Chapter 3 - Sleep!

Some people play games to pass the time, some for the thrill of victory, and Han Fei played games primarily to relieve stress. However, he now felt his stress had increased even more. Putting down the broom, Han Fei glanced around. The dim yellow light above flickered on and off, and the cozy feeling had long since dissipated. He quietly moved to the side of the refrigerator. The elderly woman had only opened the upper part of the fridge; no one knew what was stored in the lower part. A complete body couldn’t fit into a fridge, could it? Han Fei took a deep breath and slowly opened the lower part of the fridge, pulling out one drawer after another, each stuffed with bulging black plastic bags. Han Fei had seen similar scenes in horror films. However, watching on TV and experiencing it firsthand were two entirely different things. His finger crept into the freezer drawer, worried that he might see a human face or hair. His Adam’s apple moved up and down as he scratched open the bag; the black plastic bags simply contained some frozen hard fish and chicken. The R-rated scene he had imagined didn’t happen, and Han Fei quickly closed the fridge before the elderly woman could return. “What are you doing?” An aged, hoarse voice sounded from behind him, sending a chill up Han Fei’s spine. How did this Granny walk without making any sound? Turning around, Han Fei picked up the broom from the ground. After all, as a professional actor, he quickly gained control of his facial expression. “I wanted to help clean up your house a bit. The fridge was leaking a little at the bottom just now, probably because of the prolonged power outages. I suspect there’s something wrong with the cooling system.” The old lady’s expression hadn’t changed at all since the beginning. She always looked so kind and gentle, but the more one looked at her face, the more one felt an inexplicable chill, as if that was the only expression she could show. “Granny, actually, I’ve lived alone far from home for a long time, and today I finally felt a bit of the warmth of home here with you. I truly appreciate it,” Han Fei began cleaning very naturally. “Now we’re neighbors. If you need any help with anything, just tell me.” No matter whether the old woman had a hidden body in her house, Han Fei at least acted like a simple and straightforward sweet guy. The old woman had difficulty moving around, so Han Fei earnestly cleaned the living room. “Rest well, I won’t disturb you any further.” After tidying up the room, that mechanical synthesized voice appeared in his Brain Sea again. “Attention, player number 0000! Your earnest behavior has made a good impression on Meng Shi. Meng Shi’s friendliness increased by five. A harmonious neighborly relationship is the first step to a ‘Perfect Life’.” As the mechanical synthesized voice sounded, the old woman, unbeknownst to him, had walked up behind Han Fei. “I was going to tell you when we ate, but you probably don’t feel like eating in my home now. You’re a good kid, and I do want to be neighbors with you, but you better take my advice. Don’t be tempted by little conveniences, and move out as soon as you can. Something happened in the house you’re living in.” “Something happened?” “Don’t ask too much, just remember, when you go to sleep at night, make sure to lock the bathroom door.” The old woman seemed tired. She didn’t continue chatting with Han Fei and went into the kitchen by herself. Soon after, strange noises came from the kitchen, followed by the rich smell of meat. Han Fei didn’t dare stay any longer and quickly left the elderly woman’s home. Only after stepping out of her door, did his hanging heart settle down. “This game seems a bit off.” Just now, Han Fei indeed hadn’t found any body in the old woman’s fridge, but he remembered a detail. When he first went to the old woman’s house, her fuse had blown. If the quality of the fuse itself was fine, a blown fuse is usually due to an overload. But as he was cleaning earlier, he had checked all the places in the kitchen and living room. The old woman’s home only had lights, a TV, and that one refrigerator. Just those few appliances shouldn’t be enough to blow a fuse, so it was highly likely that there were other electrical devices in the old woman’s house. “The door to the kid’s bedroom was locked. Why would the old woman lock the child in the room? Could the child have seen something? Could there be another fridge hidden in the child’s room?” With this thought, Han Fei felt an even stronger sense of unease. He shivered involuntarily, staring at the somewhat eerie corridor. Behind each of those doors, it seemed as if someone was watching him. “Why does this corridor feel like it’s filled with Dark Energy?” Han Fei hurried back to the entrance of his own home. It took him a while with that big bunch of keys to finally open the security door. Rushing back home, Han Fei looked at the old and desolate living room, gasping for breath, “Am I too nervous? I’ve turned a healing-type game into something out of a biohazard scenario.” After pouring a glass of water, Han Fei paced around his room, the old lady’s last words echoing in his ears like a curse. “Something once happened in this house, and you should lock the bathroom door when you sleep at night...” Han Fei started to survey his surroundings again. The room was in a state of disrepair, covered in dust, and oddly enough, apart from the bathroom, every window was hung with thick, opaque curtains. He approached a window and lifted a corner of the curtain. Beneath the curtain was a window sealed with wooden planks. Looking out through the cracks in the planks, he saw a pitch-black city. This game world, shrouded in night, was vast, with no visible boundary. “Didn’t they say there would be heartwarming scenes? Soothing music?” Han Fei drew the curtains closed, realizing that the online reviews of the game were somewhat one-sided. Although it was a Mortal World game, it seemed to include many Underworld elements. “Am I playing it wrong?” In terms of audio quality, visual effects, and natural interaction, the game far exceeded any that Han Fei had played before, but, how should he put it? He now felt that the game was eerily too realistic. Sitting on the sofa, Han Fei closed his eyes and envisioned an Attribute Panel and a Quest Panel in his Brain Sea. After he had completed the task of fixing the fuse for the old lady, the quest system had been activated, and a voice in his Brain Sea had told him that successfully completing the beginner tasks would help him understand this world quickly. With that in mind, Han Fei opened the Quest Panel and looked at the three beginner tasks listed before him, his expression turning somewhat strange. Beginner Task One: Take a Bath Beginner Task Two: Watch TV Beginner Task Three: Sleep The beginner tasks in this game were “simple” to an absurd degree, lacking any superfluous introduction, all of them common activities in everyday life. “How about I start with sleep? I’m quite good at sleeping.” Han Fei didn’t just pick randomly; he thought of the elderly woman’s reminder to lock the bathroom door when sleeping at night, a hint that could likely be key to completing the quest. Compared to choosing blindly, Han Fei felt that sleeping was a more secure option. “I choose Beginner Task Three—Sleep.” The moment this thought formed in Han Fei’s brain, the quest was selected, and that cold, synthetic voice appeared once more. “Player number 0000 has accepted G-level Beginner Task—Sleep!” “Quest Introduction: After a busy day, you drag your weary body onto the bed in the bedroom.” “Quest Requirement: Please turn off all the lights in the house, lie in the bedroom bed within five minutes, and regardless of what happens, you must not leave the bed for three hours.” “Is that it?” Han Fei made sure he hadn’t missed any quest information, then he got up and went into the bedroom. On the twin bed covered in dust, a complete set of red bedding, including pillows, a quilt, and bed sheets, was thrown about haphazardly. “Bright red, looks pretty festive.” With a frown, Han Fei straightened the bedding and then approached the bathroom door. Just as he was about to heed the old woman’s advice and lock the door, he noticed a problem. The bathroom door could only be locked from the inside, it couldn’t be locked from the outside at all. After pondering for a moment, Han Fei jammed a mop against the doorknob to block the bathroom door and then moved a shoe cabinet in front of it. “Should be almost enough, right?” To be on the safe side, he went into the kitchen and picked up the kitchen knife from the cutting board, “Is it weird to sleep holding a kitchen knife in a healing-type game? Never mind, it is better to be safe than sorry.” As the five-minute preparation time was nearly up, he turned off all the lights in the house and, holding the kitchen knife, lay down on the bed in the bedroom.