My Iyashikei Game-Novel

466 Come Down with Me

Beside the gouged out wall, Han Fei held the candle and looked into the well. Many pictures floated on the surface of the murky water, human faces crowded underwater. The pair of eyes turned to the small flame. Their mouths opened and closed like fish. Han Fei’s arms froze in mid-air, he could feel a very dangerous presence. If he was not careful, he’d be dragged directly into the well. The hand that held the candle slowly retracted. The human faces followed the flame. Just as the candle was about to move away from the water surface, something leaped out from the murky water!

The icy water splattered everywhere. Han Fei immediately let go and retreated. The candle fell into the water and the fire was extinguished immediately. Han Fei cautiously went back to the side of the well. A candle floated on the water surface but the human faces had all disappeared.

‘The pictures are right before me but I can’t take them.’ Han Fei turned back to the storeroom to find some tools but as he turned around he realized the black cloth on the altar had slid to the ground. The altar was like a silent man standing on the other side of the shelf. The temperature in the storeroom had dropped to an unbearable level. The crack on the landlord’s ring grew. ‘When did the black cloth slide off? Is there another person here with me?’

Han Fei scanned the rows of shelves. The place was extremely quiet. Han Fei placed the hammer beside the altar in his pocket. When he tried to switch on the storeroom’s lights, the light bulbs above flickered and then went out. ‘It’s about midnight, the place will get a lot more dangerous after midnight, I need to be fast.’

Last time Han Fei used a fishing line and the fishing line was dragged off. After that lesson, Han Fei chose a rope this time. He attached a hook to one end of the rope and tied the other end to the altar and the shelf. If the thing inside the well dragged the rope, it would drag the altar until the altar would get stuck at the hole. ‘There should be no problem this time.’

Since the lights had gone out, Han Fei lit two more candles. One he placed outside the hole and the other he held in his hand. Han Fei took a deep breath and slowly approached the hole with the rope and candle.

The temperature was still dropping. Han Fei could feel the chill crawling up his feet like it was trying to freeze his heart. Han Fei slowly knelt down to study the murky water. He aimed the hook at the family portrait.

Adjusting his breath, Han Fei slowly nudged forward. After his arm reached through the hole, he tossed the lit candle to the left of the wall and then flung out the rope at the same time.

Flame danced above the water, lighting up the faces under the water. When the candle touched the water surface, Han Fei’s hook also reached the picture. The human faces were all distracted by the flame. Using this opportunity, Han Fei pulled. Half of the family portrait was out of the water when a bloated arm reached out from the water to grab the rope!

Indescribable force pulled Han Fei towards the well. Han Fei’s body tipped forward and he saw many human heads hanging on the rope. They bit on the rope. Their eyes filled with hatred. The shelf was dragged forward but the altar remained unmoved. The rope was pulled taut. The people inside the well wanted to pull the people outside the well into it!

The rope about the size of one’s finger snapped in the middle!

The part with the picture fell into the well and disappeared; the part tied to the altar hung limply by the hole. It dangled downwards, about a few cm from the surface of the water.

‘The well is filled with people who have been sacrificed. This well has collected all their hatred and resentment.’ Perhaps at the start, the well was only a normal well but as more ‘important things’ were dropped inside the well, the well gained more power. It was the endless greed and sin within the human heart that created this monster.

Standing between the well and the altar, Han Fei’s eyes moved. ‘Could this be the way ‘God’ has been created?’ With confusion, Han Fei turned to look at the black altar. With shock, he noticed that the altar’s door had opened a gap and there appeared to be a pair of eyes looking at him!

A bad feeling rose within him. Han Fei picked up the black cloth to cover up the altar again but at that moment, the system notification came.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve triggered the random mission—Wishing Well.

“Wishing Well: According to legend, once you drop something important to you into this well, you will get a corresponding reward. However, the thing that you drop into the well can’t ever be redeemed, therefore, the well has gained another name, Regret.

“Mission Requirement: There are no second retries but you can do your best to fix your mistakes. To retrieve the items inside the well, you have to use yourself as an item to trade. Please retrieve any 3 things from the well before midnight.”

Han Fei’s eyes twitched when he heard the notification. ‘The system wants me to jump into the well?!’ Han Fei took out his phone to glance at the time. It was 11.50 pm, and there was only 10 minutes to midnight. The doors of the altar slowly widened as if the thing inside the altar would come out at midnight.

