I'm Turning Into Gacha Characters?!

Chapter 477: Turned Into Gacha?! - 477

Before the ritual began, Elise and Lorraine exchanged a look, then both turned their eyes toward Josh.

This left Josh a bit muddled for a moment, assuming they were just checking to see if he was ready. But the two soon made it clear that wasn’t the case at all.

To travel to the otherworldly realm of the non-material world, the most critical step required an astral projection—getting the soul out of the body.

Elise could manage this, but if she remained in that state herself, she wouldn’t be able to guide the two of them through the void.

After all, it was impossible for her to split her focus between two highly delicate, precise tasks at once. Therefore, the best candidate to enter the realm was someone who already possessed the innate ability to leave their own body.

An ability that Josh, as it turned out, happened to have.

Years ago, Josh had actually gone through the exact same ordeal that Dalton was facing now. Dalton’s ability to project his astral self hadn’t appeared out of thin air; it was inherited from Josh.

Back then, Lorraine had called upon Elise to seal Josh’s ability, locking away those memories along with it. But now, with a journey into the otherworldly realm required, the best approach was to have Josh reawaken that old gift.

Reclaiming it, however, meant Josh’s body would once again become a beacon for malevolent spirits, just as it had been in the past.

Josh truly had no memory of any of this, but in his desperation to save his son, he couldn’t care less about the risks.

Besides, if the ability could be sealed once, it could certainly be sealed a second time. Without hesitation, he nodded his consent to awaken it.

With his approval, the group tidied up the cluttered basement and restarted the ritual.

As the ceremony progressed, Josh’s consciousness began to blur as he sat in the chair.

When he finally blinked his eyes open again, he found himself standing in a world of near-pitch darkness, where he could barely see his hand in front of his face.

The scent of dampness and decay sent a shiver down his spine. In just a single breath, a primal aversion to this world washed over him.

Driven by a rising unease, he quickly recalled how easily Seia had handled the evil spirits, and he couldn’t help but call out, "I’m in! What do I do next?"

"Relax your heart. Evil spirits will slip into the cracks of your mind, don’t expose your anxiety!" In the material world, Elise called out a warning, then looked over at Seia.

Though she said the words, she knew all too well how difficult it was for an ordinary person to remain calm in such a place. The best solution was to give him a sense of security.

And Seia was clearly the perfect source for that security.

Seia nodded, and in the next instant, her figure vanished right before Elise’s eyes.

"What...?"

Crossing into the otherworldly realm with her physical body? Was this a method of the Church?

No... even that exorcist, Clark, had entered in spirit form... As expected, is this another display of this child’s unique nature?

The otherworldly realm felt completely different to Seia than the Sanctuary. If entering the Sanctuary brought a warm, enveloping comfort, this place offered nothing but a sickening chill and discomfort.

Seeing Seia and the chubby bird atop her head materialize before him, Josh finally let out a long breath of relief.

"Walk forward. I can feel Dalton’s soul in the area ahead," Elise immediately took up her duty as their guide.

Knowing his greatest utility was acting as a blood-related beacon to help Elise track down his son, Josh consciously edged closer to Seia’s side, waiting for her to take the lead.

"Chirp, chirp!"

The chubby bird was clearly amused by his behavior. Here was a human so much larger than itself, yet he was shrinking behind its owner.

When they had faced danger before, whether it was Irene or Burke, they had both charged out well ahead of Seia.

Josh couldn’t understand the bird’s chirping, and the suffocating darkness made it hard to see much of anything, but he could still feel a wave of disdain radiating from the little creature. His mouth twitched, but he kept his tongue.

After all, he couldn’t exactly pick a fight with a bird, could he?

Seia reached a hand over her head, gently patting the chubby bird’s crown to quiet it down before drawing the Imitation Holy Grail from her wide sleeve.

A golden radiance flared to life, illuminating a radius of about five or six meters around them. Only then did Josh feel his vision return to normal.

"Please follow closely, Mr. Josh."

Seia took a step forward following Elise’s prompt, not forgetting to look back and warn him, "The soul of a living person is a rare prize in the otherworldly realm. If you are spotted, the malicious spirits will attack. They will consume the soul and trace the connection back to the physical body. Though most spirits lack the strength to accomplish this, they will still attack out of sheer instinct."

Josh took two quick steps to catch up right behind Seia. "They lack the strength?"

He looked like a curious child. This supernatural excursion was clearly providing him with plenty of surprises, and Seia didn’t mind satisfying his curiosity.

"A soul without an anchor or a body will continuously wither. They can only maintain their form by devouring other souls. Because you are a living being, Mr. Josh, your soul is actually much stronger than most of these spirits."

"Those with the power to actually assault humans in the material world are, in fact, the minority."

"So that’s how it is!"

Josh could wrap his head around that logic. Because humans were attacked by spirits, they often assumed spirits were vastly more powerful, but in reality, the ones capable of harming humans were few and far between.

"Furthermore, as long as you master the right methods, there is no need to fear even the powerful spirits," Seia continued.

"Just like how exorcists can deal with them!" Josh felt as though he were finally understanding the grand scheme of things. Right, even though evil spirits preyed on ordinary people, it was ultimately humans who exorcised and destroyed them.

When spirits targeted humans, it was nothing more than bullying the weak.

The weak spirits were no match for ordinary humans, and the strong spirits were no match for exorcists. When all was said and done, humanity still held the upper hand over the dead.

This realization instantly stripped away a large portion of the dread Josh felt toward the place.

Watching from the other side, Elise was rather amazed by how a few words had stabilized the trembling Josh. Was this truly the caliber of a legendary exorcist? To dissolve the terror of an ordinary person with just a brief conversation.

This would be immensely helpful for the operation ahead. From this moment on, Josh was no longer dead weight; he might even be a help when things grew dire.

After all, for an evil spirit to harm a human, it required the human’s fear—an opening in their heart to exploit.

While the current Josh couldn’t stand against any truly formidable entities, the common spirits would be no match for him.

Guided by Elise, the two pressed onward. They didn’t encounter any spirits along the way, and it wasn’t long before they stood before the front gates of a three-story Western-style house.

"Based on the information from my first communication with Dalton, combined with Mr. Josh’s bloodline guidance, Dalton is inside this house. Be careful—the interior is much larger than it appears from the outside. The path ahead will be difficult."

Elise delivered her warning just in time, and Seia smoothly drew the handgun strapped to her thigh.

At Seia’s command, the chubby bird took flight, hovering just above their heads to provide support at a moment’s notice. Having ensured they were in peak condition, the two stepped into the house together.

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T/N: If you want advance Chapters, you can find it at [email protected]/AspenTL