Chapter 57: Theater
From the first morning that "Xia Pingzhou" was created, this character had been left idle in the hotel for a full two days and nights.
During that time, Xia Pingzhou had been lying flat on the hotel bed. Sometimes Ji Minghuan would control him to get up and go to the bathroom, stretch his limbs, or call the front desk to extend the room, but all movement was limited to within the room.
It wasn't that Ji Minghuan favored the first character, nor did he have any issues with the second character.
If given the chance, he definitely wanted to try out this new character. But as a member of the brigade, the back of "Xia Pingzhou's" hand bore the mark of the White Crow Brigade, and just two days ago, Ke Qirui and Su Zimai had seen his face. At this point, the Exorcist Association was definitely searching for him.
Given all these circumstances, wandering the streets in broad daylight would very likely get him caught by the Japanese Exorcist Association.
That would be a real headache: either be forced to switch sides on the spot or raise suspicions from the White Crow Brigade.
The best-case scenario would be keeping the character alive but wasting the potential of the main quest. The worst-case scenario would be the second character dying on the spot—neither of which were outcomes Ji Minghuan wanted to see.
Not to mention, the second character "The Player" had abilities more suited to positional warfare, with very poor mobility—in short, he wasn’t good at running away.
He wasn’t as agile as the first character "Black Cocoon," nor did he have a life-saving skill like "invisibility." If he ran into a skirmish, the second character would most likely be in a very passive situation.
So every move had to be planned cautiously, avoiding any conflict before his power level increased. One word: "Endure"!
The good news was, in Xia Pingzhou’s character background, he had prepared a human-skin mask and a fake ID before coming to Japan. So when he checked into the hotel, he was wearing the mask and using the fake identity.
This way, even though Ke Qirui knew what he originally looked like, there was no need to worry about the Exorcist Association tracking him down at the hotel.
Of course, if the brigade members were with him, there wouldn’t be so much to worry about.
With a bunch of villain bigshots covering him, Ji Minghuan actually hoped those weaklings would come knocking. Then he could take advantage of the chaos while the bigshots went on a rampage and sneak a few kills to advance the "Winter of the Hunt" development system.
"Ah... this is the joy of riding coattails."
Thinking this, Ji Minghuan reached for his phone beside the pillow and glanced at his messages.
[Origami Ayase: No. 4 and No. 9 will arrive in Tokyo tomorrow. I’ll take you to meet them.]
[Xia Pingzhou: Okay, see you then.]
After replying simply, Ji Minghuan took out a set of clothes from the suitcase, washed up in the bathroom, changed into a white hoodie, and put on the human-face mask.
Then he pulled the room card from the slot and tucked it into his pocket, heading toward the Roppongi bar district.
If not for the fact that wearing a human-skin mask in front of the brigade members was pointless—and would only make him look suspicious—he definitely would’ve put it on before meeting them.
That way, Ke Qirui and her little sister wouldn’t have seen his real face that day.
He glanced at his right hand—the White Crow Brigade’s signature raven tattoo was inked on the back of it: a black raven, a red number “12,” and a white X running through the design. Ji Minghuan stuffed his right hand into his pocket, not wanting passersby to see the tattoo, thinking he’d wrap it up with bandages when he got back...
Strolling through the nighttime streets of Tokyo, izakayas glowed brightly, and the scent of grilled salmon, alcohol, and yakitori wafted out.
His nose twitched slightly, but he wasn’t tempted. His eyes were fixed only on that giant red exclamation mark under the night sky.
Before long, Ji Minghuan followed the exclamation mark to the location of the "Card Event," and looked up—beneath the enormous “!” stood a skyscraper.
Judging from the giant spider sculpture on the roof, this was the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills.
The spider sculpture was created by French artist Louise Bourgeois, woven from black metal mesh. It symbolized maternal love and protection, and was one of the most recognizable landmarks of Roppongi Hills.
Ji Minghuan surveyed the area, then headed to the entrance of the "West Walk" mall beside the Mori Tower.
He stopped at the entrance, pulled up his hoodie, and released the Tianqu power from his body. A black-and-white Möbius loop appeared beside him. He slowly reached out and pinched the “Queen Piece” on the loop.
