Chapter 111: An Ominous Aura

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"Scene creation complete. Game starting..."
Current Scene: Horror Story Club
Participants: Single-player
Difficulty: 4 Stars (Hell)
Game Mode: Role-Playing
Objective: Collect four horror stories and become a member of the Horror Story Club.
Current Progress: 0/4

A deep, eerie voice echoed in his ears as a wave of black mist descended. Su Cheng’s vision blurred and shifted like a slideshow, his consciousness gradually fading.

"Hirano-kun, are you alright? Why did you suddenly stop talking?"

When Su Cheng regained his senses, he found himself sitting in the backseat of a speeding car. In the driver’s seat sat a middle-aged man with a slightly stout build. The man was dressed like an office worker in a plain, mass-produced suit. Due to his age, his once-thick hair had become as sparse as roadside weeds, and his hairline had receded several centimeters from his younger days.

"It's nothing, just a bit sleepy."

This was Su Cheng’s first time entering a role-playing game dungeon. Unsure of the situation, he responded with caution.

"Hard work, I know. I’ve already asked Mayumi to prepare dinner. Come over to my place for a couple of drinks later."

"Then I’ll be imposing."

In supernatural dungeons like this, a single slip of the tongue could easily trigger a fatal plot point. Before fully grasping the rules of the game, Su Cheng tried his best to be careful, avoiding unnecessary chatter that might expose his identity.

Through observation, Su Cheng realized that his appearance hadn't changed; he still looked exactly as he did in the real world, even wearing the same clothes. Yet, in the eyes of the middle-aged man, he was someone else entirely.

"A system-generated illusion, to help the player seamlessly inhabit the character?"

Unlike his previous dungeon, *Eerie Night Tales*, the system had not sealed his dimensional backpack or his skills. His items, weapons, and abilities remained accessible. However, he did not lower his guard; a 4-star dungeon would certainly not be easy to clear.

"Since it's a role-playing game, it's strange the system hasn't provided any hints. Does it expect the player to find clues on their own?" Su Cheng felt it odd that the only mission was to collect horror stories, with no instruction on how to actually do so. Everything depended on the player's own exploration.

"Regardless, I should first look for clues regarding this 'Hirano-kun' identity."

Taking advantage of the man’s focus on driving, Su Cheng searched the car and found a dark coat, a briefcase, and half a pack of paper-boxed Vita Lemon Tea. In the pockets of the coat, he discovered an ID card, a smartphone, and a black-packaged Okamoto 001 condom.

*So that’s the kind of person you are, Hirano-kun...*

His mouth twitched. He stuffed the condom into his pocket and picked up the ID card to examine it.

"Hirano Jōden, male, 23, unmarried, temporary employee at Sanyu Group Sales Department."

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After learning the general identity of Hirano Jōden, Su Cheng opened the briefcase and took out a document. The contents were nothing special—just a corporate profile of the Sanyu Group and some employee information. Based on the clues so far, Hirano Jōden was a newcomer who had just joined the company, and the middle-aged man driving was the Sales Manager and his direct superior, Takao Matsuzaka.

"Takao Matsuzaka lives in a high-end apartment in the Nerima Ward of Tokyo, is married, and has a 6-year-old son."

What was strange was that at this hour, traffic in Tokyo should have been quite heavy, yet Su Cheng had seen very few cars along the way, and even pedestrians were a rare sight on the streets.

Su Cheng opened Hirano Jōden’s phone and scrolled through the call logs and text messages. Having just started working in Tokyo after graduating from college, the contact list contained no friends outside of family and colleagues. Most of the chat logs were related to work. After browsing the messages, Su Cheng felt something was amiss.

"That’s strange. Hirano Jōden shouldn't have a girlfriend. What’s with that condom?"

Just then, looking through the rearview mirror, Su Cheng suddenly saw Takao Matsuzaka’s mouth stretch wide to his ears. Green, fleshy bumps sprouted across his face, and a pair of massive, blood-red eyeballs occupied a third of his features. A long, damp, glistening tongue lolled out of a cavernous, monstrous maw.

"A demon!"

Eerie, malevolent energy flooded the space. Su Cheng felt a chill in his heart and instinctively summoned his *Shadow of the Gale* from his backpack, his palm pressing against the hilt of his blade.

"Hirano-kun, are you alright? Why are you so jumpy? We're almost there. If you need to use the restroom, just hold on for a bit longer." Takao Matsuzaka seemed oblivious to his own transformation, speaking in a perfectly normal tone.

