Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 257 Sweet Home Rules
Jiang Jin carefully examined the "Sweet Home Rules" in front of him, and then the Chinese text automatically appeared in his mind.

It is worth mentioning that if the rules are altered and encounter foreign text, the Chinese text automatically translated by the reincarnation system will prevail, so there is no need to consider whether the foreign grammar is fluent or the number of words.

The Sweet Home Rules consist of twelve rules:

1. This is Atai and Lu Ni's sweet home. Only Atai, Lu Ni, and their calico cat Lucky live here. Please remember, there is no third person in our family.

2. Lucky, a calico cat, has heterochromia; her left eye is black, and her right eye is amber. If you notice that both of her eyes have turned black, repeatedly call her name until her right eye returns to amber.

3. In the wedding photos at home, the bride, Lu Ni, is always wearing a white wedding dress. Please always remember to check this.

4. Every morning at 8:00, the sound of monks chanting can be heard downstairs. If you don't hear it, you must do something to "atone for your sins" that day (such as donating money to the temple or helping your neighbors).

5. If you see a strange woman wearing hair clips from behind at home, count the number of hair clips. The correct number is 7. If you don't get it right, keep counting until you get it right.

6. If you notice any unusual light or sound in the room at the same time, immediately crawl into the closet and do not come out for at least five minutes.

7. There will definitely be a serving of mango sticky rice in the refrigerator every day. You can eat it, but please don't ask who made it.

8. If you find a black curly hair in your bedroom, put it in the copper bowl in front of the Buddhist shrine, and it will disappear the next day.

9. After midnight, the television may automatically turn on and play a blurry image. Do not look at the screen for more than 5 seconds, and unplug the power immediately.

10. Under no circumstances should you be away from home for more than 10 hours.

11. Avoid looking directly at any mirror with your eyes open. If you accidentally look directly at a mirror, look away immediately or close your eyes.

12. There are only six printed photos in the room; there will be no seventh. Also, please make sure that none of the photos show a girl wearing a hair clip. If a seventh photo is found, burn it immediately.

The reincarnation system's tasks were also released at this time:

"Reincarnator Jiang Jin, you need to complete the following task within this terrifying instance: find the true location of the third 'person' in Sweet Home and report it to the Reincarnation System. You only have one chance to report. If you cannot find the true location of the third 'person,' you will not be able to leave this instance."

Rewards: 80 Resentment Crystals and a special item obtained from this dungeon.

80 crystals of resentment?

Jiang Jin suddenly looked at Lin Lu beside him and asked, "Did you see the mission with your left eye?"

"I saw it... It says to find some third 'person' and then report it to the Reincarnation System? The reward is 100 Resentment Crystals, and it also says that a newbie gift pack will be airdropped in an hour..."

"100?"

Which company rewards new players with 100 Resentment Crystals for completing tasks?
"What is the potential decrease in the SAN value on your watch?"

"Let me see," Lin Lu looked down at her watch and said, "C, C grade..."

Grade C... This is a relatively common potential for a decrease in SAN value.

“Officer Jiang, I’ve already chosen sorcerer as my profession. But… what exactly does this mission mean? A third person? There’s another person in this house, so we need to find them…”

"Look at this."

Jiang Jin realized that Lin Lu, this reincarnator, definitely had something special about her.

Lin Lu looked at the "Sweet Home Rules" that Jiang Jin was pointing to and carefully read all the rules.

"This...this is..." Looking at the rules above, Lin Lu suddenly felt a chill run down her spine: "Is this what you meant by the rules of the dungeon before?"

"Correct."

Lin Lu forced herself to compose herself, took a deep breath, and said, "So, the third 'person' means... a ghost?"

"Yes, to be precise. But don't be afraid. We're currently in the Materialist Layer, and that 'person' is definitely not in this room on the Materialist Layer." Jiang Jin then began to explain the concepts of the Materialist Layer and the Contaminated Layer to Lin Lu in detail. The Contaminated Layer is divided into the Mysterious Layer, the Lost Layer, the Annihilation Layer, and the Interdimensional Layer.

The two took a quick look and found that the house, known as "Sweet Home," was a typical Thai-style two-story terraced house.

The first floor consisted of a living room, dining room, a small bedroom, and a kitchen; the space was fairly spacious. A glass cabinet stood in one corner of the living room, displaying some ceramic crafts and picture frames. The kitchen was fully equipped, but excessively clean, as if it wasn't used often. Jiang Jin opened the refrigerator and, sure enough, saw a portion of mango sticky rice sealed in plastic wrap, sitting quietly inside. At that moment, he was thankful that this was "edible" and not "must be eaten." Ah, no, even if it were necessary, he would change it to "don't eat."

