It was in that state between sleep and wakefulness, and no one knew how much time had passed, but when the group finally came to their senses, they found themselves standing in a very ordinary room. The floor was covered with tatami mats, and sliding paper doors separated the rooms; judging by the decor, it appeared to be a traditional Japanese dwelling.

As soon as the five recovered, they immediately began counting the people lying on the floor. Had they not counted, the sight would have terrified them: fifteen newcomers were sprawled out. If Zheng Zha and the original five were added, the total number for this horror movie had reached the absolute limit of twenty participants.

The greater the number of people, the harder the horror movie became. Last time, the altered plot involving the Xenomorphs had only fifteen people, yet it nearly resulted in a team wipe. This time, the participant count hit an exaggerated twenty, meaning the difficulty would certainly be far greater than the previous Alien movie! Zhang Jie sat on the floor, muttering, "Ju-On... it’s Ju-On, and at a twenty-person difficulty... we’re in for it now..." Zhan Lan was the first to snap out of it. She rushed to the window to look outside. It was a courtyard-style single-story residence, and she was observing from the second floor. From the outside, this complex looked exactly like the haunted house from Ju-On.

Zhan Lan turned back, her face ashen, and said to Chu Xuan, "I assume you’re least skilled at these supernatural horror movies? So, shall I take the lead in analyzing the situation?" Chu Xuan nodded silently.

Some of the newcomers were already stirring on the floor. Zhan Lan paid them no mind, focusing instead on explaining the concept of Ju-On to Zheng Zha and the others.

"The so-called Ju-On, or Grudge, arises when a person dies filled with intense resentment. This resentment transforms into a curse that usually lingers in the environment where the person lived. Once someone enters that former dwelling, they will be killed by the curse. And in this horror movie... the source of the curse is this very residence!" Zhan Lan touched her forehead. "In the Ju-On movie, once someone is ensnared by the curse, their death is inevitable. Perhaps in a few days, perhaps in a few weeks, but eventually, that person will be slain by the ghost at any moment!" Zheng Zha sighed. "You mean we're already cursed? As soon as the movie starts, we could be killed by the ghost at any time?" Zhan Lan replied with a bitter smile, "Yes... this is the supernatural horror genre that defies scientific explanation. We can't analyze how the ghosts kill, nor do we know how to evade them... So, what is our mission in this horror movie?" The five looked at their wristwatches simultaneously. The watch displayed the Ju-On mission: Survive for seven days. There was also another option: Kill the main source of the Grudge, Kayako, once, to earn a B-grade side plot scenario and a reward of... five thousand points! "B... B-grade side plot scenario? Reward points... five, five thousand?" Zhang Jie suddenly sprang up from the tatami, shouting excitedly, "Damn it, we go all in! A B-grade side plot plus five thousand reward points—it’s worth the risk! Once we pull this off, brothers, we can have whatever we want, eat double portions, one bowl to eat, one to dump..." The preceding atmosphere of oppression was instantly lifted by Zhang Jie’s outburst. Zheng Zha cursed playfully, "Do you really think it will be that easy? Remember how terrifying the Queen was? Even after killing it, we only got a D-grade side plot per person, and I only received three thousand reward points. This main source, Kayako, must be far more terrifying than the Alien Queen..." At these words, the five immediately fell silent... Nine days had passed since Zheng Zha returned to the 'Main God' Space. During this time, he had barely exchanged ten words with Chu Xuan, focusing instead on discussing combat techniques with Zhang Jie and Ling Dian, training survival skills, and honing firearms proficiency. It wasn't until just before entering the third horror movie that Chu Xuan approached them, producing a communication device that closely resembled a mobile phone.

"One for each of you. You can contact and converse with each other without interference from satellite signals, with a range of fifty kilometers. I think this will be quite useful for teamwork."

Chu Xuan had also hardly spoken to anyone else during this period. Besides mass-producing firearms and ammunition, he had buried himself in manufacturing these communication devices. What was strange, however, was that he had spent all his remaining reward points on exchanging for Spirit-type bullets—ammunition that looked almost identical to regular rounds but had strange runes etched onto the casings.

For reasons unknown, everyone, including Zheng Zha, exchanged for a large quantity of Spirit-type bullets. These were the cheapest items capable of harming ghosts and spirits, and they could be used in any firearm. Zheng Zha’s storage ring contained nearly a cubic meter of these spirit bullets, whereas he took very few armor-piercing rounds by comparison.

Other than that, the other four, who lacked storage rings, each exchanged for a military backpack. Inside, they packed hemostatic agents, bandages, antidotes, compressed food, and lozenge-form solid water (a unique technological foodstuff from the 'Main God' Space). Each person also prepared one highly efficient cold-weather garment. This process nearly drained everyone’s reward points. Since their points varied, the others helped Zheng Zha make up for some of his necessary items.

Ju-On. The third horror movie was known as an unsolvable nightmare, famous for wiping out its entire cast.

Zheng Zha sat quietly on the tatami, watching Zhan Lan begin to explain the rules of the 'Main God' Space to the newly awakened newcomers, while he quietly recalled the content of the Ju-On movie.

