My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 527: Huang Ying, Bai Xian, Jin Jun (5000 Votes for Monthly Pass)

Chapter 527: Chapter 527: Huang Ying, Bai Xian, Jin Jun (5000 Votes for Monthly Pass)

To persevere through the darkness, one must yearn for the light within themselves.

Because in the endless night where no hope is visible, all that surrounds you is terror, cold, and despair. In such times, a person can only rely on themselves; they must remain clear-headed, not be swayed by despair, not be seduced by the darkness.

Such people are rare, but Han Fei is undoubtedly fortunate. He met Huang Ying, who was killed hundreds of times in nightmares but never bowed to the Butterfly, and he also met Bai Xian, whose heart is incredibly kind.

Han Fei walks alone in the darkness; he aims to amass as much power as possible in the Deep World and uncover its secrets.

Huang Ying and Bai Xian are his strength in the Shallow World. Indeed, within the Deep World, Han Fei has been pondering a question: Why did Fu Sheng insist on fighting desperately against the Unspeakable in the depths of the city? Why destroy the Deep World at all costs?

After much thought, Han Fei guessed a possibility. Perhaps in the deepest part of the city, those most terrifying and most dreadful Unspeakables want to open a channel between the Deep World and the Shallow World, letting darkness engulf everything.

Han Fei’s level is too low now; he lacks the ability to verify this guess. But to be prepared for a rainy day, he must start making preparations in advance.

Opening both sides of the Black Box, Han Fei chose the most difficult path. He couldn’t gain recognition from the Deep World nor would he receive help from the Shallow World; he could only rely on himself.

All the arrangements he’s making now are for a potential future day.

If despair does come, and the Deep World tries its hardest to kill him while the Shallow World sees him as the darkest Devil, even in such an extreme situation, there will be those who firmly stand by his side.

After a long talk with Bai Xian, Han Fei left.

Outside the residential complex, he received a call from the police. Li Xue had provided him with several candidates that matched the traits of 019 and 030.

Everyone has dreams, but how many can truly realize them?

Most of the professions of the people in the information sent by Li Xue were unrelated to Acting, and none of them had actually robbed a bank.

The police simply used Han Fei’s descriptions of those kids’ appearances and personalities, the human bodily development curve, and Smart Brain simulations of their adult looks to conduct a broad comparison in the database, finally arriving at a preliminary selection result.

After reviewing the information provided by the police, Han Fei took out his phone and called Jin Jun, the most famous paparazzi boss in Xinhu. He had saved Jin Jun’s life before, and when Zhuang Ren first entered the game, Jin Jun had also helped him.

"Boss, congratulations on winning the Best Supporting Actor award. I’ve seen so many actors, and you’re definitely one of the fastest to rise!"

The phone was picked up after only two rings, and Jin Jun’s voice came from the other end.

"I want to ask about two people," Han Fei said after checking Li Xue’s investigation results, selecting the only two actors from the list. "Both of them are about my age; one is a professional opera singer named Qiangwei, and the other is an extremely low-profile fourth-tier actor who has played many supporting roles. His name is Li Changxiong."

"I know Li Changxiong, he was in a car accident before and almost disfigured. This actor is very dedicated; he’s also some kind of doctor and leads a very disciplined life, even to the point of self-punishment, liking fitness and reading. In our industry’s terms, he’s the kind of artist who gives you peace of mind," Jin Jun promptly came up with details about the celebrities, truly the leader of Xinhu’s paparazzi.

"And the other one?"

"For an opera singer, I’ll need to slowly get in touch. Generally speaking, stage plays actually test one’s acting skills more because they are directly facing the audience, with no chance for retakes, so many actors pursuing Acting tend to focus on stage plays and operas." Jin Jun remembered the information sent by Han Fei and then hung up, promising to help Han Fei check and get back to him by tomorrow at the latest.

"Jin Jun is still reliable."

After having lunch, Han Fei returned to the Old City District. He randomly picked a quiet little shop and chose a particularly artistic spot, listening to music while flipping through the murder case photos on his phone and making various notes.

