Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Seventh order, one cake added, and so on.

My affection for someone is fading.

Section 10. Old Seal, Crowbar, [ ]

As if time had reversed, the Ju-on mansion, burned by the plasma ball, was restored to its original state. The molten mass was restored, and the broken building fragments floated up from afar, returning to their original positions along the same trajectory as when they were thrown out. The curse that Alice had extinguished was also quickly restored, returning to the state it was in when the two of them first arrived.

"Time reversal?" Patchouli frowned sharply, about to unfold the huge grimoire in her hand.

“No, it just looks like it.” Alice shook her head. She looked up at the sky, where about a tenth of the dark river had flowed into the destroyed Ju-on mansion the moment Kayako died. Then new dark energy was drawn from an unknown place, quickly filling the missing tenth.

Patchouli couldn't observe the black streams, but Alice could. And since she could observe them, she could analyze them. Through experience and judgment, Alice quickly guessed some of the effects of these black streams.

She reached out and used her directional force field to grasp a piece of the railing that had been destroyed by the plasma ball. With a slight pressure from her fingers, a crack appeared in the middle of the wooden railing. Through the crack, a spherical shape, eroded by the plasma, could be vaguely seen.

It turned out to be the case.

"This dwelling has been recorded. Although it may not be as precise as the molecular level, material blocks larger than 10 micrometers should all be marked. It's like a virtual house created using 3D modeling in a computer program. No matter how much the model in the program is damaged, it can be quickly restored by pressing a button and paying for some electricity and computing resources."

She raised her hand to stop Patchouli.

“There’s no need to deploy a large library. Our colleagues simply made up for the lost mass from elsewhere, then absorbed and restored the scattered matter, piling it up into blocks exactly like the original.” Alice surveyed the abandoned house, shaking her head slightly. “The principle is clear. Although we don’t know the specific operational methods, it’s still within our capabilities.”

"...Is it a position?" Patchouli asked.

Since it's a house constructed by a virtual program, this program must reside in a corresponding operating environment to function. For a mage, this operating environment is their territory, and only within a sufficiently powerful territory can a mage's power be truly unleashed.

Both the previous floating Hamunaptra and the current Great Library fall under the category of battlegrounds, and Alice and Patchouli can exert several times their normal combat power within their respective battlegrounds.

"No, it's not strong enough, the reaction is too slow, and it lacks aggression. Moreover, the coverage area is too wide, which actually reduces the efficiency of energy circulation. Most importantly... the craftsmanship is terrible." Alice glanced at the black river in the sky. She was certain that a third of the black mist that had just descended had naturally dissipated into the air. If the black mist were replaced with magic power, even Marisa wouldn't have done such a poor job.

"This must have been a ritual, the specific purpose of which is unclear, but it has certainly created many strange things in the city."

"The abnormal areas that Zhan Lan surveyed should be the nodes in the operation of this ritual. We need to destroy all the nodes or destroy the root cause at once to stop the ritual. Until then, we cannot obtain the side quests and reward points."

"That's really troublesome... Is there a way to directly erode these things and seize control?"

“It’s possible, but it’s troublesome… I’ve already notified Saito to handle this. The ability he’s acquired is more suitable for dealing with things made by this kind of idealistic idiot. Even if time is short, at least we can create an opening.”

“And us…” Alice gently pressed her companion’s hand. “Until we get any news, let’s do what the male and female protagonists in those movies do and go on a thrilling haunted house adventure.”

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

"Troublesome work."

Saito Hajime sat on the sofa in the living room of room 1408, carefully observing the room while deep in thought. In his vision, the entire room was permeated with a faint mist, which churned and wriggled like some strange, living thing, attempting to approach him. But upon reaching a radius of about two meters around him, it abruptly dissipated, captured and devoured by translucent, pale red tentacles that grew from the void.

The taste is alright, like baked seaweed crackers. They're crispy and have a nice, layered texture.

Saito thought to himself, his gaze shifting slightly. A wisp of mist, firmly bound by tentacles, was then delivered to him. The eyes behind his black-rimmed glasses, upon focusing on the mist, transformed into the vertical pupils characteristic of some reptile. His gaze swept over it, and the mist materialized into the form of a wailing man. In an instant, it rapidly disintegrated and vanished.

It is said that thirty-seven guests have died in this room 1408 in the past few years, each one committing suicide without reason or warning. This man is presumably one of those thirty-seven.

—A bunch of unlucky people.

He had basically figured out what kind of entity this suite was. It was essentially a weakened version of the Ju-on, its activities confined to this suite, and its influence limited to this hotel. Its method of killing primarily relied on creating illusions, both externally and internally.

With each person killed, the suite's power grows stronger. And the thirty-seven tormented souls already constitute a considerable force. It controls them like a monarch controls his servants. Perhaps one day in the future, it will grow into a monstrous demon that rules over a region. But for now, to Saito Hajime, it's basically food—and not even that.

