Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 337 Superposition of Memes

The seawater that Katsuo Sato vomited seemed endless, spreading rapidly across the floor. The salty, fishy smell was so strong it was nauseating, and the tangled black hair was even more gruesome.

The old man collapsed in the pool of water, his body convulsing violently, his eyes rolled back, clearly his life was slipping away rapidly.

Almost at the same moment he fell to the ground, the old-fashioned rotary telephone in the corner of the room rang sharply and urgently!
Jingle Bell!Jingle Bell!
The ringtone, at this moment, no longer sounded like ordinary communication; it was more like a death knell from hell! And now, the old man was unable to answer the phone…

Jiang Jin and Kong Huaizheng felt their scalps tingle, and their SAN values ​​began to drop!
"Go!" Jiang Jin made a decisive decision and, together with Kong Huaizheng, rushed out of the house shrouded in the aura of death as fast as possible.

The two ran wildly until they reached a relatively open coastal road, where they dared to stop and catch their breath.

Looking at the vast, blue sea with its undulating waves before him, Jiang Jin felt extremely heavy-hearted.

Sadako exhibits new abilities—distorting cognition, silently interfering with the material world, and triggering instant death phenomena related to the sea.

This completely exceeded their understanding of the "seven-day curse" in the original movie. In this version, the rules seem to be both a constraint and a weapon that Sadako can use.

"Deputy Commander, are you alright?" Kong Huaizheng asked breathlessly, trying to comfort him. "No one expected 'she' could directly interfere with reality and distort our senses. This curse is too evil."

Jiang Jin shook his head and remained silent.

He silently sensed the warm power emanating from the crimson jade on his chest. This legendary ornament was continuously radiating a tranquil and protective aura, helping him stabilize his mind and resist Sadako's pervasive and icy curse that was trying to erode his will.

He knew perfectly well that without the Crimson Jade, he might have been influenced or even dominated by Sadako's spiritual power in that environment.

Even so, a strong sense of unease still lingered in my heart. The corruption of the rules had deepened further, and what would happen next was completely unpredictable.

At the same time, the rest of the team was near the beach at their guesthouse.

Takamiya Yui was practicing his "slashing back" sword technique on a relatively secluded beach.

The newly acquired sword danced in his hand, its cold light flashing as it sliced ​​through the air!

This sword truly suited him perfectly. Its weight, length, and the "divine wind" sharpness it contained made him more adept at swordsmanship, and its power seemed to have been enhanced as well.

After completing a set of sword moves, Takamiya Yui slowly sheathed his sword, a satisfied look on his face. But when he looked up at the boundless Pacific Ocean in the distance, that joy was quickly replaced by a deeper worry.

The sea... remains that prison sea that brings endless fear.

His thoughts drifted back to many years ago, to that day that changed everything—the Great East Japan Earthquake and the devastating tsunami that followed.

That disaster was not only a destruction at the material level, but also a catalyst for a large-scale outbreak of meme pollution.

Although Meguro Ward in Tokyo was not directly hit by the tsunami, it still suffered severe secondary effects.

He remembers clearly that after the tsunami receded, many streets in Meguro Ward were filled with "hate bottles" that had been swept ashore by the waves.

These cursed entities, which should have only appeared in the Mysterious Layer or even deeper layers of contamination, have massively invaded the Material Layer, causing countless bizarre deaths. Panic, originating in Meguro Ward, quickly spread throughout Tokyo.

What truly became a symbol of nightmares was the Fukushima no-man's-land, completely sealed off after being destroyed by the tsunami and due to the combined effects of nuclear leakage and memetic contamination. It is no longer simply a nuclear accident exclusion zone, but has become a containment area for the Reincarnation System, leading to countless extremely dangerous and terrifying instances, and is a forbidden zone that even the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's top Reincarnator teams dare not easily venture into.

Takamiya Yui gripped the scabbard tightly. Deep in his heart, he harbored a seemingly impossible desire—that one day, a powerful reincarnator could successfully board the legendary "Death Ferry," end the curse it brought, and break the shadow of death that loomed over Japan and the entire Pacific Ocean.

As night falls, the waves relentlessly pound the reefs of Izu Oshima, adding an eerie touch to the quiet night.

Mr. Tomimura, the guide, arrived at the guesthouse where the reincarnators were staying as promised, his face showing a mixture of excitement at having found out the information and a little confusion.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have learned some very strange things about NHK television back then." Tomimura lowered his voice, as if afraid of being overheard.

Jiang Jin and the others immediately perked up and sat down around. "What do you mean?"

Tomimura organized his thoughts and said, "It's been too long, and many details have become blurry. But I asked a few elderly people, and they vaguely remember that when NHK came to film, there seemed to be some kind of accident. Some people said... a cameraman captured something 'dirty' that shouldn't have been on camera."

