Why is my journey to the world of anime a strange tale of rules?

More things became active as that force spread, trembling in the unseen darkness, constantly extending a part of themselves into the light, then quickly fleeing, only to try again to reveal themselves, repeating this cycle endlessly.

What it is?

It was pitch black, like charred limbs, like an innocent corpse, or like a special form forcibly preserved by some force.

In that instant, a strong will was contained, and a twisted and insane side was clearly revealed in the cool will.

They are calling out.

They are yearning, they are pitying.

"This, this is..."

Hongxia, who had not expected such a drastic change, was dumbfounded and didn't know how to deal with it.

"And more, more are coming..."

Xingge, however, was staring intently in a certain direction, at the colors rippling in the darkness, at something far more dangerous and terrifying than the monsters already there, rapidly approaching from a place beyond the reach of the real world.

boom! ! !

A crimson light erupted in the next second.

Without the slightest hesitation, the instant she realized the situation might spiral out of control, Liang activated the power Gao Hai had given her, unleashing the raging crimson domain outwards.

【…】

It's quiet now.

The moment the crimson color spread, all the noisy and clamorous things fell silent.

They became silent.

They began to scatter and retreat.

In the dim light, the stench of decay left by those hidden in the darkness still lingered in the girl's nostrils. But she could sense that they were no longer there; they had temporarily escaped from this corridor.

"Are they afraid of Mr. Gao's power?"

This strong reaction made Liang realize something. She subconsciously lowered her head and looked at the dark red blood light that was wrapped around her body and released through her skin and blood vessels. Her face flushed slightly and her breathing became a little erratic.

"Whoa, what just happened?"

Hongxia had already sat down on the ground with a thud. She had been pulled by Liang and stumbled, losing her balance and falling to the ground. Her bottom was now sore from the impact, and tears were welling up in her eyes.

"...Have they all disappeared?"

Xingge remained standing steadily, though her expression looked quite bewildered. Her perception wasn't strong, so she could only vaguely sense the presence hidden in the darkness. Now that Liang had driven those things away, Xingge's senses suddenly lacked them, and she felt as if the surroundings had become "empty," making it difficult for her to adjust to the new situation.

"It's only temporary. They'll be back soon, and we have to move on."

Having regained his composure, Liang reached out to help Hongxia up. As he spoke, he turned his gaze to the front of the passage, to the white area that appeared normal in the distance.

At first, Ryo was certain she hadn't seen the area of ​​white light. It was only after she used the power left by Mr. Gao to release her domain and drive away the surrounding monsters that the path truly became visible, allowing her to confirm her next direction.

Such a well-timed hint can save a lot of trouble.

hum-

Then I heard another sound in the distance.

However, unlike the previous blasphemous and distorted sounds, this time the sound seemed to be just a simple sound. It was simply because the distance between them was so great that it was impossible to make out the content. However, although he couldn't hear what the sound was, Liang noticed that along with these sounds, the entire passage seemed to be shaking, as if a major earthquake was about to strike.

Is something happening outside?

Liang quickly realized that the sound did not come from the strange creatures that were lurking there, but from something happening somewhere outside the subway station.

If it's a commotion of that magnitude, then it must be...

Everyone has tasks to complete and difficulties to face and overcome. For example, the things occupying the subway station that you're currently dealing with, or the players a certain distance away who are fighting formidable enemies. Don't focus too much on these things that don't concern you; concentrate on the present moment.

Gao Hai's voice suddenly rang out, pulling Liang back to the present moment from her somewhat distant thoughts.

She couldn't really imagine what was happening outside, or what the situation was like inside Tokyo. In any case, it couldn't be that some superhero was waging some kind of god-slaying war, could it? Thinking about these questions wouldn't help change the current situation at all. Ryo hadn't thought of this at first, but after Gao Hai's reminder, she quickly stopped thinking about it. Even so, the girl still had some doubts in her heart.

After all, Gao Hai's warning came a little too quickly this time, as if he had been watching the movements somewhere not far from the subway station the whole time.

hum-

Then I heard a distant, indistinguishable sound.

Tap--tap--tap--

Ignoring the sound, Liang ran through the dimly lit corridor and quickly arrived at the clean corridor area completely covered by normal white lights.

Turning around, the dimly lit corridor was almost completely gone. Perhaps because the three of them had already left, Liang clearly saw the dim yellow lights go out one by one, disappearing completely in less than a few seconds, leaving only absolute darkness covering the area.

Then, as the familiar pale light spread, the darkness quickly disappeared as well, and the corridor in front of us returned to its almost infinitely long state. The experience just now seemed more like a mass hysteria.

"..."

Yamada Ryo remained silent.

Her attention was not on that.

Just now, I think I saw something else.

Something gathered and distorted emanated from that darkness.

Yes, why leave? Why hide?

I can save everyone; I can bring you salvation and happiness.

[If you also follow our God, if we dedicate ourselves to this shared faith, we will be happy, we will be invincible.]

Come on, don't resist, don't reject us anymore.

This happiness is destined for you and me.

Someone was saying something, incredibly fanatical, terrifying words.

It is searching for them, it is hunting them down, it is torturing and executing them, until they are all killed without exception, until all the sounds are silenced.

Until that final moment arrived, they struggled to hide, desperately trying to escape the madness and terror. But it was all in vain; no matter what they did, they couldn't survive. Ultimately, the malice they faced was something no ordinary person could bear from the very beginning.

However, after a long period of time, perhaps they had forgotten their current situation, forgotten that they were already dead. She saw them still hiding, still struggling, yearning to escape to a farther place.

