Chapter 53: Curse of Resentment (Part 3)

Li Cheng lifted his head and said matter-of-fact, holding up the electric iron: "Oh, my clothes just got soaked, got all wrinkled—I'll iron them now while I can."

"You're storing this in your backpack slot? And is this even an authentic piece? Why's the fabric so sheer?"

Duizhan Qibing pointed at the diesel generator and the ironing table on the ground, feeling his temples throb.

You have to understand that players at this level basically don't have spatial equipment—their backpack only has twenty slots, and every slot has to be carefully allocated for useful items. Who would use one to store something this trivial?

【4】 Players at this level rarely have space equipment—the backpack slot has only twenty slots, each one must be carefully allocated for useful items. Who would waste one on something this trivial?

"Of course it's authentic—wearing a mountain-climbing robe is a serious offense! You'd get expelled from the circle."

Li Cheng's expression turned serious: "This morning I got a mission notification—I guessed it was a supernatural task and immediately scoured everywhere for religious artifacts. Other items were easy to find, but this Daoist robe was a nightmare. I searched the whole city and finally bought the authentic one from a section of intimate products labeled as uniforms. Look, here's the official label: 'Putian First Copy, Further Copies Will Be Pursued.'"

After this speech, not only did Duizhan Qibing stare blankly, but the two girls also turned to look, their expressions odd.

"What the hell is 'mountain-climbing robe'? Daoist robe = domestic product = Hanfu? Are you gonna call the cops?"

"And your city's intimate products store is really getting creative—stocking Daoist robes as uniforms to entice customers? Is there also an Ultraman suit in the same section?"

Duizhan Qibing's eyelids twitched uncontrollably; he couldn't help but retort.

Li Cheng thought for a moment: "No Ultraman suit, but they do have a whole batch of costumes wholesale from the nearby film city—including, but not limited to, dragon robes, general's armor, Qing dynasty official attire."

An ancient poem says: "Beneath the hibiscus canopy, warm nights pass—my emperor and general unfasten our battle robes."

"The gibbons' cries echo unceasingly—my emperor and general unfasten our battle robes."

"Outside Suzhou, Hanshan Temple—my emperor and general unfasten our battle robes."

"The flower-lined path never swept for guests—my emperor and general unfasten our battle robes."

Probably because of this, the general's armor at that shop sold exceptionally well—supply couldn't meet demand."

"Hey, hey, hey—what dimension are these 'ancient poems' from? So the emperor spends all day doing nothing but taking off generals' robes? Something's off, something's very off."

Duizhan Qibing nearly spat out his drink, instinctively wanting to retort—but then he remembered that if he replied, Master Pi Fu would likely unleash another bizarre remark, and it would never end. He swallowed it down and pretended not to hear.

He secretly suspected this guy might be from the Laughing Troupe—his brain was clearly a bit broken.

In truth, Li Cheng wasn't just being mischievous or deliberately pulling this stunt.

On one hand, as a new player, he didn't have many items to carry—weapons and gear were all stored in a large rolling suitcase for easy access, saving precious backpack slots.

On the other hand, summoning the Mantis Bone Blade and full-body armor would tear his clothes to shreds—so wasn't it wise to keep spare outfits on hand?

The electric iron could destroy biological evidence on clothing; the diesel generator could power the drone and recharge phones—each had its own use.

"Anyway, let's first complete the first phase objective—head to that Water Purification City TV station."

Duizhan Qibing cleared his throat and steered the conversation back on track, flipping his palm to produce an old-fashioned plastic-button mobile phone, inputting a long string of code, then pressing it toward the sedan half-submerged in the river.

The sinking sedan, under some unknown force, transformed into a stream of green, flowing digits: 0s and 1s. Guided by Duizhan Qibing's hand motion, it slowly rose from the water, floated ashore, and reformed into a solid vehicle.

Even the water that had flooded inside was expelled.

"Whoa."

Li Cheng and the other three had never seen such a flashy effect—they all exclaimed together.

"Just a small trick—the Whale Song Guild's perk."

Duizhan Qibing, pleased with his display, climbed into the driver's seat and, following the map, drove toward Water Purification City.

He made no effort to hide that he was a Whale Song Guild member.

When the Killing Field game first began, the guild was just a small online group of programmers who accidentally became players—formed mainly to band together for mutual support, avoiding state violence, conglomerates, and triads hunting them.

