Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 1 Forbidden Zones and Reincarnation

When Jiang Jin woke up, he found himself lying on a bench next to some grass.

The surrounding green belts were almost entirely overgrown with weeds, and nearby were rows of old apartment buildings.

There was a man and a woman sitting on the bench, who looked like he had just woken up, and were probably in their twenties or thirties.

Standing before the three of them was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties.

The middle-aged man carried a crossbow and a hunting rifle on his back, and a black German Shepherd was at his feet. There appeared to be a lacerated wound on the sheepdog's abdomen, but it wasn't bleeding.

"What's this..." Jiang Jin shook his head, his memory a little hazy. At the same time, he noticed a black digital watch on his wrist. The watch screen was completely black, and he couldn't see anything. The middle-aged man and the man and woman also had this watch on their wrists.

"Who...who are you?" The young man next to Jiang Jin rubbed his head and asked, "Where is this?"

"You should remember that before you fell into a coma, your SAN values ​​were all below 60%, and you were diagnosed with memetic contamination," the middle-aged man said. "Let me introduce myself, my name is Liang Qin. Now, I'm going to explain to you what you need to do."

Jiang Jin remembered.

When he got off work today, he went to the SAN (Sanity Points) testing booth on the street to take his routine test, which he does every three days.

This was a routine for every citizen of Muxu City. He thought it would be over quickly like usual, but to his utter surprise, shortly after putting on the testing helmet, an alarm sounded, and the electronic voice indicated that his SAN value was 54%, below the critical value of 60%. Subsequently, the testing booth automatically locked, and he was hypnotized by the hypnotic gas, after which he completely lost consciousness.

As a police officer, Jiang Jin was very familiar with the process of isolating and treating meme-related contamination. According to the "Meme Contamination Prevention and Control Law," once an infected person is diagnosed, they will be immediately taken into custody and forcibly brought to the outer ring of Muxu City for isolation and treatment.

But this area doesn't look like an isolation and treatment camp, does it?
Upon closer inspection, the surrounding apartment buildings appeared to be completely abandoned, with not a single window lit.

He took out his phone and saw that... the phone had no signal at all.

The middle-aged man, Liang Qin, continued, "Listen carefully, all of you. You are not allowed to ask any questions until I finish speaking."

“I don’t understand,” the young man asked, disregarding everything else. “Where is this? This isn’t what a quarantine camp looks like, is it? Also, I want to contact my family…”

At that moment, the German Shepherd suddenly stood up and opened its eyes!
The German Shepherd's eyes were completely white, without pupils!

Seeing the fierce German Shepherd, the young man swallowed back his words in fear. As for the woman, she trembled with fear and dared not utter another word.

Liang Qin said coldly, "I'm not joking with you. I advise you to take my words seriously. There's no signal here, but we've already notified your families that you'll be quarantined and won't be able to visit or make video calls. Now for the important part, remember this, I'll only say it once: your SAN value will irreversibly continue to decline, and once your SAN value reaches 0, you'll only have two outcomes: death, or death without the possibility of reincarnation. If you want to live, you must... become a Reincarnator!"

Reincarnation?
The three of them looked at each other in bewilderment; it was a completely unfamiliar term to them.

"Simply put, the only way for every meme-contaminated patient to curb the potential decline in their SAN value is to become a reincarnator." Liang Qin said, glancing at his watch, "You all have a watch on your wrists now, have you noticed?"

The other two then noticed that they had a black digital watch on their wrists.

"Keep this watch safe. No one but you can take it off, and even those with normal SAN values ​​won't see it. It can measure your SAN values ​​at any time. Once you put it on, the three of you are now reserve reincarnators. This is a touchscreen display; you can check your SAN value by pressing the screen."

Jiang Jin and the other two immediately reached for their watches...

"My SAN value is 55%?"

"I've already dropped to 52%?"

The man and woman next to them were already pale with fright.

Jiang Jin's expression turned even more unpleasant.

The watch screen displays:

Name: Jiang Jin
Sex: Male
Age: 27 years old

Blood type: AB

SAN value: 34.23% (Decline potential grade A)
Reincarnator Class: Reserve Reincarnator, no class selected.

