Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

[God, what is authority?]

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How do I obtain the necessary permissions?

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【…………………】

Alice's beautiful brows furrowed slowly. She took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

"This is indeed a complex and difficult problem... It seems that I need to readjust my schedule again."

................................................

Nearly two hours passed quickly, and when the agreed-upon moment arrived, the nine members of the Central Continent team once again gathered under the sphere of light from the main god. Everyone was ready for the journey; all the necessary enhancements had been redeemed, and the materials and items were packed into the spatial pouches that Patchouli had provided for each of them.

With everything in place, the only thing left to confirm is the destination of the trip.

"There are four selectable worlds: Resident Evil 1, Alien 2, Ju-on 2, and The Mummy 1. The Mummy 1 world is the closest to the previous one, so the price to return is 10 reward points per day. However, I don't recommend this, because the woman from the Indian team also has the possibility of returning to the Mummy world. Therefore, as previously decided, after the intensive training is completed, Captain Zheng Zha will exchange for a day's entry time to bring her back to the altar. Everyone should have no objections to this, right?"

Alice pressed her hand on the table and looked at the others. Seeing that no one objected, she moved on to the next topic. "So, the next choice is Resident Evil, Alien, or Ju-on. Alien is out of the question for now, since its return location is in the high-tech world on the spaceship. If we're unlucky, we might be exposed to a vacuum upon return. Even if the main god specially arranges a suitable return location, I don't think we can quickly find side quests in the starry sea, because the map is just too vast."

"So next it's a choice between Ju-on and Resident Evil. Both are set in simple modern worlds. In Resident Evil, you can fight zombies, while in Ju-on, you can deal with evil spirits. I personally prefer Ju-on because dealing with curses is my forte." She glanced at the others. "Of course, if anyone has any other ideas, please feel free to share them."

“Let’s go to Ju-on.” Zheng Zha clenched his fist. “I want to know if Kayako, who once cornered us, can withstand one of my [Fusion] attacks now. And… although I disagree with resurrecting Chu Xuan, he did us a huge favor at the end of Ju-on. I want to avenge him.”

Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Please tell me in detail about your grudge with that Chu Xuan later. But before that..." She made a 'please' gesture.

Zheng Zha understood. He took a deep breath and looked up at the main god's orb of light.

"God! Grant us all access to the Ju-on 2 world. Also, exchange for thirty days of story time. The required reward points and side quests will be deducted from our respective accounts... I can't afford such a large sum of money!"

The next moment, a beam of light enveloped the entire Zhongzhou team.

Section 3: Tonight I'm going to catch a female ghost to make soup. Which Kayako will be so lucky?

Ju-on 2... The origin of this film is a rather clichéd Japanese horror story. In the mid-1990s... around 1995 or 1996, a reclusive woman named Kayako Kawamata was murdered by her husband, Takeo Saeki, after being suspected of having an affair with her child's teacher. Her son and her beloved black cat also died along with her. Her remains were dismembered and hidden in the attic, and her resentment could not dissipate, eventually transforming into a curse that indiscriminately curses everything that enters the house where she died.

The Ju-on movies are basically all about a group of ignorant people who mistakenly enter Kayako's cursed house and are then slowly manipulated and killed by her—a cliché story unlike American horror stories where the protagonist usually escapes in the end. In Japanese horror stories, the ghosts are the main characters. Therefore, in the Ju-on series, the ending is often that the ignorant masses are all killed or injured, with no survivors. In a world of reincarnation, this would be an absurdly difficult and unsolvable horror film.

In these types of films, the original plot, which should be a talisman for those reincarnating, transforms into a death sentence. The more one follows it, the closer one gets to death. To win, one must ignore the plot and uncover the secrets hidden within this terrifying world to find a glimmer of hope.

..............................

Late at night, in a city in Japan.

Zheng Zha clenched his fist. He looked around and immediately noticed that he had arrived at the edge of the plaza where the final battle had taken place, instead of the Hawaiian beach where he had relaxed after the end of Ju-on. He blinked, and a hint of nostalgia appeared on his face.

