My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 479: Task Reward Far Exceeding Expectations! (5000 Votes for Monthly Ticket)

Chapter 479: Chapter 479: Task Reward Far Exceeding Expectations! (5000 Votes for Monthly Ticket)

Countless arms, tainted with Curse, reached toward the well at the center of the Shrine, bringing with them the greed and desperation of the deceased, gradually sealing the well opening.

The old man’s family and the hanging woman tried to come over to help, but before they could get close to the Shrine, they were stopped by Boss Gu. His massive torso crazily drew the living’s greed, and the crown of skulls completely obscured the top of the department store.

"Why are you still struggling? He is the final Sacrificial Offering; this ritual is already complete. Once I push you back into the well, everything will reset, and perhaps I will have a chance to be reborn in his body,"

Boss Gu’s face, rough as tree bark, echoed in the night, but his gaze remained fixed on the well.

All the Sacrificial Offerings had been sent into the Well Water, and the countless, greed-driven hands had also awakened. They began to devour the offerings, concentrating all the Grudge on the "stone" pressing the well.

Based on prior experiences, the ritual should have succeeded by now, yet the emerging arms not only did not decrease but continued to multiply.

The Shrine was being propped open by countless hands, constantly reaching downward as if to open the gates of the Netherworld.

The department store had descended into chaos, barely recognizable from its original state, with everyone furiously battling each other. At that moment, a foolish, simple-minded young man emerged at the entrance on an electric scooter.

"Brother? How much longer do I have to hide? Why haven’t you come to find me? Did you forget about me?"

The room was filled with mutated Monsters, covered in blood and corpses, but Wang Ping’an showed no fear or panic. He chuckled foolishly, pushing his scooter around, seemingly looking for Han Fei.

Nobody paid attention to Wang Ping’an, nor did anyone intentionally attack him. Even Boss Gu turned his head only when he approached the basement storeroom, but he quickly lost interest after a glance.

What can a fool do?

"Bang!"

The ground on the first floor of the department store collapsed, and Wang Ping’an, pushing his scooter, didn’t notice and accidentally fell into the basement storeroom.

He was comically unlucky, often treated as a joke by many, but he had a good temper; when others laughed at him, he, understanding nothing, would laugh along.

As he climbed up from the muddy ground, Wang Ping’an saw the crazily emerging arms: "What is everyone grabbing for?"

Clutching his helmet, he moved forward, but those greed-driven arms ignored Wang Ping’an.

Since childhood, no one but his father cared for him, as everyone considered him a burden, a fool incapable of self-care.

If his father had not stubbornly refused to give up, teaching him from the simplest tasks like eating, perhaps the current Wang Ping’an would be someone who could only be kept at home forever as a "patient."

"Have you seen my brother? He looks like an actor on TV."

The hastily moving arms, madly rushing towards the well, would do anything for their desires, not sparing any time to attend to Wang Ping’an.

Continuing forward, Wang Ping’an fell several times. He stood on the edge of the arms, vaguely seeing a glow inside the distant Well.

That light was not blinding at all but felt very warm, irresistibly inviting one to come closer.

"What is that?"

He quickened his steps, and even though constantly tripped by the arms, he would stand back up.

He had never seen such tender flames in his life before, like the stars in the sky.

After falling several times, he finally reached the Well. Peering through the gaps in the arms, he saw Han Fei thrusting the Slaughter Saber into a man’s chest at the well, and then his body began to descend.

"Brother!"

Wang Ping’an shouted loudly, and Han Fei heard his voice, but Han Fei no longer had the strength to speak.

His body continued to fall, and the man with the Rebirth Saber thrust into his chest was pushed to the well’s edge.

If no one in this Memory World were willing to reach out and grab him, there was only one fate awaiting him, to fall back into the deep well.

Flames rose, and the warm light compelled Wang Ping’an to reach out unconsciously.

Among countless arms that wanted to push the man down the Well, Wang Ping’an seemed out of place; he grabbed the man like a fool, instinctively pulling him out of the well!

