Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 328 Copying and Dissemination

Inside the villa, Jiang Jin stroked the cold videotape in his hand, his gaze sweeping over the ten rules on the cover once more, finally settling on the ninth one.

"Rule Nine states that if you see a 'woman jumping into a volcano,' you should immediately turn off the power and call a repair shop to wait for a technician wearing a gold eagle badge to arrive..."

He looked up at Yu Tianlun, his brows furrowed: "Commander, I have a question. This videotape is essentially a projection of 'her' resentment, a vessel for a supernatural curse. Then, what exactly are this so-called 'repair station' and 'repair technician'? Could it be that 'her' cursed world includes an after-sales service system?"

This question truly sent a chill down everyone's spine.

Xu Yinqiu instinctively hugged her arms tightly and whispered, "This doesn't make sense; there's no such setting in the original plot."

At this moment, Li Shang, the foreign aid who had been almost silent, spoke up: "Just as the reincarnation system has indicated, the memetic contamination level of the [Midnight Bell] instance has been deepening this year."

“That’s right,” Yu Tianlun said in a deep voice, his tone absolutely certain. “After each horror instance is twisted into a strange tale of rules, the original logic is broken. As the contamination deepens, some… rules and characters that cannot be explained by common sense are added in. This repair technician is very likely an unknown entity created after the contamination. It may be an embodiment of a rule, or another bizarre entity that has been drawn in, or even some kind of clone of ‘her’ that we cannot understand.”

He paused, then emphasized, "In any case, do not trigger this rule lightly before you have a complete understanding of the situation. Do not call that phone number unless absolutely necessary. We know nothing about the so-called 'repair' process and its consequences."

Everyone nodded in agreement, mentally marking this unknown "repair technician" as an extremely high-risk individual.

“Then, the next step,” Yu Tianlun said, looking around at everyone, “we need to proceed on two fronts. First, continue investigating the origins of ‘her’ and prepare to head to Izu Oshima; second, execute Rule Seven, copy the videotape, and find the ‘viewer.’ Xu Yinqiu, Lian Xuan, and I will stay at the villa. As the place where ‘she’ first appeared, it may still hold clues we haven’t discovered yet, which we need to investigate further. Lian Xuan’s medium abilities might be able to sense more here.”

He looked at Jiang Jin: "Jiang Jin, you, Li Shang, Lian De, and Kong Huaizheng are responsible for going out to carry out Rule Seven. Lian De's divination results are out, so prioritize dealing with the targets on the list. At the same time, you need to buy blank videotapes for copying."

"Understood." Jiang Jin readily agreed. Li Shang, Lian De, and Kong Huaizheng, one LV4, two LV2, plus himself, a near LV3, this combination is enough to handle most emergencies.

With the plan settled, Jiang Jin and his three companions made no further delays, made some preparations, and left the villa, their figures quickly disappearing into the streets of Hakone in the early morning.

About half an hour after Jiang Jin and the others left, the doorbell of the villa rang.

Yu Tianlun, Xu Yinqiu, and Lian Xuan, who remained behind, immediately became alert.

Yu Tianlun gestured for Lian Xuan to sense, and Lian Xuan closed his eyes for a moment before whispering, "A person with a stable life force and a sharp aura, like... a reincarnator. Without 'her' chilling feeling."

Yu Tianlun walked to the door and looked out through the peephole.

A young man stood outside the door, tall and with a resolute face, dressed in simple casual clothes and carrying a samurai sword.

A hint of surprise flashed in Yu Tianlun's eyes; he recognized the person who had come.

He opened the door, his tone carrying a hint of confirmation: "Takamiya Yui?"

Gao Gongwei breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Yu Tianlun, bowed slightly, and said, "Yu Sang, it really is you. I appreciate your help in the [Lanruo Temple] instance."

"No need to be so polite, we're just looking out for each other." Yu Tianlun stepped aside to let him in. "I didn't expect to run into you in this instance. Please come in first."

Takamiya Yui entered the villa, her gaze quickly and cautiously sweeping over the interior. She nodded and said, "The mission requires me to rendezvous with your 'Nirvana Team' and watch that...cursed videotape within 24 hours."

His tone became noticeably heavier when he mentioned the videotape.

“We just finished watching it too.” Yu Tianlun briefly introduced Xu Yinqiu and Lian Xuan, then cut straight to the point, “The situation is a bit complicated; the rules of the videotapes in this instance are very strange…”

Takamiya Yui listened with a solemn expression, her hand unconsciously reaching for her katana at her waist: "I understand. I hope I can lend you a hand. My current class is Apprentice, and my swordsmanship 'Slash Return' might come in handy in certain situations."

“Welcome to the team, Takamiya-kun,” Yu Tianlun said. “Currently, Vice Commander Jiang Jin is out on a mission with his men. We’ll stay behind and investigate this villa together to see if there are any more clues about ‘her’… and ‘her’ parents. According to the rules, we cannot reveal ‘her’s’ name at this time.”

Takamiya Yui nodded solemnly: "I am willing to do my part."

On the other side, Jiang Jin, Li Shang, Lian De, and Kong Huaizheng first found an electronics store that was still open.

In 1997 Japan, videotape rental and sales were still widespread. They could easily purchase several blank VHS tapes.