Later, leveraging their professional skills, they began building their own forum site—the embryonic form of player forums.

Today, Whale Song has expanded relentlessly and become a major, influential guild.

Moreover, due to their frequent public-service activities—like maintaining forums for free and installing networks in physical Killing Fields—their reputation among other guilds remains quite good.

As a Whale Song member, Duizhan Qibing received organizational perks—such as digitizing his own body and vehicle data—a supernatural ability usually attainable only by players at Lv10 or higher.

The drive to the TV station took about half an hour; during which, the four exchanged information.

As a Whale Song member, Duizhan Qibing possessed electronic technology and digitized attack abilities, giving him some resistance against spirits.

Little Red Riding Hood, as a member of Japan's Special Incident Investigation Bureau, carried standardized equipment.

Jingzhe Xiazhi claimed to be non-combat-specialized but carried several items capable of countering supernatural phenomena.

Master Pi Fu called himself a lone wolf player, skilled with modern weapons and capable of close combat when necessary—though no one understood why a Lv2 player would bother with melee.

After clarifying their respective abilities, the group combed through the car's contents and gathered more intelligence.

First, the script's location resembled modern-day Japan, with a timeline around the early 2000s, when the internet was still underdeveloped.

They were portraying the production crew of a late-night show on Water Purification City TV called "Yezhi Ju."

The show primarily used horror, thriller, and supernatural stories as its hook, frequently visiting so-called haunted houses and forbidden zones. But due to the abundance of similar programs, it remained mediocre.

The crew consisted of four people: Duizhan Qibing played the director, Li Cheng played the cameraman, Little Red Riding Hood played the sole narrator, and Jingzhe Xiazhi played the makeup artist.

By coincidence, each of the four had family members who were either deceased, studying abroad, or still living in their hometowns—all absent from Water Purification City.

This was likely a small patch by the Killing Field system—to prevent the player's portrayed character's relatives or friends from appearing, ensuring focus remained on the mission itself.

"I looked up online information about the 'folklorist Ishikawa Kenichi' mentioned in the mission briefing."

The glasses on Duizhan Qibing's face flickered with primitive Japanese webpages of that era: "Mr. Ishikawa has no family; he lives alone in the neighboring city. His research spans a wide range—regional dietary customs, local dialects, death and burial traditions, ethnic migrations, witchcraft—and also includes modern urban legends like the Kuchisake-onna of the late 1970s."

He published several books and was a professor at a university.

Three days ago, on his personal blog hosted by Yahoo, he posted this: "I've uncovered the truth behind the Curse of Resentment."

After that, he vanished. Below the post were over a dozen comments from concerned readers—but none offered useful clues.

Li Cheng clicked his tongue. "Yahoo… that's such a nostalgic internet term."

"Uh, well, although Yahoo's global business has declined drastically and many branches shut down, in Japan, it's still widely used—today, even in reality, it ranks second in overall website traffic."

Little Red Riding Hood, the local, raised her hand quietly. Suddenly her eyes lit up as she handed her phone screen to the others: "Half a month ago, the Suzuki couple in their fifties, living in San Dingmu in the city's north, were found mysteriously drowned at home."

"A week ago, another murder occurred on the other side of town—a 34-year-old real estate salesman named Sakaihara brutally killed his wife, then jumped to his death from a high-rise."

"These should count as recent special news in Water Purification City, right?"

"Of course they do." Duizhan Qibing's eyes lit up as he murmured, "Four deaths within half a month—this incident is truly brutal."

While they were talking, the vehicle had already driven into the city and turned in front of a television station building.

"Mr. Producer?"

Just as the vehicle was waiting before the slowly rising barrier gate, the guard grandpa spotted Duizhan Qibing in the driver's seat (in the guard's eyes, he now looked like a television program director), and immediately rummaged out a file folder from behind his seat, handed it through the car window to the other party, "This is a package delivered to you by courier, it arrived this afternoon. The sender seems to be someone called... Ishikawa Kenichi?"

"Alright, thank you."

Duizhan Qibing took the file folder, which contained something flat and round, like a disc.

At the same time, the system notification chime also rang in everyone's minds.

【Phase Two Mission Objective: Use the third-floor projector of the television station to collectively watch the disc sent by Ishikawa Kenichi】

【Phase Two Mission Time Limit: 30 minutes】

【Phase Two Mission Failure Penalty: None】

(End of this chapter)