In the Memory World, constantly shrouded in despair, there seemed to be a change at this moment.

The torrential rain sweeping the city had lessened a bit, and the sound of the wind wasn’t so harsh anymore.

As Wang Ping’an pulled the man’s upper body out of the Well, a pattern of the Curse, formed by countless curses on the man’s chest, began to slowly dissolve, and fresh red blood started flowing from both the man’s chest and Boss Gu’s chest simultaneously.

His eyes opened, his left eye had been gouged out, leaving a pitch-black hole that hid a sea of blood-red. His right eye, however, was exceptionally beautiful, its jewel-like pupil faintly revealing a scale that would never balance.

With his chest pierced, the man touched the blood on his chest yet there was a slight smile on his face.

"Am I finally getting freed?"

Raising his head, the man’s gaze met with Boss Gu, who had transformed into a giant tree.

By now, Boss Gu had completely lost his sanity, his enormous body beginning to rapidly wither, with large wounds appearing, revealing the originally stinking flesh.

No matter how many Monsters adorned with money collars tried to fill those wounds, they couldn’t heal.

"So, there really was someone who could do it."

The wound inflicted by the Rebirth Saber began to bleed more and more, and the man’s smile grew wider and wider.

As the man grew weaker, Boss Gu gradually couldn’t hold on, their powers seemed to be from the same source.

Screams emitted from Boss Gu’s mouth; the Dead Souls he had killed began their merciless revenge. Without the help of the Shrine, he was indeed nothing but a waste.

The more injuries Boss Gu suffered, the weaker the man also became, but he didn’t care at all, happily watching everything, watching the nastiest thing in his memory being tortured.

The greedy arms that had persisted in the Well could no longer continue their extraction after the man left the Well; they were like waterweeds dried in the sun, slowly becoming shriveled and losing their vitality.

"Brother!"

Wang Ping’an lay at the edge of the Well, shouting into it, and the man heard Wang Ping’an’s voice.

He turned around, his gaze softening.

Destroying the Shrine was extremely difficult; all the Sacrificial Offerings had to be gathered while evading Boss Gu’s pursuit and entering the Well.

Throughout the process, one would be tempted by the Shrine, and just a slight vacillation of Will would immediately provide the Shrine with an opportunity to assimilate them ultimately.

Even if someone had a resolute will to resist the temptations of the Shrine’s Unconditional Wish, they still had to enter the deep Well and pull out the Master of Shrine who bore all the Curses and Pain, sharing most of the Curses on the Master of Shrine in the Wish Well.

After accomplishing all this, that person would be in the same state as the original Master of Shrine.

Bearing countless Grudges of the Curse, becoming a container that absorbs Hatred, in such a condition, he still needs to send the Master of Shrine out of the Well.

And there was still the final step; the Master of Shrine’s memory was extremely oppressive and painful. To make him see the memory world in front of him once again, he needed someone from his memories to come over.

In other words, only the redemption that the Master of Shrine intensely longed for in reality but had never appeared could awaken him from his boundless nightmare.

Inheriting the Shrine was an almost impossible task, one must fight against the greed of the entire world alone, but Han Fei was very close to the ultimate success now.

Gripping onto the rope of memory, Wang Ping’an exerted all his strength like his life depended on it trying to pull Han Fei out; his eyes only saw Han Fei, not caring about the man beside him.

"Don’t waste your strength, this world, which exists because of me, will also dissipate because of me." Regardless of what the man said, Wang Ping’an continued pulling the well rope, his teeth gritted, "You, in my memory, are exactly like you are in reality. That night, I should not have let you see the murderer, nor should I have stayed silent after you were taken away. I truly have too many things I regret."

The Well collapsed, revealing a broken, black Shrine at the very bottom. Han Fei and the Soul of Evil lay in the pit of the well; one was covered in wounds and the other’s Soul Body was about to dissipate.