The SAN value has actually dropped below 35%? And the potential for further decline has reached level A!
Liang Qin continued, "The so-called Reincarnators mean that you will become adventurers under the control of the Reincarnation System. You will have to enter one terrifying dungeon after another and complete one mission after another. After completing the mission, the Reincarnation System will automatically increase your SAN value and gradually curb the potential for your SAN value to decrease. Okay, you can ask questions now."

Upon hearing this, all three were stunned, including Jiang Jin.

"I don't quite understand what you just said..." The woman finally spoke, "If I heard correctly, you were talking about the horror instance... the plane? What do you mean?"

Liang Qin said coldly, "What I just said was exactly what it said. You will enter a terrifying dungeon world, complete missions, and face those evil spirits and ghosts that only exist in legends! I know it's hard for you to accept such an absurd thing, but you will soon believe it. Now, I will take you into the terrifying dungeon world. Oh, and there's one more important thing to tell you. This place... is Qingtan Community."

Upon hearing the name Qingtan Residential Area, everyone's expression changed!
Jiang Jin almost doubted whether he had misheard.

Qingtan Residential Area?

This is one of the seven restricted areas in Muxu City!
Back then, the Muxu City outbreak was a memetic contamination disease that remains a mystery to this day. The earliest patients came from seven places, and all seven places were later designated as absolute no-entry quarantine zones.

"You...you people from the Meme Contamination Monitoring Department actually brought us to the quarantine zone?" the young man roared hoarsely. "This is a violation of the Meme Contamination Prevention and Control Law! I'm going to sue you! I'm going to hire a lawyer to sue you!"

That's what he said, but looking at the fierce German Shepherd and the hunting rifle on Liang Qin's back, the man's words, though harsh, were still somewhat timid.

"Only by passing through the isolation zone can you enter the horror instance. Once you successfully return from the horror instance, the isolation zone will become just a daily transit point for you. I am a reincarnator, just like you."

This is Qingtan Residential Area...

Jiang Jin looked around. Qingtan Residential Area was not only completely quarantined, but photos of its interior were also strictly prohibited from being leaked. And now, he had actually entered the quarantine zone?!

Most people would probably break down in this situation. However, Jiang Jin calmed down as quickly as possible.

In short, I am now infected with meme contamination, and according to this reincarnator, I can only survive by becoming a reincarnator myself.

But the question is, is what he said true or false? Is he really from the meme contamination monitoring department?
"Now, you should be receiving the message from the reincarnation system by now."

Sure enough, not long after, a message appeared on Jiang Jin's left retina:
"Jiang Jin, a reserve reincarnator, you have entered the Hong Kong-style terrorist containment zone in Qingtan Community. Please abide by all the following rules:"
First, if you take the elevator at midnight, you must press all the floor buttons.

Second, if you find glutinous rice scattered on the ground, you should step on it barefoot.
Third, the red envelopes given by neighbors should not be opened.
Fourth, yellow talismans must be pasted on elevator buttons during the Ghost Festival.
Fifth, red clothing should not be hung on the clothesline.

Sixth, upon hearing "Für Elise," all light sources within five meters must be immediately turned off.

Seventh, if you hear the sound of mahjong tiles at midnight, immediately reply, "We're one short, I'll join!"

Note: A zombie jumping event is triggered when the SAN value is below 25%.

Please proceed to Apartment 31, Qingtan Residential Area.

"What, what is this? Why are there words in front of me?" The young man was also stunned; clearly, this was a kind of advanced technology that he could not comprehend.

"Hong Kong-style terror?" Jiang Jin immediately noticed this. "A containment area? They want us to enter Apartment 31?"

"You don't need to worry about the containment area. Hong Kong-style horror, just as the name suggests, Tsing Tam Community leads to horror instances that take place on Hong Kong Island."

"A Hong Kong Island-themed horror game?"

"SAN below 25%, triggering a zombie hopping event?" the woman said. "Is it one of those zombie legends from Hong Kong?"

