Time Traveler Help Hotline

Regardless of whether Chen Zhuzhu has recovered from the shock, the show's broadcast time has arrived, and she should get back to work.

Sitting in front of the familiar hosting platform after a long absence, Chen Zhuzhu looked at the camera with a slight nervousness, reached back to brush her hair aside, and checked whether the headset was properly in place.

Behind the camera, only Ji Mo sat there alone.

Strangely enough, You Tianding, who was theoretically the least likely to be absent, did not come.

Although Uncle You did ask for leave in the group chat, Chen Zhuzhu secretly guessed that it might be because Miss Jiu had criticized him mercilessly in the group chat last time, making him a little embarrassed to show his face.

Ji Mo thought so too. After asking a few questions privately, he sensed the impatience in the text and, after confirming that it was okay for You Tian to stay at the headquarters with the Soul Fire, he temporarily reserved his stance.

"It's okay." Ji Mo mouthed the words and gave an OK sign.

Chen Zhuzhu quickly adjusted her breathing and flashed her signature smile at the camera:

Good evening, everyone! It's been a month since we last met. Did you miss me?

Chen Zhuzhu originally thought that, like before the broadcast resumed, she would be lucky to get one call for help a day.

Therefore, she specially prepared a new article, intending to use brand-new content to support the event at least today.

She was using the recent turmoil in the Rule Realm as an example to explain the legal provisions for those stranded outside the Mortal Realm: "...Please make sure you check the validity period of your passport. Under normal circumstances, passports issued by the Rule Realm are valid for one to ten years, depending on the type of visa..."

Ring ring—

Chen Zhuzhu's reading of the prepared text was interrupted.

Huh? You got a phone call so soon? Chen Zhuzhu's expression at this moment could be described as flattered.

As soon as the call connected, a child's heart-wrenching wails erupted from the receiver, with the faint sound of a feather duster cutting through the air in the background.

"Waaaah—! Mom! Stop calling! Dad got through on the phone! Help—!"

The crying and screaming...

Ji Mo was taken aback; it was Xiao Yan, the one who had skipped training.

Clearly, the child realized the call had been connected faster than his father and tried to grasp at it as a lifeline.

But clearly, the previous program couldn't save him, and it's the same this time.

An angry female voice forcefully interrupted the conversation, each word ringing out:

"Whether the call goes through or not has nothing to do with this beating! It's purely because you dared to forge a parent's signature! This is only third-grade math! You dared to get 63 points?! When I was your age, I never went to a proper school, and I still got higher scores than you!"

Ji Mo originally wanted to remind Chen Zhuzhu that the requirements for calling the hotline for this program had changed, but upon hearing this, she hesitated to speak.

All I could hear was Xiaoyan burst into tears, crying even more pitifully.

"This child, every time we meet, he's either getting beaten up or on his way to getting beaten up..." Ji Mo muttered to himself.

On the other end of the phone, Yan's father's voice was loud and clear, tinged with the excitement of having found a new blue ocean:

"After much thought, my husband and I realized that Lao Gan's violent work would negatively impact Xiao Yan's upbringing! We can't keep telling him whether his parents are going to fight or getting attacked, can we?"

"So we wanted to expand into services for ordinary people and transform our business! We saw some companies online that specialize in helping clients who can't control themselves become self-disciplined! We wondered if we could use some extraordinary methods to create the illusion of 'dying if you don't do it,' which would definitely make people self-disciplined and even unleash their potential under the threat of death?"

"I've read that's how it's always written in novels. The protagonist, who's always been a slacker, accidentally gets caught up in a death game and has to work hard to survive, training and reading. We could create something similar, except instead of a battle royale, they'd be making people do their assigned tasks on a schedule."

"I just want to ask, is this kind of company thinking illegal?"

Chen Zhuzhu was stunned by this death-inspiring technique, leaving her mind blank and only able to look helplessly at Ji Mo.

Ji Mo pointed to his earphones, indicating to Chen Zhuzhu to repeat what he said.

"First of all, Mr. Yan's idea can be compared to the Hengrui High School incident not long ago. Both are essentially in a gray area. You might say they broke the law, but theoretically they didn't. However, if they really wanted to find fault with you, they would have plenty of reasons to make you suspend the investigation."

"Secondly, may I ask about your company's expected size? Is it just two people or are you planning to expand?"

"Since supervision and self-discipline are required, it inherently demands a significant investment of time and energy. Relying on just two people makes it easy for mistakes to occur. However, hiring superhumans generally comes at a high price. The final profit may not be as high as you imagine."

