c1: Ding, Your Dimension Driver Has Arrived
"The death toll has risen to twenty-one. The Kyoto Metropolitan Police Department is advising local residents to avoid going out late at night, or to travel in groups."
"Tokyo authorities have dispatched specialists to investigate the serial killings. Metropolitan Police Chief Sanada has publicly apologized on television for the recent unfortunate incidents."
The incandescent light on the ceiling flickered incessantly, the unstable current causing faint buzzing sounds that echoed unnaturally in the quiet shop.
It was past midnight, and Luo Chen was at his part-time job, a convenience store shift he had long since grown accustomed to.
Yet tonight, the atmosphere felt different like the tense silence often discussed in online anime chat groups that specialized in supernatural rumors and urban legends.
Deafening explosions echoed through the street outside the shop, accompanied by distant sirens and chaotic vibrations.
Even through the thick glass doors, the screams could still be heard, sharp and desperate, like something straight out of a late-night horror broadcast.
If this were one of those anime discussion threads, people would already be typing: "This is definitely a high-level urban legend event."
However, Luo Chen clearly had no time to pay attention to what was happening outside.
Because at a table not far away sat a slender woman with long, straight black hair, her presence unnaturally quiet amid the chaos.
Her posture was elegant, almost too perfect like a carefully designed character model rather than a real human being.
Her snow-white skin, flawless silhouette, and alluring figure were barely concealed by thin clothing, making it hard not to wonder if the garment could support her weight.
Her beauty matched the classic "mysterious woman" trope often debated in anime forums cold, distant, and dangerously attractive.
But Luo Chen knew better than to judge by appearances alone in a world that suddenly no longer followed logic.
Of course, these weren't the main points attracting Luo Chen's attention.
The main point was that she was currently engrossed in something, holding a large pair of scissors.
The metallic glint of the blades reflected the flickering ceiling light, creating an unsettling rhythm.
A middle-aged, obese body lay in a pool of blood on the ground.
It was a customer who had just entered to buy something, but in just moments, he had collapsed in the blood, his face still showing the horrified expression he had before death.
The scene perfectly matched the brutal case descriptions circulating in urban legend chat groups.
"So this woman really wasn't human, was she?"
"Scissors, slits..."
"The legendary Slit-Mouthed Woman from the Japanese folklore?"
The woman, who was engrossed in using scissors, suddenly turned to look at Luo Chen.
Judging from her back and figure, she should have been a very beautiful woman, but what appeared before him after she turned her head was a gaping, bloody maw that looked as if it had been ripped apart.
It was identical to the descriptions posted in countless anime discussion forums about Kuchisake-onna.
The thick stench of blood accompanied the grotesque face. If her appearance was a 90 out of 100 when she was wearing a mask, it was now clearly downgraded to a negative score.
Her presence felt closer to a curse or a high-grade yokai, something that would definitely be flagged in supernatural chat groups as a "do not engage" entity.
Any human would instinctively feel fear just by looking at her.
"Ah~ Miss Slit-Mouthed Woman, please don't worry, I won't suddenly run away."
Glancing at the locked convenience store door, Luo Chen sighed and gave a forced reply.
His tone was calm, but internally, he was already recalling every survival tip he had ever read online.
The key is, I can't escape even if they want to. Speaking of which, isn't this neon world a bit too terrifying?
Yes, for Luo Chen, the current environment is "this world."
A world that had just shattered his previous understanding of reality.
As for himself, he is just an ordinary transmigrator.
Based on his understanding over the past ten years, this should be a peaceful, everyday city similar to his previous life.
At least, that was what Luo Chen believed before tonight proved otherwise.
His father was a Chinese businessman who did foreign trade. He and his Japanese mother came here to discuss business but died in an accident.
This forced Luo Chen to stay in Japan, where he was eventually adopted and raised by an orphanage.
A completely standard background, nothing resembling a protagonist with special privileges.
In fact, when he realized that he was a transmigrator and was in this magical country of Japan, Luo Chen wasn't too nervous.
He even had fantasies like those often joked about in anime chat groups.
After all, those communities were filled with stories of sudden awakenings and bizarre encounters.
Like, "finding a watch face on the back of a bicycle that can make me a king," or "a strange uniformed uncle patting me on the shoulder and asking, 'Young man, do you want pleasure?'"
Or even "becoming light" or gaining the magical ability to stop time by shouting "Za Warudo."
Classic tropes ridiculous, yet strangely convincing when you're a transmigrator.
After all, these are all unique products of this other world of Japan.
And given his transmigrator status, it's perfectly normal for any of them to occur.
At least, that was the optimistic assumption he once held onto.
Unfortunately, as he grew older and entered the second year of junior high school, Luo Chen gradually began to despair.
The expectations built from years of anime and online discussions collapsed one by one.
Reality proved to be far less forgiving than fiction.
There was no cheat code, no special abilities whatsoever.
The reality told him that this was just an ordinary, mundane world.
A world that seemed completely disconnected from all those supernatural theories.
Aside from the face he inherited from his past life, which allowed him to easily live off women, he possessed no other extraordinary qualities.
He was completely and utterly ordinary!
A background character in every sense of the word.
In other words, his future was destined to be that of a corporate slave.
Ultimately embarking on a path known as 9-to-5?
A fate he found absolutely unacceptable.
No, he absolutely could not accept that!
Realizing his mistake, Luo Chen immediately decided to launch a new plan.
If fantasy wouldn't come to him, then he would conquer reality instead.
He planned to study hard.
Obtain a prestigious degree, gain admission to a top-tier university, and finally pass the civil service exam in Japan.
A stable life supported by taxpayers—that was his new goal.
