Terror Infinity Volume 3 Chapter 1

Vol 3. The Grudge

Chapter 1
The third point was more shocking than the other two combined. Everyone stared
at Xuan with craze. After all, anyone who experienced such terrors, no matter how
disappointed with the real world he was, this person would lust for the real world and
not stay to suffer without an end.
Zheng looked at Xuan with doubt, then said carefully. “You plot too much, I am suspicious
of whether you have something up in your sleeves… So, how do we get back
to the real world?”
Xuan smiled calmly. “I am not forcing you to do anything, it’s your freedom to choose
whether you want to go back… Jie, you never looked at the Days exchange category
carefully right? I checked it yesterday and found that not only can you exchange for
days to live in the previous movie worlds, you can also go back to the real world.”
Jie sneered at him. “We don’t need you to tell us. Anyone can go back with 50000
points, do you think we have the points? Are you trying to tease us or what?”
Xuan glanced at him and said. “Did I say that you can go back completely? At where
you exchange regular days, I found a Record function, it recorded Nightmare on
Elm Street 1, Scream 2, Final Destination, Resident Evil, and Alien, these five movies.
Other than the horror movies, there’s also another world, and that is the real world!”
Jie turned pale when he heard these names. He muttered. “Those are all the movies
I experienced, why is there a record? What about the ones before those?”
Xuan shook his head. “There are no records of anything before them. God probably
deleted them. After all you are the only one among us that survived five movies.
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This is not the key point. The key point is you can unlock the these worlds. After you
unlock them, you can go into any of them, including the real world!”
“You use a rank D reward to unlock a world in the records, then you can exchange
for days to live in that world, but you have to spend five times as many points, that
is you have to pay the high price of 50 points a day (10 points a day in the previous
world they just experienced). In order to go back to the real world temporarily, you
need a rank D reward and a lot of points.”
Everyone fell into silence. Jie had already told them about the rarity of the ranked
rewards. If Zheng didn’t exchange his Qi and Vampire bloodline, then he couldn’t
have survived Alien. For something that directly concerned their life, how can anyone
just use it up so easily? Furthermore, not only did you need a rank D reward, you also
needed a lot of points. The cost was too high for just going back for a few days.
Xuan shook his head as they remained in silence. “I don’t have any intention to make
you waste your rewards and points. To temporarily go back to the real world, at least
one of us can go back is an urgent matter. I don’t know if you ever thought about
this world. I have two hypotheses, one is our consciousnesses were transported
here and our bodies are still in front of the computer. Second is our bodies were
transported here along with our consciousnesses. I think you also obtained an info
from your women. No matter how long we stay in the horror movies, when we come
back, only a day has passed in this dimension. In other words, God can control both
space and time. This is…”
“This is like a real god!” That was the only phrase Xuan could come up with to describe
God. He muttered. “Perhaps you don’t feel that this matters too much, being
able to control space and time, to create independent worlds and real living beings,
I can only describe it as a god. This is the important thing I want to say. If only our
consciousnesses are in this world, then the enhances and everything else are just
illusions. This would be like a virtual reality game. Similarly, our bodies will go into a
vegetative state. If we don’t confirm it as soon as possible, then our bodies might be
ruined by other people.”
“Of course, if our bodies were transported here also… then this is the world of a real
god. If so then all these enhancements… they are the infinite possibilities of human
evolution! We just have to survive, then we will be able to become a real god!”
Zheng rubbed his head. “Becoming god is too far away, I think I understand what
you’re trying to convey. If our bodies are in this world, then we can forget about
everything in the real world before we have the points to go back. We just have to
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focus on surviving. But if only our consciousnesses are here, then nothing can be
brought back to the real world, and our bodies are also in danger.”
Xuan snapped his fingers. “Correct. So my suggestion is, we select someone to go
back to the real world, even if it’s only for a day and confirm whether our bodies were
also transported here. This is the most important thing concerning our lives. What
do you think?”
They all agreed with Xuan. Yet Zheng sighed. “Even though I don’t have any reason
nor evidence, but I feel that there’s a trap in your words, as if it’s waiting for us to
jump into it… No, it’s an overt scheme, you tell us everything every time, yet we can
only follow your plans, then you think that I should be the one to go back?”
Xuan nodded, but Jie objected. “Hey, Xuan, why does Zheng have to be the one
to spend the points? If it isn’t for him, we would have all died. Right, Zheng, how
many points did you spent on the body repair? We can exchange something for you
together as a compensation.”
Zheng smiled at Jie. “It’s not necessary, I killed the Queen and got 3000 points after
all. I still have a lot left after the repair… As to why I am the one to go back, it’s because
I am the only one that enhanced Qi and Vampire bloodline. I can confirm whether
these abilities can be brought back, and at the same time, I don’t need the ranked
reward as much as you guys. But you will need them to enhance yourselves.”
After it was decided, Jie suggested everyone help Zheng get a set of equipment. Of
course, he still had to exchange the expensive parts himself. They still got him a bullet
proof vest, a pair of shoes that can reduce the impact from falls, a small submachine
gun, and a progressive knife (Eva).
Each of them got Zheng an item, but that knife was the most expensive, it cost over
600 points. It was something that hadn’t been invented in the real world. Zheng got
more suspicious when Xuan handed the knife to him. He was certain that Xuan was
plotting something.
They met up in Jie’s room for dinner. The precious and rare materials combined
with Nana’s cooking made them eat like a beast. Even Xuan was the same, he was
actually digging at the food more fierce than anyone else.
After dinner, they agreed to meet up 10am the next day and see Zheng off… Even if
it was only temporary, going back to the real world was a wish that they would beg
for. Compared to the terrors, the ordinary world was heaven.
The next day at 10am, everyone stood on the platform in silence. Zheng was com-
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municating with God with his eyes closed. After a while, he looked at his ring. Xuan
asked. “You exchanged something?”
“Yes, I got one cubic meter of platinum. My family isn’t rich. My parents just have
enough from pension. If these things can be brought back to the real world, then
this is the least I can do for them. And Lori’s parents spent a lot of money for her
illness, their financial state hadn’t been too good… Since we have to test it anyway, I
can feel relieved in this world if they can live well.”
Lori stood next to Zheng, when she heard about her parents her eyes turned red.
Lan took out a handkerchief and handed it to her.
Zheng got a hold of Lori’s hand then checked his items. He put the submachine gun,
knife, vest, some left over bandage and hemostasis sprays and the platinum in the
ring. Basically he brought everything he can, now he just needed to confirm whether
these things can be brought back… and that included Lori.
This was also one of the reason he agreed. He wanted to confirm if Lori can go back
to the real world and not just some illusion created by God. Dreams are good but
he will wake up one day. Instead of investing his feelings then get hurt, he rather
face the the problem right now. He needed to know whether all of these were just
illusions.
“Then… lets go!”
Zheng exchanged thirty days of time in the real world. That was 1500 points. He used
10 points for that platinum, and enhanced his muscle density and reaction speed by
100 stat points each. So he had 660 points left.
His current stats were reaction speed 387, muscle density 402, intelligence 187, mental
capacity 232, immunization 331. The two enhanced stats were about four times
stronger than a normal person.
Zheng held onto Lori’s hands tight, he almost couldn’t control his strength. After
communicating with God, he finally exchanged for time in the real world.
Everything in front of him flashed for a moment, then he fell into a half awake state.
Time passed by, perhaps it was just a blink of an eye or perhaps it was took very long.
By the time he woke up he was standing inside an office. This was the place he went
to work in the real world, and beside him…
Lori was smiling with teary eyes. Their hands were still holding onto each other.
Zheng took a deep breath. He looked out the window, this really was the place he
used to work as a manager. The weather was sunny, a flock of pigeons flew by, the
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peaceful atmosphere and the the voices from the streets. This was the world he grew
up in. A place without monsters, Aliens, or T virus, without the endless horrors. The
peaceful world was like heaven.
Suddenly Zheng felt that the real world was so unfamiliar. As if it belonged to his
previous life. After struggling in the horrors, he finally came back reborn.
“I was so scared, scared that I am just an illusion created by that sphere of light. Hehe.
We can actually come back to the real world, makes me relieved now… Pervert, what
are you thinking?”
Zheng shook his head, some information appeared in his brain. This was the information
God gave him. Within the thirty days in the real world, he could not mention
anything pertaining to God’s world, otherwise he, and everything that belonged to
him would be erased.
At the end of thirty days he must come back to this office. God would transport him
back. At the same time he must be in contact with everything that belonged to him.
Otherwise those items would be left in this world. If the item could only be obtained
from God’s world, then it would be erased. If he couldn’t come back to the office, he
would be erased.
“That means I can’t say anything about that place, must come back here in thirty days,
and must be holding onto Lori’s hands.”
Zheng nodded and kept these information to his heart. Then he said. “Let’s go. Lori,
I will bring you to my parents.”
Outside the office were people working busily. Several dozen people were in front
of computer desks, some were having a conversation. As Zheng and Lori stepped
out of the office, many people turned to them. For a moment, the place fell into a
silence.
“Manager Zheng…”
After the silence, people gathered around Zheng and started asking questions. Basically
where he had been these days.
Zheng grabbed a young man he was close with and went toward the elevator. “San,
how long ago had I left the company? What’s the current situation?”
San took out a pack of cigarettes and handed one to Zheng. “Zheng, did something
happen in your family? Why did you leave without a word? At least leave us a message.
No one knew where you were so that bitch fired you for absences. She got her
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boyfriend the position and he’s irritating everyone. If you hadn’t come, we would’ve
quit together..”
Zheng took a smoke and said. “Yes something happened… San, I’ll teach you a trick.
Doesn’t she like to play in her office? Buy a hidden camera and put it in her office.
But don’t go too far, just threaten them… I have to leave now, please take care of my
family if something was to happen. My parents‘s health isn’t that great either, so visit
them once in a while with some friends.”
Before San could reply, Zheng had already stepped into the elevator.
The two sighed after coming out from the building. Zheng was due to having experienced
so much, even though it wasn’t enough to be enlightened but he had changed.
Lori was marveled at the cityscape. Her memories were still from ten years ago, when
the city wasn’t so developed. Shortly after, they merged into a sea of people.
As she was having difficulty getting through the crowd, Zheng picked her up. Lori
blushed but said with a laugh. “Such big changes, if you leave me here alone, I will
get lost within a few minutes. Hehe. Perhaps I will get abducted by human traffickers.”
“I won’t leave you… definitely won’t!”
Her smile got even wider, she almost hanged herself on Zheng and asked. “We only
have thirty days. Uh. Let’s go see your parents first then visit my parents, how’s it?”
Zheng nodded, then he suddenly stopped with a daze. “Shit… we don’t have any
money. I left that jacket with money in Alien… Looks like we have to walk back.”
Nothing was more embarrassing than having a cubic meter of platinum in his ring,
yet he didn’t have the money to take a taxi. They had no choice but to walk to his
parents’ house.
The two arrived by noon. This was a condo style apartment. It looked like an area
for middle class families. As they knocked on the door, an old woman in her fifties
opened the door.
She immediately recognized Zheng and smiled. “Son, why did you come over today?
You weren’t home last Saturday, and your cell says out of service area when I called
you. You went on a business trip? Come in.”
Zheng pulled out Lori from the back and said with a smile. “Mom, look who this is?”
Lori came out coyly. “Hi auntie, I came over to play.”
She was confused for a while then grabbed Lori in shock. She looked her over from
head to toes a few times then yelled. “Honey, come out, honey!”
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Zheng quietly closed the door. The old couple were checking out Lori with excitement.
This made her feel embarrassed yet happy. Even though she was told to not
say anything about where she had been. The old couple called Lori’s parents then
started questioning her. After Lori avoided some questions, they changed the topic.
An hour later, when they were eating lunch. There was rapid knocking on the door.
Zheng’s mother opened it and there stood a couple in their fifties. They rushed to Lori
once they saw her. The woman held onto her and started crying. The man remained
calm yet his eyes were red.
“Ok, ok, make things clear first.” The man grabbed the woman. “Are you really Lori?
That’s impossible, we saw her pass away with our own eyes.”
Then he looked at Zheng. “Is this an actress you hired? Tell me, what’s this about?”
He started shouting by the end of the sentence.
As Lori started crying, and was about to say something. Zheng patted her hand and
said. “Uncle, I wouldn’t use Lori for a joke… I can promise that this is the real Lori,
your daughter, please forgive me that I can not say anything more.”
Before the man can reply, Zheng’s father shouted. “What can’t you say? What is this?
This isn’t your company’s secret, this concerns a life! I am your father, you have to
say it when I order you.”
Zheng shook his head bitterly. “Dad, I understand but I really can’t say anything.
Otherwise we will both die. I promise this is the real Lori you know.”
Zheng’s mother stopped his father from saying anything more. She laughed. “No
matter what, it’s good that the child is back. If she really came back from… it’s true
that they can’t tell us.”
Back from where? Of course hell, people their age tend to believe in superstitions.
Someone that died over ten years ago suddenly appeared in front of you, that her
appearance, her expressions and her tone were exactly the same. Furthermore the
fact that Zheng couldn’t say anything all pointed to this.
Zheng felt relieved. He was worried that he couldn’t explain Lori’s background. Even
though their parents were mistaken, he was happy to accept this mistake.
“Dad, mom, uncle, auntie, we can only stay here for a month. After a month, we will
have to leave.” Zheng told them after they calmed down.
