Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

He had not made any contributions in the previous battles, so naturally he had no say at this moment.

The two men's appearances and equipment were designed to deceive ordinary people, and in this era where even Windows 95 didn't exist, there was naturally no need to worry about issues like cameras or surveillance. Soon, Saito arrived at the hotel reception, where a young woman in a neat uniform bowed to him.

"Book a suite." He placed a large stack of yen directly on the table, and just as the woman's attention was distracted by the stack of yen, a faint firefly appeared in his eyes.

“I want the most ‘special’ one.” Saito looked at the waiter, emphasizing the word “special.” At the same time, a similarly colored firefly quietly lit up in the waiter’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, guest. Suite 1408 is not open to the public.” Her gaze then became unfocused, and her speech became hesitant and monotone. She murmured like a machine, “The key to that suite is kept by the manager, and I cannot process this service for you directly.”

"Where is the supervisor?" Saito continued to ask. He raised his hand, signaling Zhang Heng, who was about to say something, to shut up.

"He took personal leave tonight. He just left the hotel five minutes ago."

Five minutes—that's quite a clever amount of time.

However, Saito remained unmoved and continued, "But the key should remain here. Tell me where it is?"

"The key is in the supervisor's drawer, but I still need permission to process your application."

Saito shook his finger, emphasizing his words.

"No permission is needed. You should go and get the key, and then meet the customer's needs. This is your hotel's responsibility. The customer's interests should take precedence over the hotel's rules and regulations."

The waitress paused for a moment, a hint of struggle appearing in her eyes. But ultimately, her will was controlled by this unusual power, so she bowed to Saito again and turned to walk towards an office inside the hotel.

“…Understood, I’ll go get the key right away. Please wait here for a moment,” she said.

A guard seemed to notice something and looked at Saito Hajime with a puzzled expression. However, the next moment, his gaze became blank as he met Saito Hajime's eyes, and he followed the waiter into the office—a moment later, the sound of shattering glass echoed from inside the office.

The waitress limped out before the guards surrounded the office; she appeared to have twisted her ankle and had some glass scratches on her arm. The guard, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Saito nodded to her in thanks. He left a complete set of personal information at the front desk, but it was unrelated to him, along with enough Japanese yen to cover medical expenses and emotional distress. Then he reached out and pulled Zhang Heng, who had been in a state of shock from the beginning, into the elevator.

It wasn't until then that Zhang Heng finally realized what was happening and shouted at him in the elevator.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

“Book a room.” Saito looked at him with suspicion. “Have you forgotten what we’re here for? We need to set up a base here. Starting from room 1408, the entire floor will be gradually converted into a base… Do you have a better suggestion? If so, feel free to tell me, and I will consider and implement it.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…” He pointed to the attendant outside the elevator, then to the top of the elevator. “That room… that room is clearly suspicious! Wouldn’t it be suicide for us to just rush in like that?”

“It seems you really lack awareness of your own power.” Saito Hajime slowly shook his head. “That’s right. You didn’t participate in any formal battles in the last war, and even after returning and exchanging for the bloodline, you didn’t take the initiative to familiarize yourself with this power… I think I understand why the two of us are a team.”

"The two of us?" Zhang Heng grasped the strange emphasis. "Aren't there three of us? That sniper brother called Zero Point..."

“He’s long gone.” Saito tilted his head, scrutinizing him. “He left the moment you threw that newspaper away. I think I already said that if you don’t accept this ticket, someone else will handle this side quest—to be honest, I think that evil spirit doll would be more suitable for your current combat strength. But right now, it seems that what you need most is courage.”

With a 'ding', the elevator suddenly stopped, accompanied by the roar of the motor, as if a heavy object was falling down the elevator shaft.

"Haven't you noticed yet? It's scared." Saito even had a moment to smile at Zhang Heng. The next moment, the inner elevator door was torn apart by some powerful force, and Saito jumped out, grabbing Zhang Heng's hand. The broken elevator cable also smashed right through the elevator car.

