My Healing Games

Chapter 969 Don't Test Human Nature

As the number one player of "Perfect Life", Huang Ying is the epitome of miracles. His appearance broke the oppressive atmosphere of the main city, and countless players were willing to believe in his promises.

As the sun rose outside the city, Huang Ying's arrival brought the first ray of light to the four million trapped players.

The Deep Space Technology staff following behind Huang Ying were also amazed; they hadn't expected that Huang Ying could dispel the gloom in the city with just a few simple words.

In reality, these players trapped in the perfect life are quite simple. They can't return to real life, so all sorts of identities and wealth in reality have lost their meaning. Now, the players are working towards a common goal, and 90% of them have been united together.

Humans are strange creatures; they can kill each other in the pursuit of pleasure and perish, or they can rise up in dire straits and risk their own lives to protect their fellow human beings.

Without external temptations or distractions, "Perfect Life" has become a pure "game," where one risks their life and uses their entire life experience to redeem themselves from a nightmare.

Huang Ying was just one of the first people to go against the flow and enter the main urban area to carry out rescue operations; many more people will bring hope to the city in the future.

Amidst the cheers and applause of the crowd, Huang Ying and the Deep Space Technology rescue team arrived at the central square. They first learned about the situation inside the city, and then announced Deep Space Technology's rescue plan.

Deep Space Technology personnel, equipped with specialized tools and keys, will enter Nightmare and Fog to conduct research. They will restore communication between the main city and the outside world as soon as possible and figure out the specific cause of the Fog.

This is just the first step. Deep Space Technology's real plan is to open the hidden door they reserved in the game. Once they are sure that there will be no interference and a stable channel can be built, they will try to open a dedicated line for players to exit the game.

Deep Space Technology did not hide anything about the real-world issues.

The information war between the three major criminal organizations and Deep Space Technology has reached its final stage. A large number of cocoon hackers have been exposed and directly targeted, and the scales of victory have begun to tip.

Han Fei didn't know if Deep Space Technology was just making empty promises, but the players' confidence had indeed been rekindled. He looked at Huang Ying on the high platform and stroked his chin: "Brother Huang's acting skills have improved at a rapid pace. I wonder who he learned it from. If this continues, he may very well surpass Bai, the candidate for Best Actor."

The rescue team was still announcing various rescue measures in the square when Han Fei suddenly received a message from a friend. He didn't pay much attention to it at first, but when he found out that the sender was Shen Luo, he immediately perked up.

"I've cleared the fifth level of Nightmare and decided to give up, but why do I feel like I'm playing differently from you guys?"

Han Fei returned a secret address to Shen Luo, and the two met in an inconspicuous house in the old city.

In just a few hours, Shen Luo seemed to have aged five years. As soon as he saw Han Fei, he wanted to rush over and complain, with snot and tears streaming down his face, looking very heartbroken.

"You cleared five levels of Nightmare so quickly?" Shen Luo's speed of clearing the level impressed Han Fei.

"You might not believe it, but this nightmare is targeting me!" Shen Luo recounted his tragic experience. As soon as he entered the first layer of the nightmare, the butterfly pattern on his body was triggered. When he woke up, he found himself tied to an electric chair, covered in blood, and wearing a smelly hood with only his eyes showing.

Immediately afterward, Shen Luo saw five players appear in front of him. He began to struggle desperately, hoping they would save him, but the five players turned and ran. One of the newcomers accidentally touched a switch, activating the electric chair.

Shen Luo was nearly electrocuted before he managed to break free and began to run away, dragging his thin body.

He didn't actually know why he was running. Since all the other players were running, it meant that the surrounding area must be very dangerous.

He wanted to join the other players, but when they saw him, they all went crazy and screamed. Seeing that he was chasing after them, the five of them ganged up on Shen Luo and almost beat him to death.

Seeing that Shen Luo was unable to move, the five players left and escaped with the key.

After listening to Shen Luo's description, Han Fei's expression turned strange: "Normally, the first level of nightmare is a chase, where a serial killer pursues five players. Players need to evade the killer within a set time, find the key, and escape."

"Then why are there six players in the nightmare I entered?" Shen Luo asked with a mournful face.