Zheng’s mother started trembling. Her eyes filled with tears. “Son, you wouldn’t
also…”
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Zheng got a hold of her and smiled. “No, mom, I haven’t died. I am still living very
well. Touch my hand, see, it’s warm. I only said that I and Lori will leave… leave for
one or two years. We still have some things to finish. Then we will come back and
never leave again.”
As the women were crying, the men started to comfort them. “Yes, it’s good that
they can come back, why are you still crying? Only one or two more years, we have
waited ten years already. One or two years will pass in the blink of an eye…”
Zheng sighed then walked over to the window and closed the curtains. He activated
the ring and poured everything out on the floor.
He picked up a bar of platinum and smiled. “Rest assured, I will definitely come back
with Lori. These platinum is a specialty of that place. These are very cheap over
there. Uncle and auntie, you weren’t well off these years, Lori had credit in earning
these platinum, so you also take half of them. But be careful when you sell them, do
it one bar at a time.”
Compared to his words, the platinum were more shocking to them. For a while the
living room fell into a silence. No one noticed that a little dot under the knife blinked
once.
Chapter 2
Zheng lay on his bed with his eyes closed, sensing the circulation of his Qi.
It had been twenty nine days since he came back to the real world. These days were
the most peaceful days ever since he entered God’s world.
During the day, he either took walks with his parents, or went shopping with Lori. As
for the platinum, he sliced them to little pieces with his knife and sold most of them.
This money would be enough for the two families to lead well off lives for the next
dozens of years. These days were also the most relaxing and comfortable days. If
the worries of God’s world were gone, days like these were like living in heaven.
Yet that sword of Damocles felt so close. Once the thirty days of happiness were over,
he had to continue on with the trials in God’s world. He would have to face monsters
like Aliens, or zombies everywhere like in Resident Evil, perhaps they would be devils
or ghosts. Once he was back in God’s world, he would be facing against death!
That’s why even in these thirty days he still practiced his Qi everyday. Every night he
practiced using the knife, this was the only method that he could think of.
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Having Qi in addition to four times a normal person’s strength and reaction speed
made him reach an unimaginable height. He could beat over ten strong men within
a minute, even if they were special agents he could eventually win. And he wouldn’t
get injured too much. Of course this was under the assumption that neither side used
any weapons.
Zheng was not skilled in guns. He could keep his accuracy within fifty meters but
once distances increased or the target’s speed was too fast, his accuracy would go
downhill. He was strongest in close combat.
Especially now that he had the progressive knife. Even though the knife looked bland,
totally black, about thirty centimeters long, and created using indinstinguishable materials,
just a light swing could slice through metal like it was air.
He didn’t feel any friction when he was slicing the platinum. The only weakness was
if the target was too big and the knife got stuck inside it. The knife would stop its
vibration and became just like a normal knife.
Other than familiarizing himself with using the knife, he practiced the application of
Qi. Aside from using it to increase power and speed, he focused it on a body part
and increase defense temporarily or if he focus all of it on his hand, he could throw
a bar with more power than without. Though every time he practiced it, he would
remember that spacecraft…
Aside from these improvements, he also tested combining Qi and blood energy. He
only successfully used blood energy once when he was not in unlocked mode.
“Still couldn’t do it.”
Zheng shook his head, he had tested it for a few days, yet that blood energy never
moved out of his head. Though his Qi had increased a little bit from the training. Just
like the description said, Qi could also increase from training. If he had enough time
he could become like the characters in Wuxia novels.
A knock on the door followed by a little girl’s voice. “Pervert, are you still not up? You
said you would bring me to take a look at school.”
Zheng got off the bed and opened the door. A girl rushed in then checked the whole
room. “What are you looking at?”
“Woman.” Lori frowned. “It happens a lot in movies. When a man is late at opening
the door, then there’s a woman in his room, or a woman’s number on his phone.”
“Where did you see such boring movies? Those are just the director’s imaginations.
Men in the real world wouldn’t be so careless.”
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“From the way you talked, it seems like you really were talking to a woman on the
phone, just that I am not aware of it?”
Zheng embraced her. “How can that be possible, I don’t even have a phone. You
checked my stuff every time you came over… Ok, stop acting so jealous. We will go
have breakfast then I will take you to our high school.”
She smiled. “I’m only jealous because I know you don’t have a phone. If I find any of
those women from your past in your room, then…”
Zheng knew not to reason with women, especially when they’re this young. They
walked out of the room. He had been living in his parents’ house these days. The
four parents were in the living room chatting and laughed when they saw Zheng and
Lori came out.
Lori blushed then grabbed Zheng’s hand and ran toward the door. “Lori, eat breakfast
first.”
“No, auntie, we are going to eat in the school’s cafeteria. We can make it in time for
lunch now. Dad, mom, we will come back at night.”
Once outside the building, she said. “It’s all your fault, they were laughing at me.
They probably knew what happened between us. It feels so embarrassing. How am
I going to face them again?”
Zheng smiled and was about to reply, then his heart clenched. He was so familiar
with this feeling, he experienced it a few times in Alien. This was a premonition of
danger.
Without hesitation, he picked up Lori then ran to the side and stopped a taxi. It wasn’t
until the taxi started moving did he feel relieved. But his back was already soaked in
sweat.
Lori held onto his hand and said. “What happened just now?”
Zheng shook his head. “I don’t know. For a moment I felt something had locked onto
me. It felt dangerous, like… aim, yes, it was like a sniper rifled aimed at us!”
On top of a tall building not far from them, several people with a sniper rifle on hand
shook their heads. One talked to his communication device. “Target got in a car,
license plate… His senses are sharp, I suspect that he might be a special agent from
another country. He noticed when we just locked onto him. He’s also very strong,
we will proceed with plan two.”
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On the backseat of the taxi. Zheng had already calmed down. He started recalling all
the possible enemies, the most probable were local mafias because he sold several
millions worth of platinum these days. Even though he used a middleman, it was
still possible that the mafias found out about him. Though there’s one problem, why
would the mafias have sniper rifles? This was China, not the US!
China was very strict with gun controls. So it was almost impossible for mafias to
have any high end weapons, especially this type of long distance firearms. The government
wouldn’t allow it.
Then who else could it be? A party belonging to the government? Why? Was it
because of the platinum? A few millions of platinum startled the government? That
would only happen if this country’s population was under a million!
Zheng punched through the seat in front of him. The taxi driver was shocked when
he saw that fist.
Lori got a hold of his arm and shouted. “What happened? Pervert, what happened?
Stop hiding it fro me.”
Zheng forced a smile. “It’s ok, Lori. I’m here. It’s just that we probably can’t say good
bye to our parents. Once the clock reach 12am, thirty days are over… Lori, do you
believe me?”
She was about to cry but she still nodded her head.
“Then no matter what happens, you have to believe that I won’t leave you behind.
No matter what!”
Zheng didn’t even know who the enemy was, why they attacked him. Was it a misconception?
Did they attack him… or was it Lori?
Today was the last day in this world. Zheng tried his best to plan his actions. Should
he find a place to hide until 12 then run straight to the office, or should he hide right
under the office building? No matter what, he must be there with Lori at 12, otherwise
they would be erased once the clock ticked past 12.
As Zheng was pondering anxiously, the taxi was stuck in a traffic jam. He didn’t pay
much attention at first, because this was a busy area. Yet as the taxi creeped forward,
he saw a temporary barricade in the front. At the same time, several police officers
came over to their window.
Zheng quickly cooled down. He held onto Lori’s hand as if nothing happened. He
looked like a white collar worker and combined with the distress Lori was showing,
they seemed just like normal people.
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A few policemen looked through the window. Two of them went to check the license
then quickly ran back. The others’ expression suddenly changed and pulled out their
guns.
Zheng’s left hand twitched. He was about to take out the sub machine gun but then
he saw those policemen pointed their guns at the taxi driver instead. He put down
his left hand.
The taxi driver was baffled. First a young man punched through the seat, he had
been scared to say a word, and now so many guns were pointing at him. Was today
his unlucky day?
The police opened the door and dragged the driver out. Then handcuffed his hands
while quickly searched his body.
“We apologize for disturbing you. This driver is a wanted criminal.” One of the police
walked over to Zheng’s window then showed him his ID.
Zheng let out a sigh of relief, yet he still felt a bit of unease. He smiled camly. “Thanks
to you all, otherwise he might have robbed us in the car… can we leave now?”
The police smiled along. “Of course, but please follow us to record some notes. This
is a civilian’s responsibility. Are you two fine with this?”
Zheng had no choice but got off the car with Lori. Then that police led them over to
a police van. “I won’t get in with you. Just one of you get in to record some notes
then you can leave.” Then he turned around and walked away.
Zheng watched as the police walked ten meters away, then said to Lori. “I will go
inside, you wait here for a bit… I might have been oversensitive. That sniper might
have been aiming at that driver. We will go check out our high school later.” Then he
walked into the van.
The van was rather dark. As his eyes were adjusting to the darkness, his heart suddenly
clenched again. A few guns appeared through the darkness almost simultaneously.
One gun was even touching his head.
“Don’t move! Not even a bit, otherwise we don’t mind discloating your joints!”
As that person was talking, the door of the van suddenly closed shut. It wasn’t until
now that Zheng saw the six people in the car. Five of them were pointing at him with
a gun, no, all six of them were, just that the last one was putting his gun on Zheng’s
head.
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Two men walked toward him. One pressed Zheng against the floor and searched his
body, while the other scanned his body with a device. After a while, they stood up.
“Sir, no weapons!”
The person behind Zheng put away the gun and said. “Li, drive to the police station.
And ask have they finished setting up isolation of the interrogation room.”
One person nodded then walked to the driver’s area. Two people were still pointing
a gun at Zheng.
(…Can’t, the space inside the car is too small, it’s easy to get hit.)
Zheng got up from the floor, and asked coldly. “Why do you have to arrest me? Who
are you?”
The person behind Zheng sat down on a seat. He was about twenty nine, and you
could easily tell he was in the army from the way he sat. He replied coldly. “We
are both smart people. Don’t try to send out any information. This car has been
completely isolated, electronic signal isolation device, this was an invention by the
Colonel Chu Xuan you kidnapped. Don’t tell me you don’t know. We are group 1 of
social security. Then who are you?”
(Social security? Damn you Xuan! This is a plot!)
Ever since Zheng’s intelligence increased to 187, his thought process had became
more sensitive. He could quickly make out some questions.
Yes, Xuan probably set him up. Even though he didn’t know how Xuan notified the
government.
That person took a look at Zheng, he thought Zheng was going to confess and
smiled. “Understand now? Yes, about twenty days ago, we received the GPS signal
of Colonel Chu Xuan’s watch. But it appeared on and off. It wasn’t until a few days
ago that we locked onto you. During these few days of surveillance, we couldn’t find
any traces of Colonel. The only possibility is he was moved but he left his watch on
you. Then do you want to tell me now? Who infitrated into the base and kidnapped
Colonel Chu Xuan, who was the traitor that assisted from inside? Who are you serving
for?”
Zheng kept his mouth shut. He was trying to figure out how Xuan sent the message.
It being on and off was a hint, but why? The only possibility was the signal was
isolated or interfered. Then it must be something in his ring. It was not the platinum,
Xuan never touched them. The only other thing that he took out regularly was… the
progressive knife! The weapon Xuan exchanged for him!
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The other person saw that Zheng kept his mouth shut. He closed his eyes and said. “I
can tell you… Colonel Chu Xuan knows of several advance technologies. The nation’s
interest is above everything else. Since you forgot about your country, we won’t let
you off too easily… There is a neruological drug that can make you answer everything
we want to know, even though you will become an idiot afterward. But this is your
punishment!”
Zheng was still crouched. He placed his left hand in the shadow and took off the
ring. He quickly hid it in his mouth, behind his teeth when he got up. “What about
her? The girl outside the van?”
“She? We also found her files, but the files state that she had been dead for ten
years. She still looks like a fifteen year old. Heh. That is a powerful party you serve
for, secretly brought her away and trained her for ten years. When she came back,
her face didn’t even change a bit. She will also be there in the interrogation room.”
Zheng was relieved. “When are you going to inject the drug into me? Today? Tomorrow?”
That person opened his eyes and looked at Zheng carefully. “Heh. You are actually
loyal for a traitor for just a few million dollars worth of platinum. Our interrogators are
waiting for you, if you don’t tell the truth by tomorrow… you will live the rest of your
life as an idiot.”
There was still chance! He still had a chance to escape!
After experiencing the horror movies, Zheng was no longer a normal white collar. He
was stronger than a normal person, he had experience fighting against death, and
most importantly, he was determined to live!
Zheng quickly judged the current situation. One, he must go back to the office by
twelve, otherwise he and Lori would die. Two, he must not say anything about God’s
world.
As to why did these people only bringing him to the local police station, that was
because they were also racing against the clock. They thought that Xuan was moved
to another location. They wouldn’t let a high end talent that knew so much advanced
technology go into the hands of another country. In other words, they needed to find
out Xuan’s whereabout as soon as possible.
The time was about 12pm. Zheng remember it was almost 11 when they left the house.
Then it should be about 12 by now. He had twelve hours between now and midnight.
He must go back to the office with Lori during this time.
14
But he couldn’t go back too early. He was only one person, even though his close
combat ability was stronger than normal people, he wasn’t a superman. He didn’t
think he could defend in the office for too long.
