My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 629: Is it you?

Chapter 629: Chapter 629: Is it you?

The living room wall was adorned with a broken clock, frozen at one minute past midnight. Despite the hands not moving, a ticking sound emanated from somewhere in the room.

Han Fei leaned against the wall, unaware of who had turned off the bathroom light. At this moment, he had no desire to find out what was hidden inside, only wanting to leave this unfamiliar "home" as soon as possible.

Taking long strides to the living room’s security door, Han Fei reached for the doorknob. Before he could open the door, a faint knocking began out of nowhere!

It was as if something had jolted Han Fei’s brain; he retracted his hand as if he had been electrocuted.

The knocking grew clearer and clearer, and Han Fei’s heart gradually rose. He leaned forward slowly, and just as his face was about to meet the peephole, he suddenly realized something.

"Could it be that the knocking isn’t coming from outside the door?"

Drained of color, Han Fei turned to look at his own bedroom.

As the knocking steadily intensified, he was certain it originated from within the bedroom.

His pupils dilated, Han Fei noticed the lock on the bedroom door shuddering ever so slightly.

"The ’Midnight Guest’s’ first knock came from outside the house, the second knock was within the living room, and now the third is at my bedroom door..."

His mind went blank, Han Fei had no idea when the other person had entered his house. It felt as though someone had deliberately let them in.

Unwilling to linger, Han Fei longed to escape, but he was also aware of the many dangers lurking outside, confronting him with various sorts of unknown harm.

Breathing became more difficult, and Han Fei finally made up his mind; he turned the doorknob slowly.

With the latch snapping back, he faintly heard a deep, heavy breathing sound, like that of a wild beast.

The five fingers gripping the doorknob were drenched in cold sweat. Han Fei lifted the peephole cover to look outside, and there stood the portly security guard he had seen that morning.

The guard, who had been cheerful and smiling to everyone during the day, now seemed to have put on another face entirely. Bulging veins as thick as fingers rose on his skin, and it appeared he was holding something in his hand, waiting for Han Fei to open the door.

Hearing the noise from the lock, the security guard paused, seemingly puzzled by the door that remained closed. He pressed his face against the peephole, trying to glimpse inside.

The veined face loomed larger in Han Fei’s vision, prompting him to step back immediately and cover the peephole again.

"I can’t go out, at least not right now."

Han Fei backed away as different sounds reached his ears, clouding his judgment and making him more agitated.

"He’s standing at my doorway? Why is he silently waiting for me to open the door?"

The clock was broken, yet the ticking sound grew louder and clearer. Han Fei clutched his head, now a void, as his body experienced discomfort and waves of dizziness assaulted him.

"There’s a security guard outside the security door, and it seems like the person in the bedroom is about to emerge; I need to find a place to hide, and quickly."

The wardrobe and the fridge were packed full, the door to his parents’ bedroom was locked, the kitchen had nowhere to conceal oneself, and the light in the bathroom had been extinguished, potentially harboring something within.

His brain flicked through all the known information in less than a second. As Han Fei moved, he brushed against a tattered mascot costume by the door.

Two Paradise mascot outfits, mixed with some dirty laundry that had yet been washed, lay in a heap. One was torn and looked very worn; the other, despite being stained, at least appeared intact.

"Hide inside a mascot costume?"

As Han Fei touched the costume, he became uncertain which one to choose. The intact outfit could cover his entire body, but the stains on it made him very uncomfortable.

This wasn’t about being fastidious; he just felt as though the stains were blood seeping from the inside out. Since the stains had penetrated to the surface of the costume, it meant the inside must be very dirty.

Grabbing the ripped mascot costume, Han Fei hastily put it on.

A normal person might take time to get familiar with a mascot suit the first time, ensuring each part is in place, but Han Fei was adept, as if his muscles memorized the entire sequence from wearing it many times before.

Donning the somewhat heavy headpiece, Han Fei completely hid himself within the bulky mascot outfit and lay back down in his original spot.

Shrouded in darkness, the sounds from outside became somewhat muffled.

In the small darkness, Han Fei could only hear his heartbeat and his panting as he forced himself not to make any noise and tried hard to pretend to be a corpse.

His gaze followed the gap in the doll headgear to see outside, everything in the room seemed to be back to normal, and everything he had just experienced felt like his own illusions and hallucinations.

Holding his breath, Han Fei remained motionless.

About half a minute later, the other set of doll clothes he hadn’t chosen suddenly moved!

It seemed to be because Han Fei had not put them away properly before, and the matching cartoon Big Head rolled off the dirty clothes and hit the bathroom door frame.

What should have stopped when it hit something, the head seemed to be grabbed by something and rolled straight into the darkness of the bathroom.

A crisp sound arose, definitely not the sound of the Big Head colliding with something, but more like someone poking through the transparent eyes of the doll head.

"Pale hands, clutching at my eyeballs..."

Han Fei felt a pressure in his chest as he adjusted his gaze to look at the headless doll clothes.

The outwardly more intact clothes were solidified with some blood scab, and it seemed as if some nameless Poison Insects were crawling inside.