"Something dirty?" Yu Tianlun pressed, "What exactly is it?"

“It’s hard to say,” Tomimura shook his head. “Some say it was a blurry white shadow, others say it was a hand reaching out of the well… Anyway, the rumors are quite eerie. And, it’s said that someone actually died because of it, and their death was gruesome…”

He paused, seemingly recalling an even more astonishing part: "And there's something even stranger. Some of the islanders who assisted with the filming later claimed to have experienced strange hallucinations. They said... during the filming, they would sometimes see a huge, rusty old ferry that looked like it had been abandoned for decades, appearing out of nowhere on the distant sea!"

"The Death Ferry?!" Takamiya Yui exclaimed in shock, her face turning deathly pale instantly.

Jiang Jin, Yu Tianlun, and the others were also deeply shocked. The Death Ferry was the most terrifying source of meme contamination in Japan, and just as they had expected, in this instance, the Death Ferry was directly related to Sadako's curse!
“It seems I was right,” Yu Tianlun said hoarsely after the guide left. “This horror instance has been deeply contaminated by the ‘Death Ferry.’ Two horror memes originating from Japan, both closely related to ‘water’ and ‘death,’ have overlapped or rather… merged?”

Yui Takamiya added with difficulty, "The Death Ferry... is the symbol of the deepest fear in the hearts of all Japanese reincarnators, and even all Japanese people who know of its existence. If 'her' curse is really strengthened by the power of the Death Ferry... then within the Annihilation Layer, 'she' has probably become an even more indescribable and terrifying existence that cannot be fathomed by common sense."

This deduction sent a chill down everyone's spine. What they were facing was no longer just the vengeful spirit from "The Ring," but an unknown monster that had been corrupted and amplified by a materialized manifestation of Japanese collective fear.

As night deepened and all was quiet, everyone else in the guesthouse had returned to their rooms to rest or stand guard, with only the sound of the waves continuing.

Jiang Jin sat cross-legged alone in his room, attempting to calm the shock of the day through meditation and the power of the Crimson Jade, and to continue sensing the loosened LV3 barrier. Simple warning barriers and bloodstain traps were set up around him.

However, as night deepened, he gradually sensed something inexplicably wrong. It wasn't a direct attack or visual anomaly, but rather a chilling feeling of being watched and approached.

It was as if something stood silently in the shadows of the room, behind him, without a sound.

Suddenly, a scene from the original movie uncontrollably surfaced in his mind—the male protagonist, Ryuji Takayama, was sitting alone on a bench when suddenly, a pair of feet wearing white shoes stopped in front of him.

Ryuji Takayama sensed the identity of the newcomer using his psychic abilities, and his heart was filled with extreme fear. He kept his head down, not daring to look up...

The appearance of this image was like a chilling signal!

Jiang Jin suddenly realized that Sadako was trying to project this terrifying scene into his reality!
The feeling of being stared at and being approached suddenly became clear and sharp!
Sadako is in the room! She's all around!

She was trying to use this method, this kind of mental oppression derived from classic movie scenes, to break through Zhu Hongzhiyu's protection and exert a deeper level of mental control over him!
"Are they targeting me because I used that thing?"

What he was referring to was the touch of Sadako Yamamura!
Can't wait any longer!
Passive defense will only increase mental stress, eventually leading to a breakdown!
A fierce glint flashed in Jiang Jin's eyes. Almost instinctively and with a hunter's intuition, he suddenly reached out with his right hand towards "Moon Shadow" beside him!
After drawing his sword, he spun halfway around and, without hesitation, slashed horizontally with all his might towards the area behind him where he sensed the strongest malice!

The cold blade sliced ​​through the air, carrying a resolute sharpness!

There was no sense of impact as expected, nor any feedback of hitting a solid object.

The blade swept past, leaving nothing but emptiness behind.

Jiang Jin steadied himself, breathing heavily, his eyes fixed on the blade of "Moon Shadow".

On the gleaming blade, several drops of viscous, dark red liquid were visible, slowly sliding down the blade!
Bloodstains!
He hit his target!

He struck that invisible and intangible "thing" that truly existed in this space and was trying to mentally control him!
The Moon Shadow Blade can harm spirits in the Annihilation Layer—the rules he modified earlier have taken effect!
However, this did not bring any sense of security; instead, it made Jiang Jin's heart sink even deeper into an ice cellar.

Sadako... has become so close, almost materially disruptive to the material world...

The temperature in the room seemed to have suddenly dropped significantly.

The sound of the waves crashing against the shore outside the window seemed to grow more rapid and colder...

(End of this chapter)