So the best way was to get to the office when it was close to 12. This was the only
way he could live!
The van slowed down after ten minutes. Zheng asked. “Was there someone aiming
at me with a sniper rifle back at my house?”
That person nodded. “That’s correct. We planned to knock you out with anesthesia
bullets. You and the girl will lose consciousness instantly and wouldn’t be able to
send out any messages. But your senses are sharp, that’s why we had to set all this
up to capture you. In fact, that taxi driver is just a normal civilian.”
When he was getting off the car, that person handcuffed his hands on his back. “This
handcuff can also absorb electronic signals. No one’s coming to save you.”
Zheng smiled. He recognized the surrounding area, this police station was about an
hour away from the office. If he had a car, it would only take twenty minutes.
(The escape time is… 11:20pm)
Suddenly, Zheng sensed murderous intents from at least three sources. One from
inside the van, one from inside the police station, and one on top of a building. If he
acted in any way strange, he would probably get shot in the next second.
Without any choice, he had to follow that person into the police station. On the third
floor was an interrogation room separated by a glass wall. Anyone who watched
movies would know there were people watching him behind the glass.
(I have to endure this.)
Zheng shut his eyes and concentrated on his Qi. The only worry he had was Lori,
he hoped nothing would happen to her… Otherwise he would kill Xuan after he goes
back!
A few moments later, some people came into the room and started lecturing Zheng
on nationalism and his future. They also pointed out they would inject him with the
drug and hoped he could spit out everything before it. The government would forgive
people that were willing to redeem themselves.
Zheng heard about police brutality, yet these people weren’t using any kind of force.
They just kept lecturing him until another person came in and said something to the
15
others in a low voice. Zheng could only make out the words ‘platinum’ ‘room’ ‘search’.
His heart clenched, they probably searched his parents’ house.
“Zheng Zha, you should understand that the drug will put your brain into a chaos.
There’s a possibility that we can’t get anything out of you, that’s why we’ve been
trying to persuade you. If you don’t cooperate, we have no choice but to use the
drug…”
Zheng interrupted him. “How will you treat my parents?”
Those people smiled. Zheng remained silent the whole time. This was the first time
he spoke. “We won’t do innocent people injustice, but that depends on how well you
tell the truth…”
Zheng said calmly. “Give me a watch. I have to think about it carefully. And don’t use
the drug on that girl. She doesn’t know where we meet. If you do a anything to her,
I would rather kill myself than tell you Xuan’s whereabout… He’s still in this city, we
won’t move him until the day after tomorrow. I will give you an answer within today.”
Those people looked at each other, then one person nodded. He took off his watch
and handed it to Zheng. “You must give us a reply today. If we don’t receive your
reply by 12 midnight, we can only use the drug on you.”
Zheng didn’t say anything more. He looked at the time, 6:40pm. The interrogation
time went faster than he expected.
He held onto the watch and shut his eyes. They took everything from him when he
entered the room, even the buttons on his shirt. Luckily he hid the ring in his mouth.
7pm…8pm…9pm…10pm…11pm…
Those people came in to check him a few times already. As 12pm was approaching,
Zheng suddenly stood up and asked. “Where is the girl? Have you use the drug on
her yet?”
About ten seconds later, he heard through the speakers. “She’s doing well. We didn’t
use any drug on her and even gave her dinner on time.”
Zheng shook his head. “I need to see her. If she’s fine, then I will tell you Xuan’s
whereabout immediately. I will also cooperate and assist you in rescuing him, and
tell you who the traitor is.”
Another ten seconds passed. “Ok, we can fulfill your request. She’s in this police
station…”
11:20pm… Zheng looked at his watch, then he circulated his Qi throughout his body.
16
A few minutes later, several soldiers opened the door and Lori ran into the room. She
held onto Zheng and started crying.
“Lori, don’t move, listen to me… no matter what happens, don’t let go of me, understand?”
Zheng took out his ring as Lori was blocking their view. He activated the ring and the
knife appeared in his left hand… then slashed at the door.
Chapter 3
The progressive knife’s sharpness was unparalleled, it easily slashed through the
door. Zheng kicked at and sent both the door and the two people outside flying. At
the same time he took out the bullet proof vest and sub machine gun.
This bullet proof vest was also a high tech item, it could expand to accommodate any
person’s body. Zheng wore the vest over both him and Lori, bounding on his back.
He had the knife on his right hand and submachine gun on his left. Then ran toward
the exit.
The other side of the interrogation room was in a chaos. They all saw Zheng took
stuff out of thin air. If it was only a knife, he could had hidden it somewhere, but
what about that vest and submachine gun? The people from social security weren’t
garbage, how could they not had found those items on him?
Zheng was checking the knife carefully as he ran. He found a dot on the bottom of
the knife blinked. It was something the size of a rice when he reached for it. He
threw it on the ground and hated Xuan for it.
As he stepped into the hall, footsteps of people running came from the other end.
He sprayed at it with the gun without hesitation. Then ran toward stairs leading to
third floor. The footsteps were forced to stop from the spray.
Zheng was running fast, the air had became thick and dense. He reached the stairs
and jumped down. Lori immediately screamed but closed her mouth right away.
He landed on the ground steadily then jumped down on on the next stairs. Gun shots
came right as he jumped and hit where he was standing.
The number of people increased on the second floor, but Zheng didn’t pause for a
moment. He jumped from one floor to the next. His speed was so much faster than
17
those chasing. A few minutes later he was out of the police station. The moment he
stepped outside, a bullet brushed against his left leg and left a deep trail on it.
“Sniper?”
That sense of danger was at its height. Zheng was using his strength and Qi at their
limit. Bullets kept passing by his sides yet not one actually hit him.
He didn’t dare to even pause for a bit and ran through the main road in a curved line.
His company building was straight ahead in this road. The office was his only hope!
The police station was in a chaos by now. Numerous police ran toward the garage,
people shouting at their communication device. Then someone suddenly saw a blink
on the ground. If the corner wasn’t kind of dark, he wouldn’t had noticed it.
He ran over and picked up that rice size thing. A few gathered around him in a
pleasant surprise. “Hurry, hurry get people from the technology department over!
Colonel Chu Xuan left his positioning device! There must be messages left by him…”
Zheng wasn’t aware of what happened in the police station. When he got thousand
meter away, gun shots stopped. Yet he still ran in a curved line for several hundred
meters. Then he stopped a car.
“Are you fucking looking to die…” A yellow haired teenager was driving, with a pretty
girl on the passenger seat.
Zheng sprayed at the ground with his gun then pointed it at the teenager. “Get off!”
The teenager grabbed the girl and jumped off the car without a word. Just as Zheng
got in the driver’s seat and brought Lori to his front, a bullet shot through the back
and front windows of the car.
He stepped on the acceleration pedal then punched the front window. The sound of
police siren came from behind. When he took a look at the back, there were at least
ten police cars chasing him. As well as people shooting at him.
The yellow haired teenager and girl was in shock. It wasn’t until the police cars had
gone by did she shouted. “God, it’s a gun fight, a real gun fight, it’s so cool…” The
teenager was about to exclaim when three helicopters flew over them.
Zheng’s mind was concentrating intensely. All that’s left in his mind was the road
ahead. The car was running faster and faster, driving pass other cars on the road.
Yet the police cars were following closely, not giving him any chance. The number of
cars chasing increased as the chase went on, he also saw the three helicopters on
the sky.
18
“Shit, is Xuan really that valuable? So many people…”
Zheng mumbled bitterly, but before he could finish the sentence, a bullet shot
through his left hand. The bullet came from one of the helicopters. For a while he
lost control of the driving wheel and almost hit the guardrail.
Zheng clenched his teeth and held on tight with his left hand. Even though his capitate
bone was broken, he could still perform simple actions like holding onto the
wheel. His other was hand was holding onto Lori.
The sniper fired a few more shots but they all missed due to the speed of the car.
They were not aiming for the tires. If the car was to turn over at such speed, the
people inside would definitely die.
The car was approaching the company building, it was just one turn away. But before
Zheng could get excited, dozens of police cars blocked the street ahead.
“Lori…” Zheng said calmly.
“Eh?” Lori kept her head in Zheng’s chest the whole time, she couldn’t see what’s
happening.
“Lori… We won’t die! We won’t! Whether in the real world or in the movies… We will
live!”
“Ah!!!”
Zheng lowered his head and stepped on the acceleration pedal. The car was running
at its limit. It kept going despite bullets hitting on its body. With a loud bang, the
car bumped through three police cars and broke through the barricade. Though its
speed also slowed down. The sniper on the helicopter immediately pulled the trigger
and shot its tire. The car slided several thousand meters then hit the guardrail.
Zheng’s head also hit the driving wheel. The wheel was smashed to pieces, and
scratched a huge wound on his head. He recovered from the concussion in just
a second then slashed the door with the knife. Zheng kicked the door away and
immediately followed by a round of gunshots.
Without thinking, he carried Lori on his back, grabbed the submachine gun and ran
out of the car. After spraying a few rounds at the police, he ran toward the company’s
building. The building was in sight, about a thousand meter away.
At the same time, a bunch of researchers in the police station. “It’s decrypted, the
password was Colonel Chu Xuan’s personal password!”
19
Xuan was talking on the monitor, and the printer connected to this computer was
printing blueprints non stop. Yet no one even took a look at those blueprints. They
were all staring at Xuan in shock. After the file ended, several researchers ran to the
blueprints and started going through every page.
“Real, it’s real, all real! Haha…”
“Yes, it’s all real! This is the Gauss long distance canon! The thing Wang couldn’t
finish during his lifetime…”
“This is the composition list of high efficient battery. It really exists! Li, you died too
early…”
As the researchers were laughing and crying at the same time, someone shouted.
“Shit, get in contact with the front line, get everyone back! Don’t shoot another bullet…
And find a reason to send those four old people back, and…”
At this time Zheng had ran about a hundred meters away from the car. Just as he
crossed a guardrail, a bullet shot through his left leg and made him roll on the ground.
Then another bullet shot through his right leg.
(Can’t die… Can’t die! I can’t die!)
Zheng screamed and that feeling of something within him unlocked appeared. He
immediately shut off the pain from his legs and started running on all fours like an
animal. That speed was even much faster than a regular person running. Not only
that, he also became more sensitive to danger. He would start dodging before a shot
was fired. That speed and the way he was running shocked the snipers.
He was getting closer to the building, yet because the door was tightly shut at this
time, he needed to break open it. This would require him to stop for a second. One
second was enough for a sniper to headshot him. He wasn’t sure if they were attempting
to capture him alive, but he couldn’t take the risk.
“Ah!!!”
Zheng’s eyes turned red. He didn’t have the time to worry anymore. As he reached
the door, he jumped over four meters high and slashed at it. At the same time Zheng
felt an impact.
People in the helicopters were not only shocked, they were horrified. If you suddenly
see someone jump four meters high, you would feel shocked and horrified. They
watched as Zheng rolled into the building. Only one person fired a shot and hit
Zheng on the back.
20
Zheng immediately got up from the ground and ran toward the emergency exit.
“We made it, Lori, we made it… We can definitely survive, we won’t… Lori?”
Zheng suddenly noticed something wrong with Lori. He brought her from his back
to the front, then stopped dead. Lori’s waist was soaked with blood. It happened to
be an area the vest didn’t cover. The bullet shot through her from the back. When
he brought her to the front, the bullet fell off.
Lori tried her best to open her eyes. Her pale face broke into a smile. “Pervert, hurry
and run, you don’t want to carry Lori anymore?”
Tear streamed down Zheng’s face. Lori’s face as though turned into that of ten years
ago, when her hair all fell off, when she was skinny as a skeleton, yet she kept this
same smile, calling him the same pervert, and he… didn’t want to lose her a second
time.
Even though Zheng’s heart had broken inside, he still carried Lori and sprinted upstairs.
“Lori, talk to me, don’t stop talking to me… don’t fall asleep, Lori, you promised
to stay by my side until our hair turn to silver, I kept our promise and survived, so
don’t break your promise again… please, live on with me!”
“But what should I say? I’m so sleepy, pervert, I want to sleep… want me to sing you
a song?”
Zheng was running faster and faster then, pah! His left leg snapped at the point
of the gunshot. Unprepared for it, he fell backward and rolled down the stairs. He
embraced Lori in his arms to protect her from the fall.
Luckily Zheng was only up a few steps in this set of stairs and the fall didn’t cause
much injury. He got up as soon as he landed then bounded Lori on his back with the
vest. He started climbing the stairs using both his hands and legs. Yet dragging that
broken leg slowed his speed in half.
Zheng clenched his teeth, raised the knife and slashed at his left leg. He was still in
the unlocked mode, the muscles on the cut off point squeezed together to stop the
bleeding. Zheng continued climbing up the stairs.

Lyrics
“Childhood”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRKTOZmX2cE
21

Lori’s singing echoed by his ears, yet that song felt so sentimental. Tear had blurred
his vision. His nails soon flipped and torn under the intense climbing, left his hands
looking bloody and horrifying.
Her voice was getting weaker and weaker. Zheng screamed like an animal. He
sprint toward the floor of his office and tackled at the door. The office was bright
as in daylight despite that none of the lights were on. The brightness came from a
computer screen. Zheng raised his head and looked forward. Outside the windows
floated several helicopters. They were probably attracted by the brightness also. As
soon as they saw Zheng, the snipers aimed their rifles at him. Almost simultaneously,
their communication device rang.
