My ‘Healing’ Game
Chapter 764 - 674: Sooner or later, all the group members will be caught

Chapter 764: Chapter 674: Sooner or later, all the group members will be caught

Han Fei cleaned up everything related to himself and was about to leave after clearing the crime scene, when Big Beard’s phone screen suddenly lit up with a new message.

After opening it, Han Fei saw a Flower of Death blooming, its falling bloody petals solidifying into a line of text.

"Death Spread Group Chat Administrator, virtual ID Sunshine Boy, please arrive at the North Suburb Shouxi Mirror Factory before Midnight tomorrow to complete the Core Member promotion ceremony."

"Promotion ceremony? These people are really bold, actually choosing me," Han Fei felt he had underestimated them. They didn’t care about the "staff’s" life and death, willing to pay a lot to find the right candidate.

Seconds later, the message on the phone turned into gibberish, like Big Beard’s phone had caught a virus.

The person behind the scenes seemed to be controlling things remotely, with incessant beeping sounds, as all the staff members’ phones automatically wiped their data, destroying everything and all information they had recorded the previous night.

"You absolutely can’t underestimate these guys, it seems like they have among them Cocoon House Hackers, the explosion attack in Smart New City might have been their doing."

After glancing at the half-dead "Contender" in the dark shop, Han Fei settled on the only chair, tearing Big Beard’s clothes, wiping the lingering fingerprints off the phone.

"Do you know why I didn’t kill you?"

A cold voice came from below the Joker mask, but Han Fei didn’t hear the answer he wanted.

"Death is a form of mercy for you. I want you to endure much more pain."

His shoes avoided the blood, stepping past each cheek, and Big Beard, who had already given up hope, had closed his eyes, but didn’t feel the anticipated pain.

He secretly opened his eyes a sliver and caught sight of Han Fei’s retreating figure.

The Madman left humming a song, just as he had arrived, disappearing into the last vestige of darkness before night ended.

"So elegant, too elegant..."

Finding the motorcycle in the back alley, Han Fei rode out of Dolphin Bay, and only after he was far away, did he remove his mask.

"After becoming a Core Member, I should be able to uncover the secrets they guard. If they’re indeed connected to Deep World, I’m likely to encounter some bizarre things."

Basking in the sunlight, Han Fei furrowed his brows in thought.

Hatred couldn’t directly kill in reality, whether it was the Butterfly or the three figures of Hatred from the Plastic Surgery Hospital. They could only drive living people to their death through illusions and misconceptions. But this time, Han Fei was facing the Unspeakable, where hatred couldn’t be used as a measure.

"Still, I need to be careful."

Han Fei chose to take back roads, circling around for quite a while before returning to the Old City District.

Ever since "Perfect Life" had glitches, everything seemed to change. Major Guilds in the game began searching for players with exceptional Talent, entering Hidden Maps became these guilds’ ultimate goal.

Top players began training with a purpose, no longer treating the game as a Healing-type Game for comforting their souls. Some were challenging the rules, trying out various things on NPCs and other players, continuously lowering the game’s moral baseline.

In response to the game’s glitches, Eternal Life Pharmaceutical and Deep Space Technology came up with their compensation plans, but these failed to satisfy the players.

The majority in "Perfect Life" are casual players. People are already tired in reality, playing this game just to find a warm, Healing place. But now this last sanctuary for the soul is also damaged, peace disrupted, everything has become noisy.

The two technology giants have many troubles. Opposition to the big corporations’ monopolies is growing, the public’s voices getting louder, resentful that artificial intelligence is taking their jobs and affecting their lives. Those whispering voices have turned into a tidal wave.

While Deep Space Technology and Eternal Life Pharmaceutical are busy handling a mess of troubles, Xinhu Police haven’t had any downtime, with violent crimes occurring more frequently. The older generation of police vaguely remember when Butterfly first appeared in Xinhu years before.

Chaos spreads. Super criminals who had vanished without a trace are baring their fangs again.

On the surface, Xinhu remains vibrant and prospering, people unaffected by the turmoil are well-protected within their information cocoons, but those facing the darkness know all too well that Xinhu has changed.

A storm is arriving silently, and the stench of death from far suburbs is spreading, slowly eating away at the foundations of the city.

Ordering breakfast for three, Han Fei found a corner to wolf down his food, watching the passersby busy with their lives, toiling for a living.

They were ordinary, mundane, but who could guarantee they wouldn’t show a different face at night?

After breakfast, Han Fei returned home. He stared at his computer and, after hesitating for a moment, still logged into Sunshine Boy’s virtual account, entering the grey areas outside the information cocoon.

"I knew he would come back. Murderers often return to the crime scene at a particular time, like admiring their handiwork and watching people’s reactions."

"Kill twenty-two people? How is that possible?"

"Didn’t you notice some accounts went offline yesterday and have never lit up again?"

"My friend was there last night, and he said that if his mental fortitude weren’t that good, he might have jumped off a building himself."

As soon as Han Fei’s virtual account appeared, he received over a dozen private messages, some selling contraband and others looking to "collaborate" with him.