Creak...

The sound of the door panel being opened reached his ears, and from Han Fei’s angle, he could not see his bedroom situation; he could only rely on his hearing.

After the bedroom door opened, it seemed like someone was moving around inside the room, then the sound of someone rummaging through things began; someone was looking for him!

They exited his bedroom, went into the kitchen, then lingered at the bathroom door, and finally came to the living room.

Han Fei didn’t see anyone in the living room, but when the light shone onto the glass coffee table, a vague shadow appeared.

It lingered in the center of the living room for a while, then seemed to discover the pile of doll coats placed by the door.

Han Fei didn’t see anything approach, but the dirty clothes he had placed on himself slipped onto the ground.

He didn’t dare to breathe, but the more nervous he got, the faster his heart beat.

The heavy doll headgear seemed to be grasped by someone, and as the force tried to remove the headgear, a strange man’s voice suddenly came from outside the security door.

"Fatty Liu, what are you doing at our place in the middle of the night?"

"The sister-in-law said that Han Fei is home alone, and she was worried, so she asked me to stay nearby."

"Then you might as well just go inside and sit." The strange man’s voice sounded mature and steady, but it was also filled with heavy fatigue.

"Better not, the last time Han Fei got agitated, he almost hit me. He doesn’t trust anyone besides you two," said the Security Guard with a wry smile, "Since you are off work, I don’t need to stay here anymore. See ya."

The sound of Fatty Liu’s departing footsteps arose, and at the same time, a key was inserted into the lockhole, and as the security door was pushed open, Han Fei also heard the sound of his bedroom door closing.

Four kinds of sounds almost simultaneously entered his ears, Han Fei was extremely sensitive in distinguishing them, and he didn’t know how he managed to do that.

"Han Fei?"

The security door opened, and an elderly man entered the house who seemed to be the Forensic Doctor from the police station, having just come from the autopsy room, so he carried a stench that was hard to wash off even with a bath.

The man with half-white hair put his briefcase on top of the wardrobe after entering the room, then headed straight for Han Fei’s bedroom, clearly very worried about Han Fei.

Walking briskly forward, the man hesitated slightly as he passed the bathroom. He casually turned on the bathroom light and reached out to take a Big Head doll from inside.

The eyes of the Big Head were poked through with two holes, the smile on the doll’s face becoming even happier.

"Hasn’t he slept yet?"

The man holding the Big Head walked toward Han Fei’s bedroom, and as he walked deeper into the room, Han Fei, lying motionless on the ground, immediately got up, decisively opened the security door, and ran towards the stairwell wearing the tattered doll coat.

"I can’t stay in the room tonight, I must leave, or I might end up dying inside! There’s something hiding in my bedroom closet!"

Han Fei ran into the safety passage, and the man in the room also heard the sound of the security door being opened. He hurried out to check.

"Han Fei? Han Fei!"

The man with half-white hair chased after him, Han Fei, wearing a costume, was somewhat encumbered in movement, and the distance between them was slowly closing.

Having always refused to take the elevator, Han Fei ran to the sixth floor where he frantically began pressing the elevator buttons.

The silver-grey elevator doors slowly opened, and Han Fei entered, immediately pressing the button for the first floor.

The strange man, shouting Han Fei’s name, followed in pursuit, his face full of urgency, but he was still a step too late.

The elevator doors closed, and began descending.

The man stood in the elevator hall, shouting a few times before he dragged his exhausted body into the stairwell and started running down the stairs.

The elevator reached the ground floor first, and Han Fei didn’t wait for the doors to fully open before running out.

He dared not stay in the building any longer, seizing the opportunity while the man hadn’t caught up, he left Building Four.

The buildings of the neighborhood stood like coffins erected in the night, merely looking at them made Han Fei feel incredibly oppressed.

He dove into the greenery, lying on the ground in his costume, letting the bushes cover him.

"I must not go back to that home, I must get through this night no matter what, and then go to the Paradise before eight o’clock!"

He had no relevant memories in his brain sea, but he felt this was the most important thing.

He carried his employment proof on him; all he had to do was make it until daybreak.

Han Fei tried to make his body blend with the ground as much as possible, inching along slowly.

"Han Fei!"

The voice of the strange man arose nearby. Seemingly worried Han Fei would leave the community, he immediately ran to find security guards.

After the man left, Han Fei took off the costume head, and instinctively checked his surroundings, determining the location of surveillance cameras.

Upon realizing he had been captured on camera, he quickly moved to a new hiding spot.

The duty security guards were alerted and began assisting the man in the search, but Han Fei seemed to have a particular talent for hide-and-seek, narrowly evading discovery several times.

They were actually very close; Han Fei could even hear the security guards talking.

"That madman from Building Four has run out again, keep an eye out!"

"Isn’t that just giving us trouble? Wouldn’t it be better to properly send him to a mental hospital?"

"I heard he has a persecution complex, thinking that everyone in the world is out to get him, often doing all sorts of unimaginable things. It’s said that he keeps making false alarms and is even blacklisted by the police."

