Feng Bujue did not know where the music he heard was coming from, and he had no idea why the shadow before him was acting this way. The only thing he could do was maintain his alert and keep three meters away from the shadow to prevent the shadow from making any sudden moves. And the shadow did a moonwalk as it shuffled backward. Following the rhythm of the music, it slowly moved out of the black room. When he reached Feng Bujue, it suddenly screamed and grabbed at its crotch. At that moment, the background music changed to Beat It.
Throughout the time he had spent playing this game, this was the most shocking moment for Feng Bujue. The shadow changed its dance moves. It turned, stepped, and leaned in smooth actions. Dancing to its own beat, it moved toward the ground floor. As it moved away, the background music gradually faded. It became silent as the shadow turned the corner at the stairs and disappeared from Feng Bujue’s sight. That was when the background music stopped.
“Ha… Haha…” Feng Bujue’s lips twitched as he chuckled drily for a few times. He did not hurry after the shadow because ground floor was now shrouded in darkness. If he walked out from the storage room, he would miss his target, and he could not tell whether the shadow was an NPC or a monster and whether it would attack him or not. With regards to this strange plot or event, even Feng Bujue could not wrap his head around it. This felt very incongruous with the rest of the plot. It pulled one out of character. However, it did fit the jokey, prankish demeanor of the system very well.
Feng Bujue did not waste too much time on this senseless development. Since the light from the corridor could filter into the room, he entered it to conduct his search. As mentioned earlier, other than darkness, there was nothing in the room. But once Feng Bujue entered the room, he realized that the spot where the shadow once stood was quite weird. On that small square of floor, there was a dark stain. From afar, it looked like a stain, but upon closer inspection, one would realize that it was a painting. The painting was formed from black lines, and the drawing was quite exquisite. It drew six items in total.
“Soap, fake teeth, perfume, leather cap, blanket, and fake eye.” Feng Bujue rapidly identified the six items the paintings represented. “They are all items that I can take with me out of the scenario…”
Without even realizing it, from the start of the scenario until now, Feng Bujue had already found all six items, but before now, he had no idea what the purpose behind them was.
“I think I can sniff the smell of a hidden quest in the air…” Feng Bujue could not help but laugh.
With patience, the man looked through the room carefully. After ensuring that was the only clue, he turned to leave.
“Will there be a white shadow who dances to the music of Gangnam Style behind the white door?” Feng Bujue said half-jokingly as he pushed open the white door. The door opened. The color scheme of the room was the expected white color, and the room was cast in a white glow. But it was not a strong light, so it did not hurt the eye.
With just one glance, Feng Bujue could tell that this white room was a surgery room. In the middle of the room, there was a surgery table or rather… an experiment table. The table was wide, sturdy, and heavy. It was metallic and joined to the floor, so it could not be moved. An adult could lie on it fine.
A strong, vomit-inducing smell drifted out from the room. The smell became more intense under the cover of the disinfectant. Feng Bujue quickly showed the gas mask before stepping into the room. Previously, on the way back from the ground floor, he had set the mask to be invisible again. Of course, in the eyes of the NPCs and the monsters, he looked like another person, and that did not affect his equipment.
Within the white room, there were four small carts filled with tools around the sides of the table. There were many regular surgery tools on them, and there were some carpentry tools like electric drill and saws. None of the heavy-duty tools were damaged. That could be confirmed from a glance at them. But Feng Bujue still picked them up one by one with excitement and studied their properties.
With his Not So Hasty Repair, even though it was trash, he could make them run normally for fifteen minutes, and that was a good idea that Feng Bujue had. However, after he studied the properties of all the trash, he realized a problem. All those heavy tools needed to have a direct current. To put it simply… they had to be plugged into an electric supply.
To quote a movie—’everyone is blind, and there is reason behind it’. If you were asked how many electric plug were in your current room, there was an eighty percent chance that you would not know the answer. And if you were asked how many holes were on the plugs in total, likely no one would know the answer. As a self-defense mechanism, the human brain could filter away a large amount of ’useless’ information in our daily lives. Therefore, even if it was something that would enter our eyes daily, we would know nothing about it.
If asked, you would not know how many window panes were in your home, you would not know how many stations you pass on our daily commute, and you would forget the color of the wall of the café that you had just visited; you might even forget the pattern on your shoes unless you lowered your head to check. In one’s growing environment, this kind of mechanism would gradually form. With regards to which information would be labelled ’useless’, that was decided by the brain itself.
Assuming one did not have this defensive mechanism… theoretically speaking, one’s brain could collect and memorize more than eighty-six million pieces of information every day, far beyond the capacity of any supercomputer in the world. You might not have realized so much information passes through your mind because the information that is collected by your brain and utilized by it is only five percent of the total; the remaining ninety-five percent is sent into your subconscious to be used when necessary. Even though that was the case, in reality, the ninety-five percent basically had been filtered away, and one would have a hard time remembering any of it.
However, everyone is different. In the above described unconscious situation, one with a more mature brain would be able to record more information. The details in their memories will be more specific. These are people with great ’observation power’.
