Deep in the Living

Chapter 555 Investigation
After failing to find the masked man, Roddy returned to the stairwell. "Katayama, did anything strange happen to you just now?"

"Yes~ Someone suddenly appeared and offered me some dried fish, but I refused, and then he left disappointed."

"Huh? It didn't attack you? And there were no fish parasites on it? It just left?"

"Yes."

"Damn it! I should have refused too."

Roddy couldn't help but swear. He raised his arm again and sniffed it. There was indeed a faint fishy smell, and the skin color seemed to have changed slightly.

"The choice was related to my own abilities. Was it because my agility and reaction speed were not high enough? It seems so... If it were the class monitor or Li Beite, they should have been able to avoid it."

If I make the right choice, or if the judgment is successful, will I receive some kind of benefit?
"It seems somewhat interesting. Let's talk about it next time we encounter it."

The two quickly went upstairs. During the climb, Katayama was unable to climb the stairs several times, and Roddy could only assist him by helping him up.

They quickly found the door of the resident who had applied for welfare, just in time to see the family returning from buying fish.

The resident is an elderly person living alone, and the house is filled with various collected aluminum cans and cardboard boxes.

At the age of eighty,

He looked quite robust.

When Roddy, a staff member from the welfare center, came to visit, the elderly man said that it didn't matter whether his application was approved or not.

Since he started eating seafood, his health has improved a lot. Not only is his rheumatism gone, but even his lame right leg has healed. Now he can even go out and pick up trash. Moreover, seafood is something you can eat without spending money as long as you don't care about quality.

Roddy inspected the room to confirm that the "Ju-on" had nothing to do with it. He then had the old man fill out a report, took a few photos, and called it a day.

click!
The car doors are locked.

"As expected, it has nothing to do with the main storyline. The effects of the alienation seem to be preventing us from touching the main storyline and wanting to trap us here until we are completely transformed."

It seems we need to find the main storyline ourselves and actively engage with 'Ju-on'.

Katayama, you previously mentioned that the movie's plot involves a caregiver at a welfare center going missing, and the protagonist being assigned to help, only to discover the detached house where the Ju-on (the vengeful spirit) resides.

"Yes."

"Then we'll go back and check if any caregivers have gone missing recently. If necessary, we can use special measures."

Katayama, however, gleaned a crucial piece of information from that statement: "If I go back to the welfare center, can I just lie still in the car...? Anyway, I'm not a full-time employee, so I can't help if I go up there."

"Yes."

Hu~hu~
He fell asleep the moment he got the answer, his emaciated body practically blending into the passenger seat like a cushion.

However, Roddy noticed that Katayama's face seemed a bit rounder, and a little bit of mucus had reappeared.

"This coastal city is too humid, not to mention there are fish vendors everywhere... even breathing brings moisture to the body."

Katayama's 'danger' must be used effectively; it might be the key to victory. He poses almost no external danger in his dry state, making him an excellent hiding point.

That's great... creation of torture devices!

Roddy unleashed the full power of Hell, attempting to create a miniature, sophisticated torture device that could be used for an extended period.

During the creation, a demon horn appeared on Roddy's forehead, but it quickly faded away.

The driver's cabin became unbearably hot.

Roddy quickly opened the car window to let the heat out.
A scorching hot iron appeared in the palm of the hand. It didn't look special; it was just a red-hot piece of iron.

If you look closely, you can see that the surface of the iron block is covered with filamentous structures, which seem to be able to penetrate the flesh, just like a chip.

"Katayama, wake up! I need to discuss something with you."

No matter how much Roddy shouted...

Even hitting the other person hard had no effect. Since that was the case, Roddy decided to do this first, and then explain to Katayama.

As the special iron block gradually cooled down and returned to normal temperature, Roddy attached it to Katayama's abdomen.

The iron block seemed to possess a life force, quickly penetrating under the skin, and its filamentous structure rapidly combined with blood vessels, internal organs, and nerves.

By continuously releasing heat and evaporating excess moisture, Katayama can always remain in a dry state.

