My 'Healing' Game

Walking up to that gloomy apartment, Han Fei lightly knocked on the door, and soon a staff member came out.

"Director Jiang Yi asked me to come for an audition, but I've run into some trouble recently and might..." Han Fei hadn't finished speaking when he was enthusiastically pulled into the interior of the apartment.

"You're finally here. Director Jiang is fuming, the newcomers these days are getting worse and can't produce the feeling he wants. Director Jiang has already turned down several people in a row."

"I've never acted in a ghost movie, and I have something very important tonight..."

"Director Jiang! The new actor is here!" The staff member thrust the script into Han Fei's hands: "A normal audition would have a dedicated place, but we're a low-budget thriller and suspense film, so we're not that picky. You'd better hurry over, Director Jiang and the others are getting impatient."

With the script copy in hand, Han Fei was pushed into a room where six actors of varying ages were standing against the wall, none daring to speak.

"Is this what you call acting? Have you ever truly respected this profession? It's just a farce!" In the center of the room, a middle-aged man pointed at the actors and spoke very sternly.

His voice was so loud that it scared a young girl into tears.

"Crying? Why is your plasma only sticking to your clothes? Why is there none on your face and hands? Would the murderer intentionally avoid dirtying your face while chopping you up?"

"I'll tell you, if you mind getting dirty or tired, then don't become an actor! I don't care if you are arranged by the investors, but since you're participating in my play, you must follow my instructions." Director Jiang had a volatile temper and had been a teacher at Xinhu Film and Television Institute before, once teaching the class Han Fei belonged to.

After a good scolding, Director Jiang finally turned to Han Fei: "I heard about your situation, and I have a role you could try."

Looking around at the atmosphere, Han Fei couldn't outright refuse participation, so he said tactfully, "Director Jiang, I've never acted in a thriller."

"The audience can typecast actors, but actors should not typecast themselves. You are an actor, understand?" Director Jiang, holding the script, walked over to Han Fei: "Our play is based on a real case from a few years ago—'Human-body Puzzle'—and the perpetrator is still at large. To better immerse into the character, I suggest you watch the news reports from back then and ponder the character's inner world."

"So, whom do I play?"

"In the Human-body Puzzle case, the police disclosed seven victims, but in actuality, the murderer used the bodies of the dead to create an eighth victim. You will play the second victim—Wei Youfu." Director Jiang spoke very quickly, flipping through the script: "Let me quickly tell you about the scene: Wei Youfu is a regular office worker who comes home late after working overtime, only to find that his wife is not in the house. He sends her a few messages, to which she replies that she's gone back to her parents'. Exhausted, he doesn't think much of it and goes straight to the bedroom. Here's the twist: his wife hasn't gone back to her parents'. She's already dead. The murderer is hiding in the bathroom, dealing with her corpse, and the earlier messages were sent by the killer."

"May I ask what kind of person Wei Youfu is?"

"Just listen to me first. The most difficult part of this scene comes later, when Wei Youfu, half asleep and half awake, hears the bathroom door open, his wife's severed head has been placed at the doorway. At that moment, his fear is ignited, but a greater terror strikes! The murderer comes out of the bathroom, making him the second target. "Director Jiang highlighted a few key points in the script: "We can't depict scenes of dismemberment on the big screen, so the audience must feel the brutality through your expression changes. You have to use your fear to drive the audience's fear! Can you do it?"

"I'll give it a try, given that I've never been exposed to thriller movies before," Han Fei's dream was to become a comedy actor, and he didn't know how he ended up auditioning for a horror movie.

"Alright! Let's go to the set to get a feel." Director Jiang gestured, calling a few cameramen to the second floor: "This is the filming location we've identified. We originally wanted to shoot at the crime scene, but we couldn't get in touch with the owner of the haunted house."

The room had been prepared for light-blocking, and pulling the curtains made it dim and dreary.

"Everyone get ready! Cooperate! The male antagonist isn't here yet, stage crew, put on the mask and go to the bathroom to play the murderer. You have to time it right to open the door and place the head, then bust out of the bathroom."

Five minutes later, everyone took their places and the room suddenly fell silent.

Seeing Director Jiang's gesture, Han Fei also gradually slipped into character.

Lying in the dimly lit bedroom, his body slowly became engulfed in darkness, Han Fei closed his eyes.

He didn't even need to act; the terrifying memory from last night surfaced in his mind.

Gloomy, icy, piercing coldness, an inescapable despair.

"Crack!"

Suddenly, a faint noise came from the quiet room, and Han Fei, groggy, opened his eyes. He swept his gaze across the living room and finally fixed it on the bathroom door lock.

Everything seemed like it had been rehearsed many times; that drifting gaze gradually found focus. Before Han Fei could fully wake up, the bathroom doorknob started to turn on its own.

The light warped, and the bathroom door edged open.

A cold breeze brushed his cheek, and behind that pitch-black door seemed to lurk a world of the dead.

His pupils shrank, his heart thumped rapidly, and when five fingers stretched from the crack of the door, the fear in Han Fei's memory was triggered!

Blood rushed through his veins, his heartbeat suddenly quickened, adrenaline soared, and Han Fei's face turned deathly pale. His body's self-defense mechanism kicked in, and the psychological fear even caused a direct physiological reaction.

His wife's head rolled out from the gap in the door, that familiar face rolling across the living room floor. She seemed to be smiling, or maybe chasing him, or rather questioning why he wasn't with her.

The fear hidden deep inside Han Fei's consciousness was activated. The bathroom door was completely flung open, and the bloodied knife came into view, the murderer charging from the darkness!

The familiar darkness, the familiar sensation of fear, only this time, he had nowhere to flee!

The pale face hidden beneath the lampshade in his mind overlapped with the murderer before him, igniting the fear from deep within Han Fei, and the real threat of death elicited the most terrified expression he'd ever shown!

That look was indescribable, so much so that even the murderer running towards Han Fei stopped in his tracks and then turned to glance behind him.

"CUT!"

Director Jiang, holding the script, charged over, raging at the crew member playing the murderer, "Why did you turn your head around! You're the killer! What are you looking back for!"

"It's not that, Brother Jiang." The crew member removed his mask, his face also drenched in cold sweat, "I just saw Han Fei's expression and really thought there was something behind me, so unintentionally, I turned my head to have a look."

"You're the damn murderer; what are you scared of! Such a perfect shot wasted; it's infuriating!" After saying this, Director Jiang ran into the bedroom and personally helped Han Fei up, "Han Fei, your acting has improved tremendously! You have the talent for thrillers! I feel like you were born to act in thrillers!"

"My acting is really that good?" Han Fei had only just settled down emotionally, his expression returning to normal.

"Of course! You acted as if you've experienced it firsthand; it was incredible!"