"Finally, it sounds like your previous work was purely combat-oriented, and you were frequently dealing with superhumans. Do you really have any concept of the vulnerability of ordinary people?"

"Under the pressures of today's society, the physical and mental strength of ordinary people may be much more fragile than you imagine, and the so-called threat of death may become a reason for them to become extreme."

"The thought might arise that 'even if I complete this mission, there will be other missions later, and they will definitely get harder and harder, so I might as well die sooner and be reborn sooner.'"

"Some extreme individuals might choose to drag others down with them."

"At that time, the two of you will have to bear the corresponding legal responsibilities."

Yan's father was stunned and deeply shocked by what he said: "Are ordinary people that fragile? When faced with a death threat, shouldn't they lie low and gather their strength, waiting for an opportunity to fight back? What kind of person would turn a knife on themselves or their loved ones?"

"...This is the difference in mindset between people who grow up in contact with extraordinary individuals and ordinary people. The education they receive teaches them that violent retaliation is mostly a last resort."

Chen Zhuzhu thought of You Tianding; if he were present, he would be the most suitable person to answer this question.

But in fact, what Ji Mo taught her to say was a fallacy of equivocation.

People who are overwhelmed by daily stress would never subscribe to such services. Those who do subscribe are likely just lazy bums, possibly facing death threats, thinking, "Whatever, I'll just give up."

Ji Mo only wanted the worst-case scenario to make the other party give up the idea.

"Hmm, is that so? Then we'll think about it carefully." No matter how they think about it, at least Yan's father said he would consider it.

"Yes, if you just want to find a superhuman job that doesn't involve much fighting, you can go to the official job placement agency. There are actually quite a few jobs to choose from there."

Just as Yan's father hung up the phone, full of thanks, and Chen Zhuzhu had barely picked up the interrupted manuscript and read a few lines, the phone rang again.

No? Here we go again? Will I be getting a constant stream of phone calls tonight?

"No way! My first day back at work is already so stressful and exhausting!" Chen Zhuzhu lamented inwardly. After a month-long vacation, she was no longer the enthusiastic person she used to be.

Chen Zhuzhu was thinking that if there weren't many hotline calls, Ji Mo might let her finish get off work early, given his personality.

"Hello? Hello, host," came a slightly nervous young male voice, his voice lowered. "I have a question I'd like to ask."

"Please speak."

"I... have a girl I really like, and I'm thinking of confessing my feelings to her to increase my chances of success. I just listened to the last hotline caller who asked for help, and suddenly I had a bold idea."

He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

"She's an ordinary person, almost powerless against supernatural events. So I wondered if I could use my abilities to create an accident, like accidentally transporting her and us to a place like Silent Hill... a place with a bit of danger and oppression. Once we're all together, and the suspension bridge effect is at its strongest, I'll confess my feelings and then immediately bring her back safely!"

His tone carried a hint of meticulous planning and subtle excitement, but then a touch of uncertainty crept in:

"Host, I just want to ask... is this kind of operation illegal?"

Chen Zhuzhu froze on the spot again, feeling as if every listener today was doing a crazy bungee jump in her blind spots of knowledge.

Fortunately, Ji Mo quickly replied to her: "Tell him to stop thinking about it, it's illegal. Besides, once we take him out, there's a high probability that the woman will awaken her powers and realize that he's a superhuman and something's not right."

After Chen Zhuzhu relayed the message, the other party was clearly disappointed: "Eh..."

Hey, what? You're just taking advantage of the fact that that woman isn't a superhuman and can't see this program.

If anyone knew what you were thinking, you'd be in for a chat with the police!

Chen Zhuzhu thought viciously to herself.

Although Ji Mo has no realm limit, and theoretically ordinary people could also come across this program, the state limit is for people who are caught up in confusion related to the extraordinary.

Unless someone is a die-hard chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur) who happens to be looking for videos to watch, it's difficult for ordinary people in the mortal realm to meet this standard.

This time, Chen Zhuzhu didn't rush to read the script. She deliberately slowed down her movements after hanging up the phone, and as expected, it rang again a few seconds later.

This time it was another familiar face.

Priestess, Lisa.

The moment that slow, deliberate voice rang out, both of them froze.

"If I use time-acceleration magic to turn a minor into a middle-aged person, would he still need to abide by juvenile protection laws and obtain his parents' consent to stay?"

Ji Mo: "..."

No, you're asking this question without even using an alias?

Isn't their purpose a little too obvious?

And, wasn't the Qiaobang Immigration Bureau already shut down? Even Lan Yun is almost ready to be executed in the fall. Where did you abduct these minors from the Weifan Realm?

