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

Humanity cannot truly save itself.

No matter how brave or fearless they appear now, they will eventually degenerate and become utterly disgusting, completely different from who they are now.

He was absolutely certain of this, for all the people He had seen were like this, whether poor or rich, good or evil. Ultimately, when faced with trials, they always became ugly, always revealed a disappointing side.

Therefore, He knows that humanity is incapable of self-salvation; all seemingly glorious and beautiful aspects are merely temporary illusions. The truth is that humanity is inherently ugly; no matter how brave or steadfast it may appear, it will inevitably collapse and veer towards distortion under continuous testing. Thus, ugliness is the ultimate goal of human development. Therefore, to truly save human civilization, all of humanity must be transformed into something else, completely reformed.

He had always known this, and before He began His current plan, He had already contacted those who tried to change His mind more than once.

A player entered His realm. This player was someone who believed himself to possess unwavering conviction, convinced he could find the root of the "Sacrifice Game" and thus save all tragedies. He had seen countless such arrogant individuals before, but this time He had some free time, so He expended a little effort to deal with the guy personally. The result was that after tormenting the player in agony for hundreds of years, he was completely twisted into a monster, barely maintaining his original personality for a week—truly laughable.

Given enough time and intensity of trials, humanity will inevitably break down, become distorted, and reveal its true, ugly side.

In the world He created, a world interwoven with the spiritual and the real, countless so-called great people have been tested by Him, but no one has ever truly passed the test, and the final result is always as He predicted.

A warrior, renowned for his unparalleled bravery, approached Him. He challenged him to a single duel against ten soldiers. After his victory, the number increased to one hundred, one thousand, ten thousand… Of course, in reality, the warrior died after reaching one thousand, proving that humans have never been brave or skilled in battle. Then there was the king, hailed as a sage, said to be able to transform a weak nation into a powerful one. He depleted the nation's soil, caused weekly hurricanes, and unleashed dozens of plagues upon its people. Using just over a dozen methods simultaneously, the nation perished. Therefore, humans have never possessed the ability to govern a nation or organize society. As for those so-called wise men, they were all utterly useless; constantly posing challenges would inevitably lead to failure. Thus, humans have no wisdom whatsoever.

He knew that as long as humanity was constantly tested, it would ultimately fail, and therefore could never save itself. Thus, the only way to save this civilization was to use humanity directly as material, completely transforming them into something else.

So when Gao Hai mocked him for looking down on the power of ordinary people and players, and when the situation was indeed heading towards defeat, He carefully observed these people who were fighting hard. He found that they were still no different from what he had in mind, which made him even angrier and more frantic.

"Is everyone alright? How's the lawyer? Is he still haunted by something?!"

In the ruins of the distorted space, Cat Brother shouted loudly until he was sure that the lawyer was only injured and needed to rest, and that he was not seriously hurt.

Meanwhile, the three players from the Red Knot Society, along with their lawyer, were preparing to evacuate, heading away from the monster train that had been hit by police stun grenades and was in increasingly worse condition.

These players, who haven't even reached the level of transcendence, haven't even truly cleared a single Red Moon-level dungeon. Yet now, under the protection of that false god, they act recklessly, causing themselves loss after loss.

Without the protection of false gods, they are nothing and cannot change anything.

Even though they are now acting fearlessly, as if they can bravely face any obstacle or danger, He knows that as long as He keeps increasing the forces against them, these self-righteous players will reveal their ugly side.

Let Him unveil these humans' disguises and reveal their true, filthy nature.

hum-

The aura belonging to the [hospital] descended at this moment, taking advantage of the distorted space, and directly injected enormous power into the shattered, eerie train.

At this moment, something deeply hidden was revealed. Cat Brother, with his keen senses, immediately noticed a clear core obsession reaction within the mechanical power structure of the train's engine. In other words, besides the core obsession object already obtained by the lawyer, there was actually a second core obsession present within this train.

But before the players could take any action, the aura of the core obsession was quickly covered up, while the aura belonging to this strange train became stronger.

"What exactly is this thing...?"

Shi Tang Zhengzhao's eyes widened. He could feel the aura of the train rapidly expanding. In less than a few seconds, it surged from the aura of a Red Moon-level monster to a level exceeding that of a Red Moon Core-level monster, even surpassing that of a regular Abyss-level monster.

How could there be such an exaggerated increase in power?

Such a speed increase could not possibly be achieved by the monster itself.

