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A long time ago, a plague broke out in this small village located deep in the mountains. With the medical standards of the time, the people of the village were helpless against the plague and turned to ghosts and gods, attempting to appease their wrath with sacrifices.
The Ghost Bride was the chosen sacrifice.
She wasn't even a local, but a young woman from out of town who longed for love and was deceived by a man with sweet words. She was betrayed by everyone in the entire village, and on her wedding night, she was brutally murdered by the villagers, her body dismembered and suppressed in five different locations.
The plague seemed to have been resolved in the end, but the Ghost Bride became a new source of terror. Everyone who tried to leave the village would be blocked by a fog of resentment, eventually getting lost in the mist, and the fog would also materialize the villagers' deepest fears.
According to speculation, the dolls and scarecrows inside the house were likely special avatars of the villagers. Of course, they are no longer living beings, but have also transformed into some kind of eerie entity.
Because the Ghost Bride's body was suppressed in five separate locations, she lacked the strength to invade the houses.
Players helping the Ghost Bride 'complete' her body is equivalent to choosing the Ghost Bride's faction. Once the Ghost Bride awakens, her primary target will naturally be those villagers, and the players will seize the opportunity to escape the village…
The truth of the dungeon originally required players to slowly piece together the truth by adventuring, solving puzzles, and finding clues. Unfortunately, they encountered Amamiya Natsuki and his group.
A few shots triggered the confession buff, and amidst the villagers' confessions, they successfully skipped the adventure and puzzle-solving segments, obtaining the most important information in the dungeon. Then they split up, not needing to face the dangers in the fog, and directly found all of the Ghost Bride's body parts during the safe period. If nothing unexpected happens, they will soon be able to clear the dungeon…
A moment later.
The players arrived at the village ancestral hall.
There was no need for Amamiya Natsuki to do it himself; a casual player naturally stepped forward and opened a coffin in the ancestral hall, revealing the Ghost Bride's body inside.
Several casual players stepped forward and worked together to piece together the Ghost Bride's hands, feet, and head.
"Amamiya-san, is this enough?" A casual player turned and asked.
"Let me see…"
Amamiya Natsuki stepped forward to the coffin and looked inside, preparing to see if there were any prompts.
The Ghost Bride lay quietly in the coffin, wearing a traditional white wedding kimono. When her body was reassembled, a thoughtful player used the wedding kimono to cover the wounds on her limbs, making her appear as if she were merely sleeping.
This Ghost Bride looked quite young and beautiful, though her skin was excessively pale. If it were today, she probably wouldn't even have graduated from university yet, which was indeed quite a pity.
Amamiya Natsuki squinted his eyes, gazing intently, and soon a prompt appeared before him.
[After unremitting efforts, you have completed the Ghost Bride's body…]
[You have successfully piqued the Ghost Bride's interest…]
[You are about to be attacked by the Illusion of the Soul…]
"Wait, what the hell?"
Amamiya Natsuki was instantly speechless.
I worked so hard to help you complete your body. Even if I don't get credit, I put in the effort. Even if I didn't put in the effort, I still have complaints. It's fine if there's no reward, but you're actually going to attack me?
If you have resentment, take it out on those villagers, you've got the wrong target!
"Illusion of the Soul…"
Amamiya Natsuki frowned and muttered, quickly pulling out a half-eaten orange from his backpack. It was the special item, the Scurvy Orange, that he had stolen from the Ghost Ship dungeon.
The next moment.
The Ghost Bride in the coffin suddenly opened her eyes, a pair of incredibly black eyes with no whites, and gazed at Amamiya Natsuki.
Buzz…
Amamiya Natsuki only felt his vision go dark, and a strong sense of dizziness suddenly struck him, the entire world instantly twisting.
It wasn't just him; black, distorted ripples spread rapidly from the Ghost Bride, instantly enveloping the entire ancestral hall. All players were caught off guard and affected simultaneously.
"Why are you still spacing out, kid?"
A hoarse, low cry rang out, startling Amamiya Natsuki from his daze.
Amamiya Natsuki turned his head, looking behind him.
It was a dark-skinned, short, middle-aged man smoking a dry pipe, who slapped Amamiya Natsuki on the shoulder: "Why aren't you hurrying to change? The bride is already waiting."
"The bride…" Amamiya Natsuki felt a jolt in his mind, and various memories surfaced. He murmured, "That's right, today is my wedding day. Everyone in the village will be here soon. I need to hurry and change…"
Amamiya Natsuki stood up, ready to follow the middle-aged man into the house to change, when he suddenly felt something in his hand.
He looked down and saw it was a shriveled, unappealing orange.
"What is this?"
Amamiya Natsuki looked at the orange in his hand, a puzzled expression on his face.
Why was he holding an orange?
And only half of one?
As he was wondering, a line of text suddenly appeared before Amamiya Natsuki's eyes.
[You decide to eat the orange in your hand to break the illusion…]
"Illusion?"
Amamiya Natsuki frowned slightly, instinctively feeling he could trust the mysterious prompt that appeared before him.
After a slight hesitation, Amamiya Natsuki broke off half the orange and put it in his mouth.