The chess piece shattered, turning into a black-and-white halo that flowed to his side, then formed a regal and slender black iron colossus in the night.
From memory, of the four basic chess pieces, two had special abilities—one was the “King Piece,” the other was the strongest among them, the “Queen Piece.”
The Queen Piece’s ability was to "phase out" its body for a short time. In this "phased" state, its body became transparent and could pass through any object. This move could be used both offensively and defensively—truly an all-rounder.
Not only that, the Queen Piece’s phasing could affect anything it touched—including human bodies.
The Queen Piece bent down, picked up Ji Minghuan, and in a flash of "phased" form, passed through the closed glass doors, entering the interior of the "West Walk" mall.
Ji Minghuan dropped from the Queen Piece’s arms, lowered his eyes, and waited for his body to become solid again. Then he moved from the mall walkway into the Mori Tower.
The entire building was deserted. Hands in his hoodie pockets, he deliberately avoided security cameras, wandering idly from the basement to the fourth floor, finally entering the interior of Roppongi Hills connected to the tower.
He eventually stopped in front of a theater entrance.
At that moment, a black-and-white prompt box popped up in front of his eyes.
[Card Event No. ⑤ of "Tokyo City" has been triggered: “The Spider Dancer of Roppongi EX Theater.”]
"This is the place."
Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow with interest and carefully examined the theater before him.
At the entrance, a two-meter-tall sign read “EX THEATER” in blocky 3D English letters. Neon tubes glowed an icy blue in the dark, outlining the letters. The side wall had a bilingual Japanese-English metal plaque reading “Roppongi EX Theater.”
He had the Queen Piece enter the ticket lobby first and slash all the security cameras in half, then move on to the ones in the entry passage.
By the time Ji Minghuan entered the venue, even the interior cameras had been dealt with by the Queen Piece. The majestic statue, dual daggers in hand, calmly walked back to his side to await further orders.
At a glance, the venue was no small space—probably about half the size of a Japanese J.League stadium.
The ceiling lights flickered on and off. The surroundings alternated between light and dark. During the lit moments, one could make out the stepped audience seats ahead. The back rows had high stools and standing zones. Altogether, the place could hold 800 to 1000 spectators.
The wall displayed a schedule, with “Roppongi Hills Street View” as the background map.
There were also a series of show posters. Aside from LiveHouse previews, most advertised musicals and plays—titles like Night Parade of One Hundred Demons and Madame Butterfly, with Roppongi Hills’ nightscape in the background.
According to the schedule, unless it was a New Year’s show or art festival, the venue usually closed by 11:30 PM, with the latest being 12:30 AM.
So now, the place was completely empty.
The next moment, the stage curtain suddenly drew back, and the spotlight on the dome “thumped” on, casting a beam onto a massive shadow center-stage.
Ji Minghuan, hands still in his pockets, looked up and saw a spider-shaped demon with a human face hanging upside-down from the dome by its silk. It twisted and danced mid-air in a trance-like state, crooning an operatic tune in a deep, hoarse voice. Its eight limbs bent at eerie angles—like a performer, like a lunatic.
Sometimes it danced and laughed hysterically; other times, it shrieked in madness.
[Card Event triggered: Eliminate the “Spider Demon” inside the theater within five minutes.]
“Wait a sec... did I start this dungeon too early?” Ji Minghuan rested his hand on his chin, suddenly thinking, “Once my first character gets off the plane, if I bring him here to run the dungeon together with my second character, could I exploit a bug and get two Event Cards in one go?”
No time for regrets now—the silk on the stage gave a little twitch.
In the next instant, the Spider Demon’s body was yanked upward and vanished under the spotlight, but its shadow on the wall kept twisting eerily, as if it were still dancing.
The lights went completely out. A chill wind swept through the Roppongi EX Theater.
Even Ji Minghuan couldn’t help shivering in the pitch-black darkness.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the venue—
A tear ripped through space like a movie screen suddenly embedded into the darkness.
From the screen stepped a tall, slender woman. The "movie screen" vanished behind her.
She had a pipe between her lips, leaned silently against the wall, arms crossed, quietly watching the hoodie-clad teenager in the center of the venue—and the colossi surrounding him.