And that even more chilling aura... does that mean it's a [hospital]?

After discovering their actions, the hospital directly injected power into the monster, forcibly raising it to a level they couldn't defeat.

Didn't Mr. Gao say before that this thing looked down on players and was too lazy to deal with them? But now that this thing has realized that its plan is going to fail and it will be wiped out, it's starting to play dirty and taking the initiative to attack these players?

"careful!"

After a roar, large and small banknotes flew out from Cat Brother's body, forcefully stopping the monster train that was about to crash into the players' location.

boom! ! !

The next second, all the blood-red banknotes were torn to shreds, and Cat Brother himself coughed up blood, his condition rapidly deteriorating.

However, in that split second, the players were able to react. The three members of the Red Gang quickly darted in three different directions to avoid being wiped out in one fell swoop. Meanwhile, the police officer swiftly met the thing head-on, ramming it before it could accelerate, grabbing the engine of the train and managing to stop it from charging forward.

Clearly, after Gao Hai's multiple enhancements, the police officers are now fully capable of temporarily fighting even Abyss-level monsters. However, to avoid players becoming overly reliant on the officers' power and to conceal their own abilities, the officers didn't go all out from the start, holding back to some extent and deciding whether to unlock more powers based on the situation.

"As expected, Mr. Gao had a trump card up his sleeve. Next, we need to find a way to dig out the core obsession hidden in this thing!"

Akira Toyama immediately noticed that the police officers' strength had been further enhanced, and in his delight, he decided to approach the train.

Before he could even get close, Hu Baoxiong, who was not far away, rushed over and pinned him down. Then, another terrifying aura descended, injecting even more power into the strange train, causing the police officers who were initially able to hold off the thing to begin to fall into a disadvantageous position, being pushed along by the train little by little.

hum-

Amidst the tremors that seemed to emanate from another world, the players realized that the [Hospital], having determined that the power it had injected into the monster train was insufficient to eliminate the players present, had immediately injected even more power into it. Clearly, this thing no longer cared about appearances; it was willing to do anything to eliminate the players.

"Damn, do we have to go this far?"

Cat, who had originally wanted to step forward to help, couldn't help but curse under his breath when he saw the situation.

But at that moment, bursts of golden light suddenly descended upon the area, severing the power cast by the [Hospital] and quickly providing power to the players and police officers present.

It's Gao Hai's scent.

The hospital, disregarding everything else, rushed to target several Red Moon-level players, naturally diverting its attention from the main battle against Gao Hai. Taking advantage of the relay network established by the girls and the moment when the spatial distortion eased due to the hospital's distraction, he immediately deployed more power to this chaotic area, restoring all the players, whose condition had somewhat declined, to their peak.

Clearly, with the hospital currently at a complete disadvantage, it won't be so easy to cheat. Any slight opening will be seized upon by Gao Hai, who will immediately deliver a counter-attack, or even a more powerful one.

buzz-

An unseen clash of forces is taking place amidst the ruins.

Cat Bro lowered his head and confirmed that the area they were in was [Depth 8]. He realized that in order to fight this strange train, they had unknowingly been taken to a place far away from the key nodes. After thinking for a moment, he turned around without hesitation, sent a few mental messages to the others, and left.

He was to go alone to find the key node and detonate the third bomb as soon as possible to break the spatial anomaly in this area.

As for the strange train, after Gao Hai's support arrived and the seriously injured lawyer was fully recovered, the four Red Moon-level players, along with the police officers under Gao Hai's command, were confident that even without his presence, there wouldn't be any major problems. After all, because of the chaos at the [hospital], Mr. Gao was now truly watching them.

"The situation is really coming one after another, but overall, it seems that there is more good news than bad."

Masaaki Ishido spoke softly with emotion, and after confirming that the lawyer beside him had fully recovered, he took the initiative to face the train that was still being blocked by police officers.

buzz-

The vibrations in the air continued intermittently.

It was unclear whether the noise came from the hospital in a fit of rage or from Gao Hai increasing the volume of his shouts while mocking them. Perhaps both were making noise at the moment; in any case, the players present wouldn't understand, and the police officers who could understand wouldn't pay attention to such things.

Meanwhile, as the battle on this side intensified, Xiong Mi and his group, located deeper within the distorted space, had already found their next target.

Will the second core obsession be in this direction?

As they whispered, Xiong Mi looked ahead at the damp mist that was gradually emerging from the fog. What appeared to be a very old train station from the 1950s or 60s was the kind that had been completely phased out and could no longer be seen.

