Chapter 9: Mr. Ghost in the House

Although Jiang Lai doesn't mind ghost stories, he still has to go through the proper house viewing process and has to conduct an on-site inspection to determine whether it is suitable.

And...what if there really is a cursed spirit? I still have to go there.

The landlord had already given the key to the agent, so he could follow the agent to view the house at any time.

With the idea of ​​choosing a house as early as possible, Jiang Lai contacted the real estate agent after breakfast and prepared to go to see it.

The service of this agency was excellent. After Jiang Lai reported the location of the hotel, they sent someone to pick him up in a special car and take him to the rental place.

While waiting for the red light at an intersection on the road, Jiang Lai noticed the black and white iris logo on the top of a shopping mall not far away.

After a pause, Jiang Lai asked, "What brand is this iris flower from?" He smiled and said, "I just came here and noticed a lot of them. I'm a little curious."

"Hmm?" The agent glanced sideways and answered, "Oh, this is not a brand, this is a regulatory committee."

"Regulatory Commission?" Jiang Lai was stunned. What is this?

"About 20 years ago, all kinds of problems occurred frequently, but the reasons were all strange. There were many accidents at that time, and the people were very dissatisfied."

The agent explained in a slower tone.

"Later, under the leadership of the government, various financial groups, large families, and civic organizations joined together to establish a regulatory committee with agreed rules to ensure the quality and safety of finished products from food to buildings. The logo is the black and white iris."

"..." Jiang Lai blinked, "It's equivalent to the market review and supervision department?"

“Not really. The regulator essentially has no mandatory power and no legal force,” said the agent. “But it has a huge influence. The general public will generally pay attention to whether a product or store has the iris logo, which means it has passed the regulator’s inspection.”

...It's a bit unexpected. Jiang Lai was silent.

Logically, this should be the government's job, but it was handed over to a freely organized regulatory body, and the capital groups had no objection, and the public was convinced? Isn't it a bit unrealistic?

“Who will be the regulators?” he asked.

"To be precise, I don't know. Those in the open are volunteers who are known to the public," the intermediary replied as the red light ended and he continued driving, "but the core members are kept secret. I guess it's to prevent bribery or malicious harm?"

It's hard to say. Jiang Lai's mind was racing. This regulator felt a little... unusual.

It is difficult for such a functional free organization to exist in real life, and it sounds more like a utopian hypothesis.

But the amazing thing is that it can overcome all the troubles and continue to exist, spreading in all aspects and retaining such a high position in people’s hearts.

I don't know how it works exactly, maybe this is a special setting in the new series world.

Jiang Lai leaned back in his chair. "But won't there be counterfeiting? The iris logo is not difficult to imitate."

"It's almost impossible to forge it. There will be severe prosecution. And the iris logo issued by the regulatory agency has a special effect... I'm not good at describing it, you will know if you look carefully."

"Special effects?" Jiang Lai thought back to the sign of the Sukiyaki restaurant and the patterns on the walls of the store last night. They seemed to be ordinary decorations. He looked up at the one on the top of the mall that was getting farther and farther away.

The agent seemed to understand what Jiang Lai meant. He smiled and replied, "What you see are specially enlarged signs or some decorative paintings. The merchants made them so that the public can see them at a glance."

"In fact, the certification mark issued by the regulatory agency is not very large. According to the requirements, it is affixed above the door."

Is it over there at the gate? Jiang Lai really didn't notice it at that time.

But it doesn't matter, since it is so common, there will always be a chance to learn more about it later.

Then, he remembered the membership card with the Iris flower logo shown by Megumi Fushiguro in the comic, so he paused and asked casually:

"In other words, is this logo only available to businesses?"

"There is another possibility. It is said that the regulatory commission will give a card to people who are assessed by them as having made special contributions. With the card, they can get discounts when shopping in stores that have passed their inspection," the intermediary recalled.

"Of course. The money for this discount is not actually paid by the merchant, but by the regulatory agency. The regulatory agency will reimburse it once a year."

Special contribution... Thinking back to Megumi Fushiguro at that time, is this a benefit for sorcerers? Will the regulatory authorities know about the existence of the sorcery world?

——Oh, that’s not surprising. After all, many major families are involved.

"The regulator always pays attention to good people and good deeds, and then gives them special contributions." The intermediary said with emotion, "The regulator always does a great job."

...Uh, good people and good deeds? Jiang Lai was stunned. It made sense. It wouldn't be out of place to mix it in to give benefits to the sorcerers.

However, it can also be seen from the side that the regulatory commission has rich information channels.

Jiang Lai lowered his eyes, thought for a few seconds, and searched for information about the so-called "Regulatory Commission" on his mobile phone.

The full name of this regulatory commission is very simple, and seems to be named according to the time when it was established, namely the 1990 Supervisory Commission.

There is a wealth of encyclopedia information on the Internet. He quickly scanned it, filtered out some unnecessary information, and finally focused on one point - the time when it was established.

From that year to the present winter of 2018 (in the Jujutsu World timeline, Yuji Itadori is a freshman in high school in 2018), the time is neither long nor short. But the timing of this establishment is very subtle...

Because Gojo Satoru, the once-in-a-century six-eyes and the focus of the world's attention, was born on December 7, 1989. In other words, the 1990 Supervisory Committee was established shortly after Gojo Satoru was born.

...Could it be that related?

