Chapter 32

"Brother Huang, apart from the Easter eggs left by the deceased founder, are there any other strange rumors in this game? I'm more interested in these."

"If you're really curious, you can find a bunch of them on any game forum, but most of them are just rumors," Huang Ying said disdainfully. "I even saw a post that seriously analyzed how to see ghosts in the game. It listed several points, like entering the Night Amusement Park at midnight, pushing open the door of the central room in the maze to see a door leading to another world; entering the Funeral Street alone in the early morning, with a chance to encounter talking paper figures; and possibly encountering ghosts in chat room 444 at 4 AM. I play the game every night and always chat in room 444, but I've never seen any ghosts!"

"Indeed, many of these ghost stories are just lies." Han Fei tried to look sincere.

"These rumors are obviously fake. Some of them were so convincing that they fooled many beta testers, like the existence of a deeper world in the game, or a dark version of *Perfect Life*."

"Deeper world?"

"Do you remember the tester who massacred an entire neighborhood? After he went crazy, he kept saying he saw ghosts in the game and ended up in a place full of evil spirits. He also said that all the NPCs in the game had to be killed." Huang Ying looked puzzled. "Although players killing NPCs did happen during the initial testing, his level of madness was unprecedented. Many beta testers believed him and started searching for the deeper world."

"So, the deeper world is a place full of evil spirits?"

"Is such a place even possible in the game? Don't forget, *Perfect Life* is a game designed to heal human nature. Unless the deeper world is unknown to the game operators and developers, they wouldn't allow such a dangerous element to exist in their game." Huang Ying waved his hand. "As the game continues to be tested, fewer and fewer people believe that a deeper world exists in *Perfect Life*."

"That makes sense. So, it was the beta tester's own problem?"

"No one knows the exact reason, maybe he was suddenly triggered by something. Although he didn't kill anyone in real life, his extreme behavior led the Citizen System to classify him as moderately dangerous. He is now in the intensive care unit of the New Shanghai Mental Hospital for psychological correction treatment."

"New Shanghai Mental Hospital's intensive care unit..." Han Fei noted down the name and stopped talking about it. "Brother Huang, thank you for showing me around today. I have some things to do, so I'll leave first."

"Brother, I really feel like we've met too late. I haven't had such a good chat in a long time."

Huang Ying was talkative, but the people around him didn't seem to want to listen to him until Han Fei appeared.

To get more information, Han Fei carefully considered every word Huang Ying said and responded, making him the best listener.

"Maybe it's because we share common interests. When *Perfect Life* goes public, let's meet in the game." Han Fei took out his phone and added Huang Ying's social media account.

Under the pressure of *Perfect Life*, Han Fei's social skills had improved.

"Sure, when the time comes, I'll take you on the best-paying rare quests to show you the skills of a beta tester." Huang Ying leaned closer to Han Fei and whispered, "During the testing, I discovered a hidden quest with only a 1% trigger rate. When the game goes public, we can do it together."

"Hidden quest... are they rare?"

"Of course! Hidden quests are only heard of in rumors. Encountering one is a stroke of luck. Don't tell anyone I know about the hidden quest when the time comes!"

"Got it, thanks, Brother Huang."

Han Fei left the game exhibition and headed straight to the New Shanghai Mental Hospital. From his perspective, the tester likely really entered a world full of evil spirits.

He tried every method to find information about the tester but failed. He was even kicked out by the attendants, who seemed used to people like him.

Most of those who came to inquire were *Perfect Life* players, just like Han Fei, hoping to find the deeper world through the tester, but none of them succeeded.

With no progress, Han Fei had to give up when it got dark.

He went to a restaurant alone and had a good meal. After his body was healed by the food, Han Fei returned home to start healing his "soul."

Although it had only been a few days, he was no longer as anxious as he was at the beginning. This change in his mindset surprised even him.

He read books, studied, analyzed cases, memorized all the information about the victims, and exercised.

At midnight, Han Fei connected all the wires, put on the game helmet, and lay on the bed.

"Welcome to *Perfect Life*. You can now choose your perfect life!"

The blood-red color faded, and Han Fei opened his eyes. It was pitch black around him, and he was sitting in a corner of a haunted house.

"The clock on the wall shows midnight, and the time here is exactly the same as in the real world."

Han Fei took a deep breath. Just as he was about to get up, a cold system prompt sounded in his mind.

"Attention, Player 0000! The beginner protection period has ended! The beginner tasks—'Take a Bath' and 'Go to Sleep' (incomplete)—are about to be replaced! Please decide carefully whether to permanently abandon the beginner tasks!"

"The beginner protection period has ended?" Han Fei was completely stunned by the voice in his mind. "I almost died several times, and you're telling me this is still the beginner protection phase? What will happen after the beginner protection period ends?"

Before he could recover, he heard a loud thud. He quickly got up and peered through the window crack. It seemed a body had been thrown down from upstairs.

"Really? Just like that, they throw a body?"

Han Fei didn't know what had happened upstairs, but he was sure it wasn't good.

"Attention, Player 0000! The beginner tasks are about to be replaced! Do you choose to permanently abandon the beginner tasks?"

The system's voice kept pressing Han Fei to make a decision, but he had no real choice. The beginner tasks were at least in this room, but the replacement tasks could be much more difficult.

As the beginner tasks gradually turned gray, Han Fei gritted his teeth and accepted both beginner tasks.

"Player 0000 has accepted the G-level beginner task—'Go to Sleep'!"

"Note: If the beginner task fails, it will not disappear, but the difficulty will increase slightly each time it fails."

"Task requirements: Turn off all the lights in the room and lie on the bed in the bedroom within five minutes. Do not leave the bed for three hours, no matter what happens."

"Player 0000 has accepted the G-level beginner task—'Take a Bath'!"

"Take a Bath (Beginner Task): Every time you take a bath at night, you always feel like there's someone else in the house."

"Task requirements: Before 4 AM, use the game props to clean your body, face, and head. The total cleaning time must not be less than twenty minutes."