480 Midnight Mall


    An imbnce scale sat inside the gemlike eyeball. The scale rocked back and forth as if weighing different souls. With the man’s guidance, Han Fei arrived at the western city. He hurried into the underground before the memory world copsed. The dark basement decided the altar owner’s life, it was at this ce that he surrendered to the altar.


    Han Fei opened the iron door and saw the familiar mirror. He used Rest in Peace as a light source as he approached the mirror. The mirror was dirty with bloodstains. Han Fei used his sleeves to wipe the stains off. As the mirror became clean, the person in the mirror rified. A familiar face appeared in the mirror. His left eye was intact, his ear was uninjured and his stomach was normal. But he was trapped inside the mirror.


    “You really did it.” The man in the mirror could feel the memory world falling. His handsnded on the mirror. “The well has trapped everything I am. I thought I would never escape it again.”


    “I’ve seen you before and I know your name…” Holding the eyeball, Han Fei’s missing memory returned. When his hands touched the mirror surface, he uttered a name. “Mirror God?”


    “If that is what you wish to call me, sure. But there is no God in this world, only unmentionable ghosts.” Mirror God looked at Han Fei with disbelief. After his real self exited the well, he had learned how to smile earlier than Han Fei.


    “If there is no God, why are there so many altars in the cryptic world?”


    “Altars are merely the ce where human emotions are gathered. Take, for example, the well that trapped me. It was just a normal well but as people’s greed entered it, it became a wishing well and people built an altar for it.” The Mirror God touched the cold mirror surface. “I was abandoned and trapped inside the mirror. Even though he became an Unmentionable, he was also trapped inside the Well of Greed. Neither of us had freedom.”


    The memory world was copsing so Mirror God was finally willing to bring up his past. “The former Building Manager of Happiness Neighbourhood, Fu Sheng helped me kill my real self and made me the new manager of the mall. I stayed at the mall, providing sanctuary to the lost souls until I ran into Ten Fingers. I provided them with a home but they betrayed me. From then on, I lost hope in charity and understood why my real self abandoned me.” Mirror God looked at Han Fei. “I turned towards murder and slowly fell into the abyss. I was no longer satisfied staying in the mirror. I wanted to get out to reim this altar. When I was going mad, Fu Sheng’s memory shard escaped from the deeper part of the city. He had lostpletely and his memory was shattered. He brought me back to Happiness Neighbourhood and promised me that one day someone woulde to help me get back the altar and then I ran into you.


    “Honestly, when I first saw you, I wanted to kill you because I saw my past self on you. I hated myself in the past. I was filled with hatred, at the time, I thought it was my source of power but now I have a different impression of it.” Mirror God shared his past. Han Fei didn’t expect that this tenant used to be an Unmentionable’s humanity.


    “The memory world is copsing. I’m bringing you out.” Han Fei ced the eyeball before the mirror. A long time ago, the altar owner looked at the mirror just like this. He swore to take revenge even if he became the scariest ghost. After so long, the altar owner’s right eye looked at the mirror again.


    To help Han Fei enter the altar, Mirror God had sacrificed himself. He entered the memory world with Han Fei. While Han Fei experienced the owner’s past, Mirror God took back his identity. He silently took on the pain of memory loss for Han Fei so that Han Fei wouldn’t lose himself. Holding the eyeball, Han Fei made his first wish, he wanted to bring Mirror God out of the memory world. The person trapped in the mirror reflected on the right eye.


    The mirror shattered and the eyeball disappeared. Han Fei looked up and a normal-looking man stood before him. He looked just like the altar owner but his right eye glowed like a gem. There was a scale in the pupil. “So you are missing one eye too. No wonder you formed such a quick bond with Drake.” The Mirror God always had Drake carry him when he was trapped in the mirror. Han Fei had missed this detail.


    After saving Mirror God, Han Fei turned back to the mall. Only the mall and the hospital remained standing in this memory world. Boss Gu who had lost everything was heavily injured. He was pushed by his victims into the well. The altar owner stayed with his mother at the hospital.


    The storm ceased and the sun rose. The mutated city and twisted memory disappeared into the light. The figures slowly disappeared. Boss Gu turned into ash inside the well. Thest image of the memory world focused on the altar owner. He held his mother’s hand beside her bed. There was no more regret in his eye.


    Han Fei was touched. He seemed to have shed some kind of shackles and the system rang. “Notification for yer 0000! Influenced by the altar owner’s Memory Fragment, your masterful acting has reached level 2!” After a skill reached a masterful level, it was hard to level it up anymore. One had toplete a specific mission or reach an epiphany. The things that Han Fei experienced in the memory world, even though it was someone else’s, affected him deeply. His heart grew bigger in less than 30 days. He also gained an inexplicable presence.


    His eyes opened and the light was instantly consumed by darkness. The chill seeped into his bones but Han Fei didn’t feel ufortable. In fact, he felt more at ease. Acting on instinct, Han Fei opened the menu. When he saw the exit button light up, he wanted to cry. “I’ve survived!”


