Spirit and Phantom Consultation Office

Thump, thump, thump…

It was only after the elevator started moving that Loka’s heart began pounding violently. He turned to look at the others.

"Did you see that? Was that Mercenary Tao just now?!"

Although Loka’s perception was not particularly outstanding, locating someone by listening to the wind was something he could easily do. Yet Mercenary Tao had appeared without a sound, in an utterly bizarre manner, and it still frightened him.

The short-haired man nodded as well, clutching his head. He did not know whether it was Mercenary Tao’s sudden appearance or the fact that they had entered this obviously problematic elevator, but his Spiritual Perception was reacting more and more intensely. The sensation made his nerves burn and his stomach churn.

"Be careful. Mercenary Tao didn’t follow us, so there’s a high chance this elevator is the problem!"

They all equipped items such as Negative Energy Protection and Holy Talismans, remaining alert to their surroundings.

Lilith, who had nearly been struck into a dying state by a single Dodon Ray earlier, had also recovered under the effects of holy water and healing potions. With the help of Blood Coagulation medicine, her wound had stopped bleeding.

Watching the elevator numbers steadily change as they rapidly passed the thirtieth floor, the woman perhaps felt emboldened by the distance between them and Mercenary Tao. She snapped angrily,

"That Mercenary Tao is fucking livestock, isn’t he? In a world this dangerous, instead of sticking together with other Reincarnators, he actually attacks us! I hope those filthy things kill him…"

No one responded. Their nerves were stretched tight as they stared at the elevator’s walls, especially the shattered mirror fragments. In most supernatural scenarios, mirrors were the most likely places for filthy things to appear.

Loka also glanced at those mirror fragments from time to time. Then his eyes suddenly shifted, and he crouched down. Beneath the broken mirror shards were quite a few small cards, probably hidden by the mirrors before.

Loka kept his gun aimed at the mirror, pinned one card beneath his toe, and swiftly flicked it toward himself. The card landed before him. He put away the gun in his left hand and caught the card. It was an exquisitely printed business card. The front bore the words Spirit and Phantom Consultation Office, while the back had a phone number.

Something stirred in his heart, as though courage had appeared from nowhere, and his voice rose uncontrollably.

"I think I found the solution to this mission!"

No matter how dangerous a mission was, Reincarnators always believed in the Space’s first principle: it would never throw Reincarnators into a place of certain death.

Even if the Space could not have predicted that a powerful Mercenary Tao would be placed in the same location as them, and that rather than helping them, he would immediately begin hunting them;

the Space would still have considered what they were supposed to do if Mercenary Tao escaped alone, or if he died by accident.

Judging from how they had previously been trapped in this special location and unable to escape, there had to be something here with supernatural abilities that surpassed both Lilith and Short Hair.

The moment he saw this business card, Loka not only uncovered some of this world’s background, but also found a way out.

As long as they could contact Reigen Arataka—or more accurately, contact Reigen Arataka’s disciple, Shigeo Kageyama—then neither this bizarre haunted location nor Mercenary Tao would be a problem anymore!

"Hey, Geek, look at this!"

He handed the business card to a hooded man in the middle of the group. The man wore special goggles and watched their surroundings nervously.

This world was not particularly friendly to him. He was a Reincarnator entirely from the Technology Faction. His glasses incorporated infrared vision, thermal vision, and several other visual abilities, but they were ineffective against supernatural phenomena.

When he lowered his head and saw the business card, his face lit up. He immediately pulled out an item resembling a satellite phone from his Backpack.

He was an Electromagnetic Wave Psychic, but only at the level of an LV2 User. This LV2 was not a proficiency level, but represented his computing power, meaning that this so-called psychic ability did not actually possess direct offensive power.

He had to rely on items to make use of this ability.

With the enhancement of items, he could transform his electromagnetic waves into various communication signals, using them for eavesdropping, counter-eavesdropping, and even direct communication in any world.

At this moment, this ability seemed to be their lifeline.

Beep… beep…

After the call went through, everyone unconsciously moved closer to Geek. They all desperately hoped for a Plot Character capable of saving them to appear.

With a click, the call connected successfully. Because of Language Comprehension, Geek immediately said in a simple and direct manner,

"Is this Mr. Reigen Arataka? We have a job for you. Please come save us—no, please make sure Shigeo Kageyama comes to save us. We can pay any price…"

His tone was urgent, and the others waited for a response from the other end of the line.

