Chapter 141: Sudden Turn at the Meet-and-Greet

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On the surveillance footage, Shanzhu moved stealthily through the entire venue like a thief. Notably, he wore no disguise and even bumped into someone as he walked, yet no one noticed him. The person he collided with seemed completely oblivious, continuing to stare down at their phone. If this could still be attributed to coincidence, what happened next was truly unsettling. Shanzhu already appeared somewhat deranged, but his actions grew even stranger. Slowly, he reached the corner of a wall, his face contorted with twisted excitement, as if anticipating something wonderful was about to happen. Then, surprisingly, he pulled out a bundle of hemp rope from his clothes.

“Besides drawing comics, can he do magic tricks too? Where did he even hide that big bundle of ropes?”

What happened next was even more unbelievable. Shanzhu lightly tossed the rope into the air, and the rope seemed to come alive, twisting and turning by itself until it tied itself around a protruding object. Everyone watching was dumbfounded. Then, Shanzhu leapt high and, mid-air, looped the rope around his own neck.

“Is... is that even humanly possible?”

Witnessing such a blatant defiance of gravity, no one doubted anymore that something was terribly wrong. Once suspended, Shanzhu’s expression turned to one of terror as if he had just realized something, struggling frantically in midair. But with the noose tight around his neck, he couldn’t make a sound and ended his life there. Over an hour passed before anyone noticed him, despite countless people walking right past. Shocked, they replayed the footage repeatedly, desperate to understand what had happened.

“Wait! Slow down the moment he threw the rope—I think I saw something!”

Someone shouted, urging the footage to be slowed. When the person monitoring the video slowed it down to one-tenth speed, everyone was stunned. At the instant Shanzhu tossed the rope, a white figure flashed past him.

“Sadako! That’s Sadako!”

Having read Shanzhu’s comics, one person immediately recognized the white figure. Once the crowd realized this, cold sweat broke out on everyone’s brows. Wasn’t Sadako just a fictional character from Shanzhu’s manga?

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How could this be...?

Silence fell as everyone’s minds were invaded by a terrifying thought, yet no one dared voice it. It seemed utterly absurd. “Do you think Sadako actually exists? Didn’t the news report a few days ago about an internet café expert dragged into a screen by a woman...?” Finally, someone voiced their suspicion, but as soon as the words left their mouth, the others shot him fearful glances. Clearly, they all thought the same. “I’ll report this to the authorities. They’ll handle it. Everyone, be sure not to spread this outside, understood?” The speaker was the policeman from Luoshen Comics Company tasked with security, evidently familiar with some of the inside story and how to deal with it. Everyone nodded quickly. “Don’t worry, we won’t say a word.”

...

Three hours later, the topic shot to the top of trending searches.

“Terrifying Manga Artist Shanzhi’s Mysterious Death—Uncut Surveillance Video Sends Chills Down Spine!”

Clicking the link reveals Shanzhu’s entire death caught on camera, unedited. If you watch it all, the algorithms mark you down and flood your feed with endless analyses and theories about his demise. Skeptics quickly became believers after hearing half-truths from influencers. “Holy crap! Sadako is real after all!” The most ridiculous thing was that once someone accepted the information repeatedly, they began spreading it themselves. The number of people who knew swelled, making it the hottest topic in Sakura Country. Many curious fans then read Shanzhu’s comics, causing Sadako’s popularity to soar, cementing it as a legendary masterpiece in the manga world. However, Shanzhu was dead, and none of his family could be found. That meant the rights to the manga were now fully controlled by Luoshen Comics. A free, major IP—if they didn’t capitalize on it, it would be idiotic. So the plan to adapt Sadako into an anime was swiftly put into motion.

If Luoshen Comics was the second-biggest beneficiary, Xiao Zijue was undoubtedly the greatest. Thanks to his maneuvering, his “fear value” skyrocketed. “Hahaha, now I can level up any skill I want without worrying about fear damage!” Within just three days, his fear value surpassed ten million—a staggering figure. He was now undoubtedly a “fear value” tycoon. No system could possibly be blacklisted beyond that point, right?

With all this done, he was ready to start his system missions. Squinting his eyes as he looked in one direction, he said, “Another world? Well, I guess this place counts as another world for me too. I wonder what that world is really like.” With that, he set off immediately with Wang Hui and the Clown toward the so-called gate to the other world.

“Boss, why is this place so remote?”

“Nowhere near as remote as that hellhole I rescued you from last time!”

Xiao Zijue showed no patience for Wang Hui’s complaints, still recalling how he almost got lost in the Shadow World searching for him. Such an embarrassing experience he kept to himself, venting his frustration on Wang Hui instead. Wang Hui, clearly displeased after being snapped at, tried using his energy to scan their surroundings. “There’s no sign of an otherworldly gate here.”

Both Wang Hui and Xiao Zijue found this strange. This was a decrepit village, and it was uncertain whether there was even electricity. The road was riddled with potholes, as if abandoned for centuries. The system’s map marked this entire area as containing gateways to the other world, but no precise location was given. Using his enhanced perception, Xiao Zijue sensed nothing except an A-rank strange creature of unknown origin and a B-rank ghost tamer. That was it.

Wait! An A-rank strange creature and a B-rank ghost tamer? How could such powerful beings exist in such a dilapidated village? Could humans have noticed these so-called otherworld gates and come here to investigate? Then what about the strange creature? The two were close in proximity—how could they coexist peacefully in the same village? Was there some kind of non-aggression pact between human organizations and the strange creatures? It was utterly absurd.

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