My Healing Games

Chapter 993 Laughter and the Wounds

Crises force reforms, and only when a crisis arises that reshuffles the game will those greedy and insatiable beasts finally yield and compromise.

Han Fei did not believe that the people present would refuse his proposal. They were capable of anything to protect their wealth, status, and power, and could even become more terrifying than ghosts.

The "big shots" in the conference room began to report to the behind-the-scenes managers, and they soon received a reply: the real power holders in Xinhu decided to give Han Fei three days.

The worst-case scenario did not occur. If Du Jing and Fu Lie had not made a clear statement, and if the Shanghai police had not protected Han Fei at all times, those ruthless big companies would have dared to hollow out Han Fei's brain.

After all, the reason had already been provided to them—in order to save four million players and truly figure out the secret that the "murderer" Han Fei could leave the game, they had no choice but to dissect Han Fei's head.

Han Fei could see their greed in their eyes. In their hearts, a person's life or death was not important at all; what mattered was the black box.

"It's actually quite ridiculous. I'm the one risking my life to protect you, but it feels like you're giving me a chance out of charity."

Han Fei was not the kind of magnanimous person, and the path he chose was different from that of Fu Sheng. Of course, he would not say these things now.

Those interest groups in Shanghai wanted to make Han Fei a scapegoat, but Han Fei didn't like being a sheep. Once the crisis was over, it was hard to say who the butcher would be.

The top companies leading the meeting made concessions, and Han Fei also demonstrated his sincerity. There were some things he couldn't say aloud, so he gave the attendees the opportunity to ask questions, responding with yes or no.

Through this exchange, the atmosphere in the meeting room became less tense.

These "shrewd" individuals are all excellent actors; they can effortlessly control a wide range of emotions on their faces, and their acting skills are even more superb than some celebrities.

The meeting lasted a long time and was closely watched by most of Shanghai's powerful figures. This meeting will determine the future of many people.

Three hours later, Kong Tiancheng turned off the screen mirroring.

Han Fei thought the meeting was over, but the "big shots" present made a new request to him: they hoped that he could speak publicly to help them alleviate the public's anger.

With public sentiment running high, pushing Han Fei into the eye of the storm at this moment can be said to have cut off all of Han Fei's escape routes.

Three days later, if successful, everyone will be safe and sound, and Han Fei will become a hero; if unsuccessful, Han Fei's fate will be tragic, and the companies eager to shift the blame and the public opinion manipulated by the dream will portray him as a sinner of the times.

“Things have gone crazy outside. You need to make a response, which will also buy you some time.” Kong Tiancheng sighed, got up and left. The other “big shots” who attended the meeting also left one after another. They didn’t want to stay here, seemingly afraid of being photographed. They didn’t want to have anything to do with Han Fei at this time.

Apart from a few staff members from Deep Space Technology, only the representative from Yong Sheng Pharmaceutical remained in the meeting room.

“You haven’t done anything wrong, so all you need to do is tell the truth honestly.” Du Jing and Fu Lie sat on either side of Han Fei. “Yongsheng Pharmaceuticals has made many mistakes, and we will try our best to make up for them.”

Du Jing knew some things about the deeper world. If Han Fei failed, the calamity would be restarted, and everything she had now would become meaningless because the rules would be rewritten. That's why she firmly supported Han Fei and tied the Immortal Pharmaceuticals to his side.

The meeting room door was pushed open again, and a large number of staff members entered. Some even provided Han Fei with more than a dozen different styles of manuscripts, hoping that Han Fei could choose one as a reference.

With all the staff in place and the camera lights coming on, Han Fei seemed to be sitting in the center of the stage, just like the main character.

Once recorded, this short film may become the most viewed video of all time.

"start!"

Looking at the camera, Han Fei suddenly didn't know what to say. He was clearly a master actor, but now he only felt tired when being filmed.

Without using any acting skills, forcing a smile, or making any excuses, Han Fei stared at the dark camera and simply said, "I will bring the trapped players out of the game. Please give me three days. After three days, a brand new era will begin."

A soft light shone on Han Fei as he left, clutching his gaming helmet, with Du Jing and Fu Lie following closely behind.

Stepping out of the conference room, Han Fei discovered that the entire floor was sealed off, trapping him inside. He was unable to go anywhere for three days.

"If there's anything you need to do, you can leave it to us." This was Fu Lie's first time meeting Han Fei, but he always felt that Han Fei was a good person.

"I need a place where we can use the gaming helmets. Once they've gathered all the people on the list, I'll lead them into the main city." Having just experienced that ordeal alone, Han Fei's emotions remained relatively calm. He was indeed far superior to any of the successors Fu Tian had trained.

"We'll report back to you immediately if there's any progress." After saying that, Fu Lie led Han Fei into a room filled with cameras, where Han Fei had no privacy whatsoever: "This floor is full of cameras, except for the toilet in your room, which shouldn't have any."

Fu Lie went inside. After Han Fei and Du Jing entered, he secretly closed the door. He changed his calm demeanor from outside and asked nervously, "How confident are you of success? Teacher Du and I have staked our entire lives on helping you."

“No one can guarantee success. Even if I’m standing at the forefront of the storm, I still can’t see the road ahead clearly. All the confident promises I made just now were to persuade them and to make it easier for them to spread the word, so that more people would stand on what I believe to be right.” Han Fei sat on the toilet and answered silently, “The anger, resentment, and grievances I showed in the meeting were all acting. I can’t let them guess my thoughts, so I simply acted in accordance with their expectations.”

"So what are your real thoughts?" Fu Lie found himself unable to understand the young man in front of him.

"I can't tell you." Han Fei silently looked at his hands, which had slain countless ghosts and monsters. "You'll be scared if I tell you."

