Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 2 Occupation
"Now I'll give you a few final reminders." Walking down the dimly lit apartment building corridor, Liang Qin, carrying a hunting rifle and crossbow, said, "Quickly check the descriptions of the Reincarnator classes on your watches. There are ten classes in total. After you enter the Horror Dungeon, a screen will pop up asking you to choose a class..."

Just then, new prompts began to appear in the left eyes of all three of them!

Jiang Jin looked at the newly appeared text: "Jiang Jin, a reserve reincarnator, has entered Apartment 31 and received the mission: Go to the 7th floor, find the resident of room 701, and ask at the exit, 'Have you seen a woman wearing blue clothes who can sing Cantonese opera?'"

"Have you received the mission?" Liang Qin asked.

The young man beside Jiang Jin hurriedly asked, "You didn't receive a mission?"

"I came here on a new recruit mentoring assignment, so I won't receive any other assignments."

Just then, he suddenly heard some strange noises.

Turning my head, I looked at a door to the side.

He vaguely heard what sounded like fingernails scratching at the door coming from inside!

Liang Qin said, "Never mind it, unless you hear the sound of mahjong tiles, as the rules for restricted areas state."

Jiang Jin had an excellent memory, so he naturally remembered the seventh rule of the restricted area: "If you hear the sound of mahjong tiles and say you're one short, does that mean you really have to go in and play mahjong with 'them'?"

"The chances of this happening are very low, so pray it doesn't."

Before long, the four people and the dog arrived at the elevator door.

"Wait a minute!" The woman suddenly grabbed Liang Qin: "We're going to get into the elevator? Well, if we get inside the elevator..."

Entering an elevator means entering an enclosed space, which is one of the places with the highest death rate in horror movies!

Jiang Jin didn't say much. Since Liang Qin dared to do that, he obviously had something to rely on.

"What are you afraid of with me here? At least I can guarantee that you can get out of the elevator. If you take the stairs to the seventh floor, the danger you will encounter will be much greater. I don't have enough confidence to walk all the way to the seventh floor and ensure that none of the three of you die."

Then, Liang Qin pressed the button for the elevator door.

This was clearly an abandoned apartment building, yet the sound of an elevator descending could be heard coming from inside the elevator.

Shortly after, the elevator doors opened. The lights inside were extremely dim, and the floor was covered with black footprints.

Liang Qin stepped inside.

"Should we press every single elevator button?" Jiang Jin asked, looking at the elevator buttons.

"Oh, you know that?" Liang Qin nodded and said, "That's right, that's how it is."

The first rule of the restricted area is that during midnight, the elevator buttons for every floor must be pressed. Midnight is from 11 PM to 1 AM. And right now, according to the time on my watch, it's 12:10 AM!

"Take this opportunity to check the job descriptions for Reincarnators using your watches. The watch screen will automatically pull down, allowing you to access the relevant page. Once you enter the Horror Dungeon dimension, the system will allow you to choose a job. Don't ask me which job to choose; according to regulations, newcomers are never allowed to receive job selection advice during the newcomer guidance process."

Jiang Jin nodded and immediately did as Liang Qin pressed the elevator button.

According to the information inside the Reincarnator's Watch, there are ten Reincarnator professions to choose from: Medium, Soul Reaper, Hunter, Curse Keeper, Witch, Shaman, Priest, Voodoo Master, Incantation Master, and Sorcery Master. However, the Witch and Sorcery Master professions are not available. The former is because it is a profession only available to female Reincarnators, and the latter is because it is a profession that requires special conditions to unlock.

He glanced around, and by then, the elevator had reached the second floor and the doors opened. It was pitch black outside, and there was no one there.

However, after three or four seconds, the elevator remained open. There was no close button, so all we could do was wait.

Jiang Jin was now considering which profession to choose.

Given his personality...

“I have a question,” he said, looking at Liang Qin, “This dog…is it actually dead?”

Liang Qin nodded and said, "That's good."

He then looked at the German Shepherd: "This is my hunting dog, it's... a ghost hound, it can... search for and track ghosts for me!" A ghost hound?

Upon hearing this, both the man and the woman shuddered.

She even started subconsciously staying away from that dog.

The elevator doors closed slowly, then continued to rise slowly, and then the elevator doors opened again.

Looking at the dark corridor outside the elevator doors, the man and woman were so frightened that they huddled in the corner of the elevator.

