Chapter 62: Five SSR Pulls in a Row

"Enter the pillar of light within thirty seconds..."
"Transfer target locked, the Grudge transmission begins..."
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in his mind, followed by that familiar yet irresistible wave of drowsiness. Every time he experienced a transmission from the Lord God, it was always like this.

Waking up from the hazy border between consciousness and sleep, Wu Xian opened his eyes and immediately sat straight up in a single, fluid motion.
Following that, he swept his gaze across the surrounding environment, a look of "as expected" quickly appearing on his face.

From the layout, this was a very ordinary house. The floor was covered with a layer of tatami mats, and the surrounding rooms were separated by sliding paper doors—the most common of Japanese-style houses.

Considering that this was the Grudge world, and matching the plot from the original Genesis Infinite, it could basically be determined that this was the notorious Grudge house from the movie, as well as the source from which all stories originated.

Wu Xian could even imagine that once the Lord God withdrew the protective barrier, Kayako, hiding in the dark, would undoubtedly brand everyone in the room with the aura of the Grudge at the very first moment.

Thinking of this, Wu Xian raised his left hand and looked at the mission prompt on the Lord God's watch—

[Main Quest: Survive in the Grudge world for fifteen days or eliminate the Source of the Grudge. Completing the mission yields one B-rank side quest and 5,000 reward points. You are not allowed to leave the area within one hundred kilometers of the Grudge house for seven days; the restriction will be lifted after seven days.]

[Five days ago, the West Ocean Team entered the "The Grudge 1" world. Three days ago, the India Team entered the "The Grudge 1" world.]

[Team Battle Rules... Killing an opposing member who has not unlocked the genetic constraint grants a single person one C-rank side quest and 2,000 reward points; killing an opposing member who has unlocked the genetic constraint grants a single person one B-rank side quest and 7,000 reward points... If an opposing samsara team is completely annihilated, all members will additionally receive one C-rank side quest.]

[In the team battle, if a member of your own side dies, minus one point will be added to the team score; if a member of your own side defeats a member of the opposing side, plus one point will be added to the team score... At the end of the team battle, the team score will be multiplied by two thousand to convert into the reward points obtained by every single member of the team. If the reward points are negative at the settlement, that member will be erased.]

...

"The mission rewards haven't changed, but the content and time limit of the mission have both changed... Is there any difference between eliminating the Source of the Grudge and killing Kayako's main body?"

Staring at the four characters "Source of the Grudge," Wu Xian's brow gradually knitted into a deep frown.

Intuition told him that this mission was nine times out of ten another trap. He cursed the Lord God inwardly for having no shame, and then turned his attention to the other figures on the floor.

Not counting the seven veterans including himself, the Lord God had also arranged for five new recruits to join this horror film, making a total difficulty of twelve people, which was a full eight people fewer than the original work.

But thinking about it, it made sense. The main theme of this horror film was a team battle. As for Kayako and the like, to the current Zhongzhou Team, they really weren't that difficult to deal with.

Even excluding him, a cheating anomaly, among the remaining veterans, the average baseline of a B-rank enhancement plus the first-stage genetic constraint meant almost everyone had the strength to go one-on-one with Kayako or even kill her once. Naturally, it was no longer possible for the difficulty to remain at the limit of twenty people.

As for those five unfamiliar newcomers... How should he put it? They somewhat exceeded Wu Xian's expectations.

First of all, he recognized Zhao Yingkong at a single glance.

There was no helping it; her characteristics were far too obvious. Whether it was her androgynous attire or the massive treasures concealed within her binding cloth under the scan of spiritual awareness, both proved the identity of this most popular heroine in Infinite fan fiction.

Besides her, there was another female among the newcomers. However, instead of the mildly mature woman in a sexy nightgown as imagined, she was a teenage girl in a yellow dress around the same age as Zhao Yingkong, who in no way resembled Ming Yanwei from the original work who had such a tragic background.

Not only that, this girl did not give Wu Xian the impression of being a purely ordinary person. At least her spiritual awareness was slightly abnormal, and she likely possessed some kind of special ability.

"Ming Yanwei didn't appear... Did the Lord God arrange her at a different time point, or did the butterfly effect cause some changes in reality, altering her fate?"

Wu Xian frowned in contemplation. If it was the former, so be it; if it was the latter... actually, that was fine too, as at least there would be one less pitiful person in this world.

Shaking his head, Wu Xian looked at the other three males.

One of the young men was quite tall, but his temperament was scholarly... If he wasn't mistaken, this should be Qi Tengyi, whose number of appearances was even less than the Green Goblin's hoverboard.

Of course, although his presence wasn't high, this guy was truly a talent.

Archaeological knowledge and the like were secondary; the crucial point was that this fellow could even understand Taoist cultivation runes. In many fanfictions and divergent timelines, he was prime material for learning orthodox cultivation.

As for the other two men, one had clearly undergone rigorous training and possessed exceptionally good physical fitness, only slightly inferior to Zero Point back then. However, his expression and temperament were quite stern and upright, suggesting he was a soldier.

The last young man with colorful, dyed hair looked somewhat like a punky hoodlum at first glance, giving off a rather unreliable vibe. However, Wu Xian sensed an unusual energy fluctuation emanating from within his body, very much resembling the low-level qigong that Zheng Zha had recently exchanged for Luo Li.

Only, its quality was much stronger. Placed with the Lord God, it was at least close to the level of high-level qigong.

Moreover, near his Dantian position, Wu Xian used his spiritual awareness to "see" something resembling a worm, which was emitting an unknown substance to help the young man wake up rapidly from his slumber.

Worms, qigong...

What the hell! Is this Cheng Xiao? Why would he appear at this time point?!

Wu Xian looked at the young man and the other four newcomers with a strange expression, a sudden sense of deja vu in his heart as if he had drawn five SSRs in a row on a five-pull.

A loli assassin with a fourth-stage genetic constraint for her primary personality, a creepy girl with suspected superpowers, a grave-robbing expert with orthodox cultivation aptitude, a well-trained soldier, and an internal martial arts master whose strength rivaled the second-stage genetic constraint...

What did the Lord God mean by this? Why were the qualities of the newcomers sent this time around ridiculously high? Was this a rhythm intended to stir up trouble?

Wu Xian inwardly complained, yet felt somewhat happy inside.

The higher the quality and better the talent of the newcomers, the stronger the Zhongzhou Team would become, especially since this match was a team battle. If they acted according to the plan formulated before entering, the gains they could reap by the end of this horror film would undoubtedly be jaw-droppingly massive.

Even newcomers of ordinary quality, as long as they could return to the Lord God's dimension alive, could use this to grow rapidly—let alone this bunch of "freaks and monsters" before his eyes.

Just then, movement came from beside him as Zheng Zha, Zhan Lan, and the others successively regained consciousness.