Of course, it could be pure coincidence, or I might just be overthinking it.

Jiang Lai put away his phone.

At present, it seems that this regulatory commission is to serve the people, supervise the market, commend good people and good deeds, and at the same time it seems to provide benefits to sorcerers.

As for the funding of the regulatory commission, data shows that the amount of the fund was very large when it was established. In addition, each major family allocates a sum of money every year, and there are also donations from anonymous people in the society, so their funds are very sufficient.

Is it a supervisory and charitable organization that gets things done? Probably, but there may be another hidden side. Jiang Lai withdrew his thoughts and decided to explore it later.

At this moment, the car finally arrived at the parking space of Asazawa Apartment, which is the address of the house that Jiang Lai is going to rent.

The building was not very high, and this ordinary apartment building was not equipped with an elevator. They walked up to the third floor.

Today is a sunny day, a rare day in winter. The lighting in this house is just as good as it is described, with warm and soft light penetrating through the windows, illuminating the interior scenery.

Jiang Lai remained cautious and walked around the house several times wearing shoe covers. He did not see any trace of the cursed spirit, so he finally relaxed.

Having ruled out the possibility of a cursed spirit, Jiang Lai was very satisfied with the house.

Although this apartment is a bit old, it is well maintained and does not affect anything. In the early days, this was a convenient and comfortable place to stay.

The intermediary was a little nervous throughout the process.

The agency that brought him here today was a middle-aged man. His face was tightly packed, his lips were straight, and his eyes were fixed on his feet without looking around.

Jiang Lai asked half jokingly and half tentatively: "I've heard rumors of ghosts haunting this place, but now it seems that the atmosphere here doesn't seem like a place where a ghost movie would take place."

"Ah... yes, there have always been rumors of ghosts here. Although you can't see it on the surface." The intermediary exhaled, "I, to be honest, I am a little afraid of this kind of thing."

"There was a tenant who was my friend before. He was very brave, but he moved out after living here for a few days. He even read various books to adjust himself for a few months..."

Jiang Lai blinked in surprise. Could it be that it was not an illusion or a rat's mischief, but a really scary ghost?

In addition to cursed spirits, there are also ghosts in the world of curses, which is really rich in variety.

He complained inwardly, looked up and thought, "I'm quite satisfied with this house at the moment. But hearing what you said..."

He is not afraid of ghosts, but he is worried that the so-called ghost incidents will disturb his rest.

"Ah, it's okay, sir. The landlord himself said that he can give tenants a three-day free trial period. You can stay for a few nights and then decide whether to rent it." The agent gestured with his fingers and said, "If it doesn't work, we can always take you to other houses to look at!"

"Okay," this is exactly what Jiang Lai wanted to hear, he nodded, "Then let's try it first."

Let's see if the so-called ghost in this room can communicate - let him further understand the background of this world through another channel.

——

Asazawa Apartment. Midnight.

Jiang Lai was awakened by the sound of the TV coming from the living room.

Through a door, the sound of the TV mixed with crackling noises came faintly from the gap.

The volume of the TV was not deliberately lowered or raised. In short, even though there was a door between them, it was enough to wake up Jiang Lai, who was highly alert.

Jiang Lai stared at the ceiling, then stood up and planned to go take a look. At this moment, he was wearing pajamas, picked up the mobile phone on the bedside table, and walked towards the door.

He listened carefully to what was happening outside - the TV seemed to be broadcasting something related to a boxing betting match. He could hear the commentator's quick and precise comments, and the excited cheers of the audience in the background.

Jiang Lai reached out and twisted the door handle. The door didn't open.

He raised his eyebrows slightly and found that the door seemed to be locked.

The doors of each room here are key-locked, not twist-type. The agent did not give him the key to the door of the room.

Once the door is locked, it cannot be opened without a key.

Jiang Lai: It doesn't matter, I can pick the lock.jpg

Thanks to his experience in the world of science, Jiang Lai has developed a lot of skills. Lock picking is of course a required course.

Although he hadn't practiced for a while, this door lock was very simple and Jiang Lai opened it in no time.

In the middle of the night, in the dark living room, only the TV was emitting a faint light, abruptly illuminating a small area in front.

On the screen, crackling snowflakes occasionally blurred the fighting scene. The cold winter wind blew outside the window, and the intertwined sounds were like unknown whispers. The cold air slipped in through the gaps, spreading and lowering the temperature of the entire living room.

Jiang Lai scanned the front, illuminated with the flashlight mode of his cell phone, turned around and walked towards the place where the switch was located on the wall inside the house.

"Crack."

He switched off the living room switch.

However, the TV was still on after the power outage, completely unaffected, still buzzing softly and flashing with snowflakes from time to time.

On the screen, as a game was about to end, loud cheers were piercing and resounded in the quiet environment, making it seem even more eerie, and the atmosphere of the horror story reached its climax.

But Jiang Lai was very calm.

In the darkness, he raised his eyes slightly and said, "I don't mind having another tenant in the house...but please keep your voice down."

He faced forward and spoke in the quiet environment as if talking to himself.

Outside the window, a cold wind howled across the street; the TV in the living room was still showing an underground boxing match, with a constant crackling sound.

Jiang Lai sighed and continued:

"I think you should know that this is the standard break time - Mr. Shen'er."

As the last words were spoken, the translucent black figure in front of the TV finally turned its head slowly.