"Brother Huang Ying, aside from the Easter Egg left by the late founder, are there any other bizarre rumors about this game? I'm quite interested in these things,"
"If you're really curious, you'd be able to dig up a bunch on any gaming forum, though most of those are just rumors," Huang Ying said disdainfully. "I once saw a post that seriously analyzed ways to encounter ghosts in the game. It listed several points, like entering Paradise at midnight and pushing open the room at the very center of the maze to see a door to another world; walking alone on Funeral Street at dawn might give you a chance to meet a Paperman that talks; there's also a chance to encounter a ghost at 4 a.m. in Chat Room No. 444. I play the game every night, hanging out in Chat Room No. 444, but I haven't seen any ghosts!"
"Indeed, a lot of these Kaidan are just made-up to trick people," Han Fei made an effort to look candid.
"You can tell those rumors are fake at a glance. There were some before that spread as if they were real, fooling many beta players, like the existence of the Deep World within the game or that 'Perfect Life' has a dark version, and so on."
"Deep World?"
"Do you remember the tester who slaughtered a whole neighborhood? After he went mad, he kept saying he saw ghosts in the game, that he stumbled upon a place filled with Fierce Ghosts, and that he had to kill all the NPCs in the game," Huang Ying showed an incomprehensible look: "Although there were cases of players killing NPCs during the initial testing, no one was as crazed as him – without parallel in the past or since. Many beta players started to search for the Deep World because they believed what he said."
"So, the Deep World is a place full of Fierce Ghosts?"
"Could such a place even exist in the game? Don't forget 'Perfect Life' is a game meant for healing human nature. Unless the Deep World is something even the game's operators and developers don't know about, there's no way they'd allow such a dangerous element in their game," Huang Ying waved his hand, "As continuous beta tests go on, fewer and fewer people believe in the existence of the Deep World in 'Perfect Life'."
"Makes sense. So, it was just an issue with that beta tester?"
"No one knows the exact reason; maybe he experienced some sort of sudden shock. Although he didn't kill anyone in real life, due to his excessive behavior, the civil system has classified him as moderately dangerous, and now he is held in the intensive care unit at Xinhu Mental Hospital undergoing corrective psychological treatment."
"Xinhu Mental Hospital's intensive care unit..." Han Fei noted down the place before dropping the subject: "Brother Huang, thank you for showing me around today. I have other matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."
"Brother, I feel like it's a case of meeting too late; it's been so long since I've had such a hearty conversation," Huang Ying said.
Huang Ying was a chatterbox, but it seemed like no one around him truly wanted to listen to him talk, until Han Fei appeared.
To get more information, Han Fei would carefully consider every word Huang Ying said, responding accordingly. He was truly an excellent listener.
"Maybe it's because we both share common interests. Let's meet in the game once 'Perfect Life' enters open beta," Han Fei took the initiative to take out his phone and added Huang Ying's social media account.
Because of the pressure from 'Perfect Life', Han Fei's interpersonal communication skills had made new breakthroughs.
"Alright, when the time comes, I'll take you on the highest-paying rare quest, to show you the strength of a beta player," Huang Ying leaned in to whisper to Han Fei, making sure nobody else was around before speaking, "During the testing, I even discovered a hidden quest with only a one percent chance of being triggered. We could try it together when it goes public."
"A hidden quest... Is it very rare?" Han Fei feigned ignorance like a newbie in gaming.
"Of course! You only ever hear about hidden quests in rumors, stumbling upon one would be incredible luck. Don't you go around foolishly telling others about this hidden quest I know of!"
"Got it, thanks Brother Huang Ying."
As soon as Han Fei left the game exhibition hall, he planned to go straight to Xinhu Mental Hospital, as from his perspective, that tester might have truly entered a world filled with Fierce Ghosts.
He rushed to the Mental Hospital without stopping, but despite all his efforts, Han Fei couldn't find any information about that tester.
He was eventually chased out by a nurse, and from the way the nurse spoke, it seemed like there had been many people like him before; they were already used to it.
Most of the people who came looking for information were 'Perfect Life' players who, just like Han Fei, aimed to find the Deep World through the tester. Sadly, all of them came up fruitless.
By nightfall, Han Fei had no choice but to give up for now.
He went to a restaurant and treated himself to a good meal, and after his body was healed by the delicious food, Han Fei returned home to start healing his "soul."
Although it had only been a few days, he no longer felt the initial panic and unease, a change in mentality that surprised even himself.
Reading, studying, analyzing case files, committing all information about the victims to memory, exercising.
Until midnight, Han Fei connected various cables, put on his gaming helmet, and lay down on the bed.
"Welcome to Perfect Life, you can now choose your own Perfect Life!"
The blood color faded, Han Fei opened his eyes, and he was surrounded by darkness, sitting in a corner of the Haunted House.
"The clock on the wall is exactly at midnight, the time here is perfectly synchronized with reality."
Han Fei took a deep breath, just as he was about to get up from the ground, a cold voice from the system echoed in his brain.
"Attention, player number 0000! The newbie protection period is over! Newbie tasks—Taking a bath; Newbie tasks—Sleeping (incomplete) are about to be replaced! Please decide carefully whether to permanently give up the newbie tasks!"
"The newbie protection period is over?" Han Fei was utterly bewildered by the voice in his mind, "I've nearly lost my life several times, and you're telling me that was still the newbie protection phase? How dangerous will it be outside once the protection period is over?"
Before Han Fei could recover, a loud noise startled him, and he hastily got up to peer through the gaps in the window. It seemed as if a body had just been thrown down from the floor above.
"What the heck? Dumping a body like that?"
Han Fei didn't know what had happened upstairs, but he was certain it was nothing good.
"Attention, player number 0000! The newbie tasks are about to be replaced! Do you choose to permanently give up the newbie tasks?"
The system's voice in his mind was pressuring Han Fei to make a decision, but in reality, he had no choice; the newbie tasks were at least confined to this room, but the replacement tasks might not be, possibly skyrocketing in difficulty.
As the newbie tasks gradually turned gray, Han Fei gritted his teeth and accepted both tasks at the same time.
"Player number 0000 accepts the G-level newbie task—Sleep!"
"Note: If the newbie task fails, it will not disappear, but the difficulty of the task will slightly increase with each failure!"
"Task requirements: Please turn off all the lights in the house, lie down on the bed in the bedroom within five minutes, and regardless of what happens, do not leave the bed for three hours."
"Player number 0000 accepts the G-level newbie task—Taking a Bath!"
"Taking a Bath (Newbie Task): Every time you take a bath at night, you feel like there is someone else in the house."
"Task requirements: Before four in the morning, use the game items to clean the body, face, and head, and the total cleaning time must not be less than twenty minutes."