My Iyashikei Game

Chapter 478: Torch

478 Torch

To unleash his full potential, Ten Fingers had consumed his partners. After he was forced out of the memory world, the only outsider in this city was Han Fei. His mood points dropped to 0, everything in Han Fei’s eyes had mutated. All his negative emotions were amplified. If he was feared, he’d collapse immediately.

The mall was like an altar about 7 stories tall. The whole city morphed into a lake that reflected the night. The monsters and dogs with money collars snarled. The tree connected to the well grew and expanded. Its arms crawled all over the building and grew into each monster.

Taking in the apocalyptic mall, Han Fei didn’t feel fear. From a certain moment onwards, he was used to walking through nightmares. Even if he was alone, he wouldn’t be afraid, much less when he had friends. Han Fei was not the only one who wanted to kill Boss Gu. The spirits who were pushed into the well by Boss Gu couldn’t rein in their hatred anymore. Everything was within Han Fei’s plan. First, he would wait for Boss Gu to eliminate Ten Fingers, then Han Fei would use Conscience and Truth to awaken the public. After removing Boss Gu’s disguise, he knew the public wouldn’t follow the boss blindly anymore.

Han Fei isolated Boss Gu step by step. A God that no one believed in was no God. After carving out a path from complete despair, Han Fei now had the right to look the man in the eye.

The woman in the red dress was the first to make the move. Her 3 meters tall figure appeared small beside the tree of resentment but her damage was not to be overlooked. The woman carved out wounds on Boss Gu’s body. The hands that reached for the woman were snapped like twigs. She would not allow Boss Gu to take anything away from her anymore.

“We should make our move too.” The colored family portrait was torn in the air. The old man’s family walked out from it. They destroyed the picture soaked in the well water. If they didn’t destroy the altar that night, they would perish. The family walked towards the giant tree. The old man looked at the fluttering photo pieces. Then he turned around to tell Han Fei. “Every one of us has once been pushed into the well. We are connected to the altar. We can’t help you destroy the altar, all we can do is to help you stop this madman.”

“Remember, do not make a wish to the altar at any time. Do not be tricked by it, you are the only one who can fulfill your own wish.” The old man glanced at Han Fei one last time. “Do not be afraid of the altar. The well is just a normal well. It changed because too many memories and wishes had fallen into it.” Then the old man walked towards the giant tree. By then Boss Gu’s body was covering half of the mall already. The monsters with money collars kept entering the boss’ body. The boss looked like he could never be defeated. Perhaps to the altar owner, that was indeed how he viewed Boss Gu. After entering the memory world, Han Fei had experienced the altar owner’s life, he was familiar with that despair. Compared to Boss Gu who had all the power, connection, and money, the altar owner was like a puppet to be controlled by others. This was reflected in the children’s favorite toy. Be it the drowned boy or 6th Finger’s child, they liked to play with lifelike puppets. Everyone played with puppets making them assume different poses but in reality, most people in this city were like those puppets. Destiny was a thread that they couldn’t shake loose. The thread connected the desire in humans to the altar. Once one was connected to the altar, the altar would force one to seek one’s arranged future. “Every tragedy started with this altar, destroying it is the only way.”

People who were connected to the altar couldn’t damage it. Only Han Fei had the power to destroy the altar. “Ever since I enter the memory world, the altar has been seducing me to make a wish. It throws many challenges at me. Thankfully, I’m already used to despair.”

The altar which was attacked by Ten Fingers had changed. The top of the altar was lifted off. The walls cracked to reveal the well inside which was constructed from human arms. Han Fei had seen the inside of the altar during the illusion but once he approached it, he was still shocked by it.

The hands that reached towards Han Fei represented greed and desire. It was these arms that formed this bottomless well. Without the outer wall, the well continued to grow. The symbols and sacrifices in the storeroom were torn apart by the arms. The mountain of pictures Boss Gu left in the storeroom was swallowed by the well.

“The arms that form this well is lesser than before, is it because more monsters stop believing in Boss Gu?” A very thin rope hung beside the mouth of the well. The rope exuded Fei Yang’s crying, Huang Li’s professional voice explaining the work at the shop, Lee Long and Lee Hu arguing. Everything Han Fei experienced was weaved into a rope. One could travel down this rope to the bottom of the well. No one knew what was hidden at the bottom of the well. Ten Fingers had searched for 10 years and found nothing.

