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Chapter 68: Searching for the Magic Source
Chiba examined the growth state of the surrounding vegetation.
The air was very fresh, without any industrial exhaust smell. The soil beneath his feet was also soft, showing no traces of human activity.
This definitely wasn't Kamimizu City in 2025.
"Hey, Kerberos, stop playing dead. See if you can figure out where this is?"
"..."
Only the howling wind through the mountain forest and distant unknown bird calls answered him.
Chiba froze for a moment, turning his head to look at his shoulder.
Empty.
That yellow plush that always perched there complaining or demanding sweets was gone.
Chiba's eyes instantly turned cold.
"That thing couldn't have lost power and fallen off during the trip, could it?"
Though it was just a gluttonous and chatty plush doll, it was at least a guide NPC.
Now great—in this god-forsaken era, without even someone to talk to, he could only activate single-player mode.
"Forget it. Better to rely on myself than others."
Chiba quickly adjusted his mindset.
As a qualified lone wolf player, this wasn't the first time he'd encountered situations where he started with one less teammate.
After steadying his breathing somewhat, Chiba pulled out that Time card that had screwed him over so badly.
He flicked his finger against the image of the old man holding an hourglass on the card surface, his tone unfriendly.
"Care to explain where you threw me? Also, what year is it now?"
The old man on the card surface seemed to move slightly. A few seconds later, a weak consciousness wave transmitted into Chiba's mind.
The gist was: this is a past time point, exactly how many years isn't clear (after all, this card doesn't have a perpetual calendar installed), but it's pretty far from your era.
"How do I get back? Since you brought me here, you must have a return ticket, right?"
As for getting back? Very simple.
Either wait for The Time card to slowly recharge its mana—probably takes a few hundred years—or give it an infusion, find a nuclear power plant-level magic source to charge it, similar to the scale just now, a few minutes would do.
"A few hundred years? By then I'll have fossilized."
Chiba immediately vetoed the first option.
That left only finding a magic source.
But in this deep mountain wilderness, where could he find one?
Chiba looked at the continuous mountain ranges in the distance. Though hope was slim, it beat sitting around waiting to die.
Then with a "treating a dead horse as if it were alive" mentality, he closed his eyes, mobilized what little magic remained in his body, and activated that spiritual vision he'd just recently learned.
The world lost its color in Chiba's eyes, transforming into black, white, and gray lines.
And within this monotonous background, at the edge of his vision that should have been empty, a dazzling, impossibly thick purple-red color suddenly appeared.
That was the direction beyond two mountain peaks.
A massive, suffocating magical response lay dormant deep beneath the earth.
Chiba rubbed his eyes, confirming he wasn't hallucinating from that earlier fall.
"Real or fake? There's a power bank this huge right next door?"
This was like being on the verge of dying of thirst in a desert, then turning around to discover a five-star hotel's infinity pool beside you.
That incredible sense of surprise instantly diluted his exhaustion.
Chiba looked in that direction, his lips slowly curving upward. The depression from time travel instantly evaporated.
"Though I don't know what's hidden there, since I've spotted it, it's mine now."
Opportunity knocks but once.
Chiba immediately used The Move card.
The surrounding space began distorting.
The next second, the scenery before his eyes instantly stretched and blurred, transforming into countless colorful lines.
When the dizziness faded and the sensation of solid ground returned, Kazama Chiba found himself crouching on a protruding rock platform.
Below his feet was a village embraced by surrounding mountains.
Most of those houses were traditional wooden structures.
The village's layout was extremely particular. Overlooking it from this angle, it resembled a chessboard arranged in complete chaos.
Black tiles layered upon layers, pressing down so heavily one could hardly breathe.
And deep within the village, a shrine built against the mountain exuded an indescribable sinister quality.
Rather than looking like some place worshipping deities, it clearly resembled a massive lid forcibly covering something beneath that shouldn't see daylight.
And that massive magical power that made Chiba drool was continuously seeping out from deep underground beneath that shrine, so thick it almost materialized into mist.
"Looks like a place with stories."
Chiba stood up from the cliff edge.
For someone urgently needing magic, this was simply a buffet restaurant.
