Chapter 286 Chapter 286

A university campus in the U.S. capital.

Tomorrow begins the one-week spring break. As the holiday is approaching, many students are feeling restless and have no intention of attending classes.

A female student with big golden wavy hair put her mobile phone under the table and quietly sent a message to her friend: Tony, where are we going to play this holiday?

The cell phone in the pocket of the boy who was sitting two seats away from him vibrated. He took it out and scanned it, the corner of his mouth curled up. He held a pen in his right hand and pretended to listen to the class, while his left hand was quietly typing: Seaside?

The girl with golden curly hair pouted and typed: We've been there once last summer vacation, it was a terrible vacation, let's go to a different place this time.

Tony: Well, how about asking Jenny? Her birthday is in two days. We should celebrate for her. You are her best friend.

Girl with golden curly hair: Yes, we have known each other for almost ten years. I have already prepared the gift.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. As the professor picked up his books and cup and left, the classroom immediately became noisy. A few students were so excited that they threw their bags up into the air and started cheering.

Because this is the last class of the day, after this class, they can go anywhere to play.

The girl with curly blond hair quickly packed up her things and rushed towards the boy. She enthusiastically took her boyfriend's arm and said, "Let's go."

The two of them walked out of the classroom together and went to the lawn in the front courtyard to wait. Soon their three good friends came.

There was a girl and two boys. The girl was Jenny, the girl with blonde curly hair and the one mentioned in the man’s text message. She was wearing a simple sports outfit and obviously had just returned from a run in the afternoon.

"Hey, Sarah, how was class?" Jenny smiled and handed two bottles of drinks to the blonde. She had just bought them, and there was also some for Sarah's boyfriend.

The blonde curly-haired girl named Sarah shrugged: "My mind is full of tomorrow's holiday. Anyway, that old man's class is boring, as long as I can finish the class smoothly, it's fine."

As he said that, he opened the drink and took a sip.

"Or maybe we should try some extreme sports?" Jenny suggested. "How about parachuting?"

"Oh, no, please let me go." Paul, a slightly fat boy, shook his head hurriedly, "It's better to go skiing."

"So let's go skiing?"

"We played it last winter vacation." Flynn, the last boy with a crew cut and a skateboard, shrugged. "And Paul, you, a beginner, accidentally entered a professional ski resort and almost got into an accident. Did you forget?"

"That's because... I saw a dark shadow flash by, and I thought it was weird! I ran away in fear, and I didn't expect to run to the professional slide..." The fat boy Paul's voice became lower and lower, and the other people looked at him as if he was a fool.

"It's not that easy to come across a weirdo." Sarah threw the empty drink bottle into the trash can, "You're just too careful."

"That's because you haven't faced it before. I encountered it once before. It was so weird and scary..." Paul shrank his neck.

"Pfft, hahaha." Flynns laughed without giving any face. "Ever since this guy encountered an F-level monster, he keeps mentioning that matter. Obviously, you were not hurt at all by the monster. That thing is so harmless that even the priests of the Seko Cult are too lazy to care about it."

Paul blushed and said nothing.

Tony had been looking down at his tablet when he suddenly found a nice holiday spot. He showed the content to everyone and said, "What do you think of this place?"

Sarah and the others looked over, and Jenny read out the words on it: "The town of Sultan is a good choice for your vacation. It was once a copper mine, with the most beautiful mountains, forests, lakes, and a river. Experience the jungle scenery of the mountain villa, go fishing in the morning, row a boat in the afternoon, and visit the local historical sites and art galleries in the evening. Each visitor will receive a copper jewelry as a gift, and couples will receive matching necklaces as a gift."

“That sounds good,” Paul said. “That’s the name of this town. I’ve never heard of it.”

Flynn had already lowered his head and started searching on his phone. He soon found the name of the town: "Because it is a remote town, it has only recently become a tourist town. It is not well-known and not many people go there."

"Then let's go and have a look," Jenny said.