Opening the menu, Han Fei read the mission details again. ‘The system really wants me to jump into the well? Even the rope will be snapped into two. Once I’ve fallen into the well, is there a way for me to come back up?’ Earlier, Han Fei saw endless human heads biting the rope. If he was the one in the well, the human heads would be biting his body. ‘The system wants me to die?’

Shaking his head, Han Fei decided that he’d rather fail the mission than to jump into the well. ‘It’s too dangerous, I better think of something else.’

Time passed by. Han Fei tried many methods but he couldn’t get the picture. To make things worse, he noticed the water level inside the well was rising. It was as if the human heads inside the water wanted to climb out.

‘One last try, if this fails, I’ll have to leave.’ Han Fei glanced at the altar. Bad things happened every time he entered the underground storeroom after midnight. The first time, he was trapped inside the storeroom and the second time, he fell into the altar owner’s illusion.

Using a mountain-climbing rope and bungee-jumping lock, Han Fei affixed them to the altar. Just as he was about to drop the rope into the well, a knocking sound came from above. ‘Someone is at the door? Is it the boss?’

Draping the black cloth over the altar, Han Fei quickly replaced everything. He ran towards the door and realized the door was locked!

“Damn it!” It wasn't midnight yet but an accident still occurred. The only exit to the storeroom was blocked off. ‘What to do now?’ Several ideas occurred in Han Fei’s mind: run back to the shelves to pretend to arrange the merchandise; collapse on the ground and claim that he had been ambushed; or he could ambush the person who had come into the shop.

Footsteps came from above him. The person had entered the shop. Han Fei listened closely. After stopping for a while at the counter, the footsteps moved towards the underground storeroom. Holding his breath, Han Fei took out Rest in Peace but at that moment, there was that knocking sound again. Another person had entered the shop!

Han Fei could ambush one person but if there were two, he needed to be more careful.

“Are you sure an outsider has entered this world?” The footsteps stopped and the 2 people stood near the storeroom door and started to chat.

“We can’t contact 7th and 8th Finger, and 6th Finger has suddenly disappeared. Yes, some of the memory fragments in this world are powerful enough to kill them, but they will definitely leave behind some messages before they die and not disappear like this.”

“We’ve explored this world for almost a decade already but we haven’t really understood it. I believe their disappearances don’t have anything to do with the outsider. Maybe someone has triggered the crucial part of the memory…”

“5th Finger, I didn’t call you here to argue with me.” The icy voice said with impatience. Han Fei recognized the voice, it was the chef.

“The others have found Fei Yang and 10th Finger believes Fei Yang is the real sacrificial lamb. I’d advise you to follow the protocol, do not interrupt the altar lest you destroy the ritual.” The other person didn’t care about the chef’s warning and gave a warning of their own, “Remember what has happened outside. A new Unmentionable has appeared in the cryptic world. We don’t have the time to keep trying.”

“I will not touch the altar. I’m here to catch that patron. Compared to Fei Yang, I believe he is more likely the last sacrifice.” Then the door of the underground storeroom started to twist and the cold presence gushed everywhere.

BANG! The door was forced open.

“5th Finger, I will be kicked out by the altar world after I use my power. When that happens, I need you to send that person to 10th Finger. Even if he is not the last sacrifice, we need to find out why he has appeared inside the altar.” The chef walked down the ladders and entered the storeroom. The 4 human head tattoos on his neck came alive, they swam under his skin like black fish.

“There are so many people in this memory world, it’s normal if we haven’t seen all of them.” A dwarf followed behind the chef. He was dressed like a primary school student but he sounded so old.

“I’ve smelled various kinds of meat before, so I can tell you with certainty that the scent on that man is very special!” The chef scanned the rows of shelves. “Be careful, there’s a meat scent lingering in the air, he should still be here.”

“Even if we die here, our soul won’t be harmed. I don’t get why you are so worried.” The dwarf climbed down the ladder. The skin underneath his shirt was filled with human head tattoos. “I’m helping you because we’re quite good friends, but next time, before you start cooking, can you let me play with the ingredients first?”

“Shush.” The chef closed his eyes and his nose twitched as he picked out the scent in the air. He slowly turned around. He turned to the dwarf who was still on the ladder. “The smell comes from this place?” Opening his eyes, the chef saw a shadow standing behind the ladder. He wore a gnarly beast mask and held a bladeless blade.