The rare quiet in the studio seemed to reach Lisa as well, as Ji Mo heard the soft sound of nail filing and a "ha" sound after the nails were filed.

Lisa then said quietly, "Don't worry, we haven't recruited any heroes from your world yet. We just took the opportunity to ask since the show has relaxed its hotline requirements for the first time, just in case."

"We might not need it now, but who knows, maybe we'll need it in ten years? Or even a hundred years?"

"Everyone needs to have dreams, right?"

Ji Mo always felt that Lisa's dream might have been tainted with something erotic.

As someone who only knows how to memorize, Chen Zhuzhu's brain continued to malfunction, and she became a ruthless relayer: "No, the law of the mortal realm determines whether someone is a minor based on the age on their ID card in this realm."

"You can make him grow up overnight, but in the mortal realm, you can also make him return to childhood overnight."

"This kind of bug-exploiting behavior is unacceptable."

Lisa said it was a pity, but accepted the answer nonetheless.

That night, Chen Zhuzhu's answers never stopped, and she talked until her throat was dry, and the thermos she brought with her was empty long ago.

She had thought more than once that after this show ended, she would suggest that Ji Mo find another partner.

Then I thought again, maybe today is an exception?

After all, this was a month's worth of inquiries.

During the ongoing Q&A session, Chen Zhuzhu glanced out of the corner of her eye and was pleasantly surprised to find that there were still ten minutes left before the broadcast ended.

If I'm lucky, I can answer one more question from the audience and then go home!

Waaah, finally I don't have to listen to these strange questions anymore, and I don't have to rack my brains to recall any legal provisions that might be useful.

Thinking of this, Chen Zhuzhu couldn't help but look at Ji Mo with gratitude.

She couldn't answer many questions and relied entirely on Ji Mo's off-court assistance.

It was through this program that Chen Zhuzhu discovered that there were truly extraordinary people among the superhumans.

Ah, the hotline is ringing again.

Chen Zhuzhu answered the last hotline call of the night. Before she could even utter the standard greeting, static came through the receiver.

Immediately afterwards, a hollow and slow female voice echoed eerily, accompanied by a chilling background sound effect:

"...Who...are...you...? I...am...Mary..."

Chen Zhuzhu jumped in surprise, almost throwing her phone away: "?!?!"

Just as her hair stood on end, the atmosphere on the other end of the phone changed abruptly, replaced by a light and cheerful laugh that seemed to have succeeded in a prank, instantly dispelling the previous eerie atmosphere.

"Oh dear~ Did I scare you? Sorry, sorry!" a cheerful female voice said with a laugh, and the slightly eerie sound effects in the background immediately disappeared. "Your show seems quite serious, so I was just playing a little joke on you!"

Chen Zhuzhu clutched her still pounding heart, feeling that all the energy she had accumulated during her month-long vacation had been completely exhausted by the continuous phone calls tonight.

"I see..."

"However, I am indeed Mary."

"...May I ask which Mary it is?"

"Darling, didn't you already guess it? It's Mary. One of the urban legends, Miss Mary who makes the phone call."

As she finished speaking, Mary's voice once again carried that sinister and terrifying tone.

Chen Zhuzhu: "..."

The person looks fine, but has actually been dead for a while.

After arriving at the train station, Ji Mo saw Chen Zhuzhu with this fearful and helpless expression for the first time. Even being in the program room couldn't dispel her fear.

It seems I can't stay backstage any longer.

Ji Mo moved from backstage to the front of the stage, gently patted Chen Zhuzhu's shoulder, and gestured for her to go back and rest first, while he would take over here.

Chen Zhuzhu felt as if she had been granted a pardon and quickly nodded and stepped aside.

Miss Mary on the other end of the phone also noticed the change of host, and exclaimed in surprise, "Hmm, did I hit the jackpot? The first host is actually helping me answer the question?"

Miss Mary seemed to have watched all the previous recordings, after all, Ji Mo's time as host was very early and short.

Instead of answering, Ji Mo asked, "I have a question I need to confirm. You're a ghost story, aren't you?"

"Yes, that's right," Mary readily admitted.

Ghost stories are a bizarre variant that rapidly escalates through their spread, and Miss Mary happens to be a typical example of a widely circulated ghost story.

There are many versions of the legend about Mary.

The most classic version is that if you receive a call from an unknown number and hear the caller slowly introducing themselves as "Mary," after you hang up, you will be followed to death by a Mary in a dress, with a blurred or faceless face, no matter where you are.