Ju-on 2 was an unprecedentedly difficult game with a full 20-player raid. His group had exerted countless efforts, exhausting all their willpower and passion, barely managing to survive less than a third of the final seventh wave of demons from Kayako. But now… Zheng Zha swung the demon-headed greatsword that Alice had repaired and strengthened for him after returning to the Main God Space.

He was curious to know if he could cut the kayako into two small pancakes with one stroke.

"I feel a sense of loss," Zhan Lan sighed softly beside him, looking at the large crater in the center of the square, surrounded by fences and canvas. During the last decisive battle, the Zhongzhou team had poured enough ammunition in this square to supply at least an infantry squad with enough ammunition to complete a high-intensity raid. Naturally, the entire square needed to be renovated, which also indicated that not much time had passed since the end of the Ju-on 2 storyline.

Maybe a few days? Maybe half a month?

She raised her hand and wielded the chanting spear she had purchased from the Supreme God—a high-tech weapon suited to her Spirit Race bloodline. The spear's midsection was inlaid with shimmering gems, and its shaft was covered in numerous strange and inexplicable carvings. As she swung the spear, an invisible spiritual wave spread outwards. Several young people who were still lingering outside at night were captivated by this power, instantly forgetting the Central Continent Team members who had suddenly appeared at the edge of the plaza. They turned around, looked back, and obediently returned to their homes.

“A simple psionic hint.” Seeing Zheng Zha’s gaze, Zhan Lan playfully stuck out her tongue. “Miss Alice provided me with a C-rank side quest, and I added 3500 reward points to exchange for the Eldar Prophet Enhancement. I also spent another 1300 points and one D to buy this Chanting Spear. How does it look? Not bad, right?”

Zheng Zha wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he suddenly felt that Zhan Lan seemed much prettier than before. The tips of her ears seemed to have become somewhat pointed, and her eyes were pure and bright, like stars in the night sky.

He subconsciously bit his tongue.

"Hmm...not bad." Zheng Zha turned his head away. "You've become more beautiful, I almost didn't realize it."

"Hehe, it's just the inherent beautification and supernatural charm of the Spirit Race bloodline." Seeing Zheng Zha's somewhat embarrassed expression, Zhan Lan laughed even more heartily. She even deliberately took a small step closer to Zheng Zha, almost as if she were about to 'bump him in'.

"Alright, alright," Zheng Zha quickly waved his hand, forcibly ending this rather dangerous and ambiguous scene for him. "Time to get down to business, Xiao Honglu. Your eyes should be able to see the death aura on people, right? How is the death aura on us now? Is there any danger later?"

“Unfortunately, almost none at all.” Xiao Honglu flicked a strand of short hair from his forehead, the nerve protruding between his brows, which resembled a third eye, trembled slightly. “The death aura I saw on us was so faint that it was almost negligible—I exchanged for a low-level Three-Eyed Clan bloodline, so my judgment should be correct.”

"This is probably because we haven't triggered any side quests yet. Without a mission, there's naturally no danger."

He then looked at Alice.

"Sister Alice, this world should be relatively safe for us right now. Should we go and trigger the Ju-on side quest now? According to what you said before, as long as we come into contact with characters or items related to the main storyline, we might be able to trigger the side quest, right? Should we go directly, or should we make some preparations?"

Alice's gaze was fixed on the sky. Only after hearing Xiao Honglu's words did she slowly turn back.

"Naturally, we need to make some preparations first. We need to find a suitable base, then connect to the network and obtain the necessary intelligence. I suspect that there are more than just one or two ghosts like Kayako Kawamata in this supernatural world. So we need to focus on investigating those abnormal missing persons files and strange areas."

“Leave the base matters to me,” Saito said, his entire being exuding an eerie and inexplicable aura after receiving the Mystic Scholar enhancement. “The Mystic Scholar’s ​​knowledge includes the setting up of bases and strengthening of positions. I want to take this opportunity to make good use of it.”

