Chapter 333: Spirits and Such Consultation Office
Thump, thump, thump...
Locker's heart only began to beat violently after the elevator started. He turned to look at the others.
"Did you see? Was that Mercenary Tao just now?!"
Although Locker's perception ability wasn't outstanding, he could easily identify positions by sound. But Mercenary Tao appearing so silently and eerily still scared him somewhat.
Short Hair also nodded. Holding his head, he didn't know if it was because of Mercenary Tao's sudden appearance or entering this obviously problematic elevator, but his [Inspiration] reacted increasingly violently. That feeling caused burning pain in his nerves, and his stomach began to churn constantly.
"Be careful. Mercenary Tao didn't chase us. This elevator is highly likely problematic!"
Everyone equipped items like [Negative Energy Protection] and [Holy Amulet] on their bodies, guarding against the surroundings.
[Lilith], who had been nearly beaten to death by a Dodon Ray earlier, had also recovered under the effects of holy water and healing potions. Her wounds stopped bleeding with the aid of clotting agents.
Watching the numbers on the elevator change continuously, reaching over the 30th floor in the blink of an eye—perhaps because the distance from Mercenary Tao had widened—this woman scolded angrily:
"This Mercenary Tao is really a fucking beast. In such a dangerous world, instead of thinking about Reincarnators sticking together, he actively attacks us. I really hope he gets killed by those dirty things..."
No one responded. Their nerves were tense, staring at the walls of the elevator, especially those shattered mirror fragments. In most supernatural scenarios, mirrors were the easiest place for dirty things to appear.
Locker also glanced at those mirror fragments intentionally or unintentionally. But suddenly, his eyes moved. Squatting down, he saw quite a few small cards under the shattered mirror fragments, likely blocked by the mirror before.
Locker's gun still pointed at the mirror. He stepped on one with his toe, hooked it quickly, and the card landed in front of him. Holstering the gun in his left hand, he caught the card. It was a beautifully printed business card. The front read [Spirits and Such Consultation Office] in large characters, and the back had a phone number.
His heart stirred, as if gaining some courage out of nowhere, and his tone rose uncontrollably.
"I think I found the solution to this mission!"
No matter how dangerous the mission, Reincarnators always believed in the Space's first rule: it would never throw Reincarnators into a place of certain death.
Even if the Space couldn't foresee the powerful Mercenary Tao being deployed to the same place as them, and instead of helping them, he directly started hunting;
The Space would definitely consider how they should leave this place assuming Mercenary Tao escaped alone or died accidentally.
Given the situation where they were trapped in this special place and finding it hard to escape, there must be something here possessing magic-side abilities surpassing both [Lilith] and [Short Hair].
At this moment, seeing this business card, Locker not only found some roots of this world's background but also a way to escape.
As long as they could contact Reigen Arataka—more precisely, contact Reigen Arataka's disciple Kageyama Shigeo (Mob)—then neither this bizarre supernatural place nor that Mercenary Tao would be a problem anymore!
"Hey, [Geek], look at this!"
He gave the business card to a man wearing a hood in the middle of the team. Wearing special goggles, he looked nervous, constantly scanning the surroundings.
This world wasn't friendly to him. He was a completely technology-side Reincarnator. Those glasses integrated infrared, thermal imaging, and other vision capabilities, but had little effect on supernatural phenomena.
Looking down at the business card, his face also lit up with joy. He immediately took out an item resembling a satellite phone from his backpack.
He was a Radio Wave-type Esper, but his strength was only [Level 2 · Ability User]. This [Level 2] wasn't a proficiency level, but represented his computational power, meaning this so-called superpower actually possessed no direct offensive capability.
He had to rely on items to make this ability useful.
With the enhancement of items, he could convert his radio waves into various communication signals for monitoring, counter-monitoring, and even direct communication in any world.
Right now, this ability seemed to become their life-saving straw.
Beep~ Beep~
After dialing, everyone unconsciously leaned towards Geek, yearning for a plot character who could save them to appear.
With a click, the call connected successfully. Because of Language Comprehension, Geek spoke concisely and clearly immediately:
"Is this Mr. Reigen Arataka? We have a commission here. Please come save us—no, please arrange for Kageyama Shigeo to save us. We can pay any remuneration..."
