Chapter 285: Chapter 285 Red Umbrella
“What’s going on? Is it leaking? These public umbrellas are really poor quality… However, as long as the documents do not get wet, it’s fine.”

“I cannot afford any mistakes in today’s meeting, I must get there on time.”

The office worker felt occasional drops of rain falling on his cheek as he hurriedly walked towards his company, located a street away.

Unusually cold.

“Sss… So cold!”

Again, a cold liquid sensation coming from his cheek.

When this man instinctively touched his right cheek, he found that the ‘rainwater’ was strangely viscous… and there were two strands of hair sticking to his fingers.

Simultaneously.

This strange feeling of being watched closely made his whole body erupt in goosebumps.

But in order not to let the documents in his hand get wet, he continued to hold up the umbrella and started running towards the company…

Meanwhile, the cold viscous liquid appeared more frequently on his cheeks.

He even felt like there was a human head resting on his shoulder when he glanced at his side.

“Could it be… The urban legend is real…”

The company was just across the street.

The man, completely panicked, was not paying attention to the traffic signals.

Boom!

A speeding car in the torrential rain hit the man’s body head-on.

Handwritten files from the briefcase scattered everywhere.

The umbrella he held was flung away…

There had been a serious car accident at the crossroads. The deceased ‘Ikegami Mitani’ was an ordinary employee of Hailida Company. Witnesses mentioned that before the accident, he looked panic-stricken, trying to cross the road against the red light.

Due to the heavy rain, visibility was low. He collided head-on with a street racer.

There is another point to mention.

The victim was holding a red umbrella.

However, no red umbrella was found at the scene of the accident. Perhaps it was thrown out too far due to the high-speed impact…

A hundred meters away from the scene, a hooded young man walked into an alley.

In his hand, he was holding the red umbrella left behind at the crime scene.

Following close behind, Han Dong, who was also at the scene during the accident, quietly caught the flying red umbrella and discreetly left the scene.

Just as Han Dong walked into the alleyway, the familiar voice of the ‘Fate Space System’ echoed in his mind:

However, this time, the system message was completely different from the ones before, in terms of the voice or the method of notification… it may be related to the five-star difficulty.

Ringing in Han Dong’s mind was the voice of an eerie old woman, as if she was telling a spooky story before bedtime.

“Strange Tales – Red Umbrella”

[Strange Tales News]:

There are rumors of a series of brutal serial killings occurring in Gifu County, Yu Island City.

The killer tends to strike during the rain, targeting young women carrying red umbrellas.

Due to the cruel nature and frequency of the crimes, it posed a severe threat to the local security. Unable to solve the case, local law enforcement handed the case over to a senior detective from Nagoya.

Eventually, through some high-tech image processing techniques and investigative methods, they were able to confirm the suspect’s identity and location.

Police officers stormed the house, but were met with the overwhelming stench of death.

The suspect – Shen Toshio had been dead for more than ten days.

The small room was filled with stolen photos and red umbrellas of the victims, all connected by red strings.

The suspect seemed to have a peculiar obsession with the color red.

In the basement, the heads of past victims were stored in large freezers.

Upon examination of the suspect’s corpse by a medical examiner, it was found that he had been strangled to death using the threads connecting the photos due to extreme fright…This was the main cause of death.

However, strangely enough, his body cavity was found to be filled with rainwater and hair.

At the same time, the results from the forensic department indicated that due to the immediate freezing of the victim’s heads, they were well-preserved, and all were quickly matched to their respective victims.

But, they were one head short.

Moreover.

That missing head belonged to the last murder victim.

After further precision calculations for the time of death, it was found that the victim and the suspect both died on the same day.

The suspect had killed the victim, and later that night, died in his own house.

Since the suspect was now deceased, the case was closed…but the local law enforcement was quite reluctant to discuss it.

A few days after this incident ended.

Occasionally, a red umbrella would appear on the public umbrella stand in Yu Island City.

Some people, unwilling to wait for the rain to stop nor willing to take a cab, would take this red umbrella. However, they would often die from accidents afterward.

After conducting autopsies, it was found that their bodies contained a large amount of rainwater and viscous black hair.

With that, the eerie tale was over.

The voice of the old woman in Han Dong’s mind continued, detailing task requirements and arrangements.

[Strange Tales Level]: B

[Trigger Method]: Non-clue, indirect trigger.

[Requirement]: Carry an umbrella (only separated by clothing) for 24 hours. If you’re separated from the umbrella for any reason during this time, the timer will reset.

Upon reaching the time limit, you’ll receive ‘Strange Tales Information’. You can exchange it for ‘Strange Tales Points’ at the ‘Shop’.

Hee hee hee hee! (Eerie Laughter)

With this, the introduction to side mission-like events ended.

“This is entirely different from the explanation of side events in previous Fate Spaces, like an elder telling a strange tale…it involves a [Level] aspect.

The current Red Umbrella corresponds to [B] level, which I think represents a slightly above-average ‘Strange Tale’. I didn’t expect to encounter this right out the gate.

However, this proves one thing to me.

That is, even without the clues in the ‘Shop’, ‘Strange Tales’ can still be triggered.

Since the requirement is to carry it, let it be…

As for the issue in the Strange Tale, I’ll think about it later. I reckon this umbrella has a complicated history. Maybe the serial killer was also one of the ‘umbrella’ owners.”

Han Dong strapped the umbrella to his back using a thin rope.

As the requirement was to carry it for 24 hours, it’s obviously a test for Han Dong to survive this period…Earlier, that poor office worker encountered a disaster within five minutes.

“I should try to reach the intersection and join everyone else…”

Just as Han Dong had strapped the umbrella to his back and was about to leave the alleyway,

A cold sensation of rainwater came in contact with his cheek…

Han Dong turned his head to look.

A head appeared to be ‘growing’ on his shoulder.

It felt completely different from Chen Li.

While Chen Li is essentially a human being,

This, attached by what appeared to be veins rooted onto Han Dong’s shoulder, was a true ‘spirit’.

Pale makeup.

Two red dots on her upper and lower lips, a wet, dark grey tongue dripping with rainwater, hung out of her mouth.