At this point, the young man could only dispel his fear by speaking. He said to the woman, "Let me introduce myself first. My name is Lu Zhao, and I'm a long-haul truck driver. As you know, truck drivers are prone to losing SAN (sanity). Um... how did you get contaminated by the meme? What career are you planning to choose?"

“My name is Xia Wei… I was just half asleep that night, got up to go to the bathroom, and then washed my hands. It happened to be 2:17 a.m…”

Hearing this, Jiang Jin was speechless at the woman named Xia Wei; she was far too careless.

Since the memetic contamination outbreak, the Muxu City Memetic Contamination Monitoring Department has issued three to five rules every month, requiring citizens to strictly abide by them. If any violation occurs, it must be reported to the Memetic Contamination Monitoring Department immediately, and "cleaners" will come to test the SAN value.

This month, three rules were issued: First, tap water cannot be used in Baihu District at 2:17 a.m.; second, feeding cats is prohibited in Yunjue District between 7 p.m. and midnight; and third, residents of Linkang District can only get haircuts on odd-numbered days.

Once the rules are issued, they must be strictly followed, and the government cannot enforce them. For example, water cannot be cut off in the early morning, and barbershops cannot be closed on even-numbered days, otherwise it will lead to even more terrible consequences.

Xia Wei continued, "I took a look, and the LV1 level of the Shrine Maiden profession can be achieved by cutting and manipulating paper dolls. I'm quite skilled at crafting. So, I want to choose the Shrine Maiden profession."

Lu Zhao added, "You should seriously consider this. Once we enter the so-called terrifying instance, the three of us newbies will need to stick together for survival. Naturally, it would be best if we could complement each other's classes..."

Then, Lu Zhao looked at Jiang Jin: "And you?"

Jiang Jin's gaze remained fixed on the elevator doors: "My name is Jiang Jin, and I'm a police officer. I suspect I was infected with the meme because I was a close contact. I'm considering... choosing the hunter profession!"

"Hey, you're a police officer? But why?" Lu Zhao asked, "Shouldn't we be prioritizing professions that can be immediately converted into combatants? The hunter profession seems..."

Hunter is a class with strong growth potential, but it is relatively weak at LV1, mainly limited to tracking ghosts, finding trails, and setting traps.

"Shouldn't we choose Soul Stealer? Soul Stealers can control spirits! That's an ability that can be learned and mastered at LV1!" Lu Zhao glanced at the reopened elevator doors, and after confirming that there was nothing unusual outside, he continued, "Right now, combat strength is the most important thing, isn't it?"

Jiang Jin said, "Indeed, combat strength is very important. But I have observed these ten professions, and they are actually unable to kill ghosts. They can only restrain and bind them, and repel them through their rule abilities. The ability to control spirits is also greatly restricted and is easily backfired. Therefore, the first priority is to know the approximate location of ghosts by taking advantage of their strengths and avoiding their weaknesses, and to bind ghosts by setting traps."

"What?" Lu Zhao hadn't looked carefully enough just now. "None of the ten professions can kill ghosts?"

“No.” Liang Qin nodded and said, “I can guarantee you that no ghost can be killed. Although it’s a Hong Kong-style horror movie, there won’t be any exorcists like Lam Ching-ying. Besides, only the curse of the ghost itself can fight against it.”

"Ding--"

We've reached the sixth floor.

The moment the elevator doors on the sixth floor opened, the undead hound suddenly gathered around the doors and began sniffing the ground.

This is a hound of the dead that can track ghosts!
Did it discover something?
Then, the dog looked at Liang Qin and barked loudly. The next instant, Liang Qin swiftly took the crossbow from his back, aimed it forward, and fired an arrow!
The crossbow bolt was instantly swallowed by the darkness of the corridor ahead. But the next moment, a heart-wrenching scream rang out from ahead!

The undead hounds also began to bark wildly at this moment, seemingly confronting the screams from the darkness.

After a long while, the elevator doors began to close.

Suddenly, Jiang Jin felt a sensation on his foot, and then he looked down—

Without me even noticing, a lock of hair had somehow gotten wrapped around my ankle!

Then, Jiang Jin lost his balance and fell to the ground, unable to grab the elevator door in time! He was pulled out like that!

The elevator doors behind me have already closed!
(End of this chapter)