My Iyashikei Game-Novel

479 Mirror

Endless cursed arms reached towards the well at the center of the altar. They carried the dead’s desire and despair as they sealed up the well. The old man’s family and the hanging woman wanted to help but they were stopped by Boss Gu. His large body absorbed the living’s greed. The canopy strung with human heads blocked out the ceiling of the mall. “Why are you people still struggling? He is the last sacrifice, this ritual is over. When I push you into the well again, everything will return to normal. Perhaps I will use his body to be reborn.”

Boss Gu’s face was uneven like bark. His voice echoed in the night but his eyes were glued to the well. All the sacrifices had been sent into the well and the hands of greed were awakened too. They started to consume the sacrifices and added resentment on the ‘stones’ of the well. Based on his previous experience, Boss Gu believed the ritual should be successful already but the arms that gushed out didn’t decrease in number, if anything there were more of them. The altar was forced open by endless hands. They kept pulling downwards like they were trying to open the door of hell.

It was chaos at the mall, no one could tell this was a human world anymore. Everyone was crazy. At that moment, a silly young man appeared at the entrance pushing his electric bike. “Brother, how much longer do I need to hide? Why didn’t you come to look for me? Did you forget about me?”

The mall was filled with mutated monsters, blood, and dead bodies but Wang Pingan showed no fear. He chuckled innocently. He pushed the bike forward and looked around, searching for Han Fei. No one minded Wang Pingan and no one attacked him. Boss Gu only noticed him when Wang Pingan approached the storeroom. But even so, Boss Gu turned away after giving Wang Pingan a glance. ‘What can a dummy do?’

The ground of the first floor collapsed. Wang Pingan was careless and he accidentally fell into the underground storeroom. He was unlucky and funny. Many people saw him as a joke but Wang Pingan was a very nice person. When people laughed at him, the man who didn’t know better would laugh along with them.

Climbing up from the muddy ground, Wang Pingan saw the surging arms. “What is everyone fighting for?” He carried his helmet and walked forwards. The greedy arms ignored Wang Pingan. Since he was born, other than his father, no one really paid attention to Wang Pingan. Everyone saw him as a burden, a retard who could barely look after himself. If not for his father, Wang Pingan would be a ‘patient’ who was trapped at home.

“Have you seen my big brother? He looks like the actor on the television.”

The arms surged at the well. They could do anything for their desire, they didn’t have time for Wang Pingan. Wang Pingan tripped several times as he continued to move forward. He stood at the edge of the arms and saw the light at the mouth of the well. The light was not blinding, it was very warm. It made people want to get close to it. “What is that?” Even though he was tripped by the arms, again and again, he kept standing up. He had never seen such a gentle flame in his life before, it was like a star from the sky.

After falling and getting up repeatedly, he reached the edge of the well. He looked through the gaps of the arms. Han Fei plunged the butcher’s knife into the well on the man’s chest and then he fell.

“Brother!” Wang Pingan shouted. Han Fei heard his voice but he had no energy left. His body fell and the man with Rest in Peace in his chest was sent to the edge of the well. If no one in this memory world was willing to reach out for him, then the man would only have one end, which was to fall back into the well. The flame burned and the warmth made Wang Pingan reach out his hands.

The endless arms wanted to drag the man into the well, Wang Pingan appeared to be out of place. He grabbed the man and pulled him out of the well!

The memory world which was covered by despair changed at that moment. The storm became smaller and the wind was no longer that loud.

When Wang Pingan pulled the man’s upper body out from the well, the water well pattern on the man’s chest started to fade. The man’s chest and Boss Gu’s chest started to bleed. The eyes opened. The man’s left eye had been dug away, the black hole hid a red sea. His right eye was impossibly beautiful. The gem-like pupil reflected a scale that would never be even. The man touched his punctured chest but he smiled. “I am finally released?”

Lifting his head, the man shared a look with Boss Gu. Boss Gu had lost his mind. His large body was rapidly wilting. Wounds appeared on his body to expose the rotten meat underneath. No matter how many monsters filled up the wounds, they wouldn’t heal.

