Chapter 4

[Task World Background Introduction: In the unknown dark corners of modern society, entities known as evil spirits constantly threaten people's lives. Correspondingly, demon exorcists are always working to subdue these evil spirits, thus the war between humans and evil spirits has continued to this day.]

[Task: Eliminate Hoshizaki Yuzu.]

After the system announced the start of the task, a dizzying spatial transformation enveloped them. When they regained their senses, they had already been teleported to the task world.

What appeared before Shiki was a common alley in a modern city. Street lamps and neon signs from shop signs illuminated the night, and the number of passersby suggested it wasn't too late.

For some unknown reason, after recalling his name, Shiki's consciousness became clear, and the dizziness that had been plaguing him had disappeared. Although his body was still weak, he was no longer confined to sitting on the ground.

(The situation is dire.)

Shiki had lost his memory, but the knowledge and information remained in his mind, so normal thinking was not a problem for him. He already understood his dire situation.

(This rookie task shouldn't have been participated in.)

Recalling the conversation between Old Hu and the rookies, he had been too preoccupied with a headache to think at the time. Now, with those conversations in mind, the details they revealed were clear to him.

From the reward point system, it was evident that the relay world had a similar structure to most societies, which was "work, get paid."

Since tasks had varying levels of difficulty, the rewards also differed. Rookie tasks, with higher difficulty, naturally had higher rewards.

Old Hu, as the explainer, didn't mention this, perhaps intentionally.

So, the rookie task was actually an opportunity, giving rookies a higher starting point.

But the premise for all this was survival.

Shiki could judge his physical condition as extremely poor. It wasn't just "bad" or "very bad," but truly hopeless. In this state, even running a few steps would be difficult.

In such a situation, it would have been better not to participate, to observe the situation in the relay world first, even if it meant lowering the task difficulty.

However, thinking about it now was futile, so Shiki stopped dwelling on it.

Perhaps during the memory loss, he had also lost some other things. At this moment, there were no feelings of regret or frustration in Shiki's heart, not even a hint of emotional fluctuation.

From Shiki's own knowledge, this was abnormal, likely a mental or neurological disorder. If he had the chance to return to the relay world, he wanted to seek treatment, hoping there was a mental hospital there.

It seemed like a long time had passed, but Shiki's thoughts were completed in an instant. At this moment, the others were gradually recovering from the shock of the spatial transition.

"Hey?!!!"

A sudden scream broke the silence, and Shiki turned his gaze to the source, which was the bespectacled man, Lang Shuai.

"What happened?"

The middle-aged man with a beer belly, Qiu Wei, looked around in panic, showing no signs of the courage required for a more difficult task.

"Nothing."

"Then why did you scream? You scared the life out of me!"

In such a situation, it was natural for Qiu Wei to complain.

"I was just surprised. Don't you know? Hoshizaki Yuzu is a character from an anime!"

"Anime?"

Qiu Wei looked puzzled.

"Is Hoshizaki Yuzu our target?"

Qiu Hua, with her head down, seemed to be checking the task details.

Shiki also followed Old Hu's introduction, imagining the system as a game task bar. A task interface appeared before his eyes, confirming what Qiu Hua had said.

Shiki and the others turned their gaze to the only one who could provide an explanation, Old Hu.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, many of the worlds we enter are from stories like anime and movies."

Old Hu answered somewhat belatedly, as if he had been in a daze.

"What's going on?"

Lang Shuai looked somewhat agitated.

"There's nothing strange about it. With so many worlds, it's not surprising that some are similar."

Old Hu spoke casually, clearly accustomed to it.

"Let me make it clear. The worlds we enter may resemble certain anime or movies, but they are already part of the real world, not some fantasy! If you approach this with a gaming mindset, you will die."

From Old Hu's tone, it was clear he was not exaggerating.

"Those similar anime and movies are just references. Since this is the real world, there are infinite possibilities, whether in the plot or the characters. Anyone who thinks they can act recklessly because they've seen the original will not have a good outcome."

Lang Shuai, who had been specifically stared at by Old Hu, instantly lost some of his beautiful fantasies.

"But since they are similar, some background information can be useful. Have you seen this anime, bespectacled otaku?"

"Yes."

Lang Shuai, now upgraded to "bespectacled otaku," nodded, shrinking his neck.

"Good. Explain the general setting so the others can have a reference."

Old Hu gave Lang Shuai an order.

"Sure. This anime is called 'Shikigami no Shiro' (Spiritual Zero), a modern setting story. However, in that world, there are 'spirits' and other mysterious forces, so there are also exorcists who specialize in combating them. The main characters are two girls from exorcist families. One is the successor of the famous exorcist family, the Tsuchimiya family, Tsuchimiya Kagura, and the other is Hoshizaki Yuzu."

