My Iyashikei Game

“What did the old man’s letter say?” The four in the bedroom stared at the letter Han Fei was holding. They were like sharks smelling blood.

“They wish to conduct a Death Art Competition. This small town will be the stage, and new core members will be selected from us.” Han Fei didn’t hide anything. Even if he did, these people would find out.

“It looks like we’re quite lucky. Becoming a core member is many people’s dream.”

“I didn’t expect to get this chance since this is only my third month being a member. I need to work hard.”

“Death Art? That sounds like such a dream.”

The four were very excited. They were already filled with inspiration and creativity.

“Don’t be too optimistic. We came the latest and had the least creation time. The best prey would have been picked by others already. If some of them slipped up and alerted the police, this whole thing will be over.” The fisherman didn’t hurry. He returned to the bedroom and switched on the sole television.

The static screen flickered, and then a strange image appeared. A young woman was strung on the cliff. Her neck was slashed, and rocks were tied to her legs. She slowly dropped towards the black sea.

“This should be our timer. We need to complete our art before death claims the girl.” The homeless man narrowed his eyes. He stared at the girl’s reproductive parts, and his eyes glowed.

“How are we supposed to show our art to the judges? Through video? Or is there a specific place we need to go to?”

“It shouldn’t be that troublesome. The core members should be in the small town. Perhaps they are watching us now.” Deep Sea seemed to know many things. “You underestimate the core members. They are people who have climbed out of the mass grave. Without super intelligence and power, they would have been captured already.”

“You’re right. Then we shouldn’t waste time.” The female patient was the first to leave. “Good luck.”

Among the group, she was the weakest, so she left after knowing the rules. The homeless man and Deep Sea departed too, leaving behind Han Fei and the office worker. “Aren’t you going with them?” The middle-aged man looked at Han Fei curiously.

“I’m thinking. There are twenty people who were invited to join this meeting. So where are the other fifteen people?” Han Fei looked at the girl on the television. The video was prerecorded, so the girl was already dead.

“Who knows? Perhaps they’ve already completed their art, or they might be hunting for prey. Or they didn’t dare to come at all.” The worker removed the button near his collar. “Humans are complicated. Not everyone has the courage to take the final step to embrace their real self.”

“Humans are complicated.” Han Fei turned to look at the man. “You look very successful. You should have a happy life. Why are you here? This should be the gathering of the unfortunates. You don’t fit in here.”

“Is that so?” The man’s smile started to chill with impatience. “I’ve been given the elite education since I was young. I was always the best example to other parents who compared their children to me. I won so many competitions I lost count. However, those were not the things I really wanted. I was trapped in a gilded cage by my family, and I was their pet. But I am free now. I am a complete person.” The man unbuttoned his shirt and took out a bag of teeth from his briefcase. He showed it to Han Fei. “I wanted to escape from that cage, but I didn’t have the courage to break the cage, so I had to rely on my own methods to vent my frustration. I developed some unique hobby because of it.” “Is collecting teeth your hobby?”

“No, pulling teeth out of living humans’ mouths is my hobby.” The man covered his mouth. The smile on his face was twisted. “Their limbs are bound, and they have to watch as their tooth is pulled out one by one. They scream, and blood flows down their lips. I can’t find anything more exciting than that.” The man rubbed the bag of teeth against his chest. He giggled madly.

“What a degrading hobby.” Han Fei was bored. “How many surgeries you’ve performed? Or rather how many people you’ve killed?”

Hearing such a direct question, the man’s expression slowly returned to normal. He reached into his briefcase. “Three, but soon… it’ll be four!” The worker took out a plier and charged at Han Fei. He swung the plier at Han Fei’s head.

“If your kill count is three, that’s more than enough for the death penalty.” Han Fei commented casually. The worker’s eyes protruded. He could see Han Fei’s brain matter splatter everywhere. However, the plier stopped just above Han Fei’s head. His arm couldn’t move anymore. The middle-aged man’s arm was held in place.

“Actually, I was pondering a question since I read the old man’s letter. I wanted to be a core member, but I didn’t want to kill any innocent people. Then, how can I create my art?” Han Fei’s fingers tightened. The man screamed, and his plier fell to the ground.

“After seeing you, I know what to do.” Han Fei lifted his head. The eyes behind the clown mask glowed darkly, “You people are valid prey too. The other 19 of you will be part of my art.”

“What are you doing?!” The man struggled, but it was pointless.

“I’ll do something you love. I’ll allow you to witness the true devil so that you’ll learn the true meaning of death.” Han Fei didn’t hold back. He broke the man’s arm, but that was just the beginning. Han Fei covered the man’s mouth and shattered the man’s limbs. He used the tactics he learned in the cryptic world to have the man understand the true meaning of pain.

“If I pull out all of your teeth, it won’t look like self-defense on my part.” Han Fei frowned. “O well.” Han Fei punched the man’s face, and a few bloody teeth flew. After examining the man’s injury and making sure he wouldn’t die so soon, Han Fei wiped away his fingerprints and left the house. “Everyone is preparing their artwork. I can’t lag too far behind.”

The Death Chat Group wanted to find a new core member among the 20 candidates. This reminded Han Fei of the game inside the theme park of Fu Sheng’s memory altar. Instead of creating the best artwork and leaving his fate with others, Han Fei would eliminate the rest of the competition. That was Han Fei’s plan. “The real way to spread death is to dismantle the Death Chat Group.”

Han Fei, in the clown mask, dissolved into the darkness. He looked down the alley. The homeless man was tailing a drunken couple. He kept his head lowered. He walked slowly but made sure to keep a fixed distance from the couple. The homeless man seemed to like to target women. While the couple was too drunk to notice the perversion in his eyes, Han Fei did. The homeless man picked up a glass shard. He loved to use these abandoned and dirty things to kill and destroy clean things. The dirtier it was, the happier he’d be.

5 meters, 3 meters, 1 meter…

The homeless man was so focused on the couple that he didn’t notice another man was following him from behind. They were not on the same level. The homeless man could smell the perfume and the alcohol from the couple. His breathing became heavy. His eyes locked onto the man’s neck, and he raised his hand that held the glass shard.

“I will treat your girlfriend nicely!”

The homeless man found the perfect angle. However, before the shard cut into flesh, the man felt a giant push from behind. The homeless man staggered. The shard cut the boyfriend’s shoulder. The drunken boyfriend jumped from the pain. “Are you blind?” The boyfriend turned around to shout at the homeless man. He then kicked the homeless man to the ground.

“The man was trying to use the glass to puncture your neck. He shouldn’t be forgiven, right?” Han Fei walked over and crushed the homeless man’s wrist.

The sound of bone-crunching woke up the drunken man immediately. Then he saw Han Fei snap the homeless man’s four limbs.

In the middle of the night, a man in a clown mask came out of the darkness to incapacitate a homeless guy. Who wouldn’t be scared when witnessing that?

“You… you should let him go.” The boyfriend retreated. He held his bleeding arm. “See. I’m fine. It’s just a scratch.” The boyfriend wanted to say more, but his girlfriend grabbed him and ran. They wouldn’t be coming out at night for the foreseeable future.

“The citizens here are quite kind to speak for you.” Han Fei knelt beside the homeless man. He smiled and dragged him into the alley.

This novel is available on bit.ly/3Tfs4P4.

“What, what are you doing?” “Shush. Don’t make me silence you.”