Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Tonight, Alice joins the hunt. (Author: Jiu Yuan)

【brief introduction】

The lead actress is Alice, Alice Margotrovid. The stage is an endless, terrifying cycle of reincarnation.

The latest puppet show of Reincarnation is about to begin.

First Stop: Infinite Terror

Section 1: I'm new here, please take care of me.

"Ah... I've turned back into a human." The girl looked at her slender hands and felt the magic furnace within her body, which should have been brimming with magic power but was now completely empty. Her mind was filled with question marks.

The girl's name is Alice, Alice Margotrovid. She was once a transmigrator who, after discovering she had a different body and a fantasy species teacher, spent decades studying the occult, becoming a witch of some renown in the mystical world. Then, before the era when mystery and fantasy were gradually rendered obsolete by technology arrived, she took precautions and hid in a sanctuary space called Gensokyo.

Gensokyo is peaceful, without war or bloodshed. Even occasional conflicts can be resolved with childish spell card competitions. Humans and non-humans alike can live peacefully for decades or even centuries until the end of their lives—Alice originally thought she would be like the other non-humans in Gensokyo, researching magic, making dolls, and playing with friends in her spare time. Until her spirit ages, her path of magical exploration comes to an end, she would find a successor, and then find a beautiful place to enter eternal slumber.

She had expected it to be like this.

However, this very morning, at the last moment she could remember being conscious, when she opened her eyes and finally overcame her sleepiness, she found herself in this very place!

"Where am I? Why am I here? Who did this?"

Alice glanced around and found herself in a dark, enclosed room that looked like a dungeon. There were four unconscious people around her, men and women, all of them black-haired Asians. Judging from their attire, they were city dwellers from the outside world—Alice sometimes encountered such unfortunate outsiders who had fallen into Gensokyo.

"Have I also been mysteriously disappeared? Or is that wandering demon up to something again?"

The girl scratched her head, completely baffled.

Losing magic isn't a big deal; it's power she honed herself, knowledge she accumulated. Regaining it with a little time isn't too difficult. Alice isn't the weak, academically-minded mage who's lived in a tower since childhood. She's a seasoned fighter who survived witch hunts, endured world wars, and carved a path to survival from blood and fire. Even now, as an ordinary person without any spellcasting materials, she has the confidence to protect herself.

but……

"What does it mean to lock me up in a dungeon with a bunch of ordinary people? Hmm, what's this?"

She suddenly noticed a watch on her right wrist. The watch had a large display, but instead of the time, it showed several lines of tiny, fine print.

"Defeat the undead creature Imhotep and receive a side quest reward for the entire team."

"Distance: 5000m, O'Connor."

As she read the name "O'Connor," a faint white light suddenly emanated from a blond, muscular man who had been sitting with his head down in the corner of the dungeon and had been completely unnoticed by her before.

This is like a warning signal.

Alice paused for a moment, then instinctively kicked a pebble. However, a golden light barrier suddenly appeared about half a meter away from the blond man, blocking the pebble.

"A barrier?" Alice became wary. She didn't sense any discordant aura around her, which meant that the person who set up the barrier was more knowledgeable than her.

No, it might not be a barrier. The things that science can do are far more complex than magic.

"Could it be a protective shield for outsiders? Science... the speed of civilization's progress is really much faster than I imagined."

"Hmm..." She gently pressed her right temple.

Fragments of knowledge that didn't belong to her quietly surfaced in her mind. In an instant, she organized and categorized some vague concepts.

[The Main God, the Cycle of Reincarnation, the Central Plains Team, War]

Alice quickly obtained a few keywords, but that wasn't enough for her.

She reached out, her fingertips stopping a centimeter before touching the barrier. As a professional who had studied the occult for many years, she knew very well that never touching anything unfamiliar whose safety had not been proven was an ironclad rule of research.

So, what should we do?

The girl tilted her head slightly, and several thin threads silently slipped from her sleeve into her palm—these were the threads used to manipulate puppets, extremely strong, lightweight, and incredibly resilient. While not as discreet and quick as using magic threads, they were far superior in strength.

She felt it necessary to test the basic properties of the light screen and its coverage area.

"Ah, the quality of this new recruit seems to be much better than I expected."

A hearty voice suddenly came from behind the girl, the source of which was so close, no more than five meters away from where she was standing. In addition, she also smelled a very familiar scent.

The scent of vampires.