It's as if I saw these children still alive, hiding in the tunnels, bewildered, facing the terrible test that would determine their life or death, a test that was completely beyond their control.

"Are we back now?"

She didn't see those things, only Hongxia as the darkness dissipated. After carefully observing her surroundings and confirming that she had truly returned to the bright corridor, she breathed a slight sigh of relief and asked in a low voice.

"That's about right now. Store manager, do you feel anything else?"

Liang didn't say much, but after confirming that there was no problem with Hongxia, he turned his gaze to Xingge.

She had not forgotten the suspicious points surrounding Ijichi Hoshika.

A person with limited sensory perception unexpectedly began to sense anomalies that others couldn't detect after entering the subway station. Especially noteworthy was the ability to pinpoint and predict locations during the initial display of the anomaly, which truly intrigued Liang.

Will she sense something special this time?

Liang wanted to confirm what exactly was going on with Xingge's changes, and whether the root cause of these changes was good or bad.

"I think I did sense something, but I couldn't quite make it out."

Xingge's reply was tinged with confusion. Her senses were a bit strange; what was entering her mind seemed to briefly present a kind of chaotic effect, to the point that Xingge couldn't understand what she was "seeing."

"Did my sister sense something again?"

Hongxia had been paying close attention to her older sister's situation, and when she heard her sister say these words with a puzzled look on her face, she couldn't help but show a worried expression.

"Where is the direction? No matter what you perceive, there should always be a direction from which it originates. Can you still find that direction?"

Liang, on the other hand, checked the surroundings again. After making sure that nothing would suddenly jump out, she checked the situation with Xingge again, intending to find the source of the abnormal perception and try to approach and investigate.

"It seems to be around here? I'm not entirely sure, but this area just feels the strangest?"

The more Xingge tried to respond to this perception, the more confused she felt. She pointed in a direction, and when Liang looked over, a fork in the corridor appeared, stretching out into the unknown under the bright white light.

This road definitely wasn't here before.

Xingge simply pointed forward instinctively, merely answering Liang's question casually. Before she knew it, a new fork in the road lay before them, and the unsettling chill returned. It was as if, with her confirmation of certain things, what was previously "uncertain" began to shift towards "certainty," and a previously improbable danger now seemed to emerge.

It turned out to be the case.

Liang was finally able to confirm what was wrong with Xingge.

That perception did not originate from Ichiji Hoshika's own perception ability; her own ability had not changed. As for the things she perceived, before Hoshika truly confirmed their location, they were actually in a Schrödinger's uncertain state. It was only after Hoshika confirmed their existence that those non-human monsters gained relatively free movement.

In other words, according to the shopkeeper herself, those strange creatures can teleport, change their number, and increase their power, among other things. They are essentially strange creatures that can change according to the victim's thoughts, possessing a certain degree of idealism. I see. That makes sense. So it wasn't that the shopkeeper discovered those things, but rather that after she thought she saw them, they actually appeared based on her perception.

"...Let's go, let's go take a look."

Having figured out everything, Yamada Ryo didn't make a fuss. Instead, he spoke to Nijiga and Hoshika and took the lead in heading towards the corridor.

She didn't intend to tell Xingge the truth. She guessed that if Xingge understood what her current "perception" was, the strange and bizarre things that were entangled with her would likely undergo a second phase of change, revealing an even more dangerous and terrifying form.

Therefore, given that the situation is still relatively under control, it's better to maintain the status quo for now. Moreover, after roughly confirming Xingge's problem, Liang had an idea, a method she wasn't sure if it would work.

"Perhaps the key to the problem can be solved here. After all, those survivors who strayed into this place were unable to fight against the monsters and were eventually killed. With Mr. Gao's assistance, if we really encounter the source of the problem here, we may be able to eliminate it once and for all, thus eliminating the possibility of danger."

As Liang spoke, she observed Xingge out of the corner of her eye and, unsurprisingly, saw a hint of anticipation on her face.

Well, the store manager can be quite naive at times, readily believing what his trusted people say without thinking, even if the content is actually unreliable.

So, since the power of those strange tales can alter its nature and location through language, using the shopkeeper's perception as a medium, let's think about it the other way around. Using this ability to directly locate the enemy's true boss, we could enter the crucial area from the start, and then, with the limited superpower provided by Mr. Gao, defeat the boss. Perhaps this would be the fastest way to resolve the problem and leave this hellish place.

Ryo knew her idea was very risky; such a radical strategy wasn't something a normal person who seeks to avoid harm would do, though many players would adopt similar actions. But she didn't see anything wrong with it. After the trials and tribulations of the dungeon world, Ryo's thoughts and beliefs had become completely different. In her view, this seemingly shortcut method might actually be the truly effective approach. Just like the examples of players with all sorts of ingenious ideas that Gao Hai had used to illustrate his points when guiding her on player knowledge, in order to open her mind.

tread--

Amidst the clear footsteps, Ryo, who was the first to step onto this side path, sensed a more pronounced stench of decay than before.

She was immediately convinced that something was there.

Something extremely dangerous, something she could never handle on her own, was hiding deep within this seemingly normal corridor.

Could it be a Crimson Moon-level monster?

"Stay close."

Liang gestured for Hongxia and Xingge to come closer, and the three continued along the path. The deeper they went, the stronger the stench of decay became, and Liang and Hongxia found it increasingly unbearable. However, Xingge herself couldn't smell it at all; on the contrary, according to her, there seemed to be a faint fragrance in the area.

Then, after the three of them had gone about fifty meters into the corridor, a new change finally occurred.

"This is……"