It can be said that every college student in the United States has a car, which is also related to the local transportation. The public transportation in the United States is relatively backward, the coverage rate is not high and the waiting time is extremely long. The subway is considered a dangerous area because there are homeless people and gangsters coming and going all year round. In addition, the area is vast and sparsely populated. Outside of the bustling cities, driving is almost the only way to travel. Without a car, it is almost impossible to move.

Therefore, even if the town is a little far away, they can still go on a trip at any time.

In particular, the hotel fees introduced were not expensive and were within their affordability.

When we set out the next day, as we put our luggage in the trunk, Sarah suddenly remembered something: "Do we need to make reservations in advance for hotels in small towns?"

"I've already booked three rooms," her boyfriend Tony said. "You and I will have one room, Jenny will have one room, and Paul and Flynn will have one room. Perfect."

The two got in the car, and Tony gave his girlfriend a passionate kiss, then whispered in her ear: "Enjoy this vacation, honey."

Sarah laughed out loud.

The driver of the other car was Flynn. He whistled and fastened his seat belt. Just as he was about to start, Jenny behind him said, "Wait a minute."

Flynn looked back at her.

Jenny in the back seat took out her phone and looked at the map on the weird live broadcast software. After confirming that there were no weird signs on their route, she said with relief, "It's okay, let's go."

Flynn smiled and started the car. "It's impossible to encounter anything weird. How could such a small probability thing happen to us?"

"But it's better to be safe." Jenny frowned slightly, "A senior from my club died last month due to a mysterious accident."

Paul also knew that senior, so he lowered his head and sighed slightly.

"It's time to go out and have fun, you two." Flynn said with a tut, "You guys have ruined the atmosphere."

"Feel sorry."

*

The headquarters of the Cult of Sekiro in the United States.

Kailett sat upright in a chair. On the table in front of him was a map. The center of the site marked with a red circle on the map was a town called Semiril.

Located at the westernmost part of Nishizawa Prefecture, you can reach it by going north from the capital and then heading west at the third fork in the road. This town is at the end of the road, surrounded by mountains and rivers, with nice scenery.

In the past, both the town of Selbang and the neighboring town were copper miners. But when the mine was abandoned and no longer needed, the neighboring town of Selbang tried to revive the town and started to develop it into a tourist destination. The town of Semiril also wanted to follow suit, but its luck was not very good. In the first year, a serial killer escaped here and committed crimes, which made the residents panic. Not to mention making a fortune from the tourism industry, several locals moved away one after another.

Finally, when the storm had died down a little, the mayor of Semiril was unwilling to give up and wanted to develop the tourism industry again. As a result, bears suddenly came to the mountain and injured the tourists, one died and one was injured. In the end, the tourism industry plan was finally abandoned, and the town was half-dead. By the time the strange thing appeared, there were not many people living here anymore.

"Has everyone in town moved away?" Carrett asked.

"Yes." The priest of the Seko Cult lowered his head and replied, "According to your wishes, they were all evacuated. The residents of the town of Semiril don't want to stay here anymore. Since the death of the previous mayor, no new mayor is willing to take office. It is an incomparable blessing for them to receive a resettlement fee and move away from this lifeless place. Thank you for your gift."

"Yeah." Carret nodded.

After the personnel have cleaned up, the next step is to put a warning sign on the weird live broadcast to mark this area as a dangerous area. Young people in the United States who love to travel now basically have the habit of looking at the weird live broadcast map before going out, so most of them will not enter by mistake.

As for those who challenge and seek death, just let them be.

"You did a great job," said Carrett.

The priest's fingers trembled with excitement. He bowed and said, "Thank you for your compliment."

"Oh, and get me two assistants, preferably awakened ones," Kret continued. "Tell them in advance that this operation is likely to be life-threatening, or that they may encounter something more terrible than death. They are free to do it, and we won't force them. Of course, if they can survive this operation, there will be rewards."

"You're kidding. It's our honor to sacrifice our lives for you. I'll choose two strong ones and make sure they won't hold you back."

"Um."

Kairet looked out the window at the sky. The sky in the west was gloomy and it was going to rain.

“Bad weather.”

I hope it won't affect the leader's plan.