Ju-On had three installments, and Zheng Zha had naturally seen this famous horror series, having finished watching it just a few days ago. He remembered the details and characters with striking clarity. The most unforgettable point was that not a single person ensnared by the Grudge ever survived.

The beginning of Ju-On introduced Kayako, a woman of very secluded personality. In college, she developed a secret crush on a man, but due to her withdrawn nature, she only observed him from afar, recording her affections in a diary. Thus, the man never knew of Kayako’s existence, as he was already dating another woman whom he married shortly thereafter. Because of this, Kayako became filled with bitterness, holding that resentment deep within her heart.

Subsequently, Kayako endured much misfortune. Her beloved cat, which she had raised since childhood, died, and her parents also died in a car accident while traveling. By this time, Kayako’s heart was already saturated with resentment.

Not long after, Kayako married another man whose mind harbored latent violence. Shortly after the marriage, Kayako gave birth to a child for him, and they lived peacefully for several years until the child started school. Only then did Kayako discover that her child’s teacher was the very first crush she had secretly loved.

Meanwhile, Kayako’s husband discovered through a hospital examination that his sperm count was low, meaning it was difficult for him to father a child. He also found Kayako’s diary and assumed the child was the illegitimate offspring of Kayako and the teacher. At this point, the man’s latent violence finally erupted. He brutally abused Kayako and dismembered her body, hiding the parts in the attic. He then went and murdered Kayako’s first love's wife to vent his rage over being cuckolded! In reality, the child Kayako bore was indeed her husband’s biological offspring. Under such false accusation and brutal murder, her long-held resentment finally peaked, transforming the house into a cursed ground, where she began to kill everyone who entered it with her curse.

This was the Ju-On plot Zheng Zha roughly knew. Although three movies were made, in reality, all three depicted the same event: Kayako killing everyone who entered the house. In the entirety of Ju-On, every person touched by the Grudge died—without exception! (Kill Kayako? If her ghost appears, can Spirit bullets kill her? If so, wouldn't that difficulty level seem outrageously high compared to the reward points?) "Damn it, if you told me this was heaven, I'd believe you immediately!" While Zheng Zha was pondering, a shout suddenly erupted from among the newcomers.

A hulking man from Northeast China, his face flushed red, stood there bellowing crudely: "I was just conducting business online, and I only clicked on a pop-up ad window, how the hell did I end up here? Damn it, don't think I'm clueless! You guys used anesthetic darts on me from behind, dragged me to a room next to the internet café to extort me, right? Stop pretending you’re creative; countless people have tried this before..." These newcomers looked utterly ordinary in their clothing and reactions to the sudden change. Except for three people whose reactions were slightly peculiar, the remaining twelve started chattering loudly. The man from the Northeast took the lead, walking downstairs, followed by eight others.

The three with peculiar reactions were: one, a boy around fifteen or sixteen, looked refined and quiet, sitting unconcerned with the commotion and reading a book. Another person was running his hands over the paper doors and tatami mats. The third was a beautiful woman who seemed barely awake, stretching languidly in very revealing sleepwear. Her eyes were hazy, her demeanor lazy, truly fitting the description of a siren.

As for the remaining three, they were young men dressed ordinarily, appearing to be about twenty-one or twenty-two. The reason they hadn't left... was likely because the sexy beauty was stretching, revealing the faint outline of two rosy peaks, causing the three young men to stare fixedly.

Zhan Lan saw the man from the Northeast preparing to leave and was about to caution him when Zheng Zha suddenly pulled her back: "Let them go. This is the first supernatural horror movie we’ve encountered. None of us can help each other. If they choose to trust us, they can stick close for protection, that’s fine. If they choose to leave on their own... then let them rely on luck to survive."

The man carefully examining the paper doors and tatami suddenly stopped and sighed, "I'm starting to believe what you said. It really is the typical layout of Japanese folk homes, and the patterns on the tatami and shoji screens are styles popular about ten years ago in Japan..." The sexy beauty yawned. "Japan? Why are we in Japan? I remember just having a nude chat with someone online... Oh, what are you guys doing in my house?" The beautiful woman looked around, finally realizing the environment was wrong, and immediately let out a piercing scream.

Just as Zheng Zha was about to speak, a woman's cry echoed up from downstairs, along with her words... in Japanese! This Japanese-speaking woman was definitely a plot character, which meant... the horror movie had officially begun the moment they could interact with the scenario figures! Suddenly, a wave of chilling cold washed over everyone present. Yet, the others seemed unaffected, except for Zheng Zha, whose body began to tremble violently. Without a second thought, he pulled his submachine gun from his storage ring—it was loaded precisely with Spirit-type bullets. He raised the gun and fired a burst towards the attic space diagonally above the second floor.

Crack-crack-crack went the gunshots, shattering the attic door into splinters. Everyone looked at him in bewilderment, but only he could feel the chilling cold gradually receding. However, the people around him seemed oblivious; they couldn't even sense the faint wisps of cold air drifting over them... Even Zheng Zha himself felt this aura clinging to him, flickering in and out, almost like an illusion.

"Is... this the Grudge?" he leaped up—