Chapter 5

The shadow that was originally beside the sofa had somehow appeared at the bedroom door. Han Fei could vaguely make out the outline of a person, crouching on the ground with its head lowered.

His body seemed to be petrified, and Han Fei knelt halfway on the bed, still draped in the slightly moldy red blanket.

"If I had known this was a combat game or a puzzle game, I would have been mentally prepared. But the problem is, the shop owner and all the information online said this was a healing game. Who the hell knows how to survive in a healing game!"

He stared intently at the bedroom door, and after a brief moment of shock, his mind quickly started working.

The situation has already happened, and it's meaningless to think about why he can't exit the game now. He has to survive within the rules!

To exit the game, two conditions must be met: the game duration must exceed three hours, and at least one task must be completed.

"I've already completed the task of installing the fuse at the old lady's house. I remember when I opened my eyes after entering the game, the clock on the wall showed midnight. The last time I checked the clock was at 2:44 AM, so I just need to find a way to buy myself sixteen more minutes to leave here!"

Han Fei's thoughts had never been so clear. He stared at the bedroom door, his muscles tense, and his fingers firmly gripping the kitchen knife.

"I checked the bathroom earlier, and there was no one there, nor any place to hide. What the hell is this thing? Why did it open the bathroom door in the middle of the night?"

Han Fei just needed to hold on for sixteen more minutes to survive, but the question was how to survive those sixteen minutes. The situation was getting worse, and he wasn't sure if the kitchen knife in his hand would be useful. Gripping it was just a way to seek some psychological comfort.

Lying in bed at midnight and opening your eyes to see someone crouching beside the sofa in the living room, and then blinking to find that person at the bedroom door, the mere thought of it made his scalp tingle.

Stay calm! You must stay calm!

The inability to exit the game had a huge impact on Han Fei. He hadn't even recovered from the shock when he was hit by a sudden wave of fear. Despite the repeated blows, the once ordinary office worker hadn't collapsed, which even surprised himself.

"The old lady said this house had a history and wasn't safe, probably referring to the person crouching on the ground. The other residents in the building haven't moved out, which means this thing rarely leaves the room. If I can escape, I should be temporarily safe."

Easier said than done. Han Fei looked at the blurry figure crouching at the bedroom door and didn't have the courage to get closer.

"No! The situation isn't at its most desperate yet! It's blocking the door but not coming closer, so I can just wait it out. If I can hold on for sixteen minutes, I'll exit the game. If it comes closer, I'll run out of the bedroom!"

In a life-or-death situation, Han Fei didn't care about the beginner's task anymore.

His gaze slowly moved to the digital wall clock in the living room, but before he could see the time, a chill ran through his heart!

His pupils contracted, and Han Fei looked at the bedroom door again. The figure crouching on the ground had disappeared.

At this moment, Han Fei made the best decision. He didn't turn on the light, didn't step back, and didn't look around for the figure. Instead, he jumped off the bed and sprinted towards the living room door!

He knew that thing had entered the bedroom, and staying there for even a second was a death sentence. Instead of being curious about what it was, he decided to leave as quickly as possible.

Every second counted, and Han Fei felt he had never run so fast in his life.

He rushed to the security door and opened it as quickly as possible.

The sound of the door opening triggered the motion-sensor lights in the hallway, and the dim light flooded the room. But Han Fei didn't dare to look back; he only glanced inside the room as he went down the stairs.

In the old, desolate room, a person was lying under the bedroom lamp, their limbs twisted in a bizarre angle. If Han Fei had turned on the light, he might have seen the person's pale, sinister face!

He quickly closed the door, fearing that the thing would chase him. Soon, he heard a terrifying sound from inside the room, as if someone was scratching the door with their nails.

"Does it want to get out?"

Not daring to stay, Han Fei ran down the stairs with the kitchen knife. He knew the old man downstairs was also problematic, but compared to the unknown, the old man posed a smaller threat.

Han Fei reached the third floor and smelled the familiar meat aroma again. He found the old man's door half-open, with several black bags thrown at the entrance, different from the ones he had seen in the fridge.

Stepping back, his body touched the door of another apartment on the third floor. A cracked octagonal mirror fell from the top of the door, almost hitting him.

Turning his head, Han Fei saw that the door of this apartment was covered with a dense layer of talismans, looking very terrifying.

"Is there no one normal in this building?"

Continuously stimulated, Han Fei's nerves were on edge. At this moment, all the motion-sensor lights in the hallway went out. No matter how much noise he made, the lights wouldn't turn on again.

In the dead silence, Han Fei clearly heard the sound of the door being slowly pushed open. Something was approaching in the darkness.

His heart beat faster and faster, and Han Fei ran down the stairs with all his might, feeling something chasing him in the darkness.

Gritting his teeth, Han Fei sprinted to the first floor. Only then did he realize that the hallway door was locked, and he couldn't leave the building.

Swinging his arm, Han Fei used the kitchen knife to chop at the lock. As darkness enveloped him, something seemed to appear behind him.

His neck was slowly tightened, and Han Fei appeared to be mad, repeatedly chopping at the lock. In reality, all his attention was on the attribute panel.

The coldness seeped into his body, and Han Fei could no longer hold the kitchen knife. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, the gray exit button finally lit up.

Three hours had passed!

"Exit!"

Bang!

A loud noise echoed in his mind, and the world started spinning. Intense pain shot from the depths of his brain.

Enduring the pain, Han Fei, in the moment he regained control of his body, forcefully removed the game helmet and threw it heavily on the table.

Night had fallen, and the projection screen on the wall showed it was 3:01 AM.

Han Fei had entered the game during the day, but when he returned to reality, it was already late at night.

Exhaustion washed over him, and Han Fei still felt a sense of unreality, as if he hadn't escaped the game.

"Player 0000, please note! You have completed your first game in the Perfect Life initial version. Please accelerate your exploration progress!"

A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind, and Han Fei froze, realizing he had already removed the game helmet. The voice was directly in his head.

"How is this possible?"

"Player 0000, please note! You have completed your first game. Please start your second game within 24 hours!"

"Why is there a voice in my head?" Han Fei touched the back of his head, which was still throbbing with pain, and picked up the heavy game helmet. Only then did he notice the bloodstains inside.

Recalling carefully, Han Fei vaguely remembered that something had pierced his head when he put on the helmet.

"Is this attempted murder?" Han Fei took out his phone to call the police, but as soon as he had the thought, the voice in his head spoke again.

"Player 0000, please note! Do not reveal the game content to anyone, or the black box will explode in your brain, ensuring your death within 0.001 seconds."

"Black box? Brain death?" Han Fei looked at the label on the helmet, which read "Leisure and Healing," and felt his head throb even more.