Chapter 43

A group of people gathered around a table, remaining silent for a long time until the special Japanese dishes had cooled, and no one had picked up their chopsticks.

The reason was Wang Shibao, who, just as everyone was about to start eating, suddenly interjected, "Look, doesn't this seaweed look like Sadako's hair?"

Then everyone's chopsticks froze in mid-air, neither advancing nor retreating.

Looking at the seaweed, one couldn't help but think of Sadako's hair; seeing the fish roe, one was reminded of the blood scabs on Sadako's nails. Even the simplest seaweed rice ball, with a sheet of seaweed covering the white rice, looked like a fattened Sadako!

Everyone glared at Wang Shibao with resentful eyes. Lei Xuan even glanced at Chu Ci, finding him with the same expression, which made him feel even more ashamed of having such a pig of a teammate.

"Ah!" Chu Ci, helpless, took out several packets of Kangshifu Lao Tan pickled vegetables from the insect space and placed them on the table. Ignoring the Japanese cuisine, he rushed to prepare instant noodles, which was a first for him.

As if infected, the others sighed and took out various snacks, anything but white, black, or red, to share. A female reincarnator named Bai Ning even brought out a large pancake, which she said was a specialty from her hometown.

Pouring boiling water into the instant noodles, Bai Ning tore open the pancake and distributed it to everyone, not even leaving out Chu Ci. Holding the pancake in one hand and pickled vegetables in the other, everyone began their meeting.

"Newcomer, what do you think?" Xiao Xuechun, with a mouth full of pancake, started speaking. Only Lei Xuan remembered Chu Ci's name; the others, after experiencing fear, were still in a daze and had not yet recovered.

"I don't know much about it," Chu Ci shook his head. He had no expertise in ghosts and could only look for clues in the original plot, unable to offer personal opinions.

"Then let me say a few words," Jia Tengying, seeing that Chu Ci was indeed not a professional, cleared his throat and began to share his personal opinion as an elemental water mage.

"From a magical perspective, Sadako, or a ghost, is actually a form of mental substance. In the context of the pentagram, it's the tip of the earth, fire, wind, and water elements..."

"Speak in plain language," Chu Ci, completely confused, and the other reincarnators, who seemed to be used to it, were interrupted by Lei Xuan, who used his captain's privilege to cut off Jia Tengying's rambling and asked him to get to the point.

"Right. As I expected, we can bypass the main plot and directly eliminate Sadako," Jia Tengying glanced resentfully at Lei Xuan and directly stated his idea.

The plot of *Ringu* is straightforward: four young men and women stayed at a place and watched a strange video tape, all dying seven days later. Journalist Asakawa Reiko, who was working on a program about the mysterious video tape, became curious and began to investigate. She discovered that her cousin's child, Tomoko, was one of the victims who had watched the tape.

To uncover the truth about Tomoko's death, Asakawa found a vacation house in Izu and watched the video tape, thus falling under Sadako's curse. To deal with the tape, she sought help from her ex-husband, Takashi Yamamura, who also watched the tape the next day.

Asakawa sent her son, Yoichi, to her father's house for care. One night, she was horrified to find that Yoichi was watching the video tape. To save Yoichi, the two investigated and found Mount Miike on Oshima Island, learning about Sadako and her mother, Shizuko's, past. To resolve the curse, they dug up the dry well where Sadako was buried, believing this would eliminate her vengeful spirit.

Seven days passed, and Asakawa did not die, thinking the curse was lifted. However, Takashi's death made her realize that the curse was always with her!

To ensure Yoichi's survival, Asakawa recorded a second copy of the video tape, sacrificing her father.

Sadako's grudge, along with the recorded video tapes, would forever, forever, continue to spread.

"So, we need to seize the right moment. As long as we have the original video tape, even if we disrupt the plot, we will still have the upper hand," Jia Tengying slapped the table, causing the others to glare at him, so he sheepishly withdrew his hand. "The biggest challenge in *Ringu* is how to prevent the video tape from spreading. I'm sure that if we take the first tape, a second one will appear. Therefore, we can set up our base directly in the Izu vacation house, taking over the entire resort. Although it's close to Sadako and we will be most affected, it can effectively prevent others from accidentally recording the curse when they stay there."

"Alright, let's do it," Jia Tengying made the suggestion, and Lei Xuan, as the captain, made the decision, slamming his hand on the table, which again drew angry glares from the others.

Lei Xuan could only laugh awkwardly, "Eat your noodles, eat your noodles!"

Everyone pulled out disposable chopsticks, lifted the noodle lids, and the steaming cups of instant noodles were slurped up around the table.

As the captain, Lei Xuan had to explain the team's rules to Chu Ci while eating, talking incessantly before finally revealing his true thoughts.

"...So, don't be a lone hero. Our ASEAN people always emphasize the 'no need for chivalrous codes when dealing with evil spirits' team strategy. Maintain group actions, and once we get the tape, we can just pick a random passerby to be the cursed one."

"Whoa!" Chu Ci was taken aback, and the noodles in his mouth suddenly spurted out, with a strand even coming out of his nose. Chu Ci didn't care, slurped the noodles back in, and urgently asked, "Pick a random passerby to be the cursed one? Don't we have to choose from the reincarnators?"

Everyone looked at Chu Ci blankly. Jia Tengying's first reaction was, "Did I miss something important?" His second reaction was to laugh. "You just came from a competitive reincarnation world, right? Didn't you see the main quest requirements? 'Choose a cursed one.' It doesn't say it has to be a reincarnator. You're being too paranoid."

Chu Ci quickly pulled up the God panel and read it several times, then closed his eyes to recall the expressions of the other reincarnators. Indeed, Lei Xuan had never had a 'sinister smile' or anything like that. From the steps and positioning of Wang Shibao and Gao Zhongsheng behind him, it seemed they were more protective than threatening.

"Could I have been seen as a weakling?" Chu Ci remembered that Lei Xuan had even wanted to give him an enchanted weapon during the protection period, making him realize he had been too suspicious.

"Haha, that's how it is. I couldn't leave my previous team because they kept hunting me down, it was unbearable!" Chu Ci quickly laughed, half-jokingly recounting his experience.

"I see, your previous team must have been quite dysfunctional," Lei Xuan, deeply understanding, looked at Chu Ci as if he were a kindred spirit.

"Exactly, grudges and vendettas, such a team is impossible to stay in." Chu Ci quickly agreed, and thus successfully blended into this God team and gained their initial trust.

PS: This is an update from the categorized recommendation. 200 votes for an extra update, please throw your recommendation votes at me!

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