There were not many customers in the shop that afternoon. The female server inside eyed Han Fei sitting at the table, surprised by his aura. A few girls quietly whispered and giggled, and eventually, one shy girl was pushed forward.

Encouraged by her colleagues, she took out her phone and approached Han Fei.

Her cheeks involuntarily flushed a hint of red; she walked up to Han Fei nervously.

Her lips parted slightly, the words she wanted to say were not yet spoken when her beautiful large eyes caught sight of the bloody and startling murder case photos on Han Fei’s phone screen.

Her pupils shuddered, and then the cute girl saw the notes Han Fei had made, which included various murder hypotheses and techniques for skin transplants and changing faces.

The originally anxious heart, due to shyness, now became even more agitated.

She froze at the edge of the table, incapable of squeezing out even a single word.

"Is something the matter?" Han Fei looked up at the girl beside him, sunlight tracing the sharp angles of his perfect profile as it slid down his face.

The girl’s face flushed even redder, she poured a glass of water for Han Fei and then hurriedly fled.

"Is she one of my fans?"

Han Fei shook his head and resumed his research, unaware that a few waiters in the kitchen had gathered to discuss him.

"That guy seems to have some special kinks!"

"Maybe we should call the police?"

"Don’t you think he looks like a celebrity?"

"Give me a break, why would a celebrity come to our lousy little shop for a drink?"

"I kinda want him to devour me."

"Hey! Snap out of it!"

Unheard by Han Fei, the waiters continued their whispering in the kitchen, but he actually found the service at the small shop to be quite good and thought that he might come again.

As darkness fell, Han Fei was getting ready to go home when his phone suddenly vibrated.

Upon checking, Han Fei found that Jin Jun had sent him a secretly taken photo of a long-haired man chewing on raw meat in a cluttered, dimly lit room.

"Pica?"

Not long after receiving the photo, Jin Jun sent another message—a jumble of incoherent characters. He seemed unable to speak, typing the text blindly.

"Is something wrong?"

Han Fei was particularly sharp. He examined the photo repeatedly, noticing items bearing the Central Opera House label.

Pocketing his phone, he dashed out without delay.

"Could that long-haired man be Qiangwei?"

Han Fei urged the driver to go faster, and it took him only twenty minutes to arrive at the opera house. It was closed to the public today, with not a soul around.

"Jin Jun’s car is still here; he mustn’t have left, but why hasn’t he sent me any more messages?"

Jin Jun had been a paparazzi for many years, never failing at tailing and secret photography, but this time he seemed to have encountered an extraordinary actor.

Taking advantage of the cleaning staff tidying up the opera house, Han Fei slipped inside like a cat—swift, with barely a sound as he moved.

Reaching the backstage area behind the curtain on the first floor, Han Fei quietly went in, shivering at the unusual chill of the actor’s preparation rooms on either side.

"Is the opera house always this creepy when it’s not showtime?"

Han Fei rarely watched operas, though he had been to this place once before.

At the end of the corridor, Han Fei saw a door left ajar, with "Prop Room" written on it.

Slowly pushing the door open, Han Fei’s nose twitched, and, not detecting the familiar stench of blood, he let out a slight sigh of relief.

Pulling an expandable baton from his sleeve, Han Fei navigated through the assortment of strange and ancient props, with heightened focus, meticulously scanning his surroundings.

The horrors he had experienced in the Deep World had become Han Fei’s most valuable experience. When he entered the pitch-black prop room alone, he didn’t feel afraid, instead, there was a sense of having already become accustomed to everything.

Step by step he ventured deeper, and in a corner of the prop room, Han Fei saw many children’s toys. This place seemed to have been turned into a miniature paradise.

"Why are there so many toys in the Central Opera House’s prop room?"

Rag dolls were neatly arranged against the walls, dressed in fine clothing, with makeup painted on their faces. But Han Fei felt uneasy looking at them, perhaps because they looked too human.

The eyes of all the dolls were fixed on the wall at the far end of the prop room, where there was a huge mirror. Petals were scattered in front of it, with footprints on them, as if someone had stood there barefoot for a long time.

"That photo Jin Jun took must have been of this place."

Looking towards the mirror, the world within it seemed even more sinister—various props piled up together, as if reflecting the Deep World itself.