"Why do you, playing as me, have so many friends? In such a desperate and terrible world, how can you still strive so hard to live?"

Grabbing the rope of memory, the man pulled Han Fei out of the well, he stared at Han Fei for a long time but did not find the answer he was looking for.

"Is this what Unspeakable looks like?" Han Fei had barely regained some strength when he quickly spoke up, "Go to the fourth floor of the hospital, the person you most want to see is there, I have made up for all your regrets."

Just the mention of the hospital’s fourth floor caused the calm expression on the man’s face to change, the scales began to tip in his right eye, he promptly hoisted Han Fei onto his back and headed towards the hospital.

Blood continuously flowed from his chest, spilling from the department store’s underground well all the way outside, what’s more, where the blood dripped, the rain would stop.

In this city enveloped by the curtain of rain, there was now a path that remained unsoaked.

The mutating buildings had begun to collapse, only the department store and People’s Hospital remained intact, these two places represented the steadfastness in the heart of the department store boss and the One-eyed man.

Following the trail of blood up the stairs, the man arrived at the fourth floor of the hospital.

He did not push open the door of the ward, he merely looked inside through the glass window on the door.

A nurse was bustling about next to the hospital bed, the middle-aged woman on the bed, who was severely ill, suddenly struggled to open her eyes as if sensing something, she turned her head towards the door of the ward.

"Auntie? What’s wrong?"

"My son seems to have come back."

As the woman finished speaking, Han Fei felt as if someone had pushed him, and he opened the door.

"The Memory World is about to dissipate, take the chance to say your final farewell for me." Leaning against the wall, the man stood in the dark hospital corridor, silent.

"Really don’t want to say anything?" Han Fei entered the ward, his injuries startled Lin Lu.

She frantically went to get bandages and medicine, but Han Fei stopped her.

Han Fei, who had been an orphan since childhood, had never imagined he would experience something like this.

He was tired.

Moving a chair, Han Fei sat next to the middle-aged woman’s bed, leaned on it, and accompanied her in waiting for the last sunrise.

The middle-aged woman gently touched Han Fei’s head, but her eyes continued to look towards the door of the ward.

When Han Fei entered, he hadn’t closed the door, and the corridor outside was empty.

The blood dripped, trickling down, while outside the window, the downpour gradually ceased, the sound of blood droplets falling was like rainwater sliding down the window glass.

The dark clouds slowly dissipated, the darkness that shrouded the city was torn open with a slit, a hint of glow lit up the post-rain city, and slowly, it was almost dawn.

The condition of the middle-aged woman worsened, but her gaze became more serene.

As the sun was about to rise, the woman gently said to Han Fei.

"My child, the companion who came with you is still standing outside the door, right? Can you pass a message to him for me?"

"Please go ahead."

"No matter what he has become, he will always be my dearest child, my everlasting pride. If there really is reincarnation in this world, I would want to care for him for another lifetime, I want to protect him."

As her words fell, the morning sun’s light entered the room, elongating the shadow at the door.

The man bowed deeply, and having stood outside for the entire night, he finally entered the ward.

Rising, Han Fei left the vicinity of the bed, leaving the final moments to the mother and son.

Looking up at the clearing sky, Han Fei gazed for a long time, he suddenly tried to hook the corners of his mouth, gently pulling upwards.

"What is this emotion I’ve never felt before? Genuine happiness from within? Or perhaps it’s envy? Maybe I should flash a simple smile as a blessing."

The edges of the city had already begun to dissipate when Han Fei’s mind was suddenly interrupted by the system notification, shattering the emotions brewing within him.

"Player 0000, please note! You have ultimately saved the Master of Shrine’s mother, allowing the Master of Shrine to retain his humanity’s fantasy of good, compensating for all his regrets!"

"Player 0000, please note! You have successfully completed the Level E Shrine Inheritance Task—Midnight Mall! The Shrine Inheritance Task is the highest difficulty task at this stage, and you receive a triple experience reward!"