The ghost tattoo on his body glowed. Nine Lives opened its eyes. Han Fei used Rest in Peace to slash through the human arms and step on the edge of the well. Holding the rope of memory, Han Fei leaped into the well. Endless arms wanted to tear him apart, to stop his descend. After Ten Fingers entered the well, even if he had to give up everything, he needed to escape from the well.

Han Fei knew this was a very risky thing to do but he had to do this. He needed to destroy the well and he needed to do that before the mother died. The rope of memory still couldn’t touch the surface of the water. Han Fei looked at the water that had collected endless wishes. His soul echoed and he noticed something from his left eye!

The water surface was like a blurry mirror. It reflected Han Fei. He had seen his reflection many times in the memory world but not one time, he was able to see the man’s face clearly. Be it at the underground basement at the western city or the female boutique on the 3rd floor, Han Fei’s reflection in the mirror was always blurry. It looked like him but also not him. He couldn’t see his own face clearly until he glanced at the water in the well. The water reflected his figure and the face slowly clarified.

The man was not him but Han Fei felt familiar to him. The man had been watching over Han Fei, he was very important to Han Fei. “Who are you?” The water surface split reality and memory. Above the water, Han Fei was torn by many arms. Han Fei tried to reach for the water.

Below the water, the man looked at Han Fei with confidence. Malicious wishes gathered around him. Many arms grabbed the man, trying to drag him down into the bottomless well.

“Give me your hand!” Han Fei reached out to the water. The person in the water reached out to him too. But when Han Fei’s hand touched the water surface, there was nothing. This was just a mirror, so how could they touch each other?

When Han Fei wanted to try again, the well was slammed into and arms fell into the well. Han Fei looked up. The woman in red was bound by tree branches and slammed into the wall near the well. Once Boss Gu neared the altar, he would get stronger but it was the opposite for the others. The cackle echoed across the first floor. Boss Gu already saw his victory. While he was being surrounded, he kept his eyes on Han Fei. “I’ve waited so long for this. Do you really think you can win?”

Boss Gu’s body opened up. More arms reached out like roots. They tried to tear down the mall. Following the crash, the northern wall fell and from that direction, one could see People’s Hospital.

“As long as you still have people you care about, you will never win!” The monsters with money collars rushed towards the hospital. Boss Gu knew what Han Fei cared about. He laughed. “Extra life! I wish for a longer lifespan!”

“A wish?” Han Fei looked at the wishes inside the well. They were mere bubbles. “If I start to believe in that, I will lose.” Han Fei remembered the old man’s warning. “He said this well started as a normal well. With more wishes and memories, it becomes like this.”

Han Fei tightened his grip on the rope. “This rope still can’t reach the water surface because the number of sacrifice is not enough.” Looking down at the person under the water, Han Fei knew what to do. He cut his wrist and dripped his blood on the rope. “I am now the altar owner, I am one of the sacrifices, the most important one.”

When he did the Wishing Well mission, Han Fei had once leaped into the well, he knew that feeling. The body fell and struggle was pointless. The only wish then was, if only there was a rope that could help me get out of this cold well.

Blood trickled down the rope. It was absorbed by the rope. The rope extended further. Han Fei weakened so much that he could barely hold on but the rope was still a bit distance away from the water surface.

“Lin Lu is not here…” Han Fei understood the meaning of the 3rd wish. The mission required him to kill Lin Lu at the right time and place. Personally killing his imagined goodness. It was something the altar owner once did. “Each mission has a clear goal, they are hints from the memory.” Lin Lu was from the altar owner’s imagination. She was the last sacrifice. “Other than the mother, the owner’s biggest regret should be him killing the remaining goodness in him.”

After struggling loose from destiny, Lin Lu and the mother were still alive. This was the best ending for the altar owner. Looking at the spot where the water surface touched the well wall, Han Fei tossed Rest in Peace at it!

The soul echoed again. The spot where the knife cut through emerged a pair of vicious eyes. “As my Evil Soul, how can you be so cowardly?”