Ascending a narrow staircase to the second floor, one finds a master bedroom, a study, and a bathroom. In the master bedroom, the most striking feature is a huge wedding photo hanging above the bed, depicting "Atai" and "Lu Ni," namely Jiang Jin and Lin Lu, smiling sweetly as they lean against each other.

Jiang Jin couldn't help but feel awkward, because he and Liu Yan hadn't even had a chance to take wedding photos yet!

Upon closer inspection, "Lu Ni" in the photo is indeed wearing a pure white wedding dress, and there is nothing unusual about her.

"This..." Lin Lu was at a loss, looking at Jiang Jin beside her, extremely embarrassed. "This, this is just like the photo below, they're all, they're all photoshopped, right?"

“This is a piece of cake for the reincarnation system,” Jiang Jin explained. “Do you believe that there will be a whole bunch of neighbors, friends, and colleagues in this world who ‘know’ us?”

"This...this is possible?"

At that moment, a calico cat with brown, white, and black fur was curled up in the corner of the bed, seemingly dozing off. Jiang Jin gestured for Lin Lu to be careful, then slowly approached to observe the cat named Lucky.

Sure enough, its left eye was black and its right eye was amber, which matched the description.

At the end of the second-floor corridor, there is a small and exquisite traditional Thai Buddhist shrine. The shrine is made of fine wood and is carved with intricate patterns. Inside, there is a small golden Buddha statue. In front of the Buddha statue are an incense burner, candles, and a polished copper bowl. When you get close, you can smell a faint sandalwood fragrance.

"Officer Jiang, the 'materialist layer' you mentioned earlier... is it really absolutely safe here?" Lin Lu looked around anxiously, her voice low.

Jiang Jin paused for a moment, then decided to calm her down for the time being: "Yes, the material plane is a material world without any supernatural phenomena. But we must always be vigilant and strictly abide by the rules, as any negligence could lead to the infiltration of 'contamination'."

He did not explain in detail that the materialistic layer could also become unstable due to pollution, and that their consciousness was at risk of being pulled into the mysterious layer at any time. He only emphasized: "Therefore, every rule in the code must be kept in mind."

Next, Jiang Jin gestured for Deathstroke to approach the calico cat, Lucky. Deathstroke circled the dozing cat a few times, its nostrils flaring, and after a moment, it returned to Jiang Jin's side and shook its head. It didn't detect any obvious evil spirit aura or strong signs of possession from the cat.

While waiting for the newbie gift pack to drop, the two began a preliminary search of the house. They found some documents, including their identification documents.

Jiang Jin's identity in this world is "Athit Chawa", while Lin Lu's identity is "Lukni Sangthong".

"So Thai women don't take their husband's surname after marriage?" Lin Lu was a little surprised.

“Thai women usually keep their original surname after marriage, but sometimes they also use their husband’s surname,” Jiang Jin explained. “My mother used to love watching Thai dramas broadcast on Anhui TV, and I listened to a lot of them.”

They also dug out some old newspapers, mostly community news and ordinary social reports. A cursory glance revealed no startling news or case records directly related to the current situation or "a third person".

As the rules stated, there were indeed only six printed family photos and wedding photos in the house, scattered throughout the living room and study. The people in the photos were mainly "Atai" and "Lu Ni," as well as the calico cat; there were no women wearing hair clips.

During a break in the search, Lin Lu seemed to suddenly remember something, and her face turned even paler.

"Officer Jiang... I... I remember now. My ex-boyfriend used to play a Thai horror game, I think... I think it was called 'Sweet Home'!"

Jiang Jin immediately looked at her: "The game? Do you remember the details?"

"I... I haven't played it. I just watched him play it from the sidelines." Lin Lu tried hard to recall the game she had seen Jin Chenglin play, her speech a little fast due to nervousness. "It seems to be about a married couple, the husband searching for his missing wife... The male protagonist's name is Tim, and the female protagonist's name is Jane. There are many scenes, many supernatural phenomena and puzzles... The game also has settings where you need to avoid ghosts and follow certain rules! But the names are wrong, in the rules we are Atai and Lu Ni..."

Jiang Jin pondered for a moment and said, "That's not surprising. Although the dungeons generated by the reincarnation system are based on real-world games and movies, they are usually heavily modified. Name changes and detail adjustments are common, and even the rules themselves may be distorted. Game plots can only be used as a reference and should never be completely applied, otherwise you may be misled."