*

After driving for three hours, they arrived at a gas station. Tony and Flynn drove the car to refuel and had a meal in the small hotel at the gas station.

During the meal, Sarah and Paul kept checking their phones and laughing. Sarah even thrust the screen at her boyfriend and said, "Look at this guy. He's so stupid. Hahaha."

It was a funny video. Tony went over to take a look and laughed out loud.

"If you keep playing, your phone will run out of battery," Jenny reminded.

"We can go to town tonight and recharge." Sarah answered nonchalantly and continued watching videos.

The sky outside grew overcast and the wind began to blow.

The hotel proprietress called out to her son to go to the backyard to collect the clothes that were drying. She turned around and asked Sarah and the others if they wanted to stay overnight.

Rejected by Saka.

"You should have stayed." The proprietress pointed outside the door. "The thunderstorm is coming soon. It's inconvenient to drive. There's only one gas station and one hotel nearby. If it's farther away, you'll have to drive for two hours to see it."

"It doesn't matter. We will reach our destination in the evening," said Saka. "We are going to the town of Sultan."

"Silbang, it's a good idea for you to go there." The proprietress looked at them. "College students from the capital, right? I knew that only students like you would go to such a place. The countryside, close to nature, my God, I'm in contact with nature every day. In my opinion, the big city is better."

After that, she began to talk about the big cities she saw on TV and her aspirations.

She kept talking so much that Sarah and the others began to force their laughter. Flynn was not used to her at all and asked directly, "Do you have Coke? I want to buy a case."

"Yes, of course." The proprietress shut up and went to the back to move the goods.

"One box?" Jenny glared at him. "Isn't there still half a box in the trunk?"

Flynn leaned over and whispered, "I just want her to shut up. It doesn't matter. You have to drink it anyway."

Rather than drinking water, various beverages are the favorite of young Americans.

Jenny: "You should drink less of those things and switch to sports drinks, which are good for your health."

"What's the difference? It's all water and sugar anyway."

"That's a long way off."

The two began to argue about the healthiness of the drink.

The wind outside began to howl, and the windows creaked in the strong wind. Paul looked outside in fear and said, "It's getting darker outside. How about we...stay here for one night?"

"Are you kidding me? This old hotel?" Sarah shook her head. "I still prefer the villa by the lake."

"Let's go now. Maybe if we drive a little further we can reach a sunny place." Tony picked up his coat and stood up.

The others nodded in agreement. Just then, the proprietress came over with a box of Coke. After paying, they drove off.

However, the weather conditions did not improve as they thought, but instead got worse.

Gradually, raindrops began to fall on the windshield of the car. The raindrops became bigger and bigger and turned into heavy rain.

"I knew it." Paul in the back seat began to mutter, "I should have stayed in that hotel for one night. It's raining so hard that I can't even see the road ahead. It's terrible. I don't know if I can make it tonight..."

"Shut up, okay, Paul!" Flynn, who was driving, said impatiently.

The bad weather and poor visibility already bothered him, and there was a nagging person behind him, which made Flynn think of leaving this fat man behind. He pounded the steering wheel in anger and said, "The weather will be fine soon. This heavy rain won't last long."

Paul at the back shut up.

I don't know how long we drove, but the heavy rain that was supposed to "stop soon" showed no sign of stopping, and a thunderstorm even began to appear in the sky.

"This weather is a little unusual." said Jenny.

Given the topography and climate here, it's not uncommon to see heavy rain, but such a severe thunderstorm is rare.

“The weather has been getting weirder since the day of the Red Sun,” Flynn said.

Paul began to get nervous again: “You think we wouldn’t…”

"Shut up, Paul. I don't want to hear any bad assumptions."

"oh."

The car drove for an unknown amount of time when Flynn suddenly noticed that Tony's car in front of him had stopped. He had to stop as well. He leaned his head forward and glanced forward, but couldn't see anything clearly.

He had no choice but to get out of the car in the heavy rain, wanting to ask Tony why he stopped. But when he took a few steps forward to Tony's car, he found out the reason.