"I'm even more scared now that you've told me!" Fu Lie sensed a terrifying aura emanating from Han Fei.

"After experiencing so much, I truly feel that Fu Sheng is a great man. He can endure pain, humiliation, and betrayal, put the big picture first, and bring hope to all the living people in this city by stepping over the despair of ghosts and monsters." Han Fei slowly clenched his hands: "But I am different. In my opinion, fairness is more important than benevolence."

"Just follow your own choices." Du Jing gestured for Fu Lie to shut up and left with him.

With the entire city mobilized, most of the people on the second list were quickly found. Even more surprisingly, after hearing that they could meet the person from their dreams, the vast majority of them chose to enter the game.

Because there were too many players, Deep Space Technology didn't have enough spare game pods, so some veteran players stepped forward.

They were not in the main city when the disaster struck and narrowly escaped. Now they are preparing to offer their unused gaming pods.

The internet is rife with violence and terrifying rumors, but in reality, many people are quietly working hard to do their part.

Twelve hours later, the door to Han Fei's room was opened, and staff from Deep Space Technology entered with a report.

Four-fifths of the people on the second list have been found. Except for a few patients with serious mental problems, the rest are basically willing to enter the nightmare.

This number exceeded Han Fei's expectations. Even knowing that entering the game would result in brain death, those people were still willing to try.

Some of them felt that living was painful, some were because they missed each other too much, and others wanted to find the truth.

Regardless of the reason, their appearance also cheered Han Fei up: "Go and inform Kong Tiancheng to open up regional login permissions, and then let those who want to log in to the game enter the game pod, log in to the game at eight o'clock in the morning, and gather in the newbie village in the main city."

After confirming that the instructions had been transmitted correctly, Han Fei lay down on the bed in the room, connected the various game cables, and put on the game helmet.

Han Fei was worried that things might change in the shallow and deep worlds because he had spent too much time in reality.

As the crimson light descended, Han Fei had just opened his eyes when he heard Number Two's voice: "You've been gone for quite a while this time. I thought you had run away."

"You have completed the task you assigned. All those who are concerned about by the Nightmare Master will log into the game at 8:00 AM."

“Very good.” Number Two didn’t expect Han Fei to be so efficient. He nodded and said, “The city has been a bit chaotic lately. Tomorrow morning, you will personally escort them to the central square. I will connect your fate with theirs and try to send you into the deepest dream of the shrine.”

What are the chances of success?

"We have no chance of failure left." Number Two seemed to have a hidden meaning in his words: "Go back to the base, don't let external things distract you, just do your own thing."

Number Two's words inexplicably made Han Fei feel uneasy, and he hurriedly ran back to the Xingfu Community residence.

People were cleaning up the bloodstains on the street; the street where the base was located was littered with severed limbs, broken arms, and flesh!
"Street massacre?"

Han Fei quickened his pace and pushed open the guild door, where he saw Bai Xian sitting in a chair, pale-faced, receiving treatment from an NPC doctor.

"Brother Bai, what happened outside while I was gone?"

Upon seeing Han Fei return, Bai Xian struggled to his feet, looking extremely unwell: "The players bewitched by the dream have launched an organized assassination campaign. Seven hours ago, the guild leader of the Inevitable Truth Guild was murdered, the vice president of the Merchant Alliance was seriously injured, and we were also attacked. Those players have become mindless killing machines, completely out of control."

Where are the rest of the guild?

"Led by Huang Ying, they went to support other guilds. Luckily, you brought the neighbors along, otherwise the main city might have already fallen." Bai Xian coughed up a mouthful of blood: "The players who joined Meng leveled up by killing living people. Their levels and combat experience far exceed those of ordinary players. Now, the city is in a state of panic. Low-level players are hiding and dare not show their faces. There is no trust between people. Strangers passing by could turn into murderers at any time."

Previously, Dream treated all players as nourishment, but ever since it determined that the black box was with Han Fei, it completely disregarded the lives of the players, and everything it did was aimed at Han Fei.

"Contact them immediately and tell them to be back before dawn. We need to escort a group of new players to the starting village." Han Fei knew Meng would make a move, but he didn't expect the guy to be so crazy and decisive.

"Are there still new players logging into the game?" Bai Xian looked troubled. "Not long after you left, the system seems to have been controlled by Meng. Many players have received hunting missions. In their eyes, new players are just easy targets."

"Therefore we must protect them even more."

“I know, but you have more important things to deal with right now.” Bai Xian led Han Fei into a room deep inside the compound: “The merchant who escaped from the Deep World yesterday has been looking for you, and it seems he has something very terrible to report to you.”

Upon seeing the merchant pacing around the oil painting, Han Fei's unease intensified. He ignored the merchant and looked directly at the oil painting imbued with the talent of hatred.

The contents of the three oil paintings have changed. Twelve hours have passed, the park's walls have been swallowed by a thick fog, and the souls rescued from the Fu Sheng Shrine are huddled in the amusement facilities near the shrine.

The laughter that once filled the amusement park turned into cries, and figures trembled with fear.

The dead building, skyscrapers, plastic surgery hospitals, amusement parks—the blood-red night sky above these areas was completely shrouded in darkness. Maniac stood alone in the center of several shrines, his face torn apart by claws, his heart hollowed out by some force.

His body was covered in fiery soul blood. He was badly injured, but he still laughed hysterically. His madness even made the evil spirits in the deep world, who had the upper hand, dare not make a move.

The black waves on the horizon drew ever closer, but the laughter never stopped for a moment.

"Did you get injured from laughing too hard?"

Before the dream could even arrive, Kuangxiao, under the combined attack of other unspeakable forces, already had several wounds on his body.

The atmosphere of despair in the oil painting is almost overwhelming; the newly born crimson flames seem about to be extinguished by the darkness of the deeper world.

(End of this chapter)