“No problem.” Zheng Zha nodded. “Zhang Heng and Lingdian will go with you. It’ll be good for mutual support. As for the network issue…” He looked at Zhao Yingkong: “Sister Yingkong, you hacked into the police network before in Ju-on 2. So this time it’s up to you. Can you handle it?”

The young assassin nodded, her body transforming into a shadow and vanishing instantly.

"Zhan Lan, Xiao Honglu, you two should go to the hotel with Saito and the others and wait for us. After all, your duty is not to engage in direct combat, and before the situation becomes clear, your main strategy should be to protect yourselves."

He looked at the two of them and was pleased to receive no objections.

"So now it's just the three of us... Following your theory, Margot Royd, we'll each go find important plot items related to the main storyline. I'm planning to look for her diary. What about you two? Shall we go straight to Kayako? Do I need to show you the map?"

“Thank you for your kindness, but it’s not necessary.” Alice smiled and shook her head. “I’ve already sensed Kayako’s location.” She glanced at the sky again unconsciously. “Let’s go check out that haunted house. I’m sure the owner will arrange a grand welcome for us.”

Section 4. This is your illusion.

As Zheng Zha and the others departed, their figures gradually disappearing into the night, Alice finally let out a soft breath and looked at Patchouli.

"Patch, can you feel it? Something's not right here." She looked up at the sky, looking at the silvery crescent moon for the third time since arriving in this world... No, she wasn't looking at the moon. She was looking at something else, something floating under the moon that covered most of the sky.

—It was a black river, forming a vast, crisscrossing network in the sky. The entire city was shrouded in this black network, its edges extending outwards to the horizon.

Patchouli frowned. She looked up at the sky like Alice, but didn't seem to notice anything unusual.

She stretched her hand towards the sky, releasing her perception of information outwards.

"The information in the atmosphere is somewhat chaotic, but it doesn't significantly affect spellcasting... The proportion of information dominated by negative emotions is much higher compared to the Transformers world. Is that probably why there are ghosts and monsters in this world?"

"Alice, what do you see?"

“I saw a river, a black river that covered the sky… but it seems only I can see it. Patty, it seems no one else, including you, can observe this river.” Alice tilted her head back and said slowly, “I suspect it’s related to the Breaker aptitude I exchanged for… something like clairvoyance?”

“I did not detect any additional spectrum in your iris.”

“So that’s not light.” Alice shook her head. “I feel it’s similar to a curse. It doesn’t seem to pose any threat to me, but it contains many things that are beyond our understanding… Making contact with it rashly might not have good consequences. Let’s ignore it for now and deal with it when we find more clues.”

Patchouli nodded.

“Be careful, Alice. We know nothing about the system of soul obsessions. It’s easy to go astray by guessing and making assumptions. Although there shouldn’t be any hostile individuals in this world who pose too great a threat to us, we should always be careful now that we’ve come to the world of reincarnation.”

“I’ve always been careful.” Alice gently pressed her friend’s shoulder to soothe the girl’s emotions. “And even if I’m careless at some point, Patchouli, you’ll help me, won’t you? I trust your judgment more than my own.”

"..." Patchouli turned her head slightly away, not looking at her.

"Let's go, we still need to find that female ghost. Although I've studied ghosts quite a bit in Gensokyo, there should still be some differences between mochi and evil spirits. This will be a good opportunity to fill in my experimental records." She activated the anti-gravity field and flew straight towards Kayako's residence.

It looks like they're fleeing in disarray.

..........................................

Saito reached out and grabbed an evening newspaper that was drifting by on the night breeze. He glanced at it, a subtle smile involuntarily appearing on his face.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Heng, who was standing beside him, leaned closer and asked. His gaze involuntarily drifted to the newspaper pages. "Has something strange happened?"

"Nothing much, just some murders." Saito casually shoved the newspaper into Zhang Heng's arms. "It seems there's a serial killer in this city lately who likes to cut off his victims' tongues before killing them. And so far, he hasn't been found."