During this process, Mary would make at least three phone calls to the victim, including the first call.

Each time the call connected, Mary would tell the victim her location, and the victim would be horrified to find that she was rapidly approaching them.

In other versions, some details have changed; for example, some versions emphasize the phone call in advance, while others claim that Mary came to the door and that it was related to the victim looking into the mirror used in the ritual.

Its core characteristics are mostly inseparable from previews, flashes, and the image of a girl in a dress.

When ordinary people talk about urban legends, they don't make a distinction between ghost stories and eerie tales; they call any rumor a ghost story.

In their eyes, both are non-existent figments of imagination, and distinguishing between them or not will not interfere with real life.

In addition, many bizarre tales like to occasionally impersonate existing ghost stories, making it easier for prey to misjudge and fall into a trap.

Ji Mo had heard of Miss Mary's legend, but she wasn't sure if it was a ghost story.

Fortunately, the program's equipment had the function of locating people seeking help, and he took a look at it before going on stage.

Hey, she's actually in the Mortal Realm? We can just go find her.

If she truly is a ghost story, then she is harmless, at most harboring a bit of ill intent.

If she is a ghost or a supernatural being, Ji Mo can follow the coordinates to her location and subdue her directly.

Ji Mo assumed she was telling the truth and asked as usual, "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"I'm being harassed by ordinary people. Are there any laws protecting my personal rights?"

Ji Mo: "?"

What's got me all tangled up with?

Whose personal rights should be protected?

He could understand each word individually, but he couldn't comprehend the meaning when they were put together.

Ji Mo felt his mouth go dry: "Is this really a ghost story?"

How could a ghost story be entangled in the matter of being haunted by humans? Shouldn't one be overjoyed, picking the other up and lifting them high in the air, wanting to kiss them until they faint, and then waking up to find themselves at home?

If it's a bizarre impersonation, it only shows that she's very confident in her abilities and thinks she can fool the production team and get away unscathed.

"Strange, how come I'm answering your questions now?" Mary retorted on the other end of the phone. "I can answer your questions, but before that, you have to answer one of my questions. In your eyes, ghost stories are about a group of beings who don't see humans as equals, but rather as cute cats and dogs, right?"

This is a public program after all, and Ji Mo couldn't express his stance against strange tales on the show. He could only remain silent for the time being and draw out his voice to buy time to think of a proper explanation.

"this……"

"You're right. In my eyes, at least humans who are lower than me are just a bunch of cats and dogs. Tall and cute."

Ji Mo: "...?"

Ah, is this something I can say?

And the adjective "tall"—is it really not because you're too short?

After praising humans for being cute, Mary began to complain bitterly:

"The only bad thing about humans is that, despite being social creatures, they also have a strong possessive nature."

"If we completely cut off communication with our own kind, we will develop psychological barriers. But if we raise several at the same time, we will feel that our love is being divided up, which will lead to infighting and bullying each other when we can't see them."

"Sigh, you probably don't know the data on human breeding in Hope City. Apart from those that specialize in raising children, there are no more than a hundred strange stories about raising more than five humans at a time."

"Most ghost stories limit the number of people to two or three. If you raise more, your own humans will make sarcastic remarks about you. 'Isn't having enough of me?'"

"But the love that ghost stories have for humans... well, at least my love for humans is all-encompassing, and I don't want it to be limited by the number of people I keep. But I really can't handle the scheming and backstabbing that humans have."

"So, I've given up on directly raising humans and will instead take care of them temporarily."

"Well, the attitude humans have towards cats and dogs is: I don't keep humans as pets, but occasionally when I feel the urge, I'll pet someone else's human, or temporarily catch a human and take care of them for a few days, and then release them back into the wild~"

"In this way, my love will no longer be limited to a few individuals."

"Men or women, old or young, tall or short, I can touch them all!"

"Oh, by the way, would that host be interested in staying at my house for a few days? My house is quite big! I'd be happy to pay you to stay there for a while!"

Chen Zhuzhu, who had retreated to the audience, let out a cry and shook her head frantically at Ji Mo, terrified.

"I'm sorry, she doesn't want to." Ji Mo was caught in the middle, feeling utterly helpless. "I think I understand what you mean. You mean, the ordinary person you temporarily captured is now clinging to you, doesn't want to go home, and wants to go with you, and you don't know how to handle it, right?"

"That's right!"

Hearing the unequivocal answer, Ji Mo felt utterly powerless.

Why would he solve this kind of problem for ghost stories?

Xiao Jiu, where are you? Come back and clean up the mess you left behind!