Su Cheng stayed silent for a moment, suppressing his killing intent. According to the tropes of horror games, if a player were foolish enough to point out Matsuzaka’s true nature now, they would likely be attacked and trigger a death sequence. The plot would then be unable to progress.

Su Cheng took a sip of his lemon tea to steady his nerves, pretending he hadn’t seen Matsuzaka’s true form.

As night deepened and the horror-filled atmosphere thickened, the story finally began to unfold. About ten minutes later, Matsuzaka’s car pulled into a parking space at an apartment complex.

"Matsuzaka-san, home early tonight?"

At the security desk downstairs, a middle-aged guard greeted Matsuzaka.

"Kawahara-san, on duty tonight? Thanks for your hard work." Matsuzaka’s wet, long tongue hung down toward the floor as he exchanged pleasantries with the guard.

"And who is this?"

"Oh, he’s a new employee from the company, here for a visit."

Hearing this, the guard smiled and nodded at Su Cheng before walking away. Su Cheng, however, couldn't bring himself to smile back, because the guard was nothing more than a skeleton that had likely been dead for years. He had clearly seen a black centipede, nearly three inches long, crawl out of the guard’s hollow eye socket.

"What is going on? Are the residents and staff of this apartment all ghosts and monsters?"

Su Cheng dared not lower his guard. Supernatural dungeons filled with demons and monsters were far more difficult than bio-hazard zombie dungeons; one wrong step across the red line and he would be finished.

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With a trembling heart, he followed Matsuzaka into the elevator and up to the tenth floor. Before he could even pull out his keys, the door opened from the inside. A woman around thirty, with a sharp, serpentine face and a voluptuous figure, appeared before him.

Takao Matsuzaka’s wife, Mayumi Matsuzaka, had not transformed into a monster, but when she looked at Hirano Jōden, a seductive, shimmering light danced in her eyes—a gaze so intense it felt as if she wanted to devour him whole. Feeling the weight of her stare, Su Cheng felt a chill, as if he were being hunted by a ferocious beast.

"Mayumi, is dinner ready? Hirano-kun and I have been running around all day, we’re starving." Matsuzaka took off his coat, handed it to Mayumi, and gestured for Su Cheng to enter.

"The soup is simmering in the kitchen. It’ll be ready to eat in just a moment."

As she spoke, Su Cheng caught the scent of meat broth wafting from the kitchen, making his mouth water.

"Hirano-kun, it’s been a while since you’ve come over for dinner. Today, I made your favorite dumplings." The woman gave Su Cheng a sultry look, the desire in her eyes nearly overflowing.

*It seems Hirano Jōden hasn't just visited here once.*

Su Cheng cast a complicated glance at the top of Matsuzaka’s green-tinged head and silently offered a three-second moment of silence for him.

*If you want to keep your marriage, you have to get used to a little green on your head.*

Just as Mayumi turned around, Su Cheng caught a glimpse of a long, black snake tail protruding from beneath her apron.

"Hirano-kun, have a seat in the living room. I need to use the restroom." Matsuzaka’s frog-like face contorted with a look of agony as he rushed toward the bathroom. Mayumi turned and walked into the kitchen to tend to the soup, leaving Su Cheng alone in the living room.

"This dungeon is truly bizarre. No mission hints, no guides—how is the plot supposed to progress?" He scanned the room. The apartment was about 80 square meters, and the living room was kept immaculately clean.

What struck him as odd was that the room was *too* clean and tidy, as if the person who kept it had a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Su Cheng searched the living room but found no useful clues.

Then, he noticed a painting hanging on the east wall. It looked like the work of an abstract master, depicting a scene of hell from religious lore, exuding a chilling, ghostly aura. It struck him as odd; such a terrifying abstract piece shouldn't be in a normal home—otherwise, anyone waking up for a midnight bathroom break would be scared half to death.

The painting hanging in the living room seemed somehow abnormal.

As Su Cheng stared at it, a stream of crimson blood began to seep from the canvas, dripping onto the floor with a rhythmic *drip, drip*.

The painting was bleeding.

After the initial shock, Su Cheng calmed down and observed carefully, realizing the blood seemed to be flowing from *behind* the frame.

"A clue."

Taking advantage of the empty room, Su Cheng took the painting off the wall. Even though he had anticipated something, he was still startled by what he saw.

Fear, like the biting wind of deep winter, seeped into his bones. Hidden on the wall behind the painting was a twisted, deformed, and horrific human face.

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