As for what demon or monster was down there?
None of his business.
Following typical webnovel logic, places like this either hid ancient divine artifacts or sealed world-ending demon kings.
But for him, whether artifact or demon king, as long as it could convert into travel fare home, it was a good thing.
Then Kazama Chiba observed the shrine from the cliff edge for a while.
That was a shrine built at the entrance of a natural cave.
The so-called shrine was actually just expanding the original cave, then adding a torii gate and several shimenawa ropes outside—looked fairly authentic.
Two burly men guarded the entrance.
But Chiba's focus wasn't on them, but on the people going in and out.
After observing for half a day, many people entered, but very few came out.
"Only in, no out?"
Chiba's fingers lightly tapped the rock surface.
"What kind of shrine operates like this? And built in this godforsaken place—clearly doesn't want people discovering it."
Places like this were either black market smuggling dens for contraband or conducting cult rituals that couldn't be broadcast without mosaics.
But whether they were brewing poison or raising venomous insects inside, that tempting magic source was down there.
From the looks of it, they probably wouldn't let Chiba enter.
"Since they won't sell me a ticket for a tour, I'll just have to sneak in."
Meanwhile, in the village—
"Everyone stay close! Don't fall behind! Students up front, slow down!"
The leading female teacher waved a small flag with red cloth strips tied to it, her voice nearly hoarse from shouting.
Urushihara Michiyo hunched her shoulders, trying to minimize her presence as much as possible, following at the very end of the line.
Though she'd entered the village, that oppressive feeling of being surrounded by mountains not only hadn't lightened but grew increasingly heavy.
Those pitch-black windows around her were like pairs of peeping eyes, making her uncomfortable all over.
"Wow! What's this?!"
Excited shouts from boys suddenly came from the front of the line.
Michiyo was startled, instinctively wanting to cover her ears.
But curiosity still drove her to peek through the gaps between the students' arms up front.
Under a roadside grass shed, what had been covered by a dust-laden thick tarp—
Now that cloth was yanked away by the two most mischievous boys in class.
The raised dust choked surrounding people into coughing fits.
But when the dust settled and the thing hidden beneath was revealed, everyone fell silent for a second.
That was a stone statue.
A full two to three meters tall, presenting a bizarre blue-gray color throughout.
It depicted an upright-walking monster with massive claws, a chest covered in patterns like cooled lava, and a head shaped like an inverted shovel.
Though those stone-carved eyes lacked spirit, that fierce appearance seemed like it might roar to life the next second.
"Golza?!"
Someone shouted.
These kids instantly exploded.
"It really is Golza! The ultra-ancient monster Golza! It's made so realistically! Even more real than what I saw on TV!"
"So cool! I want to touch it too!"
"This is that monster that appeared in Ultraman Tiga's first episode, right? Made so well!"
The originally somewhat reserved students instantly erupted.
After all, this was 2010—Ultraman Tiga's popularity was still very high.
For these young boys, seeing such a realistic monster model was even more exciting than seeing Ultraman himself.
Even that class president who always kept a stern face couldn't help but move closer wanting a photo.
But Michiyo couldn't smile.
She vaguely felt something was wrong but couldn't say what.
"Don't... don't go near it..."
She said softly, but her voice was immediately drowned out by classmates' cheers.
The leading female teacher frowned.
She pushed up the glasses on her nose bridge, looking at that fierce stone statue, also feeling somewhat creeped out.
How could this remote mountain village worship something like this?
But she glanced at the smiling village chief beside her, then at the excited students, ultimately swallowing the doubt on the tip of her tongue.
Better to avoid trouble.
If she questioned the villagers' faith now and they kicked them out, unable to complete this field study assignment, she'd get scolded by the principal upon return.
"Probably got scammed by those unscrupulous salesmen."
The female teacher consoled herself mentally.
"Modern scammers dare sell anything—even monster models can be peddled as divine statues to these unworldly old men."
"Ahem, Village Chief, this statue has very... artistic appeal."
She forced an awkward yet polite smile.
"Hehe, yes, this is our village's guardian deity."
The village chief stroked his beard, a barely perceptible glint flashing in those murky old eyes.