"Pretty much, but zombies only appear in restricted areas, not usually in the dungeons. Most of the time you'll be facing invisible ghosts," Liang Qin continued. "Alright, I'll now take you into Apartment 31 to enter the Horror Dungeon. After you complete your mission, you'll find the entrance to the Horror Dungeon and enter it. At that point, my mission will be complete. Once inside, just follow the instructions you've received."

"Us? Aren't you going in?" The woman was stunned.

Jiang Jin wasn't surprised; he had already guessed it. If they were going to enter the terrifying instance together for the mission, Liang Qin would likely have given a more detailed self-introduction first, and then inquired about their individual situations and strengths to facilitate task assignment once inside. However, he hadn't even asked their names. He probably didn't know their names, because he had never addressed them by name, clearly assuming they wouldn't see each other again.

Liang Qin nodded and said, "I'm just here to do a newbie guidance mission. My SAN value is still a while away from dropping to the point where I need to enter the Horror Dungeon. Okay, let's talk as we go. Your SAN value will drop at any time. Once you successfully enter the Horror Dungeon, your SAN value will be restored to 100%. However, as the Horror Dungeon missions progress, it will continue to drop. You must complete the missions inside to earn SAN value."

Then, Liang Qin turned around and walked with the German Shepherd toward an apartment building not far away.

The three of them had no choice but to follow.

Following closely behind Liang Qin, Jiang Jin suddenly noticed... the bag on Liang Qin's back where he was holding the gun... seemed loose and quite flimsy!

He mentally calculated the distance, gradually closing in on Liang Qin at a natural pace, until they were less than a meter apart, and the gun was within reach...

Taking advantage of that moment, Jiang Jin stepped forward and, with astonishing speed, snatched the hunting rifle away!
"Who exactly are you?!" Jiang Jin quickly retreated to create distance between himself and the other party, and released the safety on his gun!

The German Shepherd charged straight at them!
"Stop! Damn... this strap really needs fixing..." Liang Qin stopped the German Shepherd and said, "Although I'm just a Level 2 hunter, I didn't expect you to be able to take my hunting rifle. I was careless. But it's no use, you can't use this gun. Try it if you don't believe me."

The man and woman standing nearby were completely stunned, frozen in place, unable to move.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Jin pointed his gun to the side and tried to fire, but found that no bullets would come out.

"Alright, give me back the gun, and I promise I won't hold it against you. Otherwise, you know what will happen."

As he spoke, he had already taken out a crossbow from behind him and aimed it at Jiang Jin.

Seeing the crossbow and the hunting dogs beside him, Jiang Jin could only put down his gun and quickly retreat, ready to retaliate if the other side broke their promise.

Fortunately, after picking up the shotgun, Liang Qin didn't fire again. Instead, he said, "I admire your courage. I'll give you some information for free. Remember, once you get to the dungeon, you need to find a way to collect Resentment Shards."

Hearing this, Jiang Jin kept it firmly in mind, while staring intently at the dog.

The dog had many deep wounds, and the bone was faintly visible. However, the dog could move freely, but its running posture was very different from that of a normal dog.

A man and a woman walked up to him. The man said in a low voice, "Brother, as long as we're alive, we can always make a comeback. Let's be patient for now."

Then, the four people and the dog arrived in front of a ten-story apartment building with the number "31" written on the door.

After all, this neighborhood has been abandoned for a long time.

The iron gate outside the apartment was dilapidated, but the German Shepherd had already rushed up to it, and then... it actually walked straight through the iron gate!
Seeing this, all three of them were completely stunned.

The young man, in particular, rubbed his eyes and looked closely; the German Shepherd had really gone inside!

Liang Qin pushed the door open and went inside.

“Stay close to me. You are still just reserve reincarnators, completely ordinary people. Your constantly decreasing SAN value will be like fireflies in the dark, constantly attracting ‘them’.”

The man and woman next to Jiang Jin were now trembling.

Nobody's foolish enough to ask what "they" are.

Then, they followed and entered apartment number 31 together!
　My new book is out, please support it!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)