    The shelves were moved and arge shadow walked out from the dark. He was covered in human head tattoos and 9 of them were dyed red with blood. Han Fei was so happy that he wanted to share a hug with the enemy before him.


    Mist unfurled from his soul. The ck altar behind Han Fei shuddered with Han Fei’s breathing. The mall had formed a connection with Han Fei. If someone tried to harm Han Fei inside the mall, they would be cursed. But these were not important. Han Fei could leave the game now so he dared to taunt even Unmentionables.


    If he had the exit button, he could take on the whole cryptic world.


    “You have 9 bloody human heads, so you must be 9th Finger who didn’t enter the altar.” Han Fei took out Rest in Peace. Han Fei activated the Ghost Tattoo. He stared at 9th Finger and didn’t once think about escaping.


    9th Finger had been watching Han Fei since he appeared. 9th Finger’s eyes strayed to the altar. Whenever he wanted to attack Han Fei, a bad feeling would stop him. After ensuring Han Fei pose no threat, 9th Finger pushed down the shelves and took out a strange de made from human bones. The human tattoos cried. The curse was injected into the body. 9th Finger picked up the bone de to m at Han Fei.


    He was very fast, it didn’t match hisrge size. As Han Fei evaded, the de cut into the ground.


    Curses crawled on the ground like ck worms. A giant hole appeared on the previously perfect floor. Han Fei put away Rest in Peace and prepared to run. “Sorry for disturbing you,” Even though he was now level 19, he was still too weak to take on a Large Lingering Spirit. He could only match a Medium Lingering Spirit but that was already impressive enough. After running for a few steps, Han Fei noticed the man didn’t give chase. He turned around and saw that 9th Finger was unable to remove the bone de from the ground.


    “What is happening?” The air before the altar slowly gathered. A man materialized before the broken mirror ced in front of the altar. His fingers grabbed the edge of the bone de and slowly walked out from the broken mirror shards.


    “Mirror God!” The curse from the bone de couldn’t hurt him at all. 9th Finger’s hatred cut through his skin but he didn’t mind. The scale in his right eye moved, Mirror God was cing 9th Finger’s soul on the scale.


    The eyes of 9th Finger filled with terror. He abandoned the de and started to run. Han Fei was shocked. He had no idea Mirror God who exited the mirror was so scary, and he was merely the humanity of an Unmentionable.


    “Mirror God, you’ve always been so powerful?” Even Han Fei was afraid to get too close.


    “I’ve inherited the real self’s memory and eye. I gained his special power but I need the altar’s help to activate this power.” Mirror God didn’t find a vessel but he found himself. “With this power, as long as I am inside the mall, I should be as powerful as a Pure Hatred.”


    “As powerful as a Pure Hatred?” Han Fei was relieved. “Then we won’t need to be afraid of Ten Fingers anymore!”


    “Don’t be too optimistic.” Mirror God smiled sadly. “My poweres from the right eye so my weakness is clear. Plus I haven’t gotten used to this power yet. If we fight Ten Fingers now, we might not win.”


    “Don’t worry, I have another wish.” Han Fei already decided when he saw the mission reward, he wanted to heal the wounds on Zhang Wen. Zhuang Wen failed in her evolution to bing a Pure Hatred. If Han Fei could heal the wounds on her soul, she would have the chance to be a real Pure Hatred. With 2 Pure Hatred, Han Fei could turn things around.


    “All the members of Ten Fingers who entered the memory world have been injured. We mustn’t lose this opportunity.” The strongest ghost at the mall was Ten Fingers. But to fight for the altar in the memory world, Ten Fingers had consumed his brothers and unleashed the seal on himself. He used all of his power but he still failed to acquire the altar owner’s approval. His chest was injured by Han Fei. Ten Fingers was forced out of the memory world but Han Fei did keep up his promise. He killed Boss Gu to avenge Ten Fingers.


    “Ten Fingers is very cunning. Based on my understanding of the man, once he knows the altar has gone out of control, he will leave the mall immediately.” Mirror God signaled for Han Fei to ce his hand on the altar to form the bond official. “The thing you need to do now is toplete the final ritual to be the only owner of this altar.”


    With Mirror God’s help, Han Fei touched the altar. His fingers were sucked to the altar. His connection to the altar grew like an invisible rope had bound them together. The altar doors slowly opened. The figurine inside was strange. It was a man trapped inside a well. When the man saw Han Fei, the fire of greed burst out of his chest. The me burned through the well and the man. The figurine changed in mes. The man took on a maddening expression and he looked just like Han Fei when he wasughing madly.


    “Notification for yer 0000! You’ve obtained a level 3 Broken Altar. You can utilize the altar’s power.


    “Notification for yer 0000! You can’t upgrade the altar before it is fixed!”


    After the ritual waspleted, Han Fei noticed he could sense every ghost inside the mall. Once they entered the mall, they would form a bond with Han Fei. If they dared to take away the items on the shelf, their bonds with Han Fei would deepen.


    “None of the merchandise is priced but they all have a price. This is a scam! Thankfully it belongs to me now…”