"Let's make a copy first to test the waters." Jiang Jin held the original videotape and a box of blank tapes and told the clerk that he wanted to borrow the store's video recorder to make copies.

This kind of service was common at the time, and the staff did not suspect anything, guiding them to use the store's equipment.

"Who will make the copy?" Jiang Jin asked. It couldn't be decided easily who would "copy" the first copy to spread the meme.

"Let's draw lots," Kong Huaizheng suggested. He casually tore off a piece of paper from the side and made four slips of paper, marking one of them.

As a result, Lian De was the one who was drawn and marked.

Lian De remained expressionless and said, "The duties of the priests are inherently related to communication and bearing burdens, so perhaps this is just right."

After Lian De pressed the copy button, both video recorders started working simultaneously, and the video and audio data flowed from the original tape to the blank tape. The entire process went exceptionally smoothly without any abnormalities. One minute later, the copying was complete.

“It looks simple,” Li Shang said, but there was no relaxation in his eyes.

“Copying the curse can’t be without cost.” Li Shang, being a Level 4 Reincarnator with extensive experience, looked at the newly created tape and said in a low voice, “The rules require a ‘complete copy.’ Perhaps… on some level that we cannot observe, a portion of the original curse has already been diverted into this new tape. In any case, it’s impossible to avoid death by simply copying a videotape and showing it to someone else, just like with the original movie.”

Jiang Jin picked up the copy tape, an item that originally belonged to the material world, but now it had become a new ominous source of pollution.

Then, the four of them didn't linger. Based on Lian De's previous divination, they headed towards their first destination—the location of Matsui Yuya.

According to divination, Yuya Matsui served in the Central China region during the invasion of China, and his karma is heavy, with a lot of blood debts.

Today, he lives alone in a slightly old townhouse in Hakone.

As they approached the target area, Lian De performed a more precise divination, which ultimately pointed to a house deep in a secluded alley.

"This is it," Lian De whispered.

The four arrived at the door, which was a wooden structure bearing the marks of time.

Kong Huaizheng stepped forward and said, "Let me do it."

As a sorcerer, he possessed certain methods to influence people's minds.

He didn't knock, but instead slid a small bone bell carved with twisted runes from his sleeve and gently shook it through the door.

The ringtone does not travel through the air, but acts directly on the mental level; it is low, indistinct, and has a hypnotic rhythm, thus influencing a specific target.

A moment later, footsteps came from inside the door, and then the door was opened from the inside.

An elderly man with a hunched back and a face full of age spots appeared at the door, his eyes filled with turbidity and confusion. It was Matsui Yuya.

Jiang Jin and the other three quickly entered the house and closed the door.

Kong Huaizheng maintained the slight vibration of the bone bell to ensure the elderly man was under control.

The room was filled with the smell of medicine. The furnishings were simple and old. On the wall hung a blurry old group photo, which could be vaguely seen as a young Matsui Yuya wearing a military uniform with his colleagues.

“Matsui Yuya,” Kong Huaizheng said coldly, his voice carrying an undeniable sense of pressure, “tell me what you did in China.”

Under Kong Huaizheng's hypnotic influence, Matsui Isamu's eyes glazed over, and he began to narrate in fits and starts. He mentioned his unit number, his massacres in Nanjing, and the large-scale mopping-up operations in Central China. Due to the hypnosis, his words lacked emotion, yet those heinous crimes of burning, killing, and looting were clearly presented through his plain words!

Upon hearing about these crimes, Jiang Jin wished he could immediately draw his gun and kill the old Japanese devil in front of him.

"Alright, that's enough." Jiang Jin said coldly, "Lian De, prepare to make your move."

The four quickly inspected Matsui Yuya's living room. Fortunately, there was indeed an old Toshiba CRT television and its accompanying VCR.

Li Shang checked the phone; the dial tone was normal. They then turned on the main living room light and a floor lamp, which, combined with the brightness of the television, met the requirement of "at least three light sources."

When Lian De inserted the original videotape into the VCR, he gave Matsui Yuya instructions: "Sit here, keep your eyes wide open, and watch the entire content shown on TV. Don't close your eyes, and don't leave. When the phone rings, answer it before it rings for the fourth time."

Like a puppet, Matsui Yuya obediently sat in the chair directly in front of the television, his cloudy eyes staring intently at the still-unlit screen.

Lian De pressed the play button.

The familiar scene reappears—hair-like dark clouds, a mirror image of someone combing their hair switching left and right, moving text, a twisted and crawling crowd, a man with a white cloth covering his face pointing the way, the character "贞" (zhen) written upside down in his pupils, and finally, an ancient well in the forest… Then, snow and noise cover the screen again.

The playback ended at one minute and twenty seconds.

Lian De immediately turned off the television and VCR, and took out the videotape.

"Mission accomplished, let's go," Jiang Jin said crisply.

Kong Huaizheng put away the bone bell and released Matsui Yuya from deep hypnosis, but left a psychological suggestion so that he would not immediately recall the specific appearances of the four people, but would only vaguely remember the experience of being forced to watch the bizarre video.

The four left the house without a second thought, leaving Matsui Yuya, slumped in a chair with a blank, vacant look in his eyes, alone in the silence and impending terror.

They knew the curse had been planted. Seven days later, Yuya Matsui would face the vengeance of Sadako Yamamura!
(End of this chapter)