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

Since recently, mind communication has been restored to some extent, allowing players who have ventured into this distorted space to communicate remotely again. They are no longer in a situation where they cannot understand each other's situation when they are separated by a certain distance and can only make their own judgments.

The lawyer speculated that Gao Hai must have done something, perhaps setting up some kind of relay signal device, or perhaps using some kind of force to successfully reopen the communication channel. In any case, restoring communication is generally a good thing. At least now, even if people are separated, they can still keep in touch.

However, although communication has been restored, his connection will likely be lost again. After all, he has officially entered a deeper spatial region, specifically the last high-level instance area heavily protected by the [Hospital]. Strictly speaking, this place is no longer the same as the previous distorted space. While there are areas of mutual fusion, most areas are mutually exclusive and incompatible. And the lawyer is now heading towards these areas.

The last four Red Moon-level core artifacts should be here.

As the train gradually stabilized, the lawyer silently considered his next move, making basic preparations in his mind.

The idea of ​​finding the four final core obsession objects, then marking them with Gao Hai's mark and using his power to banish them, is probably not feasible now. After all, the space here is severely distorted, making it impossible for Gao Hai to transfer his spiritual power. Therefore, the most effective approach is likely to seize the core obsession objects, return to the surface space, and find a place where a stable connection can be re-established with Gao Hai, then rely on him to banish the monsters.

It's very difficult. Compared to the previous stage where you could explore the map freely without any worries, the current task is much more difficult.

However, the lawyer believes this is not an impossible task. As long as one is careful enough and willing to pay the price, there is still a good chance of completing the mission and successfully eliminating the hospital's henchmen.

hum-

Suddenly, a noticeable tremor came from the carriage, and a faint force was transmitted to the lawyer.

Arrived.

The lawyer slowly stood up, showing no physical reaction whatsoever to the subway braking.

He could feel a colder, more intense and more pronounced than before, a terrifying feeling as if he were being stared at by something inhuman, as if he were surrounded by something.

No, that feeling... he was definitely surrounded.

"..."

In the silence, the lawyer opened the book in his hand and silently looked around.

The carriages were packed with people.

People with pale faces, looking listless; people coughing with their heads down, so weak they seem about to collapse at any moment; people who appear perfectly healthy but are listless in this place...

These people surrounded the lawyer in the carriage, each one staring at him, each one staring blankly at him, the only living person, their mouths open as if pleading for help, yet unable to utter even the slightest sound.

All that remained was silence.

Just like all the dungeons he had experienced in the past, the things that dwelled in the dungeon world could never make their voices heard, always remaining silent, just like himself now, silent after experiencing countless torments.

tread--

The lawyer took the first step.

These distorted figures before him had no chance to shake his will.

He could hear the screams and see the figures struggling to escape inside the carriage. These phantoms roared and screamed at him, but in the end, they were just illusory phantoms that could not harm him in the slightest, nor could they hinder his progress.

The silent figure vanished, and so did the noisy corpse.

In the blink of an eye, the interior of the carriage had returned to its original clean and white state.

tread--

However, in the next instant, as the lawyer continued to walk, the entire carriage was once again transformed into a blood-soaked mess. Countless severed limbs filled the carriage, blood piled up on the ground, and floating in pools of blood were countless faces contorted in agony. At this moment, even more intense screams than before assaulted the carriage.

"..."

The lawyer stopped in his tracks, remaining silent as he stood there, simply sensing the raging atmosphere.

They are reaching out their hands.

They wanted to catch him.

They won't let anyone leave; they don't want anyone to leave; they want to keep everyone here.

Why can you run away? Why don't you have to die? Why don't you have to face this fate?!

I'm so sad, so in pain, I'm in so much pain... Why am I the only one suffering like this...?

[I'll kill you... I'll kill you... I want you to stay here too, I want you to stay with me, I want you to suffer just like us...]

It was as if you could actually hear that resentful voice.

It was as if all those who had perished here had come back to life in an instant, seizing him, the lucky one who had not experienced the tragedy of that year, and in their endless resentment, they wanted to inflict the same torture on him as punishment, to make him suffer the same torment as well.

tread--

But the lawyer took another step forward.

pat!

The lights on the carriage ceiling suddenly went off in the next second.