A tree fell across the road, blocking the way.

"Damn it." Flynn wiped the rain off his face and looked around. This was the suburbs, and all he could see were jungles and roads.

"Take a detour," Tony opened the window and shouted to Flynn.

If it were a little quieter, the sound of their voices would be drowned out by the thunderstorm.

"How do we get there? Do you know the way?" Flynn also asked loudly.

"Navigation!" Tony asked Sarah to take out her phone. "Follow the navigation, we will definitely get there."

Saka nodded quickly and showed the map page on his phone.

"Okay, I'll follow you in my car!!"

Flynn returned to the car, briefly told the two people in the back seat about the situation in front, then turned the steering wheel and drove back with Tony's car, looking for another way.

In the car ahead, Sarah, who was in the passenger seat, turned on the map navigation on her phone. Maybe it was because of the thunderstorm, but the map on her phone was a little stuck, and the arrow icon representing them was flashing.

"Go straight ahead, and then at the second fork in the road go..." Sarah paused.

The phone screen froze again, and the icon drifted on the map.

"Where to go?" Tony asked.

Sarah kept poking at the screen of her phone. Finally, it stopped lagging and their location became clear: "It's not the second fork in the road. It's the first one. It's right in front of us. Go west. Yes, on the right. That's right."

"Okay." Tony turned right with his hand on the steering wheel.

Flynn's car followed closely behind.

"And then?"

"Go straight," Sarah said, "then turn right at the second fork in the road and go straight again."

"good."

Sarah glanced out the window. The sound of rain was washing against the car glass, and she couldn't see the scenery outside clearly. Saka lowered her head again and found that her cell phone had a low battery sign.

"My phone's dying, Tony."

"It's okay, we should be there soon."

"good."

In order to save power, she temporarily turned off the screen and planned to look at it again later.

Then when she opened it again, she found that the map on her phone couldn't refresh for some reason. When she looked at the icon on it, it showed that there was no signal.

"Tony, my cell phone has no signal."

"It's okay. It's probably due to the thunderstorm. I still remember the route you told me." Tony consoled him. "We'll get there."

Even if they couldn't make it, they had water and food.

What's more, we were walking on the main road instead of a remote road. There was always a town or a gas station at the end of any road, so we didn't have to worry about getting lost.

No matter how big the United States is, or how sparsely populated the suburbs are, it is not a deserted area. Their cars are fully tanked with gas, and there is some in spare, which is enough for them to drive to another state. What is there to worry about?

The rain gradually stopped and the scenery in the distance could be seen clearly. Tony looked into the distance and saw orange and yellow buildings at the foot of the distant mountains. It was a small town.

"Look, we're here, Sarah." Tony said excitedly, "The rain has stopped. I heard that the town looks completely different after the rain. We can take a few more photos."

"You're right, Tony." Sarah was also very happy. She looked down at her cell phone, which had run out of battery and turned off automatically.

No problem, she'll be able to recharge it in no time.

The car stopped at the town's parking lot. Tony and Sarah got out, and Flynn and the other two also got out with their luggage.

"I was wondering what would happen if we encountered a thunderstorm, but luckily we are here." Jenny stretched after getting off the car. "This town after the rain is perfect for a run."

"Let's put our luggage in the hotel before we go running." Sarah took out two suitcases from the trunk. "They are so heavy. What did you put in them, Tony?"

"Ingredients," Tony replied, "and some barbecue sauce. We're having a barbecue party here. I don't think the supermarkets around here sell any good barbecue sauce."

"Now that you mention it, I'm hungry." Paul patted his stomach, "When are we going to have a barbecue party?"

"Later, let's go to the hotel first..." Tony dragged his suitcase into the town. As he went deeper into the town, his voice became smaller and smaller, and then he stopped.

Everywhere I looked, all the houses and shops were closed, and there was not a single person in the entire town.

What's going on?

"Hey, Tony, look there!" Jenny shouted, pointing to the entrance to the town.

A few people turned around and saw a huge sign there: Welcome to the town of Semeril.

...Hmm? Isn't it the town of Sultan? ?