"Thirteenth floor, we still need to climb a flight of stairs." Saito pushed the wooden door leading to the emergency exit—the door was suddenly slammed shut by a strong gust of wind, followed by the sound of heavy objects collapsing behind it.

The next moment, the wooden door, along with the clutter behind it, was torn to shreds by an invisible force.

He walked up the stairs when a piercing fire alarm suddenly went off. Gas pipes on the twelfth and thirteenth floors had exploded simultaneously, and flames spread throughout the entire stairwell.

However, the mysterious scholar moved even faster. Before the flames touched the two figures, Saito had already carried Zhang Heng's clothes to the corridor of the fourteenth-floor guest room.

He saw a whole row of identical doors, all with the number 1408 written on them.

“Meaningless.” The mysterious scholar shook his head. The next moment, all the wooden doors shattered. He walked straight to the dilapidated door of the storage room, casually brushed away the dust, and then saw the house number that the dust was trying to obscure.

He took out the key and inserted it into the rusty lock that looked like it might jam at any moment. With a sharp, creaking sound, the door to the guest room, disguised as a storage room, finally opened reluctantly, revealing a neat but old-fashioned interior.

"Let's go, Zhang Heng. Come in with me."

"Or, I'll throw you in. I'll come back in an hour later."

Section Six: The So-Called Ant-Man-Tree...

Side Quest: Check into room 1408 and spend one hour there. Success rewards you with one D-rank side quest and 500 points. There is no penalty for failure.

Xiao Honglu turned his head and looked in a certain direction outside the window. He sighed softly the moment the main god's notification sounded. A helpless expression appeared on his face: "It seems that the guess has come true. It is indeed possible for multiple horror movie plots to exist in one plot world. Sister Alice was right after all... Information gathering is extremely important, and I will have to make significant adjustments to my future strategies."

He was sitting on a tatami mat in a Japanese inn. In front of him was a low tea table with two cups of tea and a pile of Japanese sweets on it. Zhan Lan was sitting opposite him, sketching on a piece of A4 paper. In the other direction opposite the tea table was a wall-mounted television typical of the 1990s, with a videotape playing slowly.

"Is it troublesome?" Zhan Lan asked casually as she continued drawing her map.

“It’s troublesome.” Xiao Honglu gently twirled a stray strand of hair, his brows furrowing slightly. “Sister Zhan Lan, you used to be a writer, right? Then you should know something about some famous martial arts novels and video games?”

"Yes, I'm familiar with Jin Yong's books and the three swords in video games."

"Hmm, that explains it." Xiao Honglu turned his head to look at the television playing the videotape. "Suppose a member of the Reincarnation Squad enters the world of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, and is given the task of choosing between the Qingcheng Sect and the Lin Family Escort Agency, choosing a faction and becoming completely hostile to the other. If this reincarnator's combat strength is average, equivalent to a second or third-rate martial artist, then guess what his choice would be?"

"Obviously choose the stronger side?" Zhan Lan shrugged. "Although I don't really like villains like Yu Canghai, since I'm not strong enough, I have no choice but to go with the flow and secure my mission first."

“Yes, most people would choose that.” Xiao Honglu nodded. “Then you’ll find that the head of the Lin family is called Lin Tiannan. The only son, Lin Pingzhi, becomes the only daughter, Lin Yueru, and there’s a son-in-law named Li Xiaoyao.”

"..." Zhan Lan stopped drawing. "What if I choose the Lin family?"

“Then it's a different timeline. You'll find that the Lin family is still Lin Zhennan and Lin Pingzhi, but the leader of the Qingcheng Sect might become Li Canghai. You'll also have to deal with the entire Xiaoyao Sect behind her.” Xiao Honglu spread his hands. “It's like a movie.”

"Look, this is the possible consequence of a complex worldview. The plots, settings, and worldviews we are familiar with can not only fail to help us, but can become obstacles to our survival."

"Oh, we're really lucky then." Zhan Lan smiled gently, pursing her lips. "We obtained important information before encountering real trouble, which greatly reduces the probability of us making mistakes later." She made a few final strokes on the drawing paper, then exhaled and stretched.