His tone was urgent. The others also waited for a response from the phone.
"..."
Silence on the other end for a moment. Accompanied by heavy breathing that sounded like pulling bellows, the person replied:
"You've got the wrong person. Reigen Arataka is just a fraud."
"Kageyama Shigeo..."
Beep, beep...
The call was hung up. Their hearts went cold. Although they didn't understand what happened, it was clear that seeking help from Reigen Arataka and Kageyama Shigeo had failed.
Locker suddenly thought of something. With so many cards, they couldn't all be Reigen Arataka's business cards. There must be others here!
With a thought, he immediately lowered his head to pick them up. But just as he lowered his head to pick from behind the mirror, through the reflection of those shattered mirror pieces, he saw the elevator was still ascending.
A chill suddenly rose from his tailbone, and his body went stiff.
"How many floors does this hospital have in total?"
Short Hair's scalp also exploded. He turned to look at the elevator floor display. The highest floor was clearly only 38, but right now the display had reached 127 and was still rising.
Locker casually grabbed the nearest blue business card, his tension reaching the extreme.
"Why don't you continue calling for help?"
Still with that tone mixed with anger, Lilith seemed still angry about Mercenary Tao attacking her.
Short Hair realized something was wrong. The always timid Lilith wouldn't possibly curse Mercenary Tao in the elevator. Her character should be rejoicing that she survived.
Even less likely would she ask angrily why they didn't continue seeking help in this situation.
His body went ice cold. Knowing clearly he shouldn't look back at this time, he still uncontrollably turned to look at Lilith.
He saw her long black hair draped over her face. Her face was pale, and her eyes peered through the hair, staring straight at him.
Short Hair's pupils contracted. His body went completely stiff, unable to move even a finger.
[You have suffered Curse · Grudge of the Dead]
[Immunity Check in progress]
[Check failed]
Bang!
Blood sprayed onto Short Hair's face. He suddenly regained mobility, feeling pain all over his muscles as if tearing. Gasping for breath, he saw Locker had fired and blown 'Lilith's' head off.
"Luckily... luckily you were here, Locker. Otherwise I..."
Bang bang bang!
Before Short Hair could react, the protective amulet against ranged attacks on his chest lit up. Locker's face was pale, staring dead at a certain spot, his finger holding the trigger down tightly.
Bullets ricocheted everywhere inside the elevator immediately.
Geek couldn't react at all, instinctively shrinking into a corner. Seeing many business cards on the floor, he could only grab one randomly and continue dialing.
He didn't even look at the firm name on the card, dialing the number on the back directly.
Beep~ Beep~ Click.
"Hello, this is Ayase Seiko. A... Spirit Medium."
"See? Not taking the elevator with those idiots wasn't necessarily a bad thing, right?"
Kaito looked at the female Reincarnator who was about to cry from fear. He bent down to overlook her. The smile on his face didn't relieve [Lilith]'s tension at all. She was stiff all over, daring not even to deploy a barrier.
She was terrified that if she made any move, the man in front of her would kill her.
It was the first time Kaito had seen such a timid Reincarnator. He spoke with interest:
"Shouldn't you be offering all your possessions right now, begging me to spare your life?"
Looking past the woman, Kaito turned to look at the poster beside the elevator hall, written with exaggerated text.
[If disaster strikes, please call a Hero — Fubuki Hero Agency]
The poster used the largest layout to display a photo of a beautiful woman.
Tiny electric currents flowed constantly in the air. As Kaito's heart contracted, that electricity flowed through his whole body. He focused his gaze on this woman whose abdomen had been pierced by his Dodon Ray.
Suddenly, he heard the voice in her heart.
"If only a Hero could really come save me..."
"Saitama, Tatsumaki, anyone is fine. Come save me quickly!"
Kaito placed his hand on the woman's head and lifted her gently.
"Actually praying for a Hero to save you? Tsk. Are you really a Reincarnator?"
Boom!
Violent explosions came from the elevator shaft. In that noisy environment, Kaito accurately captured the sound of the call and heard a new name.
Subsequently, he had more guesses about the composition of this world.
Superpowers, Monsters (Kaijin), Heroes, Ghosts, Youkai...
Truly a messy world.
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