"Congratulations on earning the Master of Shrine’s approval and successfully inheriting the severely damaged Level 3 Shrine—Soul Trading!"

"Soul Trading: the unique ability of a Level 3 Shrine, every soul can be clearly priced and exchanged for corresponding items! It can only be used once per night! Please use it carefully!"

"The exact attributes of the Shrine may slightly change due to changes in the God Statue. Please check after leaving the Memory World!"

"You have obtained the Level E Special Building—Midnight Mall!"

"Midnight Mall (Level E): This building, filled with countless evil spirits, will belong to you forever! As long as the Shrine is not destroyed, all who enter this building will be suppressed by you."

"Player 0000, please note! All the regrets of the Master of Shrine have been amended, and the previous owner of the Shrine will fulfill one of your wishes!"

"Player 0000, please note! Since you did not use the reward after completing the Shrine Random Task—Unconditional Wish, you now have an additional choice!"

"Please choose two from the five rewards below!"

"Level up by one (limited to before Level 40); randomly increase three attribute points; unconditionally heal and repair the souls of Ghost and Monster below the level of hatred and increase their friendliness towards you by ten points; awaken a Level F talent existing within this Memory World; take a certain item or Ghost and Monster out of the Memory World."

"Player 0000, please note! You have successfully advanced to Level 19! Free Attribute Point increased by one!"

The constant notifying sounds made Han Fei quickly open the task panel, and he was slightly stunned to see so many rewards.

First habitually adding the attribute points to Physical Strength, he then started to read the specific mission rewards.

"Level up by one? Limited to before Level 40? This means the task is normally intended for people in their thirties, or even a bit exaggerated, for people in their twenties to dare to take on."

Han Fei had entered the Shrine out of desperation, but now he found himself getting a bit carried away.

At just Level 19, having two Shrines, one Level 1 and one Level 3, if Ten Fingers knew about this, he would be angry enough to bite off his fingers.

"The Department Store has become my building, and outsiders entering will be suppressed which I can use against Ten Fingers."

Han Fei wanted to continue checking, but the Memory World was already collapsing significantly. The vast city was about to turn into a lake.

"I will leave this Shrine to you, you have passed my test and earned my approval." The man walked out of the hospital room, he and Han Fei looked towards the distant Department Store.

Those pushed into the well by the Boss of the store continued to vent the rage in their hearts.

The Boss of the store, who had initially mutated into a Monster, had now regained a human form but was covered in festering wounds and wailed in agony.

"You did what I failed to do, but I still want to tell you something." Like Boss Gu, the man was on the verge of death; the Shrine would truly belong to Han Fei only after they completely disappeared, "Don’t venture recklessly into Shrines anymore. Others among the Unspeakable will use all their power, trying by all means to take over your body and be reborn in it."

"Understood, actually, I didn’t want to come either, but..." Han Fei suddenly felt as if he had forgotten something, forgotten a very important person, "If this world disappears, does that mean all the people in it will never appear again?"

"That’s correct."

"Something’s not right! I have forgotten a very important person! He was the one who brought me in here, he sacrificed himself to get me into this place!" Han Fei became anxious, as he usually had an excellent memory, yet he couldn’t recall that person no matter how hard he tried.

"I wondered why you haven’t forgotten anything, it turns out someone bore the cost of forgetting for you," the man chuckled, seemingly having come to terms with everything, "Only one person could have brought you into this Shrine. I know where he is."

"Where?"

"Do you remember that mirror in the basement of West City District? The place where an eye and a kidney were harvested from me."

"I remember." Han Fei nodded. That place marked the start of the Master of Shrine’s moral degradation, where he was deceived by his father in the grim basement before deciding to give up his humanity and start making wishes to the Shrine.

"The part of my humanity that I lost is forever left in that basement’s mirror." The man reached towards his right eye and extracted the gem-like orb, "Take this eyeball, and you might be able to bring him with you. Maybe you can even help him out of that mirror."