Chapter 959: Never Give Up
"Is he always this crazy?" Players might have brain damage if they died in the game, so they were always careful. However, the understanding of the three players was shattered. This horror movie actor rushed into the burning flames.
"Is he immune to the fire?" The tall player was stunned. He reached his finger towards a piece of burning trash. Just a slight brush made him pull his finger back. "This fire burns harder than the one in real life!"
For the three players, they couldn't proceed even though they knew how to clear the nightmare. They would have given up when the fire went out of control. The tall player looked at Han Fei with admiration. The black flame burned around Han Fei. Sparks flew onto his body, but Han Fei continued to run forward.
Han Fei buffed his speed with Cursed Words. He knew he only had one chance, and his body couldn't carry him for too long. The sixth layer was indeed harder than the ones before. The princess was as powerful as a Large Lingering Spirit with black flame! Han Fei had no chance of winning since he couldn't access his inventory. He could only try his luck based on his hypothesis. The princess noticed Han Fei too. She turned around, and the giant shadow behind her turned to look at Han Fei. The merchants had intense hatred on their faces as they were burned to death. Their resentment powered the princess even more. If this continued, the princess would become a crazy demon.
"This is probably how Dream cultivates dream demons. All the demons in the nightmare were once humans. They died in the dream and were sharpened into weapons."
The fire burned harder!
The pain came from his back and shoulders, but Han Fei didn't slow down. Instead, he moved even faster.
"Almost there!"
When they were about five meters away from each other, the black knight moved. He was covered in flames, but he didn't seem to feel it. The eyes under the mask looked at Han Fei silently.
"I wish to save your daughter and bring you out of the nightmare!" Han Fei said urgently, "Don't hide in the nightmare. I'll help you find the arsonist in real life!" Han Fei took out the crystal shoes he had been hiding in his chest. He made sure the fire wouldn't burn them. "These are the shoes your daughter made for you. I know you love her, but this is not the way to help her!"
After seeing the shoes, the black knight's gaze changed. But he still didn't move away.
The flame controlled by the princess burned the black knight and Han Fei. The fire danced on the skin.
"Don't promise change if you haven't experienced the pain." A chilling voice came from underneath the armor. The man had been enduring the torture of the flame. His skin had fused with the armor. He knew that he'd be tortured as long as he stayed beside the princess, but he would never leave her side. The black knight was lied to many times, so he wouldn't trust others so easily.
"So does this mean you'd rather live in an illusion than punish the real killer? She's your daughter. Aren't you going to avenge her?"
Han Fei decided to use actions to prove his words. He fought with the knight in the fire. The fire ate up their skins. Their hairs were scorched, and the heat burs their skin.
Han Fei's handsome face was ruined. Even so, his eyes shone brightly.
"I've been through greater pain. That's why I want to help you!" Through the power of the healing persona, every punch Han Fei landed on the black knight felt like he hit an iron. He pushed the hope into the black knight.
While the two were locked in a fight, the three players suddenly rushed out from behind. When they saw how determined Han Fei was, they were inspired too. Humans were complicated beings. Sometimes, they feared death so much that they'd do anything; However, other times, they'd sacrifice themselves for the greater good. The three players probably couldn't tell why they did the things they did. They were stunned by Han Fei.
"Avoid the flames! Put the crystal shoes on the princess!" Han Fei tossed the shoes to the tall player. When the black knight moved to block him, Han Fei hugged him. The fire scorched their skins and souls. Han Fei tightened his grasp. "You shouldn't live in the nightmare! No victim should need to suffer like this!"
The black knight's numb eyes started to gain human emotions. He struggled less and less. He had lost faith in others, but Han Fei used his actions to prove that he was willing to suffer to help them. The special power of the healing persona moved the black knight. Han Fei noticed this and immediately let go to charge at the princess!
The three players cooperated with him. Courage was a beautiful thing. They approached from three directions. The princess stared at the tall player with the crystal shoes. The princess moved her hand, and a fire snake surged toward the tall player. The flame moved so fast that the tall player couldn't even evade it. His eyes were consumed by the flame. "Is it game over for me now?" He had never felt death so closely before. The flame emitted the smell of burnt flesh.
"Move!"
The tall player was knocked aside. He turned around to look. Han Fei was eaten by the giant fire snake!
Han Fei's flesh was gone. The man became a monster in the fire. He was so ugly but noble.
"Grab this chance!"
The other two players rushed to the carriage and pushed the princess down from the pumpkin carriage. The tall player ran like crazy. He put the special crystal shoes on the princess.
The cute stickers and the reflective plastic pieces. This pair of shoes were personally made by the princess. The flame on her body could burn everything in the nightmare but she couldn't touch this cheapest pair of shoes.