A regular 9-to-5 life was his ideal; the 9-to-5 corporate slave life could all die!
As for the other unique phenomenon in Japan those bizarre scenarios discussed endlessly online, he had already decided to ignore them completely.
"A cold, aloof young lady in black stockings who berates you with eyes that look down on you while simultaneously treating you like a plaything and sleeping with you"
ha, I, Luo Chen, am not that spineless.
At least, that was what he firmly believed.
Even if I starve to death,
become a corporate slave, or smuggle myself back to my home country,
I would never become a plaything for a young lady!
Of course, considering these things now seems a bit premature.
Glancing at the slit-mouthed woman still diligently working not far away, Luo Chen began to seriously consider survival.
Because right now, theory meant nothing—only escape mattered.
Forcibly smashing through the glass was out of the question.
Explosion-proof glass... how much steel would it take to break that thing?
Even action anime protagonists would hesitate for a second.
As for the warehouse, although there was a small door for escape,
the problem was that a slit-mouthed woman was blocking the way between the warehouse and his position.
A textbook "death route," just like those bad endings in visual novels.
In other words...
this was a sure kill, right?
Luo Chen looked up with a headache.
The slit-mouthed woman with her graceful figure exuded a chilling aura like a flower on a high mountain.
Beautiful, distant, and absolutely deadly.
Her shoulders and chest revealed large expanses of snow-white skin, and with the twisting of her body, her shoulders and arms rippled like water.
A surreal contrast between elegance and horror.
Exactly the kind of contradiction that made yokai so terrifying.
Hmm... to be honest, if I really can't beat her,
just giving in to her wouldn't be such a bad deal.
After all, ignoring her face, the Slit-Mouthed Woman's figure is indeed quite impressive. She's beautiful, has a great personality, and is the kind of older sister type that you won't dislike.
Even in those late-night anime chat groups discussing yokai encounters, she would probably be classified as a "high-risk but top-tier appearance" entity.
Even if she forcibly drags me into a doujinshi mode, it shouldn't be such a bad thing.
It's just surrendering, after all.
In those forums, there were always people joking about "route capture" when facing deadly beauties.
As strong as the old magician...
just kidding.
Luo Chen tried to calm himself down, secretly gripping the baseball bat hidden under the counter.
His fingers tightened slightly, recalling those so-called "practical survival tips" often exaggerated in anime discussion threads.
He was ready to fight back when she came over.
He might not be able to beat her, although he didn't know the strength of the monsters in this world.
But judging from how easily she subdued the nearly 200-pound fat man, it was clear that a mere human couldn't compete.
This was far beyond the "low-level urban legend" classification often mentioned online.
Of course, that's all talk.
But he still had to try.
Running without resistance wasn't exactly his style either.
There's a saying...
Since a fight is inevitable anyway, it's more satisfying to initiate it when she arrives than to let her make the first move.
A mindset surprisingly similar to what some battle-anime fans advocated.
Even if we lose the team fight... at
least we can still have some fun?
"Let's try a full-force strike to see if it can stun her."
"If I can create even a brief opening, I might still have a chance."
He quickly simulated the scenario in his mind like a desperate player planning a last move.
"As long as I can slip out of the warehouse door onto the street, given the chaos outside, it's not impossible to escape, although the chances seem slim."
The explosions outside might actually work in his favor, just like random event interference in anime plots.
Though relying on that was practically gambling with his life.
It's just a pity that this convenience store doesn't have any oil drums or anything like that.
Otherwise, if I could set it on fire, I might be able to escape even faster.
A reckless idea but in desperate situations, even absurd strategies felt reasonable.
Cough cough...
Anyway, it's time to prepare for a runaway.
No matter how ridiculous it sounded, survival came first.
"Thud~"
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a dark shadow fell from the sky.
It landed directly on the checkout counter with a dull, heavy sound.
The sudden appearance felt completely out of place in reality.
"Holy crap..."
The sudden noise clearly startled Luo Chen.
His body tensed instantly, almost swinging the bat out of reflex.
But he forced himself to stay still.
He subconsciously looked at the other person.
The Slit-Mouthed Woman, who was engrossed in her work, didn't seem to care about him at all.
That indifference was both relieving and terrifying.
So he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Then he focused his gaze on the object that had just fallen.
His instincts told him this wasn't something ordinary.
There was a seemingly ordinary square object on the checkout counter.
Its appearance was simple, almost unremarkable at first glance.
Yet its sudden arrival made it anything but normal.
This thing looks like...
"A cell phone?"
Unknown brand, and the screen didn't shatter even after falling from the sky.
That alone already defied common sense.
Even in anime discussions, this would be flagged as a "trigger item."
So why did a phone suddenly fall down in front of me?
Looking up at the ceiling, Luo Chen scanned carefully.
But he didn't find any cracks, portals, or supernatural distortions.
Everything looked completely normal.
That only made things stranger.
Luo Chen hesitated for a moment before reaching out.
His instincts told him this might be dangerous.
But at the same time, it might also be his only chance.
Just as his fingertips touched the phone,
a crisp sound rang clearly in his mind.
[Ding, Hyperdimensional Driver unlocked.]
Hmm?
That unusually familiar ding.
The kind of sound that appeared countless times in system-type anime and novels.
Something he had long stopped expecting.
Wait...
could it be that my long-awaited cheat code has finally arrived!
A massive stream of unfamiliar information surged forth.
It flooded his mind the instant Luo Chen reacted.
Like forcibly downloading an entire database at once.
The next second...
the familiar crisp notification echoed in his mind again.
[Ding, system loading complete.]
[Welcome to the Hyperdimensional Chat System.]
...