Ultraman: It turns out this is the easy mode.

"Well, Instructor, I think..." Shinjo clung to the door of the SUV, shrinking back as he made a last-ditch effort, "I think I'm brave enough now! I've never backed down when dealing with monsters. As for monsters, we can just avoid them from now on, right?" He still wanted to salvage the situation, even if it was just to temporarily escape this ordeal.

Unfortunately, Cui Ming wasn't buying it. He stood by the car with his arms crossed, his eyes showing no sign of yielding: "There's no way around it, you're on the Victory Team, you have to have guts. In the future, if you encounter monsters blocking the way on missions, you can't always rely on your teammates to protect you, or have you just faint and drag the team down, can you?"

Before Shinjo could even beg for mercy, Choi Myung stretched out his foot and gave him a light kick in the back—though it was said to be "light," Choi Myung's strength was enough to make Shinjo lose his balance. He stumbled and fell towards the gate of the abandoned shrine, crashing into the mottled wooden door with a "bang." The door creaked as it slowly opened inward, revealing the dark courtyard inside.

"Keep going. I don't need you to completely overcome your fear, but at least you need to have the ability to run away." Cui Ming leaned against the car door and shouted to Xin Cheng, who had fallen to the ground. His tone didn't reveal much emotion, but it carried an undeniable firmness. "If you really encounter danger later, just run out. I'll be waiting here."

"No!!!" Shinjo sat on the cold ground, staring into the dark interior of the shrine. He could almost hear faint rustling sounds coming from inside, which terrified him. His screams echoed in the empty alley. But it was too late to resist. He was kicked into the shrine grounds, and the wooden door behind him even shook on its own, as if trying to lock him inside completely.

Seeing his panicked state, Cui Ming felt no pity—he had no choice but to be ruthless in these situations. He knew all too well the consequences of fear leading to mistakes. Back in the EDF world, a team member had almost caused the entire squad to perish because his legs went weak at a crucial moment due to fear of some alien creature. Shinjo was currently afraid of monsters, but what if they encountered aliens who could disguise themselves as monsters in the future, or needed to perform missions in bizarre environments? If he still collapsed from fright like this, it could really be fatal.

He straightened his combat uniform cuffs, then bent down to check the tires of the off-road vehicle. Leaning against the vehicle, he maintained a vigilant stance, his eyes fixed on the shrine gate—of course, he wouldn't actually put Shinjo in danger. Obik had already given instructions; he only needed to have a few gentle-natured yokai "show their faces" to scare Shinjo, not actually harm him. But this "ruthless" approach had to be thorough, otherwise Shinjo would never be able to take the first step in facing his fear.

Inside the shrine, Shinjo huddled behind the door, too afraid to move for a long time, only daring to mutter softly, "The instructor is too ruthless. Brother Obik, I'm just passing by, please don't come out." But as soon as he finished speaking, a soft "thump" came from the depths of the courtyard, as if something had fallen to the ground, which startled him so much that he immediately covered his mouth and didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Unfortunately, Xincheng's plan fell through.

Xincheng scrambled to his feet, his back still pressed against the cold wooden door. He didn't dare take more than a few steps before his foot kicked something soft. He looked down, trembling, and in the dim light streaming in from outside, he saw a semi-transparent, snow-white figure floating around his ankles like jelly. Its long hair was broken into waves, and it was grinning with a venomous expression, its whole body still trembling.

"W-what is this?" Shinjo was about to back away when a chilling sensation suddenly ran down the back of his neck, like someone gently stroking it with frozen fingers. He jerked his neck back, and the white shadow "whooshed" to him, its half-floating form exactly like a painting by Toriyama Sekien. "Trench-Trench-Trench?!" He finally remembered the monster records in the base's data, and was terrified. He turned to run towards the door.

But as soon as he turned around, he was met with a black wall that suddenly appeared. The wall was at least two people high, its surface slippery as if coated with ink, without a single crack, blocking all escape routes. "Woof—" A deep bark came from within the wall, and Shinjo froze instantly—it was the Tsuchibi! Legend had it that if you didn't respond to its voice, you would be eaten alive. He opened his mouth, but his throat felt blocked, and he couldn't utter a single word, only able to watch helplessly as the wall slowly pressed down on him.

Just as the tarpaulin was about to touch his nose, a sudden "whoosh" came from behind. Shinjo instinctively turned around and saw a monster, no bigger than a child, pulling his kimono sleeve backward. The monster was bald, but had round eyes on its hands, staring straight at him—it was Temebozu! It was said that anyone it stared at would be pulled into darkness and disappear forever. Shinjo desperately shook his sleeve, finally managing to break free, but he didn't notice that the stone pavement beneath his feet suddenly collapsed, and a black hand covered in slime reached out from the crack, almost grabbing his ankle.

"Don't touch me!" Shinjo scrambled forward, stumbling and falling after only a few steps. He looked up and saw white strips of cloth wrapped around an old tree, fluttering in the air like living things. One of the strips was heading straight for his neck. "Ittan-momen!" Shinjo's heart stopped in terror. This monster loved to strangle people with white cloth; the TPC's files were full of its evil deeds. He hurriedly covered his head and crouched on the ground. The white cloth flew past him, carrying a musty, musty smell.

Before he could even catch his breath, he suddenly heard rustling footsteps. He looked up and saw a tall, thin figure standing under a lantern not far away, its neck stretching at an eerie angle, its head floating towards him like a balloon—it was Rokurokubi! The monster's face was ashen white, its eyes had no pupils, and it grinned, revealing fine teeth. Shinjo screamed in fright and turned to run deeper into the shrine, unaware that a one-eyed monster was watching his footsteps from the grass, muttering, "Give me back the field"—it was Nidabo, who loved to harass passersby.

"Instructor, help!" Shinjo's screams echoed through the shrine, but only more eerie sounds answered him. A "drip" sound suddenly came from above. He looked up and saw a hairy monster perched on the roof beam, its claws dripping an unknown liquid—the legendary ghoul that licks the grime of the bathroom. Ahead on the stone path, a dark shadow slowly rose, growing taller and taller until it became a bald giant several meters high—the more you looked up at it, the larger it seemed to grow.

Shinjo's legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. Looking at the endless stream of monsters around him, he finally understood how important the "ability to escape" Cui Ming had mentioned was. But now he didn't even have the strength to stand up. He could only watch helplessly as a weasel demon smeared saliva on its eyebrows, preparing to use illusion magic to confuse him. The little monk beside him kept tugging at his clothes, and in the distance, he could even hear the "splashing" sound of Xiaodou washing beans, but he couldn't see even half a figure.

"I was wrong! I'm never afraid of monsters again!" Xincheng cried as he crawled towards the door, but halfway there, a cold hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. He stiffly turned around and saw Zhenzhen pressed against his back, staring at him with resentful eyes, her icy fingers already touching the back of his neck: "Coward, tremble with me." (End of Chapter)