"Your identity in the nightmare seems to be that of a serial killer; the nightmare has identified you as one of its people." Han Fei examined Shen Luo's body; the butterfly patterns were hidden beneath his skin and would only become visible when he entered the gray mist.

"But didn't you say that you have to clear the fifth level before you can choose to betray?" Shen Luo didn't understand. He didn't think he was any different from the other players.

"Well, all roads lead to Rome, but some people are born in Rome." Han Fei had never encountered such a situation either: "What kind of nightmares did you have later?"

"The second layer of nightmare was even more bizarre. I and five other players found ourselves in a haunted house. We needed to figure out why the house was haunted, so I joined them in searching for evidence. As we searched, we discovered that the deceased looked like myself. The girl standing next to me turned pale. This was completely different from the beautiful encounter I had been expecting!"

"and then?"

"I got beaten up again. Five players wanted to kill me. They had an overwhelming numerical advantage. What could I do?"

Shen Luo was very distressed: "The third layer of nightmare has started, and the situation is a bit different. After I enter the nightmare, some special patterns will appear on my body. With the help of those patterns, I seem to be able to control some things in the nightmare, and I can also join forces with the people in the nightmare. But I don't want to do this! All the people in the nightmare are crazy. After they mutated and lost their minds, they even want to kill me. Now the situation is that both the nightmare and the player want to kill me."

Han Fei initially thought Shen Luo was exceptionally talented and would thrive in the nightmare, but this player with zero luck seemed to be disliked by the monsters in the nightmare and was directly attacked by both the nightmare and the player.

“I almost didn’t make it through the fourth level, and my fifth nightmare is also quite different from what you described.” Shen Luo said with a bitter face, his eyes full of doubt: “The fifth nightmare is a room without windows. The room looks very ordinary, and I don’t know where it was built.”

“That’s right, the fifth level of nightmare I entered was like that too.”

"The problem is that there is no bed in my room at all; the room is empty except for a shrine."

"A shrine?" Shen Luo's words surprised Han Fei.

Nodding, Shen Luo continued, "The shrine had no special features, yet it gave off a strange sense of familiarity, as if I had dreamt of it before..."

"What do you mean?"

“Have you ever had that experience? When you arrive at a place for the first time, you suddenly feel like you’ve been there before, like you’ve experienced it in a dream? I had that feeling when I saw that shrine.” The doubt in Shen Luo’s eyes turned into confusion: “That shrine was like a dream, a real dream, a dream that everyone has.”

"And then? How did you get through the fifth level of Nightmare?" Han Fei was very curious. Normal players have to choose between the dream and their true selves, but Shen Luo, because he retained part of the dream's will, was treated as part of the nightmare.

“I wanted to open the shrine to see what was inside, but as soon as I opened the door a crack, a blue butterfly flew out…” Shen Luo stretched out his right hand: “The butterfly crawled into my palm, and then I was thrown out of the nightmare.”

"Blue butterfly? Is Meng giving up and really going to cultivate you as the next butterfly?" Han Fei's brain was racing, considering all sorts of possibilities.

"What do you mean by 'giving up and ruining everything'? I don't want to be associated with dreams either!"

"After the blue butterfly entered your body, did you sense anything unusual?" Han Fei stared at Shen Luo, as if a mad scientist had discovered a novel creature of research value: "When a normal player chooses to betray, they need to lie on an ordinary bed and enter the dream-woven world. In your case, you should be considered the leader of the traitors, so you should have some extra abilities."

"I didn't feel anything..." Shen Luo seemed to suddenly remember something: "On my way here, when I passed the gate of the Inevitable Truth Guild, part of the butterfly pattern on my right hand suddenly appeared. I was so scared that I quickly wrapped my hand with my clothes. Now that I think about it, I think I sensed something at that moment! Yes! A player brushed past me at that time. He might be the player who joined Dream! The aura he was giving off felt very familiar!"

"The butterfly in your right hand can detect players who have sided with Dream?" This was a very important discovery for Han Fei: "Come with me to the Truth of Certainty, let's go and find that person now!"

To verify Shen Luo's abilities, Han Fei brought him to the Guild of Inevitable Truth.