Could this be the place?

The earliest version of that story, the original one, before it developed into many subsequent branches, the most primitive [Kisaragi Station]?

Chapter 105: The Setting of the Original Story and the Continuation of Changes.

The familiar coldness seemed to be mixed with a hint of dampness and dust.

Could it be here?

Is this the right place we've come to?

Tread-

Overcome the darkness that blocks our way.

Choose your target from the whispers and seemingly indistinguishable paths.

So, have we found the right direction for our second core obsession this time?

As her vision gradually cleared, Xiong Mi, unaware that the other two core obsessions had been reunited through the unexpected reunion with the lawyer and Cat Brother, focused her attention entirely on the dilapidated train station that was gradually emerging from the hazy mist ahead.

tread--

Slowly take a step forward.

Close your eyes, and you'll feel the ancient aura emanating from ahead, a mixture of chaotic information, intertwined and solidified.

It was completely different from any place I had been before.

This feeling... it can't be wrong.

Having fought her way through so many battles, Xiong Mi had developed a keen intuition for core obsessions. Therefore, upon entering this dilapidated station that looked far too old and conducting an initial sensing, she immediately confirmed in her heart that there was a high probability that a core obsession was hidden here.

Now that a decision has been made, the next step is obvious.

"Jianbing, scan it. I also want to try to sense the situation here. Shao Ye, can you keep watch?"

Without hesitation, Xiong Mi opened her eyes after gaining a clear understanding and immediately gave instructions to her teammates. Then, she closed her eyes again to try and sense the area. This time, however, unlike her previous cursory perception, Xiong Mi aimed to increase the intensity of her senses and see if she could directly pinpoint the location of the core obsession. This was a risky move, practically suicidal in a Red Moon-level dungeon. However, for the three of them, protected and enhanced by Gao Hai's power, this level of risk was no longer a problem.

hum-

Almost the instant he sensed it again, a strong aura of decay surged into Xiong Mi's perception.

The feeling that surged into his mind in that instant was hard to describe. Xiong Mi felt as if he had arrived in some ancient place that had been forgotten for a long time, as if his body was decaying along with the ruins abandoned by time, as if his thoughts were also going through a long period of time, to the point that his thoughts became slow and confused.

Confused, unclear...

It's like everything is just beginning...

"Well!"

The next second, Xiong Mi regained consciousness.

It is a triggered power of ghost stories.

It explodes the moment it comes into contact with mental energy and is released in the direction of the source of the mental energy. In a sense, this thing is like a landmine or a trigger-activated weapon. However, this kind of weapon is useless to ordinary people. Only players who can project their senses outward can be hit. It is a thing specifically designed to target experts.

After figuring out what kind of attack she had received, Xiong Mi quickly calmed herself down. Although she had received considerable enhancements, she still suffered some damage from the attack. However, this level of mental distress only caused Xiong Mi to break out in a sweat, and she recovered after catching her breath.

The attack wasn't limited to Xiong Mi; the triggered supernatural power affected all three present. Therefore, Jianbing, who was investigating the situation using the power of his possession object beside Xiong Mi, also showed signs of discomfort due to the mental shock. However, he recovered almost as quickly as Xiong Mi, returning to his normal state without any problems while manipulating his possession object throughout the process.

As for Shao Ye, the last of the three, she stood expressionless to the side the entire time, showing no signs of being attacked. Considering the pain she usually endures when using those powers, she probably wouldn't even feel this level of attack.

Is this a show of force?

Xiong Mi chuckled softly. Instead of making any rash moves, she and her teammates continued to stand at the platform entrance, observing the situation ahead.

The fog is spreading.

Seemingly spurred on by the players' probing, the mist already shrouding the hazy ruins began to spread outwards. The fog thickened, further obstructing the three's vision.

We couldn't see if anything was moving inside the fog.

In the cold and damp atmosphere, the only thing that could be felt from beginning to end was the fog itself; no other eerie aura leaked out.

Xiong Mi silently watched the fog that had now filled the entire open-air station, enveloping their small group of three. For a fleeting moment, she suddenly felt as if she were seeing some kind of ethereal, blasphemous creature, something terrifying, indescribable in appearance, something that existed yet did not, observing them.

This strange feeling came and went quickly. Xiong Mi didn't even have time to figure out what it was or where it came from before the feeling disappeared and he returned to normal.