"…"

The other side fell silent for a moment. Amid heavy breathing as unpleasant as a bellows being pulled, the person replied,

"You’ve got the wrong person. Reigen Arataka is just a fraud."

"Shigeo Kageyama…"

Beep, beep…

The call was hung up. Their hearts sank. Though they did not understand what had happened, it was clear that asking Reigen Arataka and Shigeo Kageyama for help had failed.

Loka suddenly thought of something. There were so many cards; they could not all be Reigen Arataka’s business cards. There had to be other people’s cards here!

The thought struck him, and he immediately bent down to pick them up. But as he reached behind the mirrors, he saw through the reflection in the shattered fragments that the elevator was still rising.

A chill suddenly rose from his tailbone, and his entire body stiffened.

"How many floors does this hospital have?"

At the same time, Short Hair felt his scalp explode as he turned to look at the elevator display. The highest floor was clearly only 38, but the display had already reached 127 and was still climbing.

Loka casually snatched the nearest blue business card into his hand, his entire body tense to the extreme.

"Why aren’t you continuing to call for help?"

It was still that angry tone. Lilith seemed to still be furious that Mercenary Tao had attacked her.

Short Hair realized something was wrong. Lilith, who had always been timid, could not possibly curse Mercenary Tao in the elevator. Her personality meant she should have been grateful simply to have survived.

It was even more impossible for her to angrily demand to know why they were not continuing to seek help in a situation like this.

His entire body turned ice-cold. Though he knew he should not turn around at a time like this, he could not stop himself from looking at Lilith.

Her long black hair hung over her face. Her complexion was pale, and her eyes showed through the strands as she stared directly at him.

Short Hair’s pupils contracted. His entire body froze, and he could not even move a finger.

You have been afflicted by Curse: Resentment of the Deceased

Performing a saving throw

Saving throw failed

Bang!

Blood splattered all over Short Hair’s face. He suddenly regained the ability to move, but every muscle in his body hurt as though it had been torn apart. Gasping heavily, he saw that Loka had shot "Lilith" in the head.

"Thank goodness… thank goodness you were here, Loka. Otherwise, I…"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Before Short Hair could react, the talisman protecting him from ranged attacks lit up. Loka’s face was pale, his eyes locked onto something, and his finger had already clenched the trigger.

Bullets immediately ricocheted everywhere inside the elevator.

Geek did not react at all. He instinctively ducked down and curled into a corner. Seeing many business cards on the ground, he could only grab one at random and continue making calls.

He did not even look at the agency name on the card before dialing the number on the back.

Beep… beep… click.

"Hello, this is Ayase Seishi, a… Spirit Medium."

"See? Not getting on that elevator with those idiots might not have been such a bad thing, right?"

Bai Cangshu looked at the female Reincarnator who was nearly crying from fear, bent down, and gazed at her from above. The smile on his face did nothing to ease Lilith’s tension. Her entire body was rigid, and she did not even dare deploy her barrier.

She feared that if she made the slightest movement, the man before her would kill her.

It was Bai Cangshu’s first time seeing such a cowardly Reincarnator. He spoke with interest,

"Shouldn’t you be taking out everything you own right now and begging me to spare your life?"

Through the woman’s line of sight, Bai Cangshu turned toward the poster beside the elevator lobby. It bore flamboyant words.

If disaster strikes, call for heroes—Fubuki Hero Association

The largest portion of the poster displayed a photograph of a stunningly beautiful woman.

Tiny currents continually flowed through the air. As Bai Cangshu’s heart contracted, those currents spread through his entire body. He focused intently on the woman whose abdomen had been pierced by his Dodon Ray.

Then he suddenly heard the voice in her heart.

If only a hero really could come save me…

Saitama, Tatsumaki, anyone will do. Please, someone save me!

Bai Cangshu placed a hand atop the woman’s head and lightly lifted her up.

"You’re actually praying for a hero to save you. Tsk, are you really a Reincarnator?"

Boom!

A violent explosion sounded from within the elevator shaft. Amid the noisy surroundings, Bai Cangshu accurately caught the sound of a phone call and heard a new name.

After that, he gained more guesses about the makeup of this world.

Psychics, monsters, heroes, ghosts, yokai…

What a truly chaotic world.