In the morning, Huang Ying and the rescue team entered the city. Not all of the core members of the Nightmare Guild went to explore the core members of the Nightmare Guild. Most of them went to discuss the next phase of the plan with Huang Ying. There were not many high-ranking members left behind in the guild.

Without alerting too many people, Han Fei used a private conversation as an excuse to find the person in charge of the Inevitable Truth's residence.

Before Huang Ying was away, players didn't dare to provoke the number one guild. Now that Huang Ying is back, Zhenli will certainly not dare to be negligent.

"Han Fei, what brings your Happiness Community here?" The person in charge of the Inevitable Truth base was named Xia Chong. Coincidentally, he was Xia Bing's brother, and he had just learned from his own sister how powerful Han Fei was.

"As you all know, Huang Ying arrived this morning. In fact, he brought not only the things that are on the surface, but also some things that are not convenient to talk about openly." Han Fei pushed everything that could increase his prestige onto Huang Ying.

"I see." Xia Chong took two steps forward: "There is no one else in this room but us. You can speak freely, and I will relay it to the chairman word for word."

“After players enter the fifth level of Nightmare, they can choose to become puppets of the dream. We have a method that can verify their identity with a high probability and distinguish them from ordinary players.” Han Fei did not expose Shen Luo: “Go and count the players who returned to the base between 7:00 and 7:30, and pay special attention to those who have cleared the fifth level of Nightmare.”

The matter was of great importance, and Xia Chong dared not refuse, so he immediately issued the order.

A dozen minutes later, nine players appeared in the lobby. They were all elite players, with levels generally above 35, who had cleared five levels of Nightmare difficulty.

"The people you're looking for are all here," Xia Chong whispered to Han Fei. "These are elders who understand the inevitability of truth; they would never choose to betray us."

"Just try and you will find out."

Han Fei and Shen Luo walked past the nine players. When they reached the ninth player, Shen Luo's eyes suddenly widened: "Found it!"

A dazzling butterfly pattern appeared on Shen Luo and the player. The player was completely taken aback and panicked.

"Li Teng! Don't move!"

"Unlock all hidden information in your properties panel!"

"No wonder his teammates always die every time they go on a mission."

Seemingly realizing he had been discovered, the player named Li Teng stopped trying to hide it. The panic on his face quickly disappeared, replaced by a strange and eerie smile.

Without any warning, he suddenly pulled out a cursed knife and stabbed the player next to him.

"Still trying to resist?"

Li Teng moved quickly, but there was still a monster with full stamina on the scene.

As Li Teng drew his sword, Han Fei kicked out, the sound of bones breaking echoing throughout the hall; Li Teng's body was almost broken.

Holding down Li Teng's head, Han Fei checked Li Teng's attributes: "His level is very different from the information you provided. He was only level 36 the day before yesterday, but now he has become level 40."

The controlled Li Teng kept letting out strange laughter. He was mentally deranged and had an instinctive craving for killing: "You have no chance to escape! Stop deceiving yourselves! The nightmare has enveloped everything! Haven't you realized it yet? Everyone is actually living in a nightmare!"

Even in his final moments, Li Teng still wanted to kill. He was encouraged by his dream, and killing seemed to bring him rich rewards.

It's not just about psychological pleasure, but also about a promotion in rank.

"Resistance is useless! Too many people have already chosen their dreams. Humanity is the most vulnerable thing in the world!" Butterfly patterns crawled all over Li Teng's body. His consciousness shattered at the height of his excitement, like a bubble that had been popped.

His body went limp and he collapsed. Li Teng's spirit and soul seemed to have merged into the butterfly pattern. This seemed to be the final fate of those who sought refuge in dreams.

Han Fei wanted to ask some more questions, but Meng was ruthless and didn't give him the chance.

After Li Teng died, his inventory was opened, and a large number of other players' items were scattered on the ground.

During the time the main city was sealed off, Li Teng had killed quite a few people, and his rapid level increase was probably related to killing.

"The dream encourages players to kill each other! Killing, looting, anything that destroys order will bring rich rewards!"

The Perfect Life used to be a heartwarming and healing game, but now it's completely changed. Dream is turning the city that imprisoned four million players into a death prison.

(End of this chapter)