Although the orange looked shriveled, it tasted good. It quickly turned into cool juice that flowed down his throat and into his stomach.
Amamiya Natsuki felt a refreshing coolness surge into his mind, and the hazy, veil-like discomfort he had felt quickly disappeared.
"I remember now." Amamiya Natsuki pressed his brow, the memory of the Ghost Bride opening her dark eyes surfacing in his mind. "Wedding, what a wedding, I clearly fell into a trap."
The Ghost Bride's phantom illusion was not just a simple illusion; it could even blind players' memories. Fortunately, he had taken out the orange beforehand, otherwise, he wouldn't know when he would have regained consciousness.
Amamiya Natsuki pondered while silently observing his surroundings.
He was not in the ancestral hall, but in an unfamiliar courtyard.
The full moon hung in the sky, casting a watery clear glow.
The ground was paved with white gravel, there was a clump of secluded bamboo and a few pine trees in the corner, and not far away were bamboo water basins and stone lanterns, followed by old wooden houses… It was clearly a standard ancient Japanese garden.
Amamiya Natsuki secretly pinched himself, and the pain was exceptionally real.
"Tsk…"
Sure enough.
Having encountered similar illusions before, it wasn't just a hallucination, but a kind of subspace. Players were indeed in this space, and trying to wake up by pinching oneself was completely ineffective.
"What are you spacing out for again?" The middle-aged man had already reached the doorway of the house, turning his head to scold, "Hurry up and change!"
"Coming."
Amamiya Natsuki calmly replied and stepped towards the middle-aged man.
Without a doubt.
The phantom illusion before him should be a reenactment of the Ghost Bride's wedding night.
He just didn't know where Kaguya and the others were. In his last memory, the black mist that erupted from the Ghost Bride seemed to have attacked everyone simultaneously…
"Master."
Walking into the house, he met a middle-aged man who bowed.
Amamiya Natsuki's steps paused slightly.
This middle-aged man was one of the players, but now he seemed to have also lost his memory, and his identity appeared to be that of a servant.
Among so many male players, why was he the only groom?
Amamiya Natsuki pondered silently in his mind.
Is it because his charm value is the highest?
No.
The Ghost Bride shouldn't be such a shallow person.
Having died once, she shouldn't be so shallow…
A flash of inspiration crossed his mind, and Amamiya Natsuki suddenly thought of a possibility.
"…It's Chika!"
It must have been on the way back after finding the head. All those things she said were heard by the Ghost Bride, which is why the Ghost Bride attacked the players instead of immediately seeking revenge on the villagers.
Damn it! Her jinxing ability is too terrifying!
It's decided. After clearing this, Chika must be punished.
Led by a middle-aged woman, Amamiya Natsuki walked through the wooden corridor and soon arrived at the door of a room.
It must be said, this family's courtyard was quite large, a standard wealthy landlord level.
Click.
The door opened.
"Young Master, please hurry and change." The middle-aged woman bowed, "The wedding is about to begin, and the guests have already arrived."
"Mm."
Amamiya Natsuki nodded, his expression calm, and stepped into the room.
He had already clearly understood the action plan. The one who tied the bell must untie it. Since it was the Ghost Bride's phantom illusion, to break the illusion, he still needed to find the Ghost Bride.
Now that the Ghost Bride was nowhere to be seen, he naturally couldn't act recklessly. He would first follow the 'script' arranged by the Ghost Bride and cooperate with the performance. Since it was a scene reenactment, he would definitely see the Ghost Bride later.
"Eh?"
Walking into the room, Amamiya Natsuki couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise, looking at the two maids waiting in the room.
One of the maids was small, with a very noticeable ahoge on her head. It was Takanashi Rikka.
And beside Rikka was a tall, long-haired black-haired girl, wearing a black and white maid uniform. Although she was a maid, the way she looked at others was always as if she were looking at insects. What was even more excessive was that this maid also had a pair of fluffy Kuroneko ears on her head.
That's right, it was Yukinoshita Yukino.
"Do you see the ears?"
Amamiya Natsuki's mouth twitched slightly, and he couldn't help but ask the middle-aged woman at the door.
Even if it's a phantom illusion, you have to put some effort into it, okay? Such a large pair of fluffy cat ears, no matter how you look at them, are too out of place!
"Young Master, what are you saying?" The middle-aged woman looked bewildered, ignoring the cat ears on Yukinoshita Yukino's head.
"Nothing." Amamiya Natsuki sighed and waved his hand, "You go out, I'm changing."
"Yes, Young Master." The middle-aged woman bowed and looked at Yukino and Rikka, ordering imperiously, "You two, hurry and help the Young Master change his clothes. If you delay the wedding, watch your hides."
"…"
"Master, hurry and come change." Rikka picked up a set of kimono from the bed, pleading pitifully, "Otherwise, they'll punish us again."
Amamiya Natsuki said:
"You two go out, I'll change myself."
"No." Rikka quickly shook her head, "Helping the Master change is a maid's job."
Yukinoshita Yukino spoke:
"Don't waste time, hurry and come change."
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