The wall collapsed and the Evil Soul struggled loose from the endless hands. He grabbed the rope of memory. He laughed as he looked at Han Fei. “I know your thoughts. Be crazy.”

“Even though I appreciate your help, remember, you are my evil soul.”

“Is this not evil enough?” The Evil Soul’s eyes glowed dangerously. He cut his neck and used his bloody mouth to bite at the rope. At the same time, Han Fei reached his hand towards the water. The rope of memory extended further. When the rope touched the water surface, all the hands went insane. The endless wishes shattered to become the worst curses!

“I wish the prettiest girl in my class gets into an accident and her face gets ruin!”

“I wish she loves me only. If she dares to leave, then she will die.”

“I wish for money. Give me money and I will give you everything.”

“The more important the things I sacrifice, the greater the wish? How much is my family worth?”

The bubbles of wishes exploded and exuded nasty curses. The water turned murky and the figure in the water blurred. “Hold onto this rope, I need to bring you out of here!”

The figure underwater grabbed the rope of memory. When the false figure touched the memory, it gained corporeality. As the rope of memory dragged upwards, the reflection was pulled out from the mirror of the water surface!

First came the pale fingers, then arms, and finally the unfamiliar face. The man’s body was stuck with breaking wishes. When the wishes broke, they would turn into the worst curses. They stuck to the man and refused to leave.

“Why can you have happiness and not me?”

“You were the one who told me to make my wish here, you can’t leave!”

“I haven’t gotten my wish. You are not leaving!”

The voices echoed in the well. Endless hands grabbed Han Fei and the man. The simple wishes birthed endless monsters. There were so many of them.

“I will stop them, you two climb up!” Evil Soul let go and pounced at the monsters. He tore at the monsters and fought them with deepest darkness. Holding the rope of memory, Han Fei climbed with difficulty but he was losing power. There was too much resentment and hatred in the well. The hands wanted to tear Han Fei into pieces. He couldn’t hold on much longer. But at that moment, a small hand appeared to help Han Fei push away the curse. A weak boy crawled out from Rest in Peace.

“Wang Sheng?” After the boy appeared, many other hands reached out to help Han Fei. They helped Han Fei hold onto Rest in Peace. Han Fei was never alone. Rest in Peace had gathered the world’s most precious humanity. If the souls inside the well were the disciples of the altar, then the humanity in Rest in Peace was Han Fei’s partners. They would never abandon him. The figures supporting Han Fei were torn apart but as people fell, more appeared to take their places. They slowly edged Han Fei upwards. Their bodies were torn apart but no one stopped. Their hearts glowed and they refused to submerge into darkness. The ghosts who believed in the well and the souls who believed in Han Fei were fighting. When the last partner in the knife was beaten off, Han Fei crawled to the mouth of the well. As Han Fei wanted to push the man out of the well, he noticed all the curses had gathered on the man’s chest, they formed the picture of a well.

Even after escaping from the well, as long as someone believed in the power of the well, and people continued to make sacrifices to it, the man would never escape. “Someone needs to sustain the resentment of the endless wishes. The altar owner is the person picked by the altar to sustain these curses, no wonder he became an Unmentionable.”

The well on the man’s chest was already formed. No matter how hard Han Fei pushed, the mouth of the well was always 1 meter away. If they didn’t shatter the well in the man’s heart, they would never leave. Han Fei was exhausted and the partners from Rest in Peace were overwhelmed by the greedy hands.

At that moment, Han Fei came to a decision. This would be the last choice he made in the memory world. “I never thought I was that good or assumed I could bring any hope. I just want to live and if possible, bring all of you to see the world under the sun.” Holding Rest in Peace, Han Fei pierced his only weapon into the well on the man’s chest!

The blade was like a cleansing flame. Unlike the Pure Hatred’s black flame, this was a flame that had not appeared in the cryptic world before. It was not blinding and it wasn’t powerful but it could travel far in the dark. Endless curses in the well burned away. When the pattern of the well collapsed, the man’s closed eyes opened.

Han Fei fell from exhaustion but his eyes were fixed on the bright flame on the man’s chest. The torch had fallen but the flame continued to burn!