“So it can be done after all.” The wound pierced by Rest in Peace leaked out more blood and the man laughed harder. The man weakened and Boss Gu also weakened, they seemed to share the same source of power.

A scream escaped from Boss Gu’s mouth. The spirits he harmed started to take revenge, without the altar’s help, the man was nothing. The heavier the wounds on Boss Gu, the weaker the man but he didn’t mind it. He looked at this scene happily. After the man left the well, the greedy hands lost their lives. They dried up like dying seaweed.

“Brother!” Wang Pingan leaned at the mouth of the well and shouted down the well. The man heard Wang Pingan. He turned around with a gentle gaze. It was impossibly hard to destroy the altar. One had to find all the sacrifices and then enter the well with Boss Gu’s constant threats. During the whole process, one would be distracted by the well. If one was slightly persuaded by the well, one would be instantly assimilated by the altar. Should one be tough enough to resist the allure from the well, one had to reach the bottom of the well and pull out the altar owner who had been shouldering all the pain and curses. One had to share the pain with the altar owner. Affected by endless pain and hatred, one still had to carry the altar owner out of the well. And then there was still one last step. The altar owner’s memory was dark and painful. To make him see the world again, one had to rely on the help of someone from the memory world.

To borrow an analogy, the altar owner was desperate for help in real life but he never found salvation so he was unable to wake up from the endless nightmare. Inheriting the altar was impossible, one had to face the whole memory world alone but Han Fei was very close to the final success.

Holding the rope of memory, Wang Pingan pulled with all his might. He only cared about Han Fei, he didn’t mind the man beside him.

“Don’t waste your energy, this world only exists to trap me and now it is going to disintegrate.” No matter what the man said, Wang Pingan didn’t give up. “You are the same in my memory and in the real world. But that night I shouldn’t let you see the killer and let you be captured. I have so many regrets.”

The water well collapsed to reveal the broken black altar underneath. Han Fei and Evil Soul were lying at the bottom of the well. One of them was heavily wounded, the other had his soul damaged.

“How did you manage to befriend so many people when you were playing me? You still didn’t give up in this despairing world?” Holding the rope of memory, the man pulled Han Fei out from the well. He stared at Han Fei but couldn’t get the answer.

“Is this how an Unmentionable looks like?” Han Fei recovered some energy and he spoke. “Get to the 4th floor of the hospital. The people that you want to see are there. I’ve helped you fix all of your regrets.”

The word hospital caused the man’s calm face to change. The scale in his right eye started to swing. Then he picked up Han Fei and rushed to the hospital. Blood poured out from his chest. It formed a trail from the mall to the hospital. But interestingly enough, wherever the blood splattered, the rain would stop. So in the rainy city, there appeared a dry path. The mutated buildings started to crumble. Only the mall and the hospital were relatively intact. These two places held the deepest desire of Boss Gu and the man. Following the blood trail on the stairs, the man arrived at the 4th floor. He didn’t push open the door but only looked through the window.

A nurse was busy around the bed while the dying middle-aged woman suddenly opened her eyes. She turned to the door.

“Auntie, what’s wrong?”

“My son… He’s here.” Once the woman said that Han Fei felt a push from behind and the door opened. “The memory world is dissolving, help me say goodbye to her.” The man leaned against the wall of the dark corridor.

“Are you sure you don’t want to say anything to her?” Once Han Fei walked into the ward, his wounds shocked Lin Lu. The latter hurried to get the bandage but Han Fei stopped her. Han Fei who was once an orphan never thought he would experience something like this.

Han Fei was tired. He moved over a chair and sat beside the middle-aged woman. He leaned on the bed and accompanied the mother on the last day of her life. The middle-aged woman touched Han Fei’s head but her eyes were looking outside the door. When Han Fei walked in, he didn’t close the door. Outside, the corridor was empty.

The blood dripped. The storm outside had stopped. The sound of blood dripping sounded like water dripping on the window. The dark clouds parted away. An opening tore through the night that consumed the city. Light pierced through the sky. Daytime was coming. The woman was dying but her eyes were serene. As the sun was about to climb over the horizon, the woman turned to Han Fei. “Child, your friend is outside the door, yes? Can you help me relay a message to him?”

“Sure.”