“… Yes, sir. They… disappeared!”
The same half awaken staten. When Zheng regained consciousness, he saw the
people in front of him looking surprised. They were Jie, Lan, Zero, and… Xuan!
He carried Lori and shouted to God. “God, hurry and heal her injuries…”
Jie suddenly shouted. “Wait, wait!”
He ran over and took over Lori. “God, heal her injuries and deduct the points from
me!”
Zheng was still in shock but Jie shouted. “Hurry and heal your own injuries. I know
you don’t have too many points left. If your points are negative you will get erased!
Hurry and heal your injuries!”
He watched as a beam of light shone down on Lori. She immediately floated to midair,
her pale face started to gain back color. “God, heal my injuries!”
The repair process took Zheng over 400 points. His left leg also grew back. Lori had
been waiting for him on the ground. Once he landed on the ground, she jumped into
his arms.
”Lori… stand behind me.
Zheng smiled at her then charged at Xuan with the knife. Only Zero reacted in time,
he threw Xuan to the ground but that knife still took an arm off Zero.
Jie immediately got a hold of Zheng and shouted. “Zheng! You gone mad? What are
you doing to your own people?”
“Our own people? Fuck! I spent the points and reward to go back for everyone but do
you know what he did? He put the positioning device from his watch in this knife! You
22
know why I came back like this? I was chased back! The social securities arrested
me, I struggled to come back at the last second! Do you still think he counts as one
of us?”
Everyone looked at Xuan. He got up from the floor as if nothing happened. “Is that
so? Then my conjectures are correct…”
Zheng kicked at his chest and knocked him over ten feet away. Blood gushed out of
Xuan’s mouth.
“Fuck!” Zheng screamed. “Is my life so worthless? Just for your stupid conjectures?
And we were even allies, I risked my life in the last movie! Is this how you pay someone
back? I will kill you now!”
Jie tried to hold him back, but Zheng was so much stronger than him. As Zheng
walked toward Xuan, Lan shouted. “You want to kill Lori? Killing someone will cost
you 1000 points. Do you have 1000 points now? You can kill yourself if you want to
but why do you have to drag her along?”
Zheng stopped his steps, his face looked less crazy but still hideous. “Xuan, I don’t
know how long the social security will lock up my parents. I won’t kill you but I will
cut off your limbs. You can repair them but I will do it again! You will either starve to
death or get erased because you can get into the circle of light!”
Xuan sat up and brushed off the blood on his mouth. He said calmly. “What about
the positioning device? You threw it away?”
“Of course, do you think I will bring it back to you?”
Xuan nodded. “Then I can promise that nothing will happen to your parents. In fact
the positioning device can also store a limited amount of information. I entered the
existence of this world and also exchanged blueprints of some advanced technologies.
If you left the positioning device in the real world, they will release your parents
and even give them better care. This I can promise.”
Zheng had started to calm down a bit. He said coldly. “How can I trust you? And why
did you do this? Why do you do this even if it breaks our alliance? If you don’t give
me a reason, I will cut off your limbs!”
Xuan smiled calmly. “Good, then listen to my reasons… I have three reasons that I
want to do this.”
“First, to test whether the ‘Real World’ you go to is the original world we were from.
Because since God can create the horror worlds, that real world may also be a virtual
23
world. The only way to prove it is if something you are unexpected of happens. Just
like I put the positioning device on your knife. You don’t know about this. Only the
military base from my memory can receive signal from that device. If you came back
without a scratch, that means the real world you went to was created by God. But
if you encountered people from the social security, then that is the actual real world.
Judging from your injuries, we entered God’s World with our body. That also means
the things we exchanged and our body enhancements can also be brought back.
This is the first point I want to prove.”
“Second, I think God probably gave you some limitation when you go back. Can you
tell us the limitations?”
Zheng replied coldly. “Yes, first you can’t tell anyone about God’s World in any way.
Second, I must go back to where you were transported at a fixed time, like I pressed
YES in front of my computer, so I must go back there in thirty days. Third, you must
be in contact with everything that belonged to you. Otherwise those items would
be left in the real world. If the item could only be obtained from God’s world, then it
would be erased.”
Xuan adjusted his glasses. “As expected, almost identical to my speculation. Can’t
tell the other world about God’s World? Yet I haven’t been erased, so my second
reason is God doesn’t have the ability to think. It is just a super computer that’s
running a program!”
“Because I got you to bring the positioning device to the real world when you weren’t
aware of it. You don’t know the information it contained, yet it revealed the existence
of God’s World. According to the rules, the one disclosing this information will be
erased, but I am still here. That means this rule only applies to people returned to
the real world. I was still in God’s World so even if I disclosed the information, nothing
will happen. Similarly, because you don’t know anything about me doing it, you didn’t
get erased. Therefore I can assert that God doesn’t have the ability to think. It will
only follow a set of rules. It is only a super computer and not an organism with thinking
ability!”
Zheng shouted. “So what? I don’t care if it’s a computer or what, because of your set
up, we almost lost our lives! Just for your conjectures?”
Xuan ignored him and continued. “Once you know it’s a program, then we can get
around its limitation for many things. It will be the same in horror movies… It’s pointless
saying this to you. The third reason, I wish to bring some advanced technologies
back. If the first two conjectures are sound, then the government should have those
24
blueprints. They should have also received my message. In my message, I told them
to find some special agents and hypnotize them to be disappointed with life. Then
stay in front of the computers all day long. This way we might get some special
agents in our team and will increase our chance of survivability by a lot…”
“Sorry that got you in danger. This was off from my speculation. I thought they could
find you earlier. Once they found the positioning device on the knife, you can come
back safely… This is my fault. If you still want to kill me, go ahead, I won’t resist.”
Xuan stood there calmly after saying all this. Yet Zheng hesitated, then he threw the
knife on the ground. “Fuck! If you let me know these earlier, it’s not like I don’t love
my country, I will bring the positioning device back. I hate how you set up your allies,
don’t you have any normal emotions in your thinking?”
Xuan replied calmly. “I can’t tell you anything beforehand. If you have these details in
your memory, then God can erase you according to your memory, because this can
be a way of you sending out the message. It must be done when you are completely
unaware of everything.”
Zheng took a deep breath. “I can’t trust you anymore! No matter how dangerous the
next movie is, we will terminate our alliance! Don’t ever set me up again, otherwise I
will kill you with my own hands! I promise!”
Zheng took Lori’s hand and walked back to his room in silence. Jie and Lan both
sighed and went to their rooms. The only ones left in the platform were Zero repairing
under a light beam and Xuan… He picked up the knife then walked back to his room
in silence…
Chapter 4
“Enter the beam within thirty seconds. Target locked, starting transportation to The
Grudge.”
Five people, no, it was five people and Arnold standing inside the beam.
That same half awake state, by the time they woke up, they were inside a very normal
room. The floor was covered with tatami (rice straw mat), the rooms were divided by
shoji (paper door). By the style and decorations of this room, this was a Japanese
house.
25
The five of them immediately counted the people on the floor. The result terrified
them. There were fifteen newbies, including the five of them would make the difficulty
reach twenty.
The more people there were, the more difficult the movie was. In Alien, fifteen people
caused God to change the plot and almost wiped them out. And this time, the number
of people reached the maximum allowed.
Jie fell on the floor and mumbled. “The Grudge, it’s The Grudge, and it’s The Grudge
with twenty people difficulty… we are…”
Lan recovered from the shock and ran over to the window. This was a residential
house. She was looking outside from the second floor, but if she were to look at the
house from outside, this house was exactly the same as the one in the movie.
Lan turned around with a pale face and said to Xuan. “You’re probably not experienced
in this type of movies, let me analyze it this time?”
Xuan nodded silently.
Some newbies had started to wake up, but Lan didn’t pay much attention to them.
She began to explain the concept of a Ju on (curse).
“A Ju on is when a person filled with grudge dies, that grudge becomes a curse. This
curse usually lingers at the place where the person lived. Once someone enters this
place, this person will be killed by the curse. The cursed place in this movie… is this
house!”
Lan touched her forehead and continued. “Once someone gets cursed in this movie,
that person will definitely die. Perhaps after a few days, or a few weeks, the ghost
will kill that person eventually!”
Zheng sighed. “You’re saying we have all been cursed? Once the movie starts, we
can get killed anytime?”
Lan forced a smile. “Yes… this is the type of movies that can’t be explained with
science. We don’t have any means to analyze how the ghost kills, we don’t even
know how to avoid them… Then what can be our mission?”
They looked at their watches at the same time. Their mission was to survive seven
days. There was also another option, killing the main body of Kayako once will be
rewarded with a rank B reward and 5000 points!
“A rank B reward and 5000 points?” Jie jumped up from the tatami and shouted
excitedly. “Shit, that’s worth risking our lives. We just have to complete this one then
26
we can do whatever we want.”
That lighten up the stressful atmosphere. Zheng laughed. “You really think it would
be easy? Think how scary the Queen was and everyone only got a rank D reward,
and I got an extra 3000 points. Kayako must be even scarier.”
The five of them fell into silence again…
It had been nine days since Zheng returned to God’s World. He almost hadn’t spoken
a word to Xuan since then. He spent the time discussing combat techniques with Jie
and Zero, and training to use guns and other survival skills. It wasn’t until right before
they were about to enter the third movie did Xuan came up to him. He handed them
each a cellphone looking device.
“One each, they can communicate without getting interfered by satellite signals. Maximum
distance is 50 kilometers. I think this should be useful in a team.”
Xuan also barely spoke with anyone since then. He spent his time making this device
and a large amount of bullets. To everyone’s curiosity, he spent the rest of his points
in magical bullets. These bullets looked the same as normal ones but had rune words
carved on the shells.
Without rhyme and reason, the rest of them, including Zheng, also exchanged a large
amount of magical bullets. This was the cheapest item that can damage spiritual
monsters, and it could be used in any gun. Zheng stored a cubic meter of bullets in
his ring. In contrast, he only got a few armor piercing shells.
The people without a Na ring exchanged tactical backpacks and stocked them with
hemostasis sprays, bandage, antidotes, rations, solidified water in capsules, and a
winter jacket. These things spent every point they had. Since some people had
more points than others, Zheng had to fill the gaps with his points.
Zheng sat on the tatami in silence as he watched Lan explain the rules to the newbies.
He recalled the plot of this movie in his mind.
The Grudge was a trilogy. He had actually watched this famous movie within the past
few days. He could still recall the details vividly. The most unforgettable thing was
no one survived the Ju on.
The plot started with Kayako loving a man in secret during college. Yet due to her
unsocial personality, she could only stare at him from a distance and write her feelings
down in diary. That man wasn’t aware of Kayako and dated another woman at the
same time. He married that woman shortly after, but it left Kayako with hatred.
27
Then Kayako went through a serious of unfortunate events. The cat that grew up
with her died, both her parents died in a car accident. And at this time, her heart was
filled with grudge.
Kayako married another man shortly after and gave birth to a boy. She lived in peace
for a few years until the boy was old enough to go to school. She found out that the
boy’s teacher was the man she had loved.
At the same time her husband found out he suffered from male infidelity, that it was
difficult for him to have a child. He also discovered Kayako’s diary and assumed that
boy was the product of an affair. He became abusive and tortured and killed Kayako
then hid the body in the attic. He also killed the man Kayako loved afterward.
Yet the fact was that child actually belonged to Kayako and her husband. The misunderstanding
and torture from her husband drove her grudge to the limit. So this
place became cursed.
This was the plot he knew. Even though The Grudge was a trilogy, all three movies
told the same thing, how Kayako killed anyone that entered this house.
(Kill Kayako? When her ghost appears, can we kill her with magical bullets? If it is
possible then wouldn’t it be too easy compared with the difficulty and rewards?)
As Zheng was thinking, a bulky man with his face red shouted. “I was doing business
on the internet and clicked on a pop up, how did I get here? Fuck, have you knocked
me out with anesthesia from behind then brought me to the room next door to blackmail
me? Don’t you think this is creative, countless people had done it before…”
All the newbies aside from three people seemed rather normal, whether it was their
clothing, expressions, or reactions. These three people started talking loudly and
the red faced man even started to go downstairs, eight people followed him.
Of the three people, a boy about fifteen years old sat there reading a book quietly.
A man was studying the tatami and shoji. A young woman was lying on the tatami,
it looked like she wasn’t even awake, dressed in sexy pajamas with her eyes out of
focus.
There were also three young men in their twenties that stayed. The reason was they
had been staring at that sexy woman.
Lan was about to stop people from leaving but Zheng got a hold of her. “Let them
leave. This is the first spirit type movie we encountered. We don’t have the ability to
help anybody. If they want to trust us and stay beside us, then we can protect them
a bit, but if they want to leave… then let luck decide their fate.”
28
The man that was studying the tatami stopped and sighed. “I am starting to believe
your words. This is the layout of a Japanese residential house. The designs of tatami
and shoji were also popular in Japan ten years ago…”
The woman yawned. “Japan? How did I get here? I remember I was chatting on the
internet. Oh right, why are you in my house?” She took a look around, realized the
environment was different and screamed.
A woman’s voice came from downstairs when Zheng was about to speak. She was
speaking in Japanese! This woman was probably one of the movie characters. The
movie starts when they can interact with the characters.
Suddenly a chill wind swept across everyone. Yet no one else except Zheng felt this
coldness. His body trembled and he immediately took out the submachine gun, it
was coincidentally loaded with magical bullets, and fired at the attic.