This process actually involves a lot of pain, since it is a product of torture chambers, but Katayama simply turned over, frowned slightly, and continued snoring.

[Welfare Center, Section Chief's Office]

"Section Chief Tan, the visit has been arranged, and the relevant documents have been sent to you."

"I'd like to ask if we've had any caregivers go missing recently? I think I heard a colleague mention it before." The section chief was just smiling and praising Roddy's efficiency a moment ago, but his expression immediately changed when this matter was mentioned.

"What nonsense are you talking about! All the caregivers we send out are excellent. Stop asking these strange questions and get back to your other work."

"Professor."

"What else?"

Roddy landed a palm directly on the section chief's Mediterranean hairstyle, and tendrils instantly burrowed into it from both sides of his ears, affecting his thoughts.

Since it's a mutated dungeon, there's no need to follow the plot exactly, or rather, the plot itself has already gone wrong.

Extraordinary circumstances require extraordinary measures.

Just as Roddy was about to leave the gray tentacles in the other person's brain and turn the section chief into one of his own,

vomit!
Section Chief Sato suddenly began to retch without warning, followed by a gush of digested fish remains.

The situation was exactly the same as that of the middle-aged man who had been threatened by Roddy before.

At the same time,

There was a sudden knock on the door of the section chief's office.

Looking at the shriveled corpse on the ground and the nearly ten pounds of fish remains and filth, Roddy looked troubled. Once the matter was exposed, the entire plot would change, and the aliens would be more likely to target him.

The door was not locked.

When there was no response to knocking, the person outside simply turned the lock and pushed the door open.

A bespectacled employee carrying documents walked in.

"Section Chief Sato! The urgent documents you requested have been delivered to you."

"Just put it on the table." The voice came from inside the desk. Section Chief Sato was eating, so the whole room smelled of fish.

"I'm sorry to disturb your meal."

The section chief did not respond and continued eating his fish.

Only after the employee had completely left did he stop eating the fish and burn all the food in his mouth with the heat of hell.

Under the desk lay the remains of a corpse and vomit, which had been cleared away by the tentacles.

It was quickly burned by Roddy at high temperature, and the ashes drifted out of the window.

"I'll have to use the class monitor's abilities again... I feel like I'm getting more and more skilled at it. Mr. Kraft's gray characteristics seem to be very good at this. Even someone like me, who learned it later, can still make precise disguises."

He has not yet removed his disguise, but continues to use this identity to search for information. He quickly found information related to "missing caregivers," and found that seven caregivers had gone missing in the past month.

The disappearance of so many people, besides being a curse, may also be related to fish.

"We can only check them one by one."

Roddy took the information on the seven people and prepared to visit them one by one.

The city isn't very big; if we're lucky, we might be able to get through before dark.

Roddy maintained his disguise as Section Chief Sato as he left the office, so that everyone could see him and prove that the section chief had not died at the welfare center.

Even if they later discover that the section chief has disappeared, they won't suspect him.

……

However, things were not as simple as they seemed.

After a whole day of visits,
The houses where the seven caregivers worked before their disappearance were all in good condition, with no signs of any vengeful activity. Their supposed disappearance seemed more like they were "eaten up" by these elderly people who were unable to care for themselves.

One old man even mistook the fishy-smelling Roddy for a fish and took a bite.

Actually, Luo Di had already roughly guessed it during the journey.

The welfare center may have completely deleted all information about houses related to Ju-on, or perhaps the alienation itself had already blocked the information in various ways to prevent Roddy from accessing it.

To find the location of the curse, we may have to slowly investigate using the only clue: the "detached house."

It's already 1 a.m.
Roddy was also feeling the strain and decided to go back and sleep for four hours before continuing his investigation.

Katayama never woke up and was carried back to the rented room by Roddy to continue sleeping, as if he would be very tired in this dry state.

Right outside the cheap rental apartment where the two lived,
A pale-skinned young man found his way here.
He peered into the car and sniffed the smell inside, quickly pinpointing the source.

(End of this chapter)