As his gaze slowly moved, Han Fei caught a glimpse of a figure standing behind one of the props in the mirror.

Their eyes met through the mirror for a moment, but when Han Fei turned around, the figure had vanished.

After rushing out of the prop room, Han Fei looked around, but the corridor was empty.

Taking out his phone, Han Fei called Jin Jun again.

An eerie melody rose in the corridor—Jin Jun’s phone seemed to be inside the safety passage of the theater!

Without hesitation, Han Fei dashed into the corridor at top speed. His physical prowess was much better than the average person’s, yet even so, he couldn’t close the distance between himself and the ringing phone.

"Is he heading to the top of the theater?"

In a matter of seconds, Han Fei had reached the theater’s top floor. The door that only staff could enter was open, the lock fallen on the ground, and the ladder leading to the theater’s rooftop had been laid down.

A very bad premonition surfaced in his mind, and Han Fei climbed the ladder to the theater’s rooftop.

The cold wind howled in his ears, scattering the spooky melody.

Han Fei saw Jin Jun holding a phone, staring blankly as he walked toward the rooftop railing.

"Danger!"

Hearing Han Fei’s shout, Jin Jun seemed to realize something. He suddenly started to move faster, as if preparing to vault over the railing and jump down!

In the crucial moment, Han Fei’s speed increased again. Just a few meters from the railing, he brought Jin Jun down to the ground.

"Brother, calm down!"

With one hand Han Fei locked down Jin Jun’s arms, while in the other he held a baton, keeping vigilant of the surroundings.

His senses were incredibly sharp, carefully watching every possible hiding spot. About half a minute passed before he finally confirmed there was no one else on the rooftop.

Jin Jun, pinned down by Han Fei, began to slowly come to his senses. His blank gaze was slowly filled with fear. If it weren’t for Han Fei controlling him, he would probably be jumping around in panic.

"What did you just see?"

"Ghost! Ghost! Ghost!" Jin Jun shouted out loud.

"What does the ghost look like? Where did you see it?" Han Fei protected Jin Jun. He was the first to protect a Paparazzi actor like this.

"In the prop room, that ghost was eating a child, he hid the flesh inside the dolls!" Jin Jun was still very agitated, but after seeing Han Fei, he began to slowly regain his reason: "Right, I got it on camera! I caught the scene of him eating the child!"

True to his Paparazzi profession, Jin Jun, scared half to death, first thing after regaining his reason, checked his phone.

He opened his phone, but the video he had just filmed was already deleted: "No worries! When I used to secretly film celebrities, I took into account situations like this. All videos are sent to the cloud in real time and backed up on multiple lines."

After fiddling with his phone for a while, Jin Jun suddenly shouted excitedly, "Found it!"

He placed the phone in front of Han Fei, and a bizarre video began to play.

In the dimly lit prop room, a long-haired man was dancing in front of a mirror, stepping on petals scattered on the floor, while a circle of neatly arranged rag dolls around him appeared to be an audience enjoying his performance.

The dance he performed had a peculiar beauty, carrying an air of desolation of death and indescribable loneliness. It was the first time Han Fei and Jin Jun had seen such a dance.

"It looks like he’s conducting some kind of ceremony?"

After finishing the dance, the man picked up a rag doll. He twisted the doll’s head off, drank the red liquid inside, and then twisted off a second doll’s head, taking something out from inside and began to swallow it greedily.

As he was about to reach for a third doll, his face suddenly lifted, and his cheek, obscured by his long hair, was directly facing where Jin Jun was hiding.

The next moment, Jin Jun seemed to be preparing to run away—the camera shook wildly, and finally, it fell to the ground, ending the video there.

"He didn’t eat a child or anything. Don’t scare yourself," Han Fei comforted Jin Jun.

"The footage I captured isn’t quite the same as what I saw. In my memory, that guy had blood-red eyes, and he was interacting with his reflection in the mirror. It was the person in the mirror who first spotted me, and then he came chasing after me."

"Do you remember what happened after that? How did you end up running to the rooftop by yourself? Did he do anything to you?"