Everyone looked at him in confusion, but Zheng could sense that coldness subsided.
They didn’t realize an air of darkness stuck to their body… even on Zheng’s body.
“Is this… the Ju on?”
Screams followed the gunshot from both upstair and downstair. The newbies downstair
immediately ran out to the streets screaming. The six newbies upstair froze in
place. Then Xuan stood up.
“I’ve seen the movie. The number of people doesn’t help the probability of surviving.
Even if you escape to another country, even if there are dozens of people guarding
you, you will still get killed… I will leave this team, if we can live to see each other…
Jie, Nana’s cooking looked delicious.”
Xuan and Arnold took their backpacks then went downstair.
Zheng watched as he left in silence. “You can ask us if you have any questions. Lan,
have you gotten the 100 points bonus?”
Lan nodded, she suddenly remembered when she first saw Zheng. This man
changed so much in two movies, he had gotten the characteristics of a leader.
“Then we will leave this place.” Zheng smiled bitterly. “This place is… not safe.”
Everyone agreed to the suggestion. The three young men rushed downstair in panic.
That woman followed them. Though the boy and the other man took the stairs calmly.
Jie and Zero followed after. They could see that these two probably had some talent,
or at least the potential. After Xuan left, they desperately needed someone with the
wisdom. Even though Lan could fill the position, she was incomparable to Xuan.
29
Zheng checked the surroundings while holding the gun. Then he noticed Lan staring
at him. “What are you waiting for? Hurry, I’ll cover the retreat.”
Lan blushed a little. “You don’t have to be so nervous. There’s usually a pattern in
this type of movie. We should be safe within one or two days. Those things usually
attack us when we are not paying attention… Did you find out anything?”
“If I tell you I can see… no, I can sense those things, will you believe? I sense an air
of darkness stuck to our bodies, including me. This is probably the mark of Ju On…
It will find us using this mark!”
Lan immediately started patting herself while screaming. “Is it clean? Is it clean?”
Which led Jie to run back.
When she saw Jie, she stopped, pushed Jie away and went downstair.
“Women are scary huh?”
“Yea, really.”
All of them left the house as soon as possible. Zheng let out a sigh of relief once
outside. That house gave him stress him so much he almost couldn’t breathe. This
sense of danger was way beyond anything he experienced in Alien. The worst part
was he didn’t even see the ghost.
Zheng found the six newbies outside, the red faced man and those who followed
him were gone. Even Xuan was gone.
“It is 10am, so we will first find a place to discuss how to survive these seven days. If
there aren’t any problems then…”
As Zheng put back the gun in the ring, he suddenly noticed everyone stared at the
house behind him in shock. He could see the fear in their eyes.
Zheng turned around subconsciously and he saw a woman in white leaning on the
window on the second floor staring at him with a pair of black eyes. Zheng couldn’t
explain how he felt, as if coldness, death, horror, and grudge were hidden behind
those eyes.
When he recovered from the shock, he took out the gun once again and sprayed at
the window. Yet, the bullets only shattered the glass, the woman was nowhere to be
seen.
Jie and Zero got a hold of him and shouted. “Zheng! Calm down, we are safe now!
Hurry, otherwise the Japanese police will come!”
30
They dragged Zheng away. He felt feeble and couldn’t even stand by himself. As
the house was going out of sight, Zheng took one last look at it and that woman was
there again…
“You calmed down yet?”
Zero handed him a can of coke and Zheng forced a smile. “Thanks for that… It seems
like I have become a deadweight.”
They were sitting in a small park. Zero went away when he dragged Zheng here and
brought back soda and packaged food. Even though the rations they exchanged
didn’t cost much, they wanted to save the rations until necessary.
Zheng took a drink and felt much better from the coldness. Lan said. “Are you alright?
I’ve told them that you can sense the curse. You’re the only one among us that can
sense it, so we will have to depend on you.”
“This feeling is too sensitive. If it continues, I will probably go crazy from the scariness
before the ghosts get me.”
The boy suddenly said in a cold voice. “You are not calm enough. When you encounter
unexplainable things, the first thing isn’t to panic but try to understand them…
Even though you have such powers, you’re just a weakling.”
He said it without raising his head. His voice sounded like a girl, and his skin was
even fairer than Lan’s. But he had been reading the book this whole time so no one
got a clear look of his face.
Zheng was surprised. “Yeah, I am not calm enough… then let’s get to know each
other. You have seen that thing back there, so you will believe us now right? Even
though it sounds unbelievable but we are in another world… I’ll go first. My name is
Zheng Zha, the temporary leader of this team.”
This was the result the four of them came up with. They couldn’t agree with Xuan
during those nine days, so even Zero joined their team. Though Zheng only thought
of himself as a temporary leader since no one knew if they were going to die.
Jie took out a bag of cigarettes and handed one to Zheng and Zero. “My name is
Zhang Jie, I can count as a gunner.”
Lan laughed. “I am Zhan Lan, a support, not good in combat but I can bandage and
help analyze some situations.”
“Zero, sniper.”
The three young men looked at each other. “Lu Renjia, I’m still a college student.”
31
“Xiao Binyi, unemployed.”
“Qun Zhongding (Ding), senior college student.”
The woman yawned. “Ming Yanwei, HR manager, but Japan huh, I’ve always wanted
to travel around Japan. Didn’t expect to fulfill this wish before I die.”
Of the two people left, the man that checked the house said. “Qi Tengyi, I’m an
otaku… just kidding, I’m an appraiser… for grave robbers. I wish to join your team.”
Zheng smiled, an appraiser would be someone they need. He could be useful in
many movies.
The boy put down his book and when they took a look at his face, they realized she
was a girl! She was about fifteen, and had a pair of eyes similar to Xuan’s.
“Zhao Yinkong, assassin…” Her voice was cold. She went back to her book. Zheng,
Jie, and Lan turned to Zero.
“Zheng, you’re the leader so we’ll have you explain our plans. Assassins are good,
this team needs all kinds of talent.”
Zheng nodded, he was worried if there were any conflicts between Zero and Yinkong,
but it seemed like they didn’t know each other. Even assassins wouldn’t necessarily
know each other.
“I think we need Japanese Yen the most. We have to live here for seven days after
all, unless you all want to stay in the streets.”
Zheng laughed then took out two gold bars from the ring. He handed them to Zero
and said. “Luckily I exchanged these gold bars from God. Zero, you’re probably more
familiar with the underworld than us. Exchange these gold bars to Japanese Yen, it
should be enough for us. And buy a few copies of the local map. Including hotel
locations and temples which are here… Oh and can any of you speak Japanese?”
Yanwei and Tengyi both said. “I know a little.”
As Zheng was going to continue, Yinkong also said. “I know Japanese… why do you
want the location of temples?”
Zheng smiled at her. “Since there are curses in this world, why couldn’t there be
temples that can remove the curse? If logic from the real world doesn’t apply here,
then we will think using the logic of this world.”
She put down her book. “You’re quite interesting, even though you’re a weakling
with power, but you seem like a leader… Ok, I will join the team.”
32
As Zheng smiled at her, Lan suddenly said in a low voice. “There’s still a minor at
home…”
Zheng coughed. “Then this is decided. Zero, try to get some guns also, we have a
lot of magical bullets. Try to arm everyone with a gun.”
Zero put the gold bars in his pocket and walked away. The weather was sunny, kids
playing, and old people resting in the park. It all looked so peaceful.
But who could say with certainty? This was the world of a horror movie, especially
one that couldn’t be explained with science, a world with ghosts and curses!
Zheng looked up to the sky, sunlight felt cold to him, then he remembered that
woman in white… Who knew how many of them could go back this time.
Chapter 5
Zero came back to the park by evening. Nightfall was within two hours. Aside from
having some snacks, they spent most of their time observing all sides nervously. Especially
now that the sun was setting, they felt more and more anxious.
Anyone that had seen The Grudge should know the ghosts in this movie weren’t
afraid of sunlight. They could hunt day and night. Yet everyone still hoped to stay
under the lights. Such an odd mentality, even when they knew the ghosts weren’t
afraid of light, staying under the light gave them a little bit of courage.
Jie ran up to Zero and patted his shoulder with a laugh. “Shit, I thought you ran away
with the gold. Haha, how did it go? How much money did you get?”
Zero smiled and took out ten credit cards. He handed the golden one to Zheng.
“100% pure gold. I got each of you a card after selling them. The passwords are all
123456. There are…”
Zheng took the card and laughed. “It doesn’t matter. As long as there’s enough to
last us seven days. Not like we will bring these money back to God’s dimension.
Haha…”
The ten of them finally left this park. They took three taxis and headed toward the
best five star hotel in this city. Even though Japan’s cost of living was high, those
gold bars were enough to let them live luxuriously for seven days.
The three women got in a taxi, the three college students got in one, and Zheng, Jie,
Zero, and Tengyi got in one.
33
Inside the taxi, Zero took out a few copies of maps. “City map with hotels, transportation,
and sight seeing points of interests…”
Zheng took one and started studying with the other two. Zero continued. “I chose
Sunlight Hotel. It is surrounded by open roads, very accessible. We can escape at
any direction. Of course, if you are not ok with it…”
Zheng said. “No, this type of hotels is suitable to our current situation. Complex
surroundings can trap us when we get attacked. Were you able to buy guns?”
Zero nodded. “No problem, but we need to pick it up tomorrow… Zheng, can magical
bullets really damage those things? Did you damage it before?”
Zheng smiled bitterly. “I don’t know. I felt danger back them, that’s why I lost control
of myself. To be honest, I also felt a premonition of death, as if I was going to get
killed any second. I’m really scared of dying. People that are afraid of dying tend to
lose control easily when they feel death is coming.”
“Is that so? You’re also scared of dying huh…”
The four of them fell into a silence. Before long, the taxis arrived at Sunlight Hotel.
Zero was very dependable. Not only had he sold all the gold within half a day, he
also got them fake IDs. Otherwise they wouldn’t be able to live in the hotel even if
they had the money.
It was summer season in the movie, most of the rooms were already taken. The left
over rooms weren’t in the same floor, so they had to settle on a presidential suite that
could fit all of them.
Yinkong immediately said. “I don’t want to live with anyone. Get me a single room,
one with a computer.”
They looked at her in surprise. Zheng said. “Isn’t it better to live together? That way
we can help each other.”
She put down her book and replied coldly. “I don’t want to live with deadweight. I
think what the person that left in the beginning said was correct. I had also watched
all three movies of The Grudge. This curse isn’t something you can defend with
more people. Instead of getting dragged in when you get killed, it’s easier to escape
alone.”
Zheng sighed. He discussed with the others and to his surprise, the majority wanted
to split up into groups and not stay together. This way they could help each other
while not dragging the whole team in an encounter.
34
Lan naturally grouped up with Yanwei. The seven men were split into two groups
randomly. Zheng, Tengyi, and Renjia in a group, Jie, Zero, Binyi, and Ding in a group.
These four rooms were all in different floors. Yinkong in 11th floor, Zheng in 12th, Jie
in 14th, and Lan in 16th.
The night passed peacefully. Everyone met up in Zheng’s room at noon the next day
with sleepy eyes. Aside from Zero and Yinkong, the rest of them couldn’t fall asleep
until it was past midnight.
“Good, seems like we are all doing fine. Today is the second day, we just have to last
until the seventh day. Then we can all go back alive.”
Zheng rubbed his puffed eyes.
“All doing fine? Maybe not.” Yinkong put down her book and sneered. “I hacked
into this city’s police network. There were two murders today just past midnight. The
police found two bodies in a park not far away from us. In one of the body, all its
internal organs were gone, its face was twisted. The other body was penetrated by
a utility pole through its stomach. Yet the rest of the pole was intact. All the police in
this city was put into action but they couldn’t find the identities of these two people.
According to the residents, they saw these two people with seven others. Are you
feeling surprised?”
Their faces suddenly turned pale, a few people even trembled violently. Death wasn’t
scary, yet dying in an unknown way wasn’t something they could endure.
Zheng took a deep breath and asked Zero. “You got the guns yet?”
Zero took out six guns from a briefcase behind him and Zheng took out six hundred
magical bullets. “Don’t shoot normal people. I don’t want to evade the police at the
same time. Even though killing a team member costs 1000 points… I don’t mind tying
you up and leaving you in a dark place. I think the ghosts like people that can’t resist.”
The three college students got excited when they saw the guns but Zheng’s words
shut them up immediately. Tengyi took a bullet and studied it carefully. “This seems
to be made of regular silver? The rune words look like a combination of oracle bone
script and cuneiform script… Perhaps, oh right, I remember seeing similar rune words
on some coffins.”
Zheng grabbed his hand and said. “You saw these rune words on coffins? What do
they mean? What do they do? These are magical bullets exchanged from God, even
though they’re the cheapest ones, they can damage spiritual beings!”
35
Tengyi rubbed his head. “I don’t know what the rune words mean, I am just an appraiser,
not a professional grave robber. But I heard some professionals said that
these rune words can prevent a corpse from becoming a zombie (Chinese zombies).
Of course, I always thought of those as superstitions.”
Zheng was rather disappointed, but he suddenly remembered something and took
out a stack of Taoist paper charms. He said with excitement. “I almost forgot about
these. Come, one for each of you. These charms will start to burn when a ghost
comes near. While it’s burning, the ghost can’t harm you. It should buy you enough
time to run or yell for help.”