She suddenly turned around, and the taut puppet strings were ready to unleash their power!

"Hey, don't be nervous." A young man wearing a trench coat, who looked like a white-collar worker but also exuded a subtle and handsome aura, appeared in her field of vision and extended his hand to her. "We're not bad guys, nor are we kidnappers or movie actors, and this isn't some live prank broadcast. Calm down, you should already have some vague idea in your mind."

He was speaking Chinese, a basic language that Alice, as a qualified witch, must master.

So Alice answered him in Chinese.

“I do have some knowledge in my head that's beyond my comprehension. And this strange watch…” She sized up the group of people who had appeared before her. Four men and two women, half of whom gave her a sense of danger.

"If you could, could you explain this to me?"

“Ha, of course.” The young man at the front gestured to the busty, bespectacled woman standing next to him. “Zhan Lan, you should explain to the newcomers this time. They should be waking up soon.”

Before the words were even finished, a woman's scream rang out from the corner of the room. A woman with long black hair streaked with gold, dressed in an elegant, fitted evening gown, frantically kicked her feet and tried to hide in the corner, rubbing herself all over. Her pretty face was contorted with fear, losing all its beauty, while the other three people jumped up and started chattering incessantly.

The young man who seemed to be the leader sighed helplessly. Without even reaching into his pocket, a Desert Eagle pistol suddenly appeared in his hand—the kind an ordinary person could only use to intimidate others or break their own hand bones with one hand. He then pointed the muzzle at the ceiling.

'Bang!'

With a muzzle flash a meter long and a golden light curtain suddenly appearing at the bottom of the ceiling, intercepting the bullet, the cell finally fell silent.

"Can you hear me now? That's good." The young man lowered his gun and looked at the group of terrified men. "This is the Central Plains Team. I'm Zheng Zha, and I'm the leader of this Reincarnation Squad."

"What I'm about to say is of utmost importance to you. If you want to save your lives, listen carefully."

He made a gesture.

"Zhan Lan, the rest is up to you."

Chapter Two: The Witch Decides to Take Advantage of the Situation

About five minutes later, the busty, bespectacled woman named Zhan Lan finally gave a general explanation of the current state of the so-called reincarnation world. While she was busy explaining, Alice also roughly understood the current situation.

In her understanding, it was a great being called the "God" trying to choose its warriors. And she and others happened to be chosen, and then He cast them into countless worlds, as numerous as the stars, to undergo trials.

The infinite world... Faced with beings capable of such feats, Alice felt it was necessary to remain humble. Although being dragged out of Gensokyo and stripped of her spellcasting abilities made her very unhappy, Alice was a magnanimous witch and wouldn't dwell on such a minor offense.

Well, at most it will be recorded in the accounts.

Through the subsequent conversation, she roughly figured out the basic information about the group of people in front of her. They were—

Zheng Zha is a warrior and leader who has enhanced his vampire baron bloodline.

Zhan Lan, an investigator whose mental abilities have been enhanced.

Zhao Yingkong is an assassin skilled in assassination and uses advanced weapons.

Zero point, snipers using advanced firearms.

Zhang Jie appears to be a powerful attacker with a long career, but he doesn't like to show off.

Saito Hajime, a rookie assistant. Armed civilians...

Among them, Zheng Zha, Zhao Yingkong, and Zhang Jie posed the greatest threat in her perception. It was said that they possessed a power called the "Gene Lock," through which even newcomers who had never seen blood could become powerful warriors in a short period.

Alice didn't know what a gene lock was, but she felt it might be important to her.

Just then, the round of self-introductions reached her turn.

“My name is Alice, Alice Margotrovid.” The girl’s thoughts shifted slightly as she adjusted her expression. She didn’t want to clash with this group, at least not before returning to that God’s Space.

Therefore, one must demonstrate one's value without revealing any threat one poses.

"I am a scholar passionate about the occult, fluent in the common languages ​​of over 80% of the world's countries, and have some knowledge of feng shui, burial practices, astrology, voodoo, and black magic. I can spend some time deciphering various ancient documents, including those from ancient Egypt, India, China, Rome, as well as Sumer, Maya, and Aztec civilizations. I am also skilled in combat and wilderness survival, as this hobby often leads me to encounter some unpleasant things."

She glanced at the ring on Zheng Zha's hand and then added, "Captain Zheng Zha, the ring you're wearing is a treasure that can create folded spaces, right? I can read the inscription on it; its name should be [Na], and it should also have the power to exorcise evil spirits?"