"Are you for real?"

"No joke, he won’t even trust his own parents, doesn’t dare to eat his meal, always fearing it’s poisoned, isn’t that ridiculous?"

"Stop chatting! Pay attention! There have been disappearances near the old neighborhood by the Paradise recently, let’s treat this as a live drill!"

Several security guards and the middle-aged man with half-white hair searched together, but Han Fei was better than everyone at utilizing the dark.

As dawn approached, Han Fei knew he could no longer keep hiding. He climbed over the community wall, determined the location of the Paradise, and then, wearing his tattered costume, he ran towards it.

His brain devoid of memories, he knew nothing, the only clue being that employment proof.

"Memories told by others cannot be trusted, only the memories that I find myself truly belong to me."

Although he had forgotten everything, Han Fei still held this conviction inside. Wearing the cumbersome costume, he ran across the streets, hiding and seeking shelter, and finally arrived at the Paradise a little after seven in the morning.

Looking at the park that had not yet officially opened, Han Fei clutched his pocket, uncertain of what to do next.

After a long wait, the gates of Paradise remained closed, but there were already people queuing outside. Dressed in a dirty and torn mascot costume, Han Fei walked forward, drawing the stares of those in line.

The gazes of the people made Han Fei uneasy. He quickened his steps and rushed to the front of the queue, leaning on the ticket window and calling out to the only two staff members present.

Pulling out his employment proof, Han Fei, who couldn’t remember anything, tried hard to explain.

The staff checked the employment proof, which had no issues, but Han Fei’s behavior raised significant concerns.

Who would wear such a weathered mascot costume and run to Paradise early in the morning for work?

The two staff members exchanged looks, then made a call to their superior.

Five minutes later, a man with a small mustache escorted Han Fei into Paradise. He was initially enthusiastic, but when he asked Han Fei some questions and found his responses odd, his expression changed.

With Paradise about to officially open, the man with the mustache didn’t dare let Han Fei start his shift. He politely escorted Han Fei out of Paradise and reminded the security guard to keep a close eye on him, not allowing him to enter casually.

Clutching his employment proof, which instructed him to arrive at Paradise by eight o’clock, Han Fei sat on the steps in his bulky, shabby mascot costume.

As the sun rose and more tourists arrived, Han Fei seemed afraid of such occasions. He hid inside his mascot costume, which seemed to be the only place where he could find peace of mind.

Behind the tall fence, other mascot performers were dressed in clean and pretty cartoon outfits, surrounded by happy children and adults handing out candy and small gifts; Han Fei stood alone outside the fence, fearing the lively atmosphere, crouching under the mascot costume.

"There’s another mascot here, and it’s so ugly!"

A child’s voice sounded from behind, and Han Fei felt someone pat his heavy headpiece. Already fearful of everything, he immediately dodged to the side.

In the process of moving, it seemed he bumped into the child who had just called him ugly.

The child fell to the ground, and the next moment, Han Fei felt himself being shoved and fell to the ground as well.

"How can a mascot at the park hit people!"

"Call your manager over here!"

The cry of the child rang out, and his parents scolded Han Fei loudly as the mascot’s headpiece got drenched, seemingly splashed with a drink.

Dressed in the cumbersome mascot costume, Han Fei staggered backwards, with the scolding growing louder around him. He wanted to run away, but everything around him filled him with a sense of insecurity.

His heavy headpiece was struck again, and a corner of Han Fei’s eyes got grazed inside the mascot costume, causing a sharp pain.

"It was clearly your child who bumped into it, and you’re still trying to frame others?" a somewhat familiar voice arose. "I’ve got it all on my phone; don’t go too far!"

Bystanders also came to mediate, and the family eventually walked away, cursing under their breath.

Accustomed to pain, Han Fei opened his eyes and looked through the gap in his headpiece.

A mother with a young boy approached from a distance. The woman seemed very gentle, with a sadness lurking deep in her eyes. The child by her side appeared much more mature than his peers, always looking like a little adult.

"This mascot is so pitiful, getting bullied like this without daring to fight back. I have to work hard and make sure I never become like him," the boy whispered, reluctant to get close to the filthy, tattered mascot.

Hearing her child’s words, the woman stopped and looked at him.

"What’s wrong? Did I say something incorrect?" the boy asked his mother, puzzled. "Wearing rags and a weird mascot costume, getting bullied by children, and having drinks thrown at him—I think it’s so embarrassing."

"Life, you see, as you grow up, it begins to look different," the woman didn’t directly refute her child but squatted in front of him and softly said, "When I was your age, I might have also thought that this job wasn’t dignified and would make you feel embarrassed."

"But later, when I was as old as your brother, I wouldn’t think they’re a disgrace, just that they’re pitiful, and I would help them within my means."

"And later, when I was as old as your father, I thought they were worthy of respect, earning a living and striving with their own hands. No one has the right to ridicule such people."

After speaking earnestly, the woman touched the boy’s head. "Do you understand, Fu Tian?"