It wasn’t until he opened the Death Spread Group Chat that he found out the results of last night’s assessment had been "accidentally" uploaded by a group member, and Han Fei had taken out twenty-two people, including the judges. Such a terrifying act spread the name Sunshine Boy throughout the Death Spread Group Chat.

Other group members would post horror and gore pictures, talk dirty, pretending to be scary and impressive, but Han Fei actually did it.

With Han Fei logging on, the name Sunshine Boy seemed to become taboo again; group members silently agreed to keep quiet, as if they had all been gagged.

Death Spread Group Chat wasn’t like any ordinary chat. Speaking carelessly here could actually get you killed. They were used to inflicting death on others, but they didn’t like being threatened with death themselves.

"Why has this group suddenly become so quiet? They wouldn’t have created a new one behind my back, would they?" Han Fei didn’t expect to be isolated in such a place, but after thinking about it, he understood. Those people were all psychos and madmen, and his positive Sunshine Boy presence naturally didn’t fit in.

"Sooner or later I’ll catch all of you."

Han Fei closed the group chat and started searching for the information he wanted. He hadn’t received any official recognition from the Death Spread Group Chat, but everyone connected to the three organizations already treated him as a high-level member, making it extremely easy to gather intel. Not only was it free, but the other parties often seemed quite enthusiastic to help.

"Those core members have probably already notified the lower ranks, which works out for me." As long as people were active, the grey areas would always exist. Such places were hard to eliminate, and the best method was to become the leader of that territory.

After making several inquiries, Han Fei had a clear understanding of his current situation. The person in charge of the Death Spread Group Chat was Crow, an outright serial killer. Everyone knew he was terrifying, but nobody could tell exactly what he had done. And it was this Crow who hoped that Han Fei would become the new core member, not caring what Han Fei’s real intentions were for joining, or perhaps, he was confident enough to handle whatever reason Han Fei had.

Unlike Crow’s stance, a core member of the Murder Club, Guinea Pig, was firmly against Han Fei joining and even prepared to hunt him down.

Sunday Night School made no move at all. They weren’t interested in recruiting core members, seemingly focused entirely on finding new Butterflies.

Of the three organizations, three super criminals had once emerged, Butterfly being one of them. The other two were very mysterious, rumored to be hidden among the core members, but no one had ever seen them, and not even a trace of information about them could be found in the grey areas.

"The top Butterfly of hate in the Deep World is a super criminal wanted by the police. Considering this, the other two unseen super criminals are likely souls consumed by hatred."

Han Fei had become quite a character in the grey areas now—Jin Jun, who had told him how to enter, could never have imagined this.

Having learned some more information, Han Fei logged out of the grey area and lay on his bed, contemplating his next steps.

"I have a feeling that Xinhu will soon descend into chaos, just like the disaster that occurred in Fu Sheng’s Paradise Shrine. I can’t let the tragedy happen again."

While Han Fei was pondering, the gates of Perfect Life at the Heaven Opera House slowly opened, and a grand singing event that gathered hundreds of thousands of singing enthusiasts from across the country officially began.

...

"Hall 7, combination number 697, Devil and Cat, prepare to go on stage! You only have one chance! We hope you can show your best to all the players!"

As the announcement ended, Liuli Cat took a deep breath and then patted Caibao on the shoulder, "Let’s go, it’s our turn."

"I’m a bit nervous," Caibao said, gripping the maracas in her hands, wrapped in a male virtual avatar.

"We’ve rehearsed many times. There won’t be any problems," Liuli Cat kept encouraging Caibao, and when the spotlight fell on them, they stepped onto the stage together.

"Combination number 697, Devil and Cat, performing ’Glow,’ artists Liuli Cat and Sunshine Boy!"

The song slowly began, and as soon as Liuli Cat started singing, she captured the attention of many, her voice a true gift from heaven.

Caibao, a bit envious, looked at Liuli Cat, who captivated the audience. She was about to follow the rhythm with her maraca when she noticed that many in the crowd were also staring at her.

It seemed that on hearing the name Sunshine Boy, they had run over from other halls, bearing the withered Flower of Death tattooed on their exposed skin.

"I haven’t even started singing, and they’re already paying attention to me?"

A smile appeared on Caibao’s face as she began to shake the maraca earnestly.

After the song ended, the combination Devil and Cat smoothly advanced to the next round. Just as the two girls were leaving, a series of exclamations erupted from the crowd.

They looked towards the commotion and saw a woman wearing an Angel mask approaching them.

"Ye Xian! It’s Ye Xian!"

Some singers, even when wearing a mask, have voices that are unmistakably recognized, and Ye Xian was one of them.

"She’s a real singer, and my dream is to become someone like her." Caibao didn’t know why Ye Xian would come to them, but she knew the other wasn’t here to find her; after all, she had only shaken the maracas a few times on stage.

"Hello, do you have a moment to talk? Sunshine Boy." After crossing the crowd, Ye Xian’s gaze moved past Liuli Cat and, with a bit of playfulness, settled on Caibao.