After the shoes were put on, the skin around the princess' ankles slowly became normal. However, her ability to control the fire weakened. The giant shadow behind the princess struggled. It ordered the princess to remove the shoes, but the princess started to calm down.
The strong fire and the luxury were not the things the girl wanted. What she wanted was the pair of shoes.
The scarred body slowly recovered. The impressive horses turned into weak stray cats. They shivered and stuck to the princess. The golden pumpkin carriage lost its appearance. It became an old orange garbage truck. A small seat was fixed on it. Whenever the princess gave up something in the nightmare, the shadow behind her would weaken. When the princess lost everything and became a normal girl, the absurd street reverted to Peace Street. The black flame extinguished. The shops were empty. Other than the players, only the princess and her knight were left.
The three players relaxed, but when they saw Han Fei, they started to worry again. The wounds on Han Fei didn't recover. He looked like he was on his dying breath.
The heavy armor fell off. The knight dropped his heavy helmet. A wrinkled and aged face was revealed.
"Yes. This is the truth..." The elder moved to the girl and picked her up. He placed her on the garbage truck and looked at her with guilt. "Unfortunately, I'm not a magician who can give her a pumpkin carriage and crystal slippers. I can't give my daughter the life of a princess. I'm a useless father."
The girl hugged the elder's arm and refused to let go.
"The nightmare is disappearing. I have no reason to trap you here anymore. In the future, you have to eat on time." The elder kept repeating the same things to the girl. He was not used to expressing his emotions. The edge of the dream collapsed. After the elder said goodbye, he knelt beside Han Fei. "I wish to use three secrets to trade you for a promise."
The elder stared into Han Fei's eyes and continued. "My daughter is still alive. Her name is Bai Guoguo. I hope you can look for her after you leave the nightmare. I won't be able to draw her into the nightmare to look after her anymore. She'll only have herself in the world in the future.
"I'll tell you more secrets so that you can survive longer." The elder said quickly. "You don't need to avenge us. The culprits are dead, and I am the killer."
Han Fei couldn't speak, but his brain worked fine. He memorized everything the elder said.
"I became how they wanted me to be. I lived in fear and nightmare until the voice brought me here." The elder reminisced. "All the nightmares here are once the experience of someone alive. The nightmare pieces of different sizes completed a full dream. The voice that brought me here existed deep inside the nightmare."
After a moment's hesitation, the elder took out the picture of his daughter from his pocket. The girl in the picture was very cute. She had a cute and innocent smile.
"The voice has been collecting our nightmares to make this." The elder shoved the picture into Han Fei's hands. Strangely enough, the moment the picture left the elder's hands, it shrunk to become a square piece the size of one's fingernail. One side was black, and the other side was white.
The back of his head pounded. The black box resonated with this. This piece appeared to be the material that was used to construct the black box.
"The voice has been looking for people that match its requirement to make this thing. It represents the focus of my life. In other words, my life is in this small piece." The elder looked at Han Fei. "I gave it to you. Hopefully, it'll be helpful to you in the future."
A person's life morphed into a nightmare, and in the end, it was condensed into a small piece. Han Fei couldn't help but wonder if the black box in his brain was made through this matter too.
Every black box owner had experienced something horrible.
Han Fei had more to say, but he was too heavily injured.
"The nightmare will get scarier the deeper you get. You have to be careful of the voice. It will appear when you least expect it. When you realize it's there, it'll be too late." The elder and the princess disappeared. Peace Street surged towards Han Fei. The ghost tattoo ate everything.
The game with Dream started on the sixth layer.
Han Fei's ghost tattoo covered all the grey mist. After consuming the sixth layer, the ghost tattoo changed tremendously. Dream's limitation on the tattoo lowered. The next time he entered the nightmare, Han Fei could try to summon the ghosts inside the ghost tattoo.
The burnt wound disappeared. Han Fei looked around. There was only him and the three players there. There was no fifth player.
"The player who chose to side with Dream didn't come out with us!" Han Fei narrowed his eyes. If not for the interference of the fifth player, the nightmare wouldn't have gotten so dangerous. "Did the player die inside the nightmare? Or Dream gave them another exit?"
Han Fei was extremely curious about this. He felt like he needed to summon Shen Luo.
"Han Fei, thank you for saving us!" The three players were excited. The tall player thought he was definitely dead, but Han Fei knocked him away and saved his life.
"There's no need for thanks. You've helped me greatly too." Han Fei smiled and nodded. His politeness and charm won over the players. In the future, they wanted to be someone like Han Fei. They would enter the nightmare to help the other players.
They were players from an unknown guild, but Han Fei had planted a seed in their hearts. Perhaps in the future, the seeds would grow to become trees that could shield others.
After some quick exchanges, Han Fei left the hospital. He immediately contacted Bai Xian and Jin Jun. He gathered his friends to lock down the hospital. He had to capture the fifth player who had turned their back on humanity!