"I can’t remember." Jin Jun grabbed his hair in frustration. "Actually, ever since you saved me, I often feel bewildered and inexplicably scared. Sometimes, looking at ordinary things also brings about very bad associations."

"What do you mean?"

"It’s very strange. For example, remember when you asked me to check on Wuwu Entertainment? I saw a painter when I was about to enter the elevator. He was just an ordinary worker, but I kept feeling he was a murderer, so much so that I haven’t dared to ride the elevator alone since. Another time, when I was trailing the mistress of Wuwu Entertainment’s boss, she dragged a suitcase as if she was about to take a flight and leave Xinhu. There was nothing apparently wrong with that suitcase, but I just felt like there was a corpse hidden inside. Later, I saw a news report that the woman’s own body was found in that suitcase!"

Jin Jun gripped his hair in agony, but Han Fei’s eyes were filled with astonishment, not having realized how many times Jin Jun had narrowly brushed with death.

This brother’s life could be roughly divided into two phases, with the line of demarcation being the moment Han Fei saved him. It seemed that after Han Fei saved his life, the rest of Jin Jun’s life became entangled with Han Fei’s.

"What you’ve been seeing may not be hallucinations," Han Fei deduced, "Jin Jun, what is your talent in the ’Perfect Life’ game?"

While grasping his hair, Jin Jun didn’t understand why Han Fei would suddenly ask such a question, "All my talents are useless garbage talents. One’s called Pathfinder, a C-level talent. It doubles the exploration value when exploring unknown maps. The higher the exploration value, the better abilities you can unlock. I’ve been running maps since the game’s public beta, but the maps I can access have long been explored by other players."

"What’s your other talent?" Han Fei didn’t consider Jin Jun’s talent to be garbage, as the vast Deep World needed people with great wisdom and courage to be Pathfinders.

"The other talent is even more useless, called Soul Returner, also a C-level talent. The talent description is especially long, talking about how someone who was supposed to die had their fate changed by accident. The effect is that when the life value hits zero, one falls into a state of feigned death, and there’s a chance of being reborn when encountered by a player with the Soul-returning Talent." Jin Jun shook his head with a wry smile, "When I first created an account, I found out I had dual C-level talents and was ecstatic. But after reaching level ten, do you know what professions the system recommended for me? It said the profession with the highest compatibility for me was a Psychic, and the best place I could work was a crematorium or a cemetery. To think that a dumbass ’Smart Brain’ like this could be hailed by Deep Space Technology as the future of humanity?"

Jin Jun was gradually emerging from fear, but at this moment, his mood was still very low.

"It’s said that the Smart Brain developed by Deep Space Technology can detect special brainwaves. The fact that you’re now encountering ghosts and possibly cursed suggests there might indeed be something haunting you. You should be more careful." Han Fei didn’t want to frighten Jin Jun; he just felt responsible for him, "Leave the investigation of Qiangwei to me. What you need right now is to build up your courage and learn some defensive skills."

Han Fei truly had Jin Jun’s best interests at heart. The Death Building in the Deep World, despite its terrifying and gloomy nature, was at least a place where one’s will could be tempered without risking one’s life, an opportunity many sought but few had.

If it weren’t for the fact that Han Fei saw Jin Jun had helped him a lot, and that Jin Jun was indeed in danger, Han Fei wouldn’t offer such a precious chance to Jin Jun.

"You probably have a Ghost Encountering Physique, but don’t be afraid. I’ll help you gradually get used to those terrifying things. For now, just play games at home and make sure not to investigate Wuwu Entertainment anymore. It’s also best not to look in mirrors at night."

Han Fei had saved Jin Jun once, but he couldn’t protect Jin Jun forever, so the best way was to enable Jin Jun to protect himself, or at least to have the courage to face his fears.

"I shouldn’t look in mirrors? Could I really be cursed?" Jin Jun’s expression was one of panic.

"Don’t overthink it. After you go back, focus on playing games to relax. You should feel less scared when it gets light out," Han Fei consoled Jin Jun before starting to count his friends, "Huang Ying, Bai Xian, Jin Jun, Liuli Cat, plus one more person, and we can establish a community."