Darkness enveloped the entire carriage in an instant, followed by shrill screams and violent explosions. With a deafening roar, the windows inside the carriage shattered one by one, and flying blood foam accompanied by bloody hands reaching out rapidly. The eerie aura, far more intense than before, was fully released at this moment. Even more surging blood spread from the windows, flowing down the carriage like a waterfall, splashing onto the ground with a series of sounds.

[Sizzle... sizzle sizzle...]

On the dark platform under the cold lights, a faint hum of electricity could be heard.

Regarding the missing KK04 train, there are currently no updates. Police officials stated that they will definitely find the train that went missing in the landslide and urged the public not to easily believe rumors. There was no so-called "truth sacrifice." The passengers buried in the landslide were simply unfortunate victims of the accident, and the police can guarantee that they will be found.

Then, suddenly, the sound of what seemed to be a news broadcast came from the rusty, broken loudspeaker on the platform.

Despite ongoing appeals and active participation from the public in the subway collapse, over 85% of the collapsed area has been excavated, yet no trace of the missing KK04 train has been found, not even a single fragment.

Given the ongoing risk of secondary collapses in the affected area, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has begun considering halting rescue efforts and focusing on backfilling and reinforcing the landslide area. Officials stated that although the missing train has not yet been found, the landslide itself threatens the safety of many more people. Now, more than seven days have passed since the landslide, and theoretically, the passengers of the missing train have no chance of survival. To protect the interests of more people, a compromise must be made at this crucial moment, and it is hoped that the families of the missing will consider the greater good.

Meanwhile, rumors of a "truth sacrifice" intensified, with more and more people believing that the missing KK04 train and its passengers were targets of a cult's sacrifice. They claimed the landslide itself was staged, and that the KK04 train never even entered the landslide area but was transported elsewhere. There were even rumors that the passengers of the KK04 train had been executed or tortured, and some passengers' families reported receiving strange messages seemingly related to these rumors.

The truth remains unknown; we'll have to wait until the excavation is complete and the KK04 train is finally found.

However, given the current situation, whether the search and rescue operation will continue is entirely unknown. If the city government decides to stop the rescue efforts and seal off the landslide area, then the truth of the matter will likely remain a permanent mystery.

[Buzz... That's all for tonight's broadcast. It's getting late... Buzz... Please... rest in peace...]

In the gradually fading broadcast, gradually being covered by noise, one could almost hear many suppressed screams mixed in with the broadcast, and the sound of someone crying.

tread--

The lawyer had already stepped out of the train carriage and landed steadily on the dimly lit platform.

Tick-tick-tick-

Blood flowed down the lawyer's body.

His clothes were torn, his flesh was ripped apart, his entire abdomen was almost completely ripped open, most of the skin on his back was missing, his face was covered with bloody scratches, and one of his feet was clearly twisted to one side, as if his kneecap had been forcibly broken by a tremendous force.

A pale arm reached out from behind him, trying to grab him again.

The broken car windows were crowded with resentful faces, countless bloodied faces writhing and struggling, trying to grab him, the only living person.

"..."

The lawyer remained silent, slowly turning his head to look behind him, expressionless, at the blood-stained train.

There were no writhing corpses, no blood, and no broken car windows.

The train, now spotless again, remained quietly in place, as if the harrowing experience the lawyer had just had was merely a hallucination in his mind.

"The core obsession isn't here, but... it's related to this place."

The lawyer's body had recovered without anyone noticing; there wasn't a trace of injury, and even his torn clothes were as good as new.

He opened the book in his hand again, muttering to himself as he slowly walked along the platform in this unknown space.

I can vaguely sense the aura of a core obsession; there must be a core obsession here.

However, the clues we've gathered so far don't seem to be enough to pinpoint the location of the core obsession. Hmm... it's all too chaotic. Could this instance be the result of multiple urban legends mixed together? How exactly is the [Hospital] managing to control such a chaotic and bizarre instance?

As he pondered, the lawyer stopped and looked up at the stark white light overhead.

Then, realizing something, he looked down at his surroundings and saw the [passengers] who had appeared beside him at some point, standing expressionless and waiting for the train to arrive.

Chapter 102 The Things That Never Stop and the Determination to Burn Out the Soul.

Amid the noise and commotion, people, oblivious to the chaos, either whispered amongst themselves or played on their phones, entering the subway car one after another, some in a hurry and others at a leisurely pace.

The clean and tidy car windows reflected the mangled corpses and the chaotic, blood-soaked interior of the carriage.

No one could smell the strong stench of blood.