"Alright, all the abnormal areas in this city have been mapped out using the Eldar prophet's perception ability. The next step is to deal with them one by one. I also hope to redeem a few side quests so that I can exchange for powerful skills like Mental Scan and Mind Storm—there are too few quests and too many points, so I can't maximize the use of resources. For now, I can only use them to enhance my basic attributes."

She pushed the drawing paper to Xiao Honglu.

"Take a look at this first, and then I'll send the contents of this drawing to Sakura, Saito, and Zero. Alice and the others probably won't need it."

"Aren't you planning to send a copy to Brother Zheng Zha?" Xiao Honglu smiled, raising his teacup to his lips. "I think he probably still hasn't figured out our strategy. Maybe he's currently worrying about the God's quest prompt that suddenly appeared in his mind."

"Hmph." Zhan Lan rolled her eyes. The pointed ears characteristic of the Adalin tribe twitched slightly. "Men who lack romantic understanding deserve to suffer a bit. Let him worry. I'll send him all the plans and strategies in a document in half an hour. That idiot, doesn't he know to call me if I don't open the mental link? We still have our high-powered walkie-talkies from the last Ju-on trip!"

"Ahem—" Xiao Honglu quickly turned his head away, not daring to continue this topic. He quickly turned his gaze to the television that was playing a videotape, trying his best to change the subject.

"Sister Zhan Lan, how much longer do you think we'll have to watch this videotape?" He pointed to the dimly lit television screen. A solitary, eerie ancient well stood in the center of the screen, radiating an exceptionally strong presence.

"We've been waiting for over ten minutes, why won't she climb out of the well?"

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

While Zhan Lan and Xiao Honglu were idly waiting for the plot of "The Ring" to trigger, Zhao Yingkong easily cracked the computer network of this era... This electronic defense mechanism from the 1990s was practically non-existent for her. The last time she arrived in this terrifying world, she was able to easily infiltrate the police network, and this time, naturally, there was no difficulty whatsoever.

So what should we do next?

A dozen seconds ago, Zhan Lan sent a map marking the abnormal areas in the city. And her current location happened to be close to one of those small abnormal areas.

But I don't want to go there.

She examined her smooth little hands, feeling the surging power hidden beneath them—she could sense a flame burning within her, with subtle forces constantly drawing from the unknown void, slowly and steadily strengthening every corner of her body.

My power is already immense, and it grows stronger every moment. Though the increase is small, it has no end—it won't stop until the shadow deep within my heart is completely burned away.

Zhao Yingkong didn't understand what that shadow was, but she knew it contained a terrifying power she couldn't even imagine. Even the slightest glimpse of it was overwhelming for her. And she knew that when she reached a certain point in her life, that shadow would inevitably awaken from its slumber.

Will I be able to achieve victory at that time? — I don't know.

If I fail, will I continue to exist? — Probably not.

She lowered her eyes, slowed her breathing, and the dignified aura unique to reincarnators suddenly vanished. Soon, even the coldness of an assassin disappeared. A few seconds later, in the eyes of ordinary people, she became an ordinary, quiet girl.

This was her first step forward since arriving in the Reincarnation Space. Her power and skills had finally improved, instead of stagnating or even regressing as before. And with the completion of this disguise, her inner thoughts finally calmed down.

The final battle with the shadows is inevitable, but the long period before that is still a unique opportunity for victory. She is not without a chance of winning, and Zhao Yingkong is not necessarily unable to prove herself as Zhao Yingkong.

So……

"I need to hone this blade even more." She looked up, randomly chose a direction, and prepared to leave.

However, the next moment, she found a disheveled woman in red standing in front of her—wearing a large coat and a scarf, with a dark face mask on her face.

It's early morning, around 1 a.m. The silence is perfect for a murder to silence the witness.

The woman in red was holding a large, blood-stained pair of scissors, asking her questions from behind her mask while casting her a mocking glance, as if she were looking at prey.

Am I pretty?

Section 7: How to get along with gorillas?