It's just an aggregate of earthbound spirits.

Flames, explosions, falling elevators—these are all illusions, its methods of killing. Once deceived by these illusions, the affected person is destined to die. But if one can ignore the illusions, even an ordinary person can easily defeat it.

Saito Hajime could ignore these illusions because he had seen through all the evil spirit's tricks. However, Zhang Heng was still deceived, so Saito Hajime had to expend some effort to tear apart the elevator, pass through the sea of ​​fire, and reach the location of the main body of 1408 before he could proceed to the next step.

Eating or killing this thing is easy; the difficulty lies in controlling it. This aggregated spirit is far too fragile for him, so fragile that even the slightest pressure could shatter it into pieces. Furthermore, this spirit differs from other anomalies; the side quests provided by the main god do not include the option to 'remove the curse from Suite 1408.' This indicates a fundamental difference between it and other strange entities. Perhaps killing it once would mean its complete annihilation.

Therefore, the core of this spirit must first be placed in a sufficiently strong container.

He turned his head to look at Zhang Heng, who had been lying motionless on the floor since entering the room. He sighed softly.

Section 11: A Man's Promise!

Zhang Heng felt like he was about to suffocate.

He'd been in this wretched place for half an hour... or more than half an hour. Saito had vanished after throwing him into the room. He was left all alone, suffering in this damned room 1408!

[Weren't you acting all high and mighty just now?! Where did you go?!]

Such thoughts involuntarily surfaced in his mind. Although it wasn't exactly resentment, anger and complaints were inevitable—after Saito disappeared, the door to the suite inexplicably locked itself, and no matter what he tried, he couldn't get out of that door!

The door couldn't be broken, and going through the ventilation ducts only led back to the same spot. Trying to escape through the balcony window to the next room by climbing along the window railing, I finally managed to reach the window, jumped in, only to find my landing point was still 1408!

[Damn it! I'm not one of those perverts, do you expect me to jump out the window?!]

【No! 】

The air conditioning had broken down sometime during the night, and the room suddenly became stuffy and hot. Even opening the window didn't let in any breeze. He could only feel a little better breathing after taking off the Ranger's Protective Cloak he had obtained from the God of War. The cloak seemed to have a temperature control device, but when he tried to turn it on, he found that the situation didn't improve at all.

[What kind of garbage is this? Even the main god sells pirated copies?]

He angrily threw his protective suit aside, covered his head, and felt a tightness in his chest.

—He can't really be considered a true reincarnator.

In the battles against the gods and demons, he barely participated in the main battlefields. During the Nile boarding action, he was protected as a newcomer. While there were some minor dangers during the expansion of Hamunaptra, the encounter ended before he even saw the Indian team. Later, during the events of the floating Hamunaptra's attack on Kairo and the present-day Bodhisattva's battle against the Eye of Horus, he remained in the safe zone below the resurrection altar. Finally, when Sesshouin Kiara possessed his body, he instinctively fired an arrow—and then everything went black. When he awoke, he was floating in the main hall of the gods.

In other words, he still has no clear understanding of the Main God, the Reincarnation Squad, and the Reincarnation Squad's power and battlefield. He doesn't know who the people in his team are, nor does he know what the power he gained from the almost free side quests and tens of thousands of reward points really means.

"Phew, calm down, calm down... We'll definitely find a way out." He gently rubbed his forehead, his eyes filled with worry and frustration. He didn't know why, but he felt particularly tired in this room. The power and agility he had gained from the wind elf bloodline were fading at a visible rate, as if it were an illusion. He had become an ordinary person again, back to that former Olympic reserve archer who was good for nothing except picking up a bow and shooting arrows.

Whatever, it's pointless anyway.

Zhang Heng thought to himself, then plopped down on the sofa, panting heavily, not wanting to move an inch more.

"It's alright, nothing will happen." He pressed his hand heavily against his chest, as if the pressure could release the pent-up frustration within him. "We agreed to meet at the base before we parted ways. If we just wait a little longer, the captain and that witch will definitely be able to get here to help me."

"All I have to do is hold out until they find me."

He pondered, gripping his longbow and the arrow nocked on it tightly. Since he had decided to hold his ground, he should prepare a suitable position, and as long as he didn't leave the suite, nothing strange seemed to happen.

All you have to do is hold on.

As long as we stay here, we can wait for those monstrous reincarnators to arrive.

As long as we wait for them, then we will definitely succeed...

A chill suddenly rose from the back of his neck, and a terrible premonition suddenly surfaced in his heart.

“You always disappoint me, Heng.” A very familiar, unforgettable voice whispered in his ear.