She got to see the stunned expressions on the faces of the Zhongzhou team members, their jaws practically dropping to their sides, and the barely concealed excitement hidden beneath that stunned silence.

"Wow...that's amazing." Saito's tone was tinged with a subtle sense of disappointment. He too was passionate about studying ancient cultures, but compared to Alice, a witch, his knowledge was clearly insufficient.

"Fantastic!" The man named Zheng Zha laughed loudly. His smile was genuine, like sunshine. "We're exactly lacking an expert like you. Come on, take a look at this. Can you decipher it?"

A bullet suddenly appeared in his hand, its surface seemingly engraved with intricate patterns, yet upon closer inspection, it also resembled writing. He stretched out his open hand, looking at Alice with anticipation.

The girl glanced at the bullet.

[These are runes too...tsk, none of them are runes. Were they added later?]

"This is a prayer for warding off evil spirits. There are three rings of words from top to bottom: one is a variant of the ancient Hebrew for 'expelling evil spirits,' one is a variant of the ancient Egyptian for 'eliminating evil creatures,' and one is a variant of the seal script for 'suppressing demons.' This should be ammunition specifically designed to deal with supernatural beings. I can't tell the material of the inscription yet, but it should be silver. However, since there are three root languages, it should be effective against most common ghosts and monsters."

She looked at Zheng Zha.

Am I right?

"Can it be mass-produced?" Zhan Lan asked eagerly. "I mean, can it be processed into these kinds of spirit bullets as well? Like heavy machine guns, rockets, or something?"

"If I have the materials and the right engraving tools, I can give it a try."

She was met with a thumbs-up, and after her abilities were verified, the other members of the Central Continent Team also showed expressions of surprise and delight. Zheng Zha immediately announced that Alice had become a formal member of the Central Continent Team. He gave her a pistol and two magazines filled with spirit bullets for self-defense. Only then did he turn around to listen to the others' self-introductions.

With Alice and Zhu Yu leading the way, the remaining people naturally didn't quite satisfy the group. The woman who screamed at the beginning was named Qin Zhuiyu, a celebrity. The two men were named Gao Hongliang and Zhang Heng. The former was a white-collar worker with no particular skills, while the latter was a baby-faced young man skilled in archery, but since there were no bows available, he couldn't use his skills for the time being.

Ironically, it was the last remaining kid, Xiao Honglu, who gave Zheng Zha a pleasant surprise. He not only accurately analyzed the current situation of the Zhongzhou team, but also tied the newcomers together, securing an opportunity for them to demonstrate their value.

This world is a movie universe called The Mummy. The Middle-earth team's mission is to stay by the side of the protagonist, O'Connor, and then take down the villain, the mummy Imhotep. But at the same time, another team called the Indiana team will arrive after Imhotep is resurrected, thus starting a war between the two teams.

The winner will be rewarded, and the loser will be punished. In this competition, every death of one person on each side will affect the balance of power.

"If a member of your team is killed, you will receive a negative one point, and if you kill an enemy member, you will receive a positive one point. The final number multiplied by two thousand will be the reward points for the remaining members of both teams."

"Anyone whose reward points are below zero at the time of settlement will be killed by the God."

"So we newcomers can be used as bait. After all, you can't be sure of the other side's combat strength and attitude. So, instead of letting those with combat ability take risks, why not let us newcomers play a role?" Xiao Honglu said confidently. "I don't want to follow the crowd and gamble on that sliver of hope. Being bait is also gambling with my life, but at least it's a life that I can control myself."

Zheng Zha hesitated for a moment, but was eventually persuaded by Xiao Honglu. Although he didn't give Xiao Honglu a weapon, possibly because of his age, he promised to protect him and consider him a formal member of the Zhongzhou Team.

Throughout the conversation, Alice stood quietly to the side, observing the others.

[Very well, they lack the ability to detect lies. They also cannot read surface-level thoughts. Furthermore, their need for knowledge of the occult is indeed quite significant.]

[Also, I seem to vaguely remember the movie "The Mummy," so I'll take advantage of this free time to organize my memories.]

Okay, let's leave it at this state for now until we restart the magic furnace.

She suddenly noticed that Xiao Honglu was looking at her, as if trying to find some flaw in her—Alice certainly wouldn't argue with such a twelve-year-old brat, so she returned an elegant smile.