Zhao Ying glanced at the woman in red who had appeared before her. Her delicate face was expressionless. She heard the voice of the Supreme God in her ears, and the inhuman monster before her instantly transformed into walking reward points in her eyes.

Side Quest: Lift the Curse of the Slit-Mouthed Woman. Success rewards one D-rank side quest and 500 points. Failure incurs no penalty.

great.

Zhao Yingkong wasn't worried about encountering overly powerful enemies in the city. The God's quest hints were one factor, but Kayako's own strength was another.

—This group of people had spent a full seven days in the world of Ju-on 2. During those seven days, they had covered most of the city without encountering any unusual attacks from ghosts or monsters. From this, it's easy to conclude that Kayako Kawamata's strength was among the highest in the city—just as wild beasts have their hunting grounds, the entire Chushu team was imbued with Kayako's resentment, perhaps acting as a marker of dominance, causing other ghosts to retreat on their own.

Given this premise, coupled with Xiao Honglu's analysis and Alice's hints, the difficulty of the monsters and enemies in this city is self-evident. Therefore, the strategy of splitting up operations naturally carries no risk.

So, what should be said now is...

“Very ugly,” she replied slowly in Japanese. With a flick of her finger, the black Netherfire Fang slid into her hand—she remained in a state of concealed aura, even her blood flow and heart rate were only slightly increased to the level of an ordinary person.

And she got the result she had hoped for.

"Completely wrong!" The woman in red screamed, throwing off her scarf and mask. A gaping maw, split to the edge of her neck, opened wide, emitting a terrifying scream that shook the heart! She arrived in front of Zhao Yingkong at three times the speed of a normal person, and the huge scissors snapped open, ready to cut her down!

A frenzied, violent rage flickered in the woman's eyes. Perhaps she could no longer be called human, for no one could wield such immense power in such a twisted manner. Of course, no one could continue living after their head had been severed.

The madness in the woman's eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by astonishment. She watched as her headless carcass lunged forward, the blood-stained scissors opening and closing in her twitching arms, as if still trying to destroy something. But that was no longer an option for it, because a dagger burning with a dark flame severed its neck and injected some kind of terrible fire into its brain, causing it to scream in agony.

"How is this possible! You! An ordinary human!" Its head melted, and dark fire spewed from its eye sockets. In an instant, its jawbone, which had been burned into a skeleton, trembled incessantly, emitting a shrill shriek unique to aliens.

It had no idea how it was slashed!

"It's just a visual illusion caused by the application of light and shadow." Zhao Yingkong shook her head slightly. "As an outlier, it turns out you're just an ordinary person who can be deceived by sight."

She watched as the monster's head burned away in the flames, leaving only a pale skull. However, the God's score notification was delayed—she then turned her head to look at the spot where the mutilated corpse had fallen, only to find that the remains had staggered to their feet and fled towards the other end of the street with a scream that seemed to come from nowhere.

"As expected, even a D-rank side quest isn't something you can just easily solve. And not finishing it off was my mistake." Zhao Yingkong let out a soft breath, lightly tapping her head as a form of punishment, before leisurely following after the monster, carrying the skull of the Slit-Mouthed Woman. The map Zhan Lan sent her indicated that the monster had fled to an area marked as abnormal, which appeared to be the ruins of an abandoned elementary school.

The legend of the Slit-Mouthed Woman originated from a supernatural story involving elementary school children. After school, children would encounter a strange woman wearing a mask who would ask them if they were beautiful. Regardless of whether they answered yes or no, the Slit-Mouthed Woman would abduct them, and their bodies would not be discovered until several days later.

[The main god's task is to lift the curse on the Slit-Mouthed Woman, so perhaps the problem can only be solved within that school. Hmm... it's possible it's a trap.]

She thought for a moment, then took out a high-tech-looking phone from her pocket, tapped a few buttons, and sent a message. Only after receiving a reply did she continue forward, maintaining a distance of about one hundred meters behind the Slit-Mouthed Woman.

And soon the dilapidated primary school came into her view.