When Lang Shuai mentioned Hoshizaki Yuzu, Qiu Hua and Qiu Wei couldn't help but widen their eyes.

"Right, Hoshizaki Yuzu. She is one of the main characters and the final boss of the story. Yuzu had a very unfortunate life. She was adopted by the Hoshizaki family from a young age, and after much effort, she became an exorcist and the successor of the family. However, she was envied by her uncle and others, and her adoptive father was murdered. She lost her position as the successor and was severely injured, leading to paralysis. Finally, she was implanted with a Kishin stone and turned into an evil spirit. Why did Yuzu have to suffer so much! Screenwriter, I want to talk to you about life!"

When it came to Hoshizaki Yuzu, Lang Shuai suddenly became eloquent, as if he had endless grievances, completely losing his previous tension and spouting a lot of information.

"Alright, that's enough."

Old Hu quickly interrupted Lang Shuai.

"Everyone should have a general idea of the situation. Don't scream or shout when you see any demons or monsters. Our task is to eliminate Hoshizaki Yuzu."

Old Hu walked out of the alley, followed by Qiu Wei and Lang Shuai.

Shiki looked at Old Hu's back, his mind still pondering something else. Before Old Hu explained, his face had a furrowed brow, as if he had encountered a problem.

"Can you walk?"

Before Shiki could continue his thoughts, Qiu Hua's voice rang in his ear.

"Yes."

Shiki nodded, but Qiu Hua still supported his arm. Shiki could clearly feel the kindness emanating from Qiu Hua, a feeling that brought back memories.

The group followed Old Hu out of the alley and into the neon-lit night. Outside the alley was a common street, and on the wide road, vehicles were already jammed in a long line.

"We need to determine the time point we entered to decide our next move."

While observing the surroundings, Old Hu gave instructions to the group.

"Look for a clock or landmark nearby."

"There!"

Qiu Hua pointed across the street.

In the direction she pointed, there was a 24-hour convenience store.

"Good, let's go."

Crossing the congested road, the group quickly arrived at the convenience store.

"Where are we? What's the date today?"

Before the store clerk could finish saying "Welcome," Old Hu interrupted him. The clerk, though puzzled, immediately answered.

"We are in Kitasenju..."

Before he could finish, a loud explosion suddenly came from outside.

"What, what happened? An explosion?"

Qiu Wei covered his head and looked outside.

At the same time, a news segment suddenly appeared on the TV in the store, showing that the capital's expressway 5 in Kitasenju was under lockdown.

"Capital's expressway 5 in Kitasenju..."

Old Hu repeated it softly, then a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"Sure is a good time."

"What's going on?"

Qiu Hua asked Old Hu.

"This is the time when Hoshizaki Yuzu turns into an evil spirit in the original story, and a large number of evil spirits also appear in the area."

"Isn't that terrible!"

Qiu Wei exclaimed.

"Not just terrible, I remember Hoshizaki Yuzu was rated as a Type A evil spirit, capable of dispatching ordinary exorcists like cutting through melons and slicing through vegetables!"

Perhaps because he had read the original, Lang Shuai understood the fear of the enemy the most.

"Alright, since we know the time point, let's move quickly. This task is really a nightmare..."

Interrupting Qiu Wei and Lang Shuai's discussion, Old Hu led the group out of the convenience store.

"What are we going to do now?"

Lang Shuai asked, following behind.

"What else? We're going to the accident site, of course."

Old Hu gave Lang Shuai a look as if he were a fool.

"Since we're here, there's no turning back. Don't have any侥幸心理."

After reminding the group again, Old Hu strode forward.

Their target was the location of the previous explosion. From their current position, they couldn't see it directly, but they could see the thick smoke rising from the distance between the buildings.

Some passersby on the street had stopped to look at the source of the smoke. In a city that had always been peaceful, a sudden explosion would naturally pique everyone's curiosity, but they didn't know that something even more terrifying had already happened.

"AAAAAAA!!!"

Before Old Hu and the others had moved far, a series of screams erupted from the street ahead. At the same time, many people were running towards them, some of them covered in blood.

"Help! Help!"

"Dead people!"

"Monsters!"

Mixed in with the screams were such shouts.

Before anyone could wonder what had happened, the cause of the chaos appeared at the intersection ahead.

They were a group of people, but they were no longer human. Their skin was so withered that they could be mistaken for mummies, and on their heads were tumor-like growths that seemed to pulse continuously.

They moved forward in a staggering manner, like a group of zombies searching for food.

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