"I didn’t plan on it originally, but hearing you say this, I feel obligated to do the right thing, whether it’s for the live-streamer ten years ago or the movie star who died recently," Han Fei said after learning the names of the Flowing Light leader and several core members from Jin Jun. "Don’t worry, I won’t do anything drastic. If they’re brazenly fabricating rumors and insulting me, then I’ll have to say a few unkind words about them as well."

Han Fei didn’t go into detail about his plans with Jin Jun. He was indeed just preparing to say a few bad words about them, but it would be in the Deep World, using the power of Curse Word.

"If their core members have feasted on so many human flesh buns, they must be doing quite well for themselves. They should have the ability to buy ’Perfect Life’."

Actually, whether they could buy ’Perfect Life’ wasn’t important to Han Fei, who wasn’t planning on letting those guys off in reality either. When the time came, he planned on working with the police to ensure those people received the punishment they deserved.

"They like to feast on human flesh buns, do they? Fine! I’ll prepare a whole room of blood-soaked buns for them and let them eat their fill."

Han Fei rarely got angry now, but when he saw Wei Youfu’s father standing next to Wei Youfu’s portrait with an old phone, trying to prove his innocence, a flame ignited in Han Fei’s heart instantly.

"To even act as the victims’ families, since they don’t care the slightest about others’ despair, I don’t need to care about their despair either."

After hanging up on Jin Jun, Han Fei looked at the clock on the wall.

At the stroke of midnight, he entered the Game Box and donned the black gaming helmet.