Jie and Lan also took out a few charms from their backpack excitedly. They exchanged
these charms after Resident Evil but since so many things had happened
afterwards, that they had forgotten about the charms. Even though they put them
in the backpack, if Zheng didn’t mention it, they would’ve forgotten their existence.
Under current situation when they couldn’t know when the ghosts will come, this was
the most useful item.
Zheng laughed and patted Tengyi on the shoulder. “Thanks for reminding me. If
the real world has rune words to counter spiritual beings, then why can’t there be
similar items in this world? Those temples shouldn’t just be there for sightseeing.
Haha, maybe we can even learn some spells. Doesn’t God also have these type of
enhancements for exchange?”
“Good! We will visit those temples this afternoon… to find a hope to beat the Ju On!
The ten of them discussed their plans after lunch. Aside from finding a way to eliminate
the Ju On from the temples, it was also important to keep an eye on the police
network. Zero also wanted to find a suitable sniping spot. Yanwei wanted to go
shopping and those three students volunteered to protect her.
The situation was totally unexpected for Zheng. It seemed like no one placed any
hope on the temples. As if the guns and magical bullets were enough to ward off the
ghosts.
Zheng was the only one who was aware of the horror. The Ju On was way beyond
anything they could imagine. Yet ignorance was a bliss. If it was an Alien that was
standing in front of them, they would probably feel scared. But these people had
only seen the movies and they didn’t have the sharp senses Zheng possessed. To
be honest, the magical bullets didn’t bring their lives safety.
Zheng couldn’t help it, he couldn’t just drag everyone to the temples. It was only his
conjecture after all.
36
Even though he didn’t want to admit it… but if it was Xuan in his place, what would
he do in this situation?
Zheng shook his head and shook away these thoughts. The bus had arrived at their
third temple. The four of them visited two temples already, and aside from the numerous
visitors signifying the status of the temples, the abbots (priests) didn’t know anything
about curses. They recited some scriptures and gave the four incense ashes
but they couldn’t sense the marks on their body.
It was tourist season this time of the year. The third temple was also filled with visitors.
Zheng took a deep breath. “Let’s go and hope we can find what we want here… Is it
3pm already?”
The other three people sighed. Even though they didn’t had much hope from the
start, the result was still disappointing.
No matter what, they still had to continue. As they merged into the crowd and slowly
climbed the mountain, Zheng suddenly shivered. He saw a pale little boy disappeared
into the crowd. An indescribable sense of chill swept through them. He felt
as if a hand grabbed his left ankle.
The charm in Zheng’s pocket immediately flared up. The fire didn’t burn him and
instead gave him a feeling of warmth. This warmth moved down his body to his left
ankle and that cold hand retreated. It wasn’t until now that Zheng recovered from
the horror. His left leg had become numb.
The other three saw Zheng paused for a moment then stumbled. Jie immediately
got hold of him. “What’s wrong? You sprained your leg?”
To their surprise, Zheng took out the submachine gun and said to them in a serious
tone. “I was attacked just now. Hurry, get into the temple! The charm in my pocket
is burning…”
Without another word, Jie and Tengyi carried Zheng and sprinted toward the temple.
Tengyi was a large man and Jie’s strength was just second to Zheng. They forced
their way through the crowd and finally reached the main gate (still outside the actual
temple) before the charm burned out.
Once inside, Zheng felt that a weight was lifted. That chill and stress disappeared.
He stopped Jie and Tengyi then walked toward a sideway, away from the crowd.
When they were alone, Zheng crouched down and lifted the bottom of his trousers.
There was a grey handprint on his leg, the size of a child’s hand. He also took out
the charm from his pocket, it had already burned to ashes, yet his shirt was intact.
37
“It was really an attack.” He smiled bitterly. “You still remember the two ghosts in The
Grudge? This was probably that little boy’s ghost. He merely grabbed my leg and
I couldn’t move a bit. If the adult ghost is also like this, or even stronger… then the
magical bullets won’t be enough. We are dead if they get a hold of us.”
Jie and the other two turned pale. They stared at the ashes in silence. Lan touched
her forehead and asked. “Then why did you stop here? Hurry up and get inside the
temple.”
“Can’t you feel it? Right, I am the only one that can feel it. Once we stepped beyond
the gate, the chill and stress were gone. It seems like this temple is authentic. Maybe
they have what we are looking for. I also suspect the ghost attacked us because they
didn’t want us to come in here!”
Jie cried with excitement. “That’s good, I never thought we could actually find something
useful. Haha, let’s go, hurry to the temple!”
The reason Zheng found a place to stop was really because his left leg felt numb.
Since the others were excited to reach the temple, Jie and Tengyi had to carry Zheng
up.
The biggest difference between this temple and the other two was a sense of old
age. This temple felt like it had survived many centuries. Tengyi observed the walls
and doors then said to them in a low voice. “It’s a style from Tang dynasty, probably
left by monks that visited Japan.”
This gave them a sense of safety. Monks from the ancient times were probably more
skilled at handling ghosts. Even though people in the modern days thought of them
as superstitions, but they choose to believe these superstition, at least while they
were in this world.
The four of them found the abbot of this temple. Unfortunately this abbot was the
same as the last two. He couldn’t sense the mark of Ju On on them and just recited
some scriptures. They felt awful as the sun was moving down the horizon.
Zheng suddenly asked. “Master, did the first abbot of this temple came from the Tang
dynasty?”
Tengyi translated the words for him. The old abbot answered. “This temple was built
by the local residents when the disciple of Xuanzang visited Japan. It was said this
monk passed away inside the main hall. The buddha on the main hall was modeled
after the position that he died in.”
38
“Then master, where is his body? And was there anything strange about the main
gate outside?”
The abbot shook his head then continued. “That monk’s body was burned by Oda
Nobunaga during the Sengoku period. Nobunaga then ordered people to spray his
ashes on the main gate so everyone that walks pass will step on him.”
As the abbot sighed, they finally realized what happened. That monk’s ashes could
counter evil but this also took away their last hope.
The four of them also sighed and when they were about to leave, the abbot handed
them a few pieces of yellow paper.
“These are hand copied scriptures by that monk. He said he would go back to Tang
dynasty once he finished preaching in Japan. Unfortunately he died in this mountain…
Since fate led you here, why don’t you take these scriptures. Perhaps you can
find a way to remove the curse in them.”
The generosity of the abbot gained their respect. Even though these pages were old
and some corners were cracked, they were invaluable antiques.
As Zheng took the scriptures, he felt a sense of warmth in his body. At the same time
the mark on his body faded, he almost couldn’t feel it anymore. He hadn’t felt so
comfortable ever since he came into this movie.
“We can definitely survive, definitely!”
Chapter 6
As the four returned to the hotel, the situation inside the suite shocked them before
they had a chance to announce the good news.
Inside the same suite Zheng stayed in the night before. When they opened the door,
they heard the screams of two men.
“Don’t, don’t come over! Gun, right, I have a gun…” This was Renjia’s voice.
“Don’t drag me inside. I didn’t see anything. Don’t drag me in…” This was Ding’s
sobbing.
All the lights were turned on, the TV was also on and at maximum volume. Fortunately,
the room had good soundproof and didn’t attract any employees over. The
39
two young men were sitting together in the center of the carpet. One of them pointed
a gun at the door with a pair of trembling hands.
Zheng and Jie sprinted toward him at then same time and grabbed the gun before
he could fire it.
It wasn’t until now that the two young men realized who these four people were.
Renjia grabbed Zheng’s leg and started crying while Ding curled up on the floor.
Zheng and the other three looked at each other. They had a bad feeling about this.
Zheng helped Renjia stand up and asked. “What happened? Where is Bingyi? and
Yanwei? Why are you two the only ones here? What happened?”
“No use asking them, they became retarded from the scare.”
Yanwei’s voice came from the side. They turned around and saw her dressed in
lingerie leaning on a bedroom door.
She looked like she had make up on. She laughed and said. “These three idiots
couldn’t hold it when they were peeking at me trying on clothes and went to the
toilet. But there were gunshots shortly after and these two came back out from the
toilet. Ha, and they said they were going to protect me. Men will always leave the
women behind and run away in danger, no matter what that danger is. Haha…”
Her words seemed to indicate more than this, yet they didn’t have the time think. Lan
took a look at Yanwei while the other three started asking the young men questions.
Yet, aside from crying, they couldn’t spit out a logical sentence. Then the door was
opened once again. Yinkong walked in slowly with that book on her hand.
“Interesting ways of dying. There are new ways of dying on the police network. A
young man was found inside the water pipes of a toilet in a mall. His whole body was
squeezed inside a pipe just over ten centimeters wide. They couldn’t even make out
that was a human when they took him out. I really want to see how it looks.”
She sat down on the sofa and said all these ignoring the people in the room. When
she got to the last line, there was a bloodlust-filled smile on her face.
“They found four more bodies. One was separated into several hundred pieces, every
piece was the size of a fingernail. It looked like a bomb exploded from inside his
body but they did not find any explosives on the flesh. Two died from bloating. The
forensic examiners found all their internal organs aside from their stomaches disappeared.
These organs went inside the stomach of the other person. And the last
one…”
40
“That’s enough!” Zheng lifted Yinkong and shouted. “Why are you saying this in such
details? You want us to lose our confidence and morale? You think a bunch of people
that have given up can last through these seven days?”
Her eyes became sharp and said in a cold tone. “Let go of me… I say what I like.
Joining this team doesn’t mean that I acknowledge you. To me, Zero is the only one
qualified to be my teammate, you’re all…”
Before Zheng could reply, he felt pain on his wrist and blood gushed out. Her little
hand was as sharp as a knife. It easily sliced Zheng’s wrist. She then stepped closer
to him and her hand aimed at the artery on his neck.
Zheng threw her upward and at the same time kicked on her belly. She got knocked
away to the wall, but jumped right back at Zheng even faster with her hand aiming
at his heart.
(This, this feeling?!)
Zheng had taken out the progressive knife by this time. He went into the unlocked
state. The sense of danger let him know that the girl in front of him was in the same
unlocked state!
As the knife and her hand were about to hit each other, they both jumped back. Their
senses toward danger were extremely sensitive during this state, just then a bullet
went through between them. When they looked toward the door, Zero was standing
there holding a gun on his hand.
Yinkong exited from the unlocked state. She picked up the book she dropped and
returned to the sofa then said emotionlessly. “Including you, I acknowledge two
people in this team…”
Zheng didn’t exit the state and replied coldly. “These same fucking words, who do
you think you are? Why does everyone in this team need your acknowledgment?
One Xuan was enough, I don’t want to see people backstabbing teammates! Either
you leave or treat everyone sincerely. If you think your power lets you stand above
everyone else, I will kill you now!”
The submachine gun appeared in his left hand. “I am serious, don’t assume I am
joking!”
She said without raising her head. “No problem, you’re the leader. If I am not satisfied
with your performance, I will challenge and kill you. Before that happens, your words
are orders… Continuing the previous topic, there was one more person who died. In
other words, five people died today. One from our group and four from theirs.”
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Zheng finally exited his unlocked state. He sat down beside Jie, and Zero also came
over to him. With these two people guarding him, he said. “So they only have three
newbies left… and Xuan?”
Yinkong didn’t reply but Lan laughed. “With this speed, we have no chance of lasting
through seven days. Should we get in touch with Xuan?”
“No.” Zheng gritted his teeth. His body started trembling, this was the after effect
of unlocking the genetic constraint. He had to experience this immense pain every
time. It took almost a minute for him to calm down. As to Yinkong, she didn’t exhibit
anything unusual aside from a bit of sweat.
Zheng wiped away the sweat on his head. “If he wants to get in touch with us… he
will do it. If he sincerely wants to get back into the team, as long as he gets rid of
those thoughts, we will…”
The newbies who weren’t familiar with Xuan were indifferent toward his words but
Jie and the other veterans sighed. Then Tengyi started to explain the background of
the scriptures excitedly. Zero and Yinkong were surprised to see the scriptures. They
never expected the temples to be of any help. At first they were still suspicious. It
wasn’t until after touching the scripture and experiencing the warmth did they believe
in it.
Tengyi was talking nonstop. He looked the lively type of person. “You didn’t see it.
We were attacked by the little boy’s ghost but once we stepped inside the main gate,
the ghost didn’t go away. Haha. It seems like we can definitely survive these seven
days with the scriptures.”
After a discussion, they decided to guard the scriptures in groups of threes while the
other six people take naps in turns. The three girls formed a team and the other two
groups were decided randomly. Zheng, Jie, and Zero formed a team, Tengyi and the
two college students in the remaining team. Each group would guard the scriptures
for three hours every night from now on.
Even though Yinkong disliked this arrangement, she followed her words from before
and accepted living in this suite with the other two girls.
Everything seemed perfect but they didn’t notice the two college students who
looked at each other in the eyes, and also Yanwei who stared at them with a smile.
The first group to guard the scriptures was Zheng’s. They sat there in silence. Jie
took out a pack of cigarettes and said. “Feeling irritated? Why did you get so mad
over a little girl?”
42
Zheng took a cigarette and forced a smile. “It’s not really irritated as much as I just
don’t want to see another Xuan in this team. The type of emotionless nature that can
give up on a comrade any time. I don’t want to see another one.”