"Come, come, don't stand around here. Up ahead is our hot spring hall. Especially that purification pool—after soaking, it washes away all impurities, purifying even the soul. And there's a sumptuous feast waiting for everyone afterward."
"Hot springs! I want to soak!"
"Is there dinner? I want fried shrimp!"
The children's attention was instantly diverted, cheering as they followed the village chief.
The perspective returns to the shrine entrance.
"Hey, shift change is almost here, right? Really want to go have a drink."
The left guard yawned, reaching for the cigarette pack in his pocket.
"Bear with it. You know what day this is. If something goes wrong, the high priest will throw you into the pit to feed..."
The right guard's words cut off abruptly, suddenly feeling a cold wind brush the back of his neck.
Two dull thuds almost overlapped.
Before long, these two gatekeeper mooks were handled by Kazama Chiba.
Though Chiba didn't have The Sleep card, he had the physical knockout method.
Two hand-chops to the carotid sinus.
Those two burly men didn't even grunt before collapsing like sacks of potatoes.
Then to avoid alerting others, Kazama Chiba summoned Shadow Khan to drag the unconscious guards into shadows for proper placement, immediately activating The Illusion card to simulate two dutiful phantom guards standing watch at the entrance.
After completing this, he swaggered inside.
Upon entering the cave entrance, outside light was swallowed.
In its place were torches inserted into the walls every few meters.
The air became scorching, carrying a heavy sulfur smell and some fishy-sweet scent.
Mixed with that moldy smell from never seeing daylight and a faint, indescribable fishy-sweet odor.
The deeper he went, the more obvious that heat wave became.
Chiba felt like he was drilling into a massive oven.
And this place's security level was higher than he'd imagined.
Every dozen meters or so had a checkpoint, with torch-bearing patrol teams shuttling back and forth.
"Are these villagers crazy? Deploying such a huge setup?"
Chiba didn't get careless.
To avoid exposure, he could only continuously maintain The Illusion card's effect.
Like a ghost, silently slipping past those patrol teams under their noses.
At a corner, Chiba had to stop.
Ahead was a narrow corridor where two villagers in priest robes leaned against the rock wall smoking, chatting in low voices.
"Hasn't the mountain god awakened yet?"
One slightly younger person blew a smoke ring, his tone carrying some unease.
"Soon. The earth veins' tremors are getting more frequent. That's the signal the great one is turning over."
The older one glared at him, lowering his voice.
"What about the offerings?"
"Relax. Already being cleansed. Once the hour arrives, they'll be sent in. As long as the great one is satisfied, our village's prosperity for the next decade is secured."
"Hehe, the outside world is chaotic. How could it compare to our comfort here?"
The younger one threw his cigarette butt on the ground, stomping it out viciously.
"Let's go check if the offerings in the pool are ready."
The two talked while wobbling deeper inside.
Chiba hiding nearby listened in complete confusion.
Mountain god? Offerings? What era was this still practicing feudal superstition?
But he had no interest, adhering to the principle of avoiding unnecessary trouble.
Chiba shook his head, clearing these distractions from his mind, continuing toward the deeper underground magic source.
His only goal this time was the magic source—no time to mind this rural ghost story's business. Whatever god these villagers worshipped had nothing to do with him.
As Kazama Chiba continued deeper, the underground cave environment became increasingly bizarre. The air temperature grew more outrageous, practically enough to roast a person into jerky.
"Tch, do these villagers normally take saunas in this kind of place? At this temperature, just sprinkle some cumin and you could serve it straight up."
Kazama Chiba wiped sweat from his forehead, feeling his heat resistance bar nearly empty.
The rock ground beneath his feet was alarmingly hot—even through shoe soles he could feel that foot-cooking heat.
The surrounding rock walls also began showing an abnormal dark red color. Occasionally he could see several streams of sulfur-scented scorching steam spraying from rock crevices.
Even at the horizon's end, air distorted from high temperature. Those patrolling villagers' figures stretched like abstract Picasso paintings.
Chiba even suspected he'd walked into an active volcano.
"No good. Keep going forward and I'll turn into charcoal-grilled Chiba."
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