"Who's there!" Zhang Heng roared suddenly, almost jumping up and drawing his bow to shoot an arrow in the direction of the sound.

There was nothing there.

[Is it a hallucination... or...?]

He breathed a sigh of relief, but just as he relaxed slightly, he felt a gust of wind behind him!

"Don't think I'll fall for it!"

He gripped the arrow shaft and, with a backhand motion, thrust it behind him. The sensation of the arrowhead piercing flesh was excruciating. A gush of warm blood then sprayed onto his hand.

He saw a familiar face.

"Qin Zhuiyu!? How could you...tsk, a fake?" Zhang Heng released the arrow piercing the woman's chest, snorted, and took two steps back. He immediately gripped the second arrow tightly, looking warily ahead at the woman who had been stabbed in the heart but was not dead.

"You've killed me again," the woman with Qin Zhuiyu's appearance said quietly. "You really enjoy seeing women humiliated and die in front of you, don't you?"

"Don't think I'll fall for your tricks." Zhang Heng sneered, "Qin Zhuiyu is long dead. I watched her being killed by that woman in white, and her body even changed into something else. Don't think that such a trick can affect me!"

“Yes, Qin Zhuiyu is dead.” Crimson blood streamed from the woman’s eyes, and her body rapidly disintegrated and collapsed into a pile of rotten mud. “You watched her die. You had a chance to save her, but you did nothing.”

"What? I didn't even have time..."

"Then why did you ruin our plans back then? Why did you prevent us from getting the scriptures?" Gao Hongliang's half-body suddenly rose from the ground beneath his feet, his skeletal arms grabbing his right leg. "We just wanted to live, is that wrong? Why did you have to stop us?"

"No, that's because of you..." Zhang Heng opened his mouth to retort, but the next moment, he seemed to hear a thunderclap in his ears!

"Isn't that what you did too!"

"I...I didn't!" Zhang Heng's face instantly drained of color, and a long-forgotten memory suddenly surfaced in his mind, recounting the crimes he had committed and the responsibilities he had failed to fulfill. He seemed to be transported back to that afternoon several years ago, to that alley, to that group of grinning thugs, and to his girlfriend's pleading gaze.

And... the sheer terror I felt as I turned to run away, and the despair that came from behind me.

“I…I didn’t want to run away. I just…I just…” Zhang Heng murmured, the bow and arrow in his hand falling to the ground at some point.

"No, you did it on purpose. You did it intentionally." Qin Zhuiyu's figure quietly appeared beside him and whispered in his ear.

“You’re terrified. You’re too scared to do anything. You’d rather watch the woman you love suffer humiliation than take even the slightest risk yourself. Zhang Heng, you’re not even a man.”

"No... I avenged her after that..."

“Oh, yes, [I avenged her after that],” Qin Zhuiyu chuckled, gently stroking his cheek. “So you’re at ease with yourself? You can pretend nothing happened? Anyway, you avenged her, it was just being bitten by a dog a few times, what’s the big deal… That’s what you think, isn’t it?”

"I...I didn't, I didn't..." Zhang Heng answered tremblingly, his legs going weak and he almost collapsed to the ground. The pillar that supported his heart was crumbling, and he...could not refute it.

“No, you are, you are that kind of person, Zhang Heng. You should…” Her hand reached for Zhang Heng’s neck.

However, in the next moment, an arrow that came from afar suddenly pierced Qin Zhuiyu's head!

"You always disappoint me, Heng."

Author's Note:

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

It seems like they all dislike Zhang Heng. Hmm... then I'll release Ming Yanwei ahead of schedule?

If the number of votes in this row exceeds one hundred before the end of this storyline...

Section Twelve: We still can't give up on treatment!

Time stops.

The world suddenly froze at the moment Zhang Heng turned his head to look at the figure that appeared behind him. His eyes had just revealed a mixture of surprise and delight, just as he took in the familiar figure. And at that instant, the power maintaining this illusion was completely taken over by Saito Ichiro. The suite door swung open with a bang, revealing the mysterious scholar standing outside.

"Finally, I've caught you." Saito said calmly, his eyes full of regret as he looked at Zhang Heng.

He had thought that the imagined predicament would help Zhang Heng grow, but he hadn't expected the man's inner flaws to be far greater than he had imagined. Just now, he sensed from the outside that Zhang Heng's emotions had completely spiraled out of control; guilt and ecstasy had overwhelmed all his reason and thought. If left unattended, this guy was destined to be bewitched and controlled, and cleaning up the mess would be extremely troublesome.

The possibility of rebuilding from ruin, of succeeding from failure, certainly exists. But the odds are too slim to be worth the gamble. If left unattended, then it's very likely that… His gaze fell upon the core of suite 1408. If nothing unexpected happened, this core would be disguised as Zhang Heng's deepest regret, his most unforgettable character.