After he mentioned Xuan, all three of them fell into a silence again, as if his name was
a taboo. Zero diverged the topic. “How did you get injured? Did she have a knife on
her hand?”
Jie also seemed interested in this question. Even though the fight was short but the
artery on Zheng’s wrist was cut open. His enhanced body and vampire bloodline
quickly healed the wound, but one could still see a trace of it.
Zheng held up his wrist. “Can you believe it? She cut through my skin with just her
fingernails, even steel can’t cut through it that easily. How can a sixteen year old girls’
fingernails be tougher than steel?”
Zero’s expression changed. He looked at the wound carefully then said. “With just
nails? Can she come from the clan of assassins?”
“Clan of assassins?” Zheng and Jie asked curiously.
“Assassins existed since the ancient times, whether it was in Asia or Europe. The
earliest assassins had superior skills and a heart cold as ice. They could kill normal
people easily barehanded. These assassins also mastered a cruel training technique
to stimulate human potentials… But as technology advanced and guns appeared,
this type of assassins declined. The new type of assassins is adept in using guns.
No matter how good your skills are, one little bullet from afar will kill you. So true
assassins have almost disappeared.”
“I have only heard rumors of it that there still exist two clans of assassins in this world.
One in Asia and one in Europe. They still have that training technique handed down
from the past. If this little girl’s nails are really so strong, I think she may have come
from one of the clans, and probably belongs to the inner circle of the clan.”
Zheng recalled when she unlocked her genetic constraint. If it was a cruel training
technique, then fear and death could lead her to unlock the constraint. Also the way
that she handled the pain afterward looked like she was already used to this pain.
Perhaps she really was from one of the clans.
“No wonder she was so arrogant. If she can get along with us peacefully, she will
become a comrade we can depend upon.”
At the same time in the girls’ room. Lan and Yanwei stared at Yinkong in shock. The
blood on Yinkong’s clothes had dried but as she was getting on the only bed in this
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room without changing clothes, Lan and Yanwei annoyed her until she took them
off. Even though Yinkong was mean to the men, she was actually gentle and well
mannered when she interacted with the two women. After she took off her shirt, she
exposed a pair of breasts wrapped around by a piece of cloth very tightly.
(Omitted some lewd lines)
She hurried onto the bed and covered herself with a blanket while the other two
women laughed.
“Why do you have to wrap them up? It will cause them to deform and you’re more
prone to breast cancer. Why don’t we take you to buy a pair of bras tomorrow?”
Yinkong blushed and asid. “They will get in the way if I don’t wrap them up. Others
will also make fun of me and touch them intentionally. Mine are… too big. If I don’t
wrap them up, they will just grow larger.”
Yanwei got close to Yinkong and said. “Hehe, let me tell you. They will just get larger
the more you wrap them up. Choosing the right bras can stop them from growing.”
“Really?”
Lan and Yanwei nodded. Yanwei stroke her hair and said. “Who are they that you
mentioned? You’re so strong, why don’t you… kill them all? Men can not be trusted,
all men are disgusting beings!”
Lan was going to say something but she sighed. “Yanwei, did something happen
before you come here that left you in despair? Can you tell us?”
She paused for a moment then laughed miserably. “Nothing special. My boyfriend
and I drove outside the city and the car broke down. Then a bunch of thugs surrounded
us. He ran away alone… Aren’t all men like this? Once they’re in danger,
they’ll think about themselves first?”
Lan sighed again. She recalled the last movie when Zheng was fighting like a madman…
Not all men were like this.
When it was time for the second group, Zheng prepared a can of cold coffee for
each of them. The two colleeg students sat there discussing something in a low
voice, while Tengyi studied the scriptures excitedly.
Pah!
Tengyi felt pain on the back of his head then fell forward. Two hands on left and right
got a hold of him.
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Ding put down the blood stained ashtray lightly. He and Renjia grabbed the scriptures
with a crazy yet relieved expression.
“These idiots. They never saw how terrifying those things are. They thought it’s safe
to just put the scriptures in the living room. They can all go die…” Ding and Renjia
laughed in a low voice.
“Will you take me along?”
This voice scared the two men. Renjia pointed his gun at the origin of the voice.
Yanwei was leaning on the wall in her sexy lingerie. She laughed and walked over to
them slowly.
“I don’t want to die, can you take me along? I will have to depend on you from now
on…”
Zheng was sleeping soundly. After he got a hold of the scriptures, that chill and stress
never came back. He felt relieved when he laid down. But somehow he was feeling
colder and colder in his dream, as if something was reaching toward his head from
the bedside. As that thing almost touched his head, a series of rapid knockings on
the door woke him and the other two up.
Zheng immediately woke up with a shock. He saw a glimpse of an white arm disappeared
from the bedside. He immediately jumped up then heard Lan’s voice from
outside the room. “Zheng! Come out! Those two college students stole the scriptures!”
They hurried to the living room and saw Tengyi sitting on the ground with a pale face.
By the blood on his head and the disappearance of Renjia, Ding, and the scriptures,
it was obvious what had happened.
Lan said hastily. “After we fell asleep, Yanwei seemingly said that she wanted to use
the bathroom. Then some time after the alarm on her phone rang. There was the
word danger on it. We ran out to take a look and found this situation.”
Zheng touched the canned coffee then said with a livid face. “Stay calm, they couldn’t
have gotten too far. Probably just got out of the hotel. We should be able to catch
them… Zero, is your sniper rifle still in the backpack?”
Zero was surprised by the question. “Yes. I put it in the backpack disassembled, but
due to the high cost of Gauss bullets and magical Gauss bullets, I only exchanged
five of each… you mean?”
“It takes less than a minute to get to the roof, much faster than we can go downstairs.
45
Get up there and find them then contact us… Then shoot their legs! I will take their
hands myself!”
After a quick discussion, Zero and Lan went upstairs. Zero was responsible for the
sniping while Lan guarded his back. Lan also had a small submachine gun. As for
Tengyi, he still hadn’t recovered from the concussion, so he had to stay in the room.
Zheng, Jie and Yinkong took the elevators down.
“Found them. At the entrance to YL street. They’re withdrawing money at the ATM.
Ding is holding the scriptures. Go left from where you are, you should catch up to
them within 30 seconds. I will shoot after 20 seconds… Zheng, hurry, we need to
take back the scriptures before the police arrives.”
“… Ok!”
The three of them ran to the left, Zheng asked Yinkong on the way. “Is there any way
prevent them from telling the police our location?”
She was surprised for a bit. “Just kill them.”
“Killing takes off points. Any other way? You assassins surely have some methods
right?”
“That’s simple, cut off their limbs and tongues, gouge out their eyes. If you want something
even simpler, pierce a needle into their spine and they will go into a vegetative
state… You need my help?”
“No! I will bear my own responsibility…”
The ATM was in sight by this time and beside it was Renjia and the other two. Renjia
was withdrawing money while Ding was looking at him. Only Yanwei saw Zheng
coming their way, then she smiled at them.
With a loud bang, Ding’s left leg disappeared. The huge impact totally crushed his
leg. The bullet even shot into the concrete ground and blasted a hole the size of a
bowl.
The gunshot shocked them for a bit then Renjia immediately turned around and
grabbed Yanwei as a shield. He pointed his gun on her head. Ding was screaming
on the ground.
Renjia saw Zheng running over and shouted. “Don’t come over! Otherwise I will kill
her… and the scriptures, Ding! If they take another step, tear up the scriptures!”
Zheng immediately stopped. They were less than fifty meters away from Renjia now.
46
“I don’t want to say anything else. Put down the scriptures and I will let you leave
safely.”
Ding yelled as he held onto the broken leg. “Leave your ass! Do you know how scary
that thing is? We may as well just kill ourselves if we don’t have the scriptures. Fuck,
why do you have to chase us? Why don’t you let us take the scriptures? You’re strong
why don’t you give them to the weaker ones? Leaving them in the living room to help
everyone? You veterans just want to monopolize them!”
Zheng was filled with hatred. It was the first time he saw such ugliness in people.
Even though this happened frequently in books and movies but when it happened
right in front of his eyes, the shock was indescribable.
(Am I… really wrong?)
Another gunshot as Ding was talking. The arm that was holding the scriptures fell to
the ground. Zheng and Yinkong sprinted at them immediately.
Yet Ding had his mind set. He knew Zero was sniping him at distance. He remembered
their introduction. And without hesitation he grabbed the scriptures and threw
them to the streets. Right after he threw them, his other arm was shot. The scriptures
landed on the street and a car drove on top of them, crushing them into pieces then
blew away by the wind.
“No!”
Zheng was totally enraged. He raised the knife and swung at Ding. Ding’s head flew
off to the distance then it was crushed by a car driving by.
“Killed a team member. Deducted 1000 points.” God’s voice rang inside Zheng’s
head but didn’t pay any attention to what God said. He walked over to Renjia with a
pair of red eyes.
Renjia was so scared he couldn’t even move. Yellow liquid leaked out of his trousers.
When he saw Zheng looking his way, his body was trembling. “Don’t, don’t kill me,
don’t kill me, don’t you lose 1000 points for killing? Don’t kill me…”
Another loud bang. Renjia’s hand was trembling also and the gun he was holding
went off. It blew away half of Yanwei’s head. Everyone watched in shock as this
woman fell to the ground. A few seconds later Renjia started laughing crazily.
Before Zheng could do anything, Yinkong ran up to him and with a swing of her hand,
Renjia’s arm fell off, then it was the other arm and both legs. She didn’t even blink as
the blood sprayed her whole body. Afterward she did everything she had told Zheng
before walking back.
47
Zheng used the hemostasis spray on Renjia then took out the communication device.
“Zero, if there are any security cameras please shoot them off. Also find a place that
we can hide. We will come back after the police leaves.”
“Understood. Go straight five hundred meters. There’s a manhole cover leading to
the sewers. Then run right in the sewers, on top of the twelfth manhole should be a
park. We will come back in the afternoon. Remember to change the blood stained
clothes.”
“Zero, thank you… I will apologize when we get back together…”
(Was I really wrong?)
The three of them reached the park. It was past midnight and the area was totally
black. They had to stand together with their backs to each other so they could each
guard a side. In between them were a few charms.
(Was I really wrong? Is the right way to use newbies as bait and not to trust them in
the beginning?)
As his head was in a chaos, the communication device vibrated.
“Zero? What’s wrong?”
“It’s me…”
This voice… was Xuan!
“I’ve seen what happened and can probably guess how you’re feeling. Then do you
want to talk to me?”
Zheng took a deep breath. “How do you know what happened? And where were
you hiding these few days?”
“It isn’t important where you hide. The Ju On won’t let you off because of distance.
I also went to the temple you visited. Unfortunately the main gate doesn’t have its
ability at night. In fact, the scriptures you were holding on were probably a critical
item to surviving this movie…”
“… Is it because you can listen through the communication device?”
“Correct. I have the main device so I can listen through all the connected devices,
even if you don’t turn them on.”
Zheng looked at the device then laughed bitterly. “Are you here to laugh at me? Yes,
I admit I failed, I was wrong to trust anyone as a comrade then get backstabbed by
48
the same people… Xuan, did you predict this will happen, was that why you left this
insecure team?”
“No, I just want to find a quiet place and look at the stars…”
On top of a roof not far away from the Sunlight Hotel. Xuan looked at the sky as
he sat on the edge. He continued calmly. “There’s no absolute right or wrong. You
think too much… Comrades are important but as a leader you can’t put yourself on
even grounds with them. With power comes responsibility. You’re responsible for
the safety of all team members. You’re still lacking on when you should give up and
when you should persist…”
“The only thing you did wrong was treating everyone equally… This world needs
choices. The paths we take, the newbies that God chooses, or the survivors that
the movies choose. You have to know who can become your comrade. It’s not the
people who can’t adapt to this world. If you choose them, they will drag you along
when this world eliminates them.”
“Life is a long path, you will learn and grow up gradually. I am jealous of you guys… You
will correct yourselves when you know it’s wrong and not have all the knowledge in
the beginning. Zheng, you will grow up, and remember to put yourself in the position
of a leader, not complain like a team member. It’s also important to choose your
comrades. Those without talents, those that may betray, those with an ugly heart,
you can’t save those people. Remember you are not a savior. You are not alive to
save them. You need their strength so you can live. Don’t mess up the order…”
Zheng listened quietly to every word Xuan said. He gradually calmed down. “Why
are you saying this to me? This doesn’t fit your personality, helping someone without
any gain… Xuan, are you listening?”
“Yeah, I’m listening.” Xuan laughed. “It’s not totally unrelated, I owe you a favor.
Remember the data I made you bring back to the real world? Thank you… Ha, it’s
actually not that difficult to thank someone.”
Zheng was silent for a bit. “Do you really love…”
“Love my country? I think you’re mistaken. In actuality, once we entered this world,
we no longer belong to the other world. Patriotism is rather fake here… It’s because
I can finally rest, so tired…”
Xuan paused, then laughed again. “It seems like my time has come… If we can see
each other again, I hope you can grow up to become a real leader. Remember nothing
is absolutely right or wrong. What you want is merely living on right? So crush all
49
the obstacles preventing you from living!”
“I’ll give you a hint. Since God can be thought of as a program, then aside from the
scriptures, maybe the number seven is also a hint. Seven…”
This was the last line Zheng heard. Then he heard creepy noises through the device.
(The Kakaka like noise in the movie)
“… Seven days, maybe this seven hints at the number of times you have to kill the Ju
On’s main body… It’s cut off already?”