“No matter what he has become, he is my best son and he will always be my pride. If there is reincarnation in this world, I wish to be his mother again, this time, I will protect him.” The ray of the sun shone into the room and cast a shadow on the figure outside the door. The man lowered his head. He finally entered the ward after standing outside for the whole night. Han Fei stood up and left. He wanted the mother and son to have their last moment together.

Looking at the brightening sky, Han Fei tried to pull on the corners of his lips. “What is this emotion that I have not experienced before? Actual happiness or envy? Perhaps I should show a simple smile to bless them.”

The edge of the city was falling. The system rang in Han Fei’s mind and interrupted his emotions. “Notification for Player 0000! You’ve rescued the altar owner’s mother and retained the last humanity in the altar owner. You’ve rectified all of the altar owner’s regret!

“Notification for Player 0000! You have completed Grade E Altar Inheritance Mission—Midnight Mall! You’ve gained triple EXP!

“Congratulations for acquiring the altar owner’s approval and succeeding in inheriting the heavily broken Grade 3 Altar—Soul Trade!

“Soul Trade: Unique ability of Grade 3 altar. Every soul can be priced to trade for a corresponding item! This ability can only be used once per night! The actual property of the altar has changed due to the change of the figurine inside. Please check after leaving the memory world!

“Congratulation for acquiring Grade E Unique Building—Midnight Mall!

“Midnight Mall: This building which has acquired plenty of evil merchandise is now yours! As long as the altar is not destroyed, everyone that enters the mall will be affected by you.

“Notification for Player 0000! All of the altar owner’s regrets have been rectified. The former altar owner will fulfill one of your wishes!

“Notification for Player 0000! Since you didn’t use the mission reward—Unconditional Wish, so you can pick 2 extra rewards from the following 5!

“Raise 1 level; Gain 3 random attribute points; Heal the soul of a spirit beneath Pure Hatred and gain 10 friendliness level with them; Awaken a Grade F Talent in this memory world; Bring out a spirit or an item from this memory world.

“Notification for Player 0000! You’ve reached level 19, and obtained 1 free attribute point!”

Han Fei opened the menu and he was shocked by the wealth of rewards. He added all the attribute points to his stamina before he started to read through the notification.

“I’ve raised 1 level? In other words, this mission normally is for people over level 30.” Han Fei was forced to enter the altar and now he realized he was a bit too overwhelmed by it. He was only level 19 but he already had 2 altars. One, level 1, and the other, level 3. If Ten Fingers found out, he would be so angry.

“The mall is now mine and outsiders who enter it will be affected. I can use that to deal with Ten Fingers.” Han Fei wanted to continue reading, but the memory world was crumbling. The large city was dissolving into a large lake.

“I will leave this altar to you. You’ve passed my test and gained my approval.” The man walked out from the ward. He joined Han Fei to look at the mall. The people who were pushed into the well by the mall boss were still venting their anger. Boss Gu had returned to normal. He was covered in wounds and pleaded for mercy.

“You’ve accomplished something I can’t but I still need to tell you one thing.” Like Boss Gu, the man was at the edge of death. Only after they fully perished that the altar would belong to Han Fei. “Don’t do such a risky thing again. The other Unmentionables will do everything within their power to take over your body.”

“Understood, I don’t want to come in here but…” Han Fei felt like he had forgotten something, or more specifically, someone. “This world is dissolving, does this mean everyone here will perish with it?”

“That’s right.”

“No, wait! I have forgotten someone very important! He brought me in here. He sacrificed himself to do that!” Han Fei was desperate. He boasted a very good memory but he couldn’t remember this man.

“I was curious how did you not lose any memory... So someone has been bearing that price for you.” The man smiled. “There is only one person who can send you into this altar. I know where he is.”

“Where?”

“Do you remember the mirror in the underground basement in the western city? The place where my eye and organs were harvested.”

“I do.” Han Fei nodded. That was the place where the altar owner turned evil. He was scammed by his father and chose to abandon his humanity to wish at the altar.

“The humanity that I abandoned is left inside that mirror.” The man reached to pluck out his gemlike right eye. “Take this with you. Perhaps you can help him get out of that mirror.”