Obviously, Feng Bujue was this kind of person. He had been given training in this manner since he was young. Even though he did not purposely pay attention to the issue of the plug, as long as he took a tour around his subconscious at that moment, he would be able to come to a simple conclusion—there was no electrical plug in the scenario.
“Should I carry them in my inventory? I could fix them with a skill…” Feng Bujue considered. “But it seems pointless. This kind of tool will be sold at the system shop. It has the non-direct current version, but the price is a bit high.”
He hesitated for a while before putting them down. After all those items were trash quality, and they would not trade for much at the shop. After searching for five minutes, Feng Bujue found nothing. Therefore, an inspired thought came to him, and he lay down on the extremely disgusting surgery table. To his surprise, he really triggered a cinematic that way…
…
This cinematic was broadcast from the perspective of someone who was lying on the surgery table. It was taken from a first-person perspective.
“Please I beg you… Hah… hah… let me go… I have a lot of money. I come from a noble family. I can give you all the money that you want… Ah…”
The man begged for a while before being cut off by the scream that came from his mouth. The camera that was covered in blood stopped for several seconds. Then, as the test subject tried to raise its head, two figures entered his sight. There was a short person with brown hair and a youth with blond hair. They both wore shirts and suspenders. They also wore masks and aprons. They were covered in blood, looking like two butchers.
Just earlier, the noble’s leg had been sawed off directly from the knee. Since he was required to be conscious during the experiment, Arthur had used alchemy to craft him a ’special anesthetic’ so that he would not faint during the experiment.
“B*stards! You two b*stards…” The noble screamed and cursed. Suddenly, he stopped; the screen was filled with blood. “You! It’s you! You’re Arthur, the kid who lives at the farm!”
Arthur was about to use the circular saw to cut off the man’s other leg. When he heard that, he stopped and slowly turned his head around. “You know me?”
“Y… Yes! I know you! I remember… a… a few months ago, Old Jim had just died. There was no one who could take his place at the market, so during that month, it was you who transported the goods to the market,” the noble said. “I remember you. You are short and always wear a bandana to cover your face. I’m certainly not mistaken. It is you!
“B*stard, you sure are brave. You are just a farmer, but you dare to do this to me. Do you know who I am‽ I am related to the Royal Palace…”
“Is that everything?” Arthur cut him off. His cold and expressionless eyes showed that he was not scared by the threat. “You trash, choked full on power and luxury, what else would you pursue in life other than material gain? You will not give any contribution to society or the world. You have gained hold over a large amount of resources but will only process sh*t. You bring pressure and pain to the other people.
“While you ask that they suffer all that, you demand that they sing praise about you.” Arthur scoffed. “Even the horses and cows on the farm and ants in the ground are more noble than you… You disgust me to my core.”
His eyes spoke of extreme condescension. “So, let me help you find some value in this world… Your hair will be turned into a blanket, your eyeball will be made into a fake eye, your teeth will be turned into fake teeth, your fat will be made into soap, and your skin can be crafted into a cap, and finally… the wax of your carcass can be crafted into a vial of valuable perfume.”
At that moment, Andrew was only standing at the side, saying nothing. Then again, there was nothing that he felt like saying.
The fear in the noble’s eyes increased so many times over, and bead-like sweat slid down his face. “No… No, please, that was not what I meant… What… what are you doing? I can give you money, even a royal court position…”
Arthur could not help but laugh.
“Hahaha… I am not as greedy as you, so I do not think I am in need of money. About the court position…” A murderous glow appeared in his eyes. “I am from the Xin clan. What kind of position do you think I will be given? A knight? A marquee? Hahaha…”
Several minutes later, the circular saw spun again, and the room was soon overwhelmed by endless screams.
…
“You must be joking…” After watching the cinematic, Feng Bujue could not help but lower his head to look at the shirt pocket that was stuffed with items. Even though he had placed the leather cap, perfume, and blanket inside the inventory, he had kept the soap, fake teeth, and the fake eye in his pocket. After discovering their origin, he had a chill that ran through his body.
“Sigh… I should have known that something like this would happen,” Feng Bujue grumbled. “Fine… since there is only one room left, the picture in the black room and the recap in this white room are both reminding me about what these six items represent. They might decide real soon whether I will be able to see the ’real’ ending or not.
“This is the game telling me, before opening the gray door, if I have not found these six items, now is the time for me to return to look for them…”
With that in mind, Feng Bujue walked out of the white room. He did not go to open the gray door but headed back up the ground floor. He opened the wooden door to enter the storage room. As he expected, at that moment, the corridor was no longer shrouded in darkness. There was light coming in from every window in each room. This meant that the players could see the surroundings quite clearly around them. However, when they looked out the window, it was still blurry, and nothing could be seen.
“Hmm… Now is undeniably the time for the players to explore the map as much as they like. They can go through all the four floors to find the items that they might have missed, or they can go back and open the gray door to reach the ending directly,” Feng Bujue mumbled to himself. “But that is not the way to play the game for me. Since I have conducted such a thorough search, I have already gained all six items.”