Xuan turned around. Not far away from him was a woman in white hanging on the
wall. The kakaka sounds were coming from her mouth…
Chapter 7
Here it comes again?
An infant floated in a glass tank filled with transparent liquid. A group of over ten
researchers surrounded it enthusiastically.
“That’s the only surviving test subject! Chief Chu, we’ve finally done it… Ten years,
we finally get a surviving subject after ten years!”
“Yes, the government has become impatient. Dozens of billions over ten years… but
we finally achieved it.”
“Born with the knowledge of a researcher, unparalleled intelligence, a strong body,
resistant to all diseases, a mind that never gets tired or weak. This is a super human…”
As the researchers discussed excitedly, the old man was the only one who didn’t
participate in the discussions. He looked at the little life inside the tank tenderly,
then placed his hand on the glass.
The little life as though felt it. He tried to reach that hand with his little hand. Yet he
was just created and could only move his fingers. The old man laughed out loud as
he saw this.
Xuan stared at the pale woman calmly. Two large pistols appeared on his hands.
“Then let me verify my last conjecture…”
He started firing at the woman. And it looked like he didn’t even need to aim, every
shot accurately hit her forehead. A few seconds later, the woman’s head was
crushed.
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Yet it seemed that the woman had no physical body. The bullets went through his
body and hit the wall behind her. Her body restructured like it was made of fog,
including an intact head.
“Immune to physical damage? Illusion? Or perhaps… Arnold, attack!”
Gun fire lighted the dark area on the side. Her whole body was covered with bullet
holes and it didn’t restructure like last time. The holes on her body expanded
slowly and the silver bullets that went through her quickly darkened. Finally she disappeared
under the heavy fire.
“As expected… no rewards. And it takes a large amount of magical bullets to eliminate
a ghost…”
The magazines on his pistols dropped to the ground and Xuan replaced them with
new magazines. “Arnold, be cautious of your back, the ghost is likely to attack the
one that damaged her.”
As the big guy was about to turn around, a pale hand reached out from behind, and
along with it the woman with a twisted face appeared out of nowhere. She looked
at Arnold then he stopped moving, but his body was trembling, his skin also started
turning pale white.
“… Physical contact causes you to lose control of the body?”
Xuan started shooting and crushed her head at once. She wasn’t able to restructure
her head due to the magical bullets. Yet her body could still move. As she embraced
Arnold from behind, the skin that was in touch with her body had turned gray. He
could only look at Xuan with his eyes.
“Must attack every part of the body…”
Xuan closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again he started firing,
shooting Arnold along with the woman. Arnold died instantly and the woman also
disappeared.
Inside a military base, a little boy was turning a Rubik’s cube emotionlessly. After he
got all sides to the same color, he dropped it on the ground and started with another
puzzle. The meter big jigsaw puzzle formed without any mistakes.
“Very high intelligence, his memory can remember the location of every piece. Instead
of a human brain, it’s more like…”
“Like a computer right? And this child never even smiled. That emotionless face feels
so creepy.”
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“Not only has he never smiled, he doesn’t feel pain, and no sense of touch, smell,
or taste. Also because we stressed him being mentally strong during the genetic
modification, his body lacks some chemicals. He won’t feel depressed because his
body doesn’t have the chemicals, he won’t feel pain nor happiness, he won’t feel
fear, and he won’t have sexual desires…”
“Just like a robot. A genetically modified human without even a desire to live. Is this
the super human we hoped for? Maybe he is thinking of killing himself right now. If
it is me… I don’t think I can last a second. Life like this is too painful.”
“That’s enough! All of you shut up!”
As the researchers talked behind a glass wall, an old man shouted. He stared at the
researchers behind him and everyone avoided his eye contact.
The old man opened the door next to the glass wall and walked over to the boy. The
boy took a look at him then moved his attention back to his puzzle.
“Xuan, want to see the stars?”
“…Stars?”
“Yes, you can only see them outside the base. Ha, even though you have knowledge
of the stars but they aren’t something you can describe with knowledge. You must
see them with your eyes to realize their beauty… Let’s go, I’ll take you to see the
stars.”
Xuan raised his head and looked at the sky. Stars… really weren’t something that
could be describe with knowledge. Every time he looked at them, a little bit of knowledge
disappeared and was replaced with unexplainable beauty.
A pale hand appeared next to Xuan’s neck. As the hand was going to touch him, he
suddenly flipped forward while firing nonstop. By the time he landed, the woman
behind him disappeared again.
If Zheng and Yinkong were here, they would be surprised that Xuan was in the unlocked
state. After he crushed the woman, he replaced the magazines on his pistols.
“Still no reward, does the number seven hint at…”
As Xuan was pondering, the kakaka sounds came from all sides. Countless pale
white arms appeared on the edge of the roof, then almost a hundred white woman
climbed up. They started crawling toward Xuan while making the sounds.
“The ghost becomes stronger after every wave… I’ve killed it three times so this is
the fourth wave?”
52
Xuan started running at a direction while shooting nonstop. By the time he emptied
the magazines, all the women in front of him disappeared. He replaced the magazines
again and turned around to the other women…
“Ha, so Xuan, how does it feel being outside for the first time?”
“… It’s dark.”
“Of course it’s dark compared to the base. Let’s go, there’s a grass field nearby. We
can lie there and look at the stars.”
An old man holding onto a little boy’s hand. The boy’s face remained expressionless
the whole time they walked. Even though the old man tried to make him laugh. Until
they lied on the grass and looked at the sky.
“Haha, isn’t it beautiful? There are no lights here so we can see the stars easily. If it’s
in a city, we won’t be able to see them with just our eyes…”
The old man kept talking to Xuan but he stared at the sky without a word. Then
the old man fell into a silence. “Sorry, it’s my fault. I thought a person born knowing
everything, feels no pain, and mentally strong would be the new type of super human,
but…”
“Even though normal people make mistakes, but they can correct themselves. They
know how to adapt to this world, to improve themselves. They will start off weak and
make numerous mistakes, but as long as they have the desire to improve, as long as
they are still alive, they will keep improving and advancing. And they have desires.
Desires for money, to reproduce, to dominate, to save, to live… I was wrong. I seized
all your desires and didn’t even leave you with a reason to live. I was wrong…”
The old man held onto the boy and broke down crying. He touched the old man’s
tears and felt as if his eyes got a little wet. Yet tears just couldn’t come out no matter
what…

“By modern medicine, human emotions are controlled by hormones and neurotransmitters…”
It feels like covered in a thick armor made of flesh. No senses of touch, pain, smell,
taste. Can only distinguish the world through vision and sound. No emotions so don’t
know how to laugh or cry, yet forced myself to think of these expressions. I have to
keep thinking what expressions and actions to use…
53
I’m tired. Really want to walk out from this armor, to smell the world, to taste delicious
food, to feel the sense of touch and hardness, to be injured and feel pain, to be happy
and laugh, to express my true self…
But it isn’t possible anymore. Even God can only repair damaged genetic code and
there is no damage in my genetic code. It’s just modified since the beginning, no
way to repair it…
So, I’m tired. Don’t want to think about what expressions to use anymore. If I can
calm down and don’t have to think, don’t have to simulate, just fall into sleep quietly,
that would be good enough…
Xuan was shooting at the women nonstop. His pistols were extremely powerful, every
shot blasted away a part of a woman. It only took ten shots to kill one of them.
Yet there were still over twenty women crawling toward him. Two pistols just weren’t
enough to kill all of them.
Xuan shook his hands and the magazines fell out of the pistols. Two new magazines
had took their place by the time they reached the ground. When the women were
only a few meters away from him, he suddenly ran over to the wall, used the wall to
jump up and over the women. His pistols also finally finished killing all of them.
“The fourth wave!”
Xuan looked around him. He was very sensitive to danger after unlocking his genetic
constraint but somehow he wasn’t feeling any danger at the moment… Was that it for
the Ju On?
“No! Still no reward, no notification. It will continue…”
As he took guard of the situation, a series of shoji suddenly appeared on this roof.
The shoji slowly opened up and behind them was a regular bedroom. A man and
woman were having a heated debate.
The man then started hitting the woman. He took a knife from a table and stabbed her.
She fell to the ground with her eyes wide open in disbelief. Yet that man didn’t stop
there. He started dissecting the woman’s body. The body was twitching nonstop,
but those eyes stared at Xuan without moving. This woman’s face was exactly the
same as those ghosts and the blood on her face made her more horrifying.
Xuan watched everything in silence. He had replaced the magazines in his pistols
again. When that man suddenly turned his head around, Xuan opened fire at him.
Yet the magical bullets didn’t crush the man this time, they went straight through his
body.
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“Illusion? Or…”
Xuan stopped shooting. His senses told him that there was nothing in front of him,
No physical object closing in, no bedroom, and no danger. He watched as the man
slowly walked toward him then the man raised his knife and slashed at him.
(Danger! This feeling…)
Xuan immediately jumped backward but the knife still cut off a part of his chest. No,
not cut off but rather the flesh and clothes on his chest disappeared… Then he felt
his intestines weighted down and along with it a feeling of bloated.
“The attacked part disappears then goes into my intestines. How did he do it? Not
physical and not a mental attack… A spirit type attack that’s unexplainable by science.”
Xuan fired at the man again, yet it was just the same as before. The bullets went
through his body. His senses told him again there was nothing around, and no danger.
“It can’t not exist. In other words, attacks are normally ineffective. Only the moment
he attacks you…”
Xuan held out an arm toward the man calmly. Then as this man slashed the knife at
his arm, Xuan shot at him with his other hand. His arm disappeared and at the same
time the man was crushed then disappeared like the other ghost.
“… Feels so bloated. I still prefer delicious looking food…”
Xuan was still in the unlocked state. His arm stopped bleeding shortly after. He shook
the other hand and replaced the magazines on the pistol again
“The fifth wave is… over!”
He waited in place for a few seconds, then the sense of danger was getting stronger
and stronger, as if the ghost was attacking him. Yet when he looked around, there
was nothing. This sense of danger gradually reached his limit.
“Invisible? Or is it… inside my body?”
Xuan felt his internal organs convulsing. Blood gushed out of his mouth and nose.
Then he vomited out a mouthful of blood and fragments of organs.
“So this is the sixth wave? Attacking organs from inside…”
Xuan smiled and without hesitation he pointed the pistol at his stomach and pulled
the trigger.
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“Do you see it? He’s pondering those four unsolved math problems again. I don’t
know if he has any desires other than a thirst for knowledge…”
“Shh, keep your voice down. He’s already the associate leader of this research team.
Once chief Chu passes away, he will be the one in charge… Aren’t you scared he will
get you in trouble?”
“Heh, you probably don’t know. How will this zombie like person know to get others
in trouble? He probably doesn’t even have the desire to do it…”
Xuan was reading his notebook silently. He could easily hear the whispers around
him with his hearing but compared to the math problems in his hands, he didn’t even
have the desire to take a look at them. He just wanted to do the calculations silently…
The old man’s hair had turned all white after these years. He lay on the sickbed and
looked at Xuan who was sitting beside him silently. The young man was looking at
him emotionlessly, as if these two people were just strangers to each other.
The old man’s hands were filled with IVs. He tried hard to open his mouth. “Xuan, do
you still hate me?”
“Why hate?” Xuan said calmly. “Why should I hate you?”
The old man laughed bitterly. “Yeah, why should you hate me? You can’t hate me…
If you actually hate me, then maybe I can leave this world peacefully.”
Xuan opened his mouth for a bit, but he finally said calmly. “They said you’re going
to die. Is there… no more way to save you?”
The old man shook his head lightly. “With our current technology, I am fortunate
enough to be able to talk to you now… Xuan, don’t be like us and try to change
human nature with technology. What a mortal’s wisdom, always filled with resentment
toward life. Yet who can realize that our weaknesses, our desires, our defects are
the most valuable gifts the world gave us… Xuan, I’m sorry. If I can do it again, I wish
to give you a real childhood, a normal life. I’m sorry…”
Xuan’s eyes dimmed down. “Is that so? You’re dying soon… when will you die?”
The old man suddenly lifted himself up and shouted. “You want to die too right? No,
you have wanted to die for so long right? Is it because I am constraining you? That’s
why you’re living in such pain… You want to kill yourself after I die? Or find someone
to kill you? No…”
“Xuan, I still have a lot of unfinished research. Yes, so many technologies yet to be
developed, like the Gauss long distance canon, the stable hydrogen fusion reactor,
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the high efficient battery… Xuan, finish all these research for me. Promise me, you
can’t die before our team gets these technologies! Promise me!”
Xuan looked at the old man silently. It wasn’t until the old man started breathing
rapidly did he nod his head. Then the hand that was holding onto him slid off…
“… Son, if you don’t have the desire to live, then live on with my desires. Just one last
time, let me constrain you one last time. Live on no matter what happens…”
Xuan lay on the ground and watched the starry sky. The sky’s beauty was really
indescribable. He could only stop all the thinking when he looked at the stars. They
were the only times he could really calm down.
“That’s not a constraint, father… I’m really too tired. Let me calm down a bit…”
Not far away from Xuan, a pale woman of over ten meters tall slowly stood up from
the shadows. This woman was the main body of the Ju On, Kayako.
Xuan closed his eyes before the huge ghost crawled over to him. His face had a
calm and peaceful smile…
“Zheng, this is my last hint… Thank you…”
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