"Uh...that doesn't sound like a good omen?" Zhang Heng's tone suddenly became a little stiff. "This is the world of Ju-on...it shouldn't be Ju-on's doing, right?" He flipped through the newspaper and glanced at it. Besides the row of death reports, there was also a picture of a doll displayed in the storage cabinet that made his scalp tingle.

He quickly folded the newspaper into a ball and stuffed it into his pocket.

"A good omen? Why would you think that?" Saito looked at him with some confusion. "We're not here on vacation. Shouldn't we be happy about something like this?"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Zhang Heng was suddenly stunned, and his steps immediately stopped. "You mean this..."

“That’s right, that’s exactly what I mean.” Seeing him stop, Saito also stopped. “Didn’t Xiao Honglu’s analysis make it very clear before? We came here to familiarize ourselves with our enhancements and earn more side quests, but after arriving here, we found that we are almost safe in this world before triggering any side quests. This means that our previously planned strategy has to be changed. Otherwise, why do you think we would split into so many groups and act independently in this kind of supernatural world?”

"When you watch horror movies, don't you ever complain about those idiotic main characters who don't just stay together instead of splitting up and going off to their deaths?"

"Wait! Did everyone else already have this in mind?" Zhang Heng exclaimed. "Am I the only one who didn't see anything? But Captain Zheng Zha doesn't seem to have any such intention?"

"That's just your imagination." — [While it might not be true, it's irrelevant.]

Saito shook his head and pointed to the empty space behind them.

"Zhan Lan and Xiao Honglu didn't follow. You didn't even notice after all this time?"

He adjusted the black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose.

“Miss Alice has made it very clear that there’s more than one ghost in this supernatural world. In fact, if I hadn’t exchanged for the Mystic Scholar enhancement, which gives me an advantage in this area, I wouldn’t have noticed the anomalies in this city at first—last time we were able to survive in this city probably because we were already targeted by Kayako, becoming her marked prey, so no other ghosts interfered. But this time…” He looked meaningfully at the newspaper in Zhang Heng’s pocket. “Didn’t you just accept the invitation?”

Zhang Heng was so frightened he almost jumped up. He hurriedly pulled the newspaper out of his pocket and threw it behind him without thinking. He only breathed a sigh of relief when the night wind had blown it far away.

Saito Hajime's smile this time was somewhat helpless. He shook his head and gently patted Zhang Heng's shoulder.

"Don't be nervous, it's just an evil spirit doll. You've now exchanged for the bloodline of a wind spirit, and Miss Alice has prepared an enchanted bow and an exorcism amulet for you. You can handle even a head-on fight. You're a member of the Reincarnation Squad now, so you need to adjust your mindset."

"...You recognize that thing?"

“I’ve heard rumors about the Annabelle doll in the real world, and I’ve even had some contact with it,” Saito shrugged. “Although I don’t know why it came to Japan, an evil spirit of this level doesn’t pose a threat to us right now. Since you don’t want to provoke it, just let it go. I’m sure someone else will take on this task.”

"Uh, um...is that so?" Zhang Heng was speechless, his face turning bright red. It took him a while to recover from his embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, next time... I'll try to be braver next time."

Saito smiled slightly and pointed to a high-rise hotel across the street from the two of them. Given that Japan's economy was just beginning to recover from the heavy blows of the Plaza Accord, the presence of such a Western-style hotel was not unusual.

The hotel's sign features a blue dolphin.

"There just happens to be a hotel here. Since we've stopped here, it must be fate. Why don't we book it? I have a feeling this place can be used to build a very clever base."

"But I have a bad feeling..."

That's just your imagination.

Section 5: You Know Nothing About Your Own Power

No matter how conflicted, uneasy, or hesitant Zhang Heng was, Saito Hajime undoubtedly held more authority in this temporary group. Therefore, when Saito Hajime abandoned the conversation and strode towards the hotel entrance to demonstrate his firm stance, the newly minted wind elf archer had no choice but to obediently follow.