Even though that was what he thought, Feng Bujue still returned to one place. That was the room on the second floor that was right above the floor. He approached the steel door and pulled on the door handle. It refused to budge. Feng Bujue had no choice but to leave the place, from the top level to the lowest level, and then from Underground 2F to the second floor, he checked through every room. He was not there to look for anything; it was merely his compulsive disorder acting up to check and see if he had missed anything. Therefore, he was compelled to make this search. Finally, he still returned to the gray door. After this whole round, even though he did not find anything, he gained some emotional satisfaction.
“Now… it’s time to witness miracle,” Feng Bujue mocked as he pushed open the steel door. The room was gray in color, just like the atmosphere of the entire scenario, dark and oppressive.
At the wall that faced the door, there was a small table and a chair. Arthur was quietly sitting on that chair, staring at Feng Bujue, who was at the door.
“You’ve finally woken up,” Arthur said. “I knew that cell would not be enough to keep you imprisoned…”
“Do you have a mirror?” That was the first thing Feng Bujue said.
“A mirror?” Arthur raised his eyes to look at Feng Bujue for two seconds. Then he slowly raised his right arm and placed his palm on the wall. One second later, there was a glow that gathered on the spot next Feng Bujue. It soon materialized into a mirror.
You can accomplish that without drawing a circle, Feng Bujue thought to himself. He turned around to look at his reflection in the mirror. Basically, the reflection that he saw in the mirror did not surprise him. If one had to describe it, it would be a zombified Andrew.
“My silly little brother,” Arthur said, “you think you are very clever, but this… is the payment you have to give.”
“Can you explain it to me?” Feng Bujue asked.
“You still don’t understand?” Arthur replied. “I know that you tweaked with the experiment data; I know that you changed the formula. The things that you did to the magic circle… are all wrong.”
He took a deep sigh.
“You have been pretending to be an innocent little brother, but at the same time, you have been planning to take over my body. From the very beginning, I doubt you would have suspected that the ’soul exchange’ alchemy that you found was manufactured by me.”
He paused to check the change in expression on Feng Bujue’s face before continuing.
“You thought that you’d successfully tricked me and conducted the exchange without me realizing it, but unfortunately, the truth is the exact opposite. It was you who misused the effect of that circle.”
“Hahaha…” Feng Bujue laughed. “So, this is all my fault?”
Arthur was surprised by his reaction, but he still maintained his calm composure. “Have you lost your mind?”
“No, I have not.” Feng Bujue shook his head with a smile. He just thought that these siblings were very interesting. He had initially thought that Arthur was a bad guy, but now, it seemed like Andrew was not that innocent either. Then again, when he thought about it, it did make sense in a way. After all, Andrew had ’helped’ his big brother do so many crazy and mad things—could he be called someone who was innocent?
“Then, brother, can you tell me what the real purpose of the magic circle is?” Feng Bujue asked.
“Of course, it is to turn me into a human being,” Arthur replied. “And the sacrifice is to turn a normal human into a demon.”
“This is a demon?” Feng Bujue pointed at his reflection in the mirror. “How come it feels like a demon looks so weak?”
“Unfortunately, the alchemy failed,” Arthur explained. “I did not turn into a human, and you turned into this…”
“Was it because your calculations were off?” Feng Bujue asked.
“Of course not, I wouldn’t make a mistake,” Arthur replied.
“I understand, then there is only one explanation,” Feng Bujue said. “I am not a normal human.”
Arthur sighed bitterly, “I should have known… That is the one thing I misjudged. Of course, the child of that woman would not be a normal human…”
“Do you mean Mom?” Feng Bujue asked probingly.
“Yes, mom, humph…” Arthur showed a lamenting look. “Do you know why she adopted me?”
“To take away your power?” Who was Feng Bujue? He was an ultimate cynic; he had never been one to trust in a person’s innate kindness, so he was always prepared to see the evil in people’s hearts.
“Oh? Did she tell you that before she died?” Arthur asked.
“No, I merely made a guess.” Feng Bujue answered. “I know that the woman is not as simple as she looked… On the surface, she was against you from learning alchemy, but when a child at the age of ten started to pick up and study those alchemy books, she did not move to stop you. Humph… Now that I think about it, those books were procured by her for you, weren’t they?”
He paused for a second before continuing.
“Before she passed away, she knew that her plan had failed, so she started to act like a mother who really cared about you and tried to use your ’family bond’ to bind you to look after her biological son.”
Feng Bujue took out the Advanced Study of Alchemy and took out the picture that was slipped into the pages. He looked at the words on the back and read them out loud.
“Arthur and Andrew, my children, my love. Haha… When I first saw this picture, I was confused by it. Why would it be kept inside a book like this? Now I understand it. She was trying to use this to remind you that you are a family.” Feng Bujue smiled coldly. “But unfortunately… she underestimated you. I believe that you saw through her ploy when you were at a very young age. If I am not mistaken, even her death…”
“Yes, that was me,” Arthur said. “I spent a whole year pushing her toward death. Until her death, she had no idea that her ’incurable disease’ was my doing.”