Moreover, following the Manhattan meme, the extent of the horror version's modifications may be even greater.

Lin Lu nodded and continued to recall and briefly describe the game's plot as she knew it: Tim, the husband, wakes up to find his wife Jane missing, and strange phenomena appear in their home. He must search for his wife in a twisted space filled with Thai evil spirits and curses, uncovering a dark story of jealousy, murder, and black magic, also involving an evil sorcerer. However, she had never played the game and only heard Jin Chenglin's general description of the plot; much of it was unclear to her.

"What caused your meme contamination?" Jiang Jin asked again at this point.

“Because…” Lin Lu sighed and replied, “I didn’t follow the new reading rules. I’m from Tiexi District, so I’m considered a company employee, but I didn’t wear headphones between four and five in the afternoon…”

"Understood." Jiang Jin was speechless. People in Tiexi District only need to follow such a simple rule, and they've already forgotten that?

“After that, there was a ‘person’ under my bed… Later, I called the Meme Contamination Monitoring Department and asked them to send a cleaner to test my SAN value. The test showed that my SAN was below 60%, so the cleaner sprayed me with hypnotic gas… When I woke up, I was in the Ghost Image Mall.”

Jiang Jin was puzzled. There was nothing special about this, so why would he accept the reward of 100 resentment crystals?
"Time is almost up, your gift is coming soon."

The two opened the door and went outside.

Looking up, they saw a black box with a parachute attached to it, swaying as it fell from the sky, landing precisely in the open space in front of their house.

Jiang Jin remembered that the newbie gift pack he received in the [Water Pool Evil Spirit] dungeon was crimson. Different classes received different colored gift packs?
The black box landed steadily and came to rest on the ground in front of us.

"Open it and take a look; here's your beginner gear."

Lin Lu took a deep breath, squatted down, and opened the black box.

The lid of the box was lifted, revealing five items neatly arranged inside, with descriptions displayed on her left retina.

Entangling Wooden Plaque: This plaque can be used to temporarily curse or bind a target (spirit or creature) by wrapping their hair, blood, or other mediums around it. When used on a spirit, it can temporarily immobilize them (weak and short-lived). When used on a creature, it may cause minor discomfort, nightmares, or a temporary decrease in luck. Each successful use deducts 5% of the user's SAN value.

The Dull Soul-Suppressing Bell: Shaking this bell produces a dull sound that can interfere with spirits within a certain range, causing them to move slightly slower, become confused, or briefly interrupt certain paranormal phenomena. It can also be used to detect the presence of spirits—the bell may vibrate slightly when a spirit is near, but it cannot pinpoint the exact location. Each ring deducts 3% of the user's SAN value.

Resentful Hair Bundle: This bundle of black hair is a powerful medium for black magic. It can be used to cast spells related to "connection," "curse," or "tracking." For example, wrapping a strand of hair around a target object may trace its origin, or incorporating a strand into a wooden plaque may enhance the effect of a curse. The hair itself seems to have a slight attraction to spirits. Holding the hair bundle allows one to feel its cool "activity," and each use deducts 4% of SAN value. The user may briefly hear faint female sobs or feel being watched.

Mysterious Blood Essence Vial: The liquid inside is a black magic material mixed with special herbs and unknown blood. It can be used to draw simple black magic circles, enhance the effects of other black magic items (such as applying it to puppets or hair), or as an offering/medium in certain rituals. The specific effect depends on the ritual or spell used. Each time the liquid in the vial is used for casting a spell or ritual, an additional 4%-8% SAN points will be deducted, depending on the amount used and the spell's strength.

The "Gulathai Black Magic Secrets" manuscript: This is a handwritten manual recording basic knowledge of black magic. Reading it allows you to learn basic black magic incantations, rituals, material processing methods, and taboos. Mastering the knowledge in the book is a prerequisite for effectively using the first four items. The book also contains scattered notes on information and coping techniques regarding common Thai horror spirits. Reading and understanding this manuscript itself will be mentally taxing. Each chapter or spell read and attempted to be understood will deduct 2%-5% of your SAN value, depending on the obscurity and malevolence of the content.

Lin Lu looked at these "beginner items" that exuded an ominous aura, her fingers trembling slightly, unsure which one to pick up first.

Jiang Jin's gaze swept over the props before finally settling on Lin Lu's pale and tense face. This newcomer, Lin Lu, and this Sweet Home instance both exuded an unusual and eerie aura.

(End of this chapter)