"Listen up, you in front! You've already broken the law. Raise your hands and don't resist, or we will open fire!"
The police had arrived, with over a dozen police cars and even helicopters circling overhead. A white spotlight focused directly on Hayashi, plunging the surroundings into darkness, leaving him illuminated as the central focus.
Forty to fifty officers, along with snipers, had completely surrounded the area. The fishermen and workers nearby, terrified by the scene, scrambled to flee.
They all wondered what could have happened. They were just exporting regular seafood—was this situation really necessary?
Hayashi's closed eyes suddenly opened, and he murmured, "Adjust the timeline."
He immediately began adjusting the time, rewinding it back to the moment when the cursed womb Ice Bearer first began to manifest.
In an instant, the scenery around him started to shift. The police surrounding Hayashi disappeared into the stream of time, and the environment rapidly reversed. Hayashi felt as if he were experiencing an eternity in just a few moments.
When time finally settled, the world returned to normal. Hayashi glanced around—what had been night was now broad daylight.
The fishermen were busy working, seemingly unaware of Hayashi's sudden appearance.
Some were even playing in the water, perhaps due to the heat, or maybe working underwater, possibly catching fish.
At that moment, a bone-chilling coldness swept through the air. The fishermen, still hard at work, felt the cold wash over them. Within seconds, they were frozen solid, unable to even attempt an escape.
Those who were a bit further away noticed the sudden change and tried to flee, but they too were quickly overtaken by the cold, freezing in place.
Hayashi observed it all unfold, identical to how it had been when he had first come to this place. The people's movements, their expressions—everything was exactly the same, without a trace of deviation.
The only difference, if any, was Hayashi's presence, which had caused a slight disruption. But overall, it wasn't far from how things originally happened.
The surface of the sea froze solid, creating an arctic zone. This area had now become a forbidden zone for humans—a death trap.
Hayashi stood there, waiting. Half an hour later, the cold had deepened, far more intense than before.
"It's about time," Hayashi smirked and dashed toward the frozen surface.
In a flash, he entered the ice below, right where he had gone before.
Once inside, Hayashi noticed that no domain had yet formed. It was merely an ice cavern, without the eerie human-faced ice he remembered. Everything seemed in its most primitive state.
Hayashi could now see the cursed womb Ice Bearer, but at this moment, it was still in its dormant womb state, its body fully encased in a white cocoon-like container, wrapped tightly like a chrysalis.
He approached it, and upon closer inspection, he noticed that the cursed energy within the womb was rapidly growing. The rate of increase was astounding. No wonder it had fully mutated in just one week before.
The cursed womb had already sensed Hayashi's presence and felt uneasy, unsure of who he was or why he was there. But it accelerated its transformation process.
It had believed that, under the freezing conditions around it, no one would come for a while. But to its shock, just as its transformation began, someone had arrived.
"If I hadn't met you before, I wouldn't have rushed to open my domain. You really have some ability, don't you?" Hayashi chuckled at the cursed womb and flashed a grin, "After going through all this trouble, it's time to wrap things up."
"Thwack!"
Hayashi's right hand became coated in a crimson armor, and he drove his claw into the cursed womb's cocoon.
"Graaahhhhhh!"
The cursed womb screamed in agony, trying to resist, but Hayashi's hand moved swiftly, and he soon grasped a small object within the womb, pulling it out.
As soon as the red gourd-shaped object with the kanji for "Swallow" written on it was removed from the cursed womb, the womb itself began to deflate like a punctured balloon. Blood poured from the wound, and its overwhelming cursed energy dissipated into nothingness.
With a final look of resentment and frustration, the cursed womb Ice Bearer vanished, and the surrounding ice began to crack and melt, returning the area to its natural state—a sea.
Hayashi flash-stepped back to the port, placing the cursed gourd into his pocket. He would wait until the three-day limit was up to see if he could bring it out of the mirror world.
As for the cursed gourd, Hayashi had no way of knowing its origins unless he rewound time to that specific period to investigate.
However, that would consume a significant amount of points, far more than he had available at the moment. And besides, it didn't seem necessary.
After driving for so long and barely resting these past few days, Hayashi decided to stay in a nearby inn without registering. He locked the door, knowing no one would realize he was inside.
After eight hours of sleep, Hayashi heard the sound of someone swiping a key card at the door, but the person couldn't open it. He heard them cursing outside.
Hayashi simply teleported outside to the street and pondered a recurring issue. Although he could roam freely within the mirror world, the issue of distance remained—he couldn't just teleport to any location. It always took too much time and effort to get where he wanted to go.
At present, Hayashi had three potential solutions.
First, he could always enter the mirror world near an airport and learn how to pilot small flying vehicles.
Second, he could purchase a small flying vehicle in the real world and store it near his entry points into the mirror world.
Third, he could expand his range of cursed energy manipulation, increasing the distance he could cover with his flash-step technique.
Of these options, the first one seemed feasible, though it would take quite a bit of time. Learning how to fly wasn't easy, but then again, Hayashi didn't need to be a pro—just being able to fly was enough since it would merely be a means of transportation.
The second option, after some thought, seemed unrealistic. The biggest issue? He had no money. No money, no flying vehicle. They were way too expensive.
So that option was scrapped!
The third option was viable—expanding his cursed energy range would increase the distance his flash-step could cover. If he could extend it by several kilometers, he'd be able to move swiftly.
However, it would likely consume a lot of points, so he'd need to proceed cautiously.
After assessing his options, Hayashi's main goal was clear: speed up his cursed spirit hunting to accumulate points faster.
Points were like money—the more Hayashi had, the more secure he felt. So, he needed to get to work immediately.
For the rest of the day, Hayashi went on a relentless spree of exorcising cursed spirits. At this point, cursed spirits were terrified of him. Whenever they saw him, they didn't even bother exchanging words—they just drew their weapons.
One after another, Hayashi exorcised cursed spirits with his two hands. Through each battle, he not only gained points but also invaluable combat experience and a steady, calm demeanor.
Of course, Hayashi wasn't invincible; there were times when he got injured due to carelessness. But with his "Time Trace" technique, those injuries were mere child's play.
In short, Hayashi found himself in an almost invincible position here. As long as he didn't seek out the freakishly strong enemies, he could happily continue grinding for points by exorcising cursed spirits.