No one could see those lifeless, mangled bodies.

That ultimately happened in another world, a place unrelated to the present, unrelated to reality. All traces of its existence have been erased; all the cries and screams that once echoed have vanished without a trace. So what remains are only vague urban legends, ambiguous rumors of unknown origin, and subsequent embellishments, until finally, after countless reinterpretations, those stories completely lose their original form, becoming something entirely unrelated to the present.

There is a story about a plague.

The sick victims were driven to the station and crammed into the train carriages, where they were packed tightly together. They were tricked into believing they would be taken to an isolation ward for treatment, but in reality, after the train had traveled some distance, the carriages began releasing toxic gas. The victims then struggled and died amidst screams of terror; many died with contorted faces and deformed limbs, until the carriages were filled with bodies twisted together and unable to be separated.

Some say that the person who went to clean up the body was pulled inside by a hand that reached out from the body and never came out again.

Some say that after several cleaners died, no one dared approach the pile of human flesh inside the carriage. So, in the end, everyone cremated the entire carriage, body and all. It's said that during the burning, the intertwined corpses continued to writhe, and muffled cries could be heard emanating from within.

And after that day, a mysterious subway train would occasionally appear on the platform late at night, with countless smiling passengers inviting unsuspecting victims to board. Those who boarded the train would immediately be grabbed by countless hands, torn apart, merged together, and filled into a ball of flesh and blood, never to escape again.

There is another story about disappearing into the shadows.

Legend has it that a mysterious train at a certain time will take passengers to a station that doesn't exist in the real world, and those who board that train will never be able to return. One day, a group of passengers, having inadvertently missed their journey for various reasons, boarded the wrong subway in the dead of night. They vanished without a trace, disappearing without a trace, and no one knows where they went.

Since then, many people who ride the subway late at night have said that they have seen that subway train again, the one with the special number, which theoretically does not exist.

The witnesses claimed that the subway train never stopped at the station, always passing right through it. They also saw the original passengers, still sitting in the carriages, doing something seemingly out of boredom, as if nothing strange was happening to them, as if they were still waiting for that old subway train to stop at the station.

Of course, no one has ever actually seen the subway train stop. All eyewitness accounts end with the train speeding past without stopping, as if it were trapped in an eternal loop. There's also the possibility that the subway might actually stop and open its doors at some platform. But if that were to happen, no witness would survive to leave the station alive.

The lawyer also heard a third story, this one about a cult such as demon worship.

In a sense, this story seems to be a variation of the first one, while also incorporating some real-life examples. Some believe that a cult calling itself "the Seeker of Truth and Sacrifice" once existed in Tokyo. To complete their supposedly grand sacrifice, this organization used hypnotic bombs on a subway train full of passengers. They then boarded the train and began massacring the unconscious passengers. It's said that because the hypnotic bombs were ineffective, more than half the passengers were awake when the killing began, but they were still in a dazed and immobile state, completely unable to resist the cultists' attack. As a result, the entire train car was littered with heads, blood, and severed limbs.

Then, the cultists who carried out this horrific ritual chose to commit suicide, becoming the final drop of blood in this terrifying ceremony. The car that carried countless wronged souls came to life, becoming a ghost train wandering underground.

Those restless souls seek scapegoats, victims who can join them and share in their eternal torment.

Just like the various story variations the lawyer had previously learned about, the story would inevitably develop to the point where there would be a ghostly train, carriages filled with dead bodies, and innocent victims who would continue to be murdered in the aftermath of the story, whom no one could truly see.

These stories were all pretty much the same, and the lawyer didn't think the stories themselves had any special value, even though he had personally experienced the third one. But based on his combat experience as a Red Moon-level player, the lawyer was 100% certain that what was truly important was never the stories themselves, but rather the commonalities they reflected.

"There will definitely be a ghost train, there will definitely be a group of victims, and there will definitely be people who are continuously victimized and consumed by ghost stories."

"All stories are like this; the key point always points to this car, to a source that can continuously increase the number of victims."

"Perhaps only one story is true, and the others are false, deliberately designed smokescreens. Perhaps all the stories are false, and what these stories point to never existed from the beginning. Or perhaps... every story is true, but the scale is different from what is described in the story. Instead, the ending of the story is used to absorb more and more victims, and over a long period of time, it has gradually accumulated and transformed into what it is today."

The lawyer was muttering to himself, head down, deducing the possible truth of the matter.