“Be careful!” The warning came too late. Han Fei plunged the knife into the dwarf’s heart! The blinding light pierced through the dwarf’s body. His hands barely had the time to touch the tattoo on his skin and his body was split into half! The crack lips widened. The dwarf felt like his memory and soul were burning up. “He, he can harm us who are outside the memory…”

The dwarf fell from the ladder and he disintegrated before he hit the ground. The dwarf’s scream echoed in the storeroom but Han Fei and the chef ignored him. After the successful attack, Han Fei launched another one at the chef. Rest in Peace could injure Ten Fingers in the memory world, that was Han Fei’s trump card so he had to make sure no one knew that secret.

“I knew you’d be a problem!” The chef screamed. The human heads on his arm broke into blood droplets and yin energy gushed into his body. Han Fei already reacted very fast but he was still too late. Han Fei had predicted that the chef would come that night, but he didn’t expect the man would bring reinforcement.

“You were the one who killed 6th and 7th Finger, right?” The chef’s arms started to bleed. His skin rotted and he absorbed the Yin energy in the memory world.

“Why don’t you guess?” Han Fei retreated. He slid the paper doll silently behind one of the shelves.

“After capturing you, all the problems will be solved.” The presence of the chef was greater than a Lingering Spirit.

“I hear that you’ll be forced out from the memory world once you use power that doesn’t belong here. Let me calculate how much time you have left.” Han Fei’s beast mask could eclipse his presence and the power of his altar was to hide his presence as well. However, even so, the chef managed to pick up his scent. The chef’s power should have to do with the heightening of his 5 senses.

“Looks like you know quite a lot. To stop you from disrupting Ten Finger’s plan, I’ll have to kill you.” The chef stepped forward and materialized before Han Fei. “I will kill you here first and then destroy your soul in the cryptic world.”

The chef’s skin started to melt. Every inch of his muscle was covered in resentment. Standing there, Han Fei felt great pressure. Han Fei waved his knife but before the blade could touch the chef, the chef’s flesh dissolved, it bound around Han Fei’s body like a tentacle. “No matter how sharp your blade is, if it can’t cut me, it’s a piece of useless steel.”

Han Fei’s body was slammed on the ground. The power level between them was too wide. Han Fei was no match for the chef. After touching the human head tattoo, 10 Fingers could release their real power and that power would continue to grow until they were forced out from this world.

‘I can’t drag this out further.’ Climbing up from the ground, Han Fei staggered deeper into the storeroom. Han Fei was picked up and slammed on the ground repeatedly. He became so weakened that he could barely stand.

“Such a curious soul and this is all you can do? I haven’t even used all of my power yet.” The chef grabbed Han Fei by his neck. He slammed Han Fei into the last row of the shelf. “You can’t escape anymore.” The chef pulled out a cleaver made from blood from his own flesh. “I will cut open your body and observe the color of your heart.”

“Only animals will be interested in the color of the human heart.” Han Fei’s weak voice came from under the mask.

The angry chef grabbed Han Fei by his neck and crashed him into the shelf. Han Fei had lost any power to fight back. He was wounded everywhere and he could barely grab onto Rest in Peace. The chef cackled. He looked at Han Fei like he was admiring a wonderful piece of meat. “I’ve memorized your appearance. After leaving the memory world, you are going to die. You can’t escape.”

The cleaver formed from blood raised and the chef aimed at Han Fei’s chest. At the last minute, Han Fei raised Rest in Peace to block but the chef was ready, he evaded the attack easily. “Even at death, you refuse to let that knife go? Fine, I’ll just chop off your arm!”

The chef stopped hesitating. Just as his cleaver was about to fall on Han Fei, Han Fei suddenly kicked at the tipped-over shelf. The merchandise on the shelf fell forward, temporarily blocking the chef’s sight. He was afraid that Han Fei might have other tricks so he continued his attack.

This time Han Fei didn’t evade. He grabbed the chef by his arm and then leaned backwards!

“Isn’t there just a wall behind the shelf?” The black hole appeared before him. When the chef saw that, Han Fei had already dragged half of his body into the well. Water splashed everywhere and they burned like liquid flame.

Pain locked around his heart. Han Fei gritted his teeth. Using Soul-depth Touch, he held onto the chef. Midnight Butcher’s talent kicked in. Han Fei’s various attributes started to rise as his Life Points dipped to a dangerous level.

“Come down with me!”

The clock announcing the arrival of midnight chimed all through the mall. The chef couldn’t react in time and fell into the well with Han Fei.