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

What's going on here?!

Masaaki Ishido stared wide-eyed again, completely bewildered by what was going on.

No, he seems to be able to figure it out.

After all, there is currently something that can be easily shifted to someone else, and it seems that someone actually needs to take the blame.

Therefore, in order to get rid of us players, the [Hospital] even separately strengthened the core obsession's rule power, so that it could always maintain its restraint on us?

hum-

While I was thinking, the train accelerated once again.

Without giving the players any more time to think, the train began to hurtle forward.

But at that very moment, amidst some noise, the bus that had just collided sideways with the strange train not long ago actually caught up.

Chapter 108 The Hasty Travelers and Fearless Challengers in the Ruins

"Hey, isn't this just asking for death?"

Despite having some expectation of the current situation, after the impact, seeing Yu Qingshan hesitate briefly before deciding to let the defenseless Hongxia off the train and send someone to accompany her for protection, and then accelerate to catch up with the train that was crashing through the ruins, Wen Gu Yin Yu couldn't help but shout loudly.

Are you kidding me? That huge train, and all those players, none of them are weaker than the Red Moon level, okay?

What use are these lowly Dark Night level nobodies to a showdown between such powerful figures? Why would they bother getting involved in a battle of this caliber? They can't get Gao Hai's protection here now, and if they die here, there's a chance they won't be able to be saved.

Normally, seeing such a clash of titans, shouldn't the first thing to do is run away? Honestly, if this car hadn't been so incredibly powerful, with shock absorption that's practically unbelievable, that collision would have killed everyone inside, right? Having already felt such a clear difference in strength, wouldn't it have been better to just walk away?!

If it weren't for the fact that their current location was indeed dangerous, and getting out of the vehicle wouldn't guarantee survival, Fumiya Otoha would honestly have wanted to run away. She could accept the various risks involved in taking on the responsibilities of a rescue team member, but this kind of behavior of actively joining the fray in a high-level battlefield was simply too much for her. In fact, when Yu Qingshan and the others told Hongxia to get out of the vehicle, she had considered whether to go down with them, but after looking at the dark and gloomy ruins around her, and thinking about her own survival rate if the team were wiped out, and what would happen if, even if she survived, she abandoned Yurikawa Hana, who was entrusted to her protection, and what would happen if Takami and the others came after her? In the end, she reluctantly chose to stay.

"I think we should discuss this further, at least we shouldn't rush in like this!"

However, even though she had no choice but to get on the wrong side of things, Otoha Fumiya still wanted to struggle and try to persuade everyone to calm down.

hum-

The roar of the engine was accompanied by intense vibrations, and the bus's speed continued to increase at that moment.

Not a single player paid any attention to her screams. Yu Qingshan simply floored the accelerator and sped towards the train ahead. The other players were also on high alert. Even Xiao Hua was too focused on the train to notice Wen Gu Yin Yu's wailing.

Apart from this person, none of the others present showed even the slightest sign of fear. Even Wang Gui, a newcomer, was only slightly nervous. In fact, Baihe Chuanhua, who wasn't even a player, even took the initiative to move closer to the front of the bus, standing in the most dangerous area facing the monster train, alongside Li Ling, the vice-captain of the Sunflower Squad. At this moment, the girl was burning with golden-red light, clearly ready to strike at any moment.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Aren't you really going to reconsider? What if we just cause trouble if we go up there?!"

Otoha Fumiya is still trying to make a last-ditch effort.

Without the slightest hesitation, Yu Qingshan drove the bus straight into the massive train that had inexplicably slowed down.

Bang! ! !

After a loud explosion, Yu Qingshan, who was driving the vehicle, bled from all seven orifices in an instant, then vomited a mouthful of blood. He was thrown from his seat by a strong recoil and rolled on the ground in the middle of the vehicle.

Unlike the first collision not long ago, which involved some element of chance, the strange train back then didn't even notice the bus's attack and therefore barely reacted. But this time, the bus was clearly detected by the train as it approached, so the recoil from the point of impact far exceeded that of the previous confrontation. Even with the bus's body cushioning the impact, Yu Qingshan was nearly killed on the spot.

"team leader!"

Kazama Ren stepped forward to help Yu Qingshan up, and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the captain had only suffered some internal injuries and was otherwise unharmed.

At the same time, Li Ling, who had been guarding the front of the car, quickly got into the driver's seat and took control of the car, preparing to make a second impact.

"Oops, I didn't do it right the first time, but I'll definitely do it again next time!"

Xiao Hua, her body glowing with a golden-red light, looked rather grim. During the impact, she had intended to use Gao Hai's power to attack the train, but she discovered that the bus, her obsessive object, obstructed her movement, causing her attack to miss. This mistake made the girl anxious, especially after seeing her error result in a teammate being injured unnecessarily; it made it even harder for her to remain calm.

"Don't rush, let's try again. This time, make sure you aim carefully."

Li Ling whispered to Xiao Hua, then took a deep breath, gripped the steering wheel and began to accelerate again, her expression appearing very heavy.

Perhaps due to its first encounter, the extremely dangerous, monstrous train didn't understand the rules and power of the bus, so the first impact only injured Yu Qingshan, who was sitting in the driver's seat. But as the bus approached again, that thing would definitely sense the change in the presence of living people inside, so the second impact would most likely affect everyone on the bus.

If Xiaohua fails to successfully attack the enemy and achieve the desired effect when approaching it next time, she should be prepared for everyone on the bus to be severely injured or even killed instantly by the shockwave. Tsk, this is the first time she's encountered a monster that can bypass the shock absorption mechanism of a bus to attack the players inside. Why does it have to be a huge train? This feels really ominous.

"So, really, can't we reconsider? To get such a serious injury from just a touch, isn't the difference in combat power a bit too great?"

Holding tightly to a pillar in the carriage, Fumiya Otoha shouted again, her face full of despair, trying to persuade everyone not to continue fighting the train ahead.

But just like before, her words were ignored again. Kazama Ren, who was tired of hearing it, even turned around and made a throat-slitting gesture at her to warn her, forcing Fumiya Otoha to shut up.

hum-

The bus accelerated once again.

Li Ling gripped the steering wheel and looked ahead, towards the direction of the strange train.

The fact that the Sunflower Squad insisted on participating in this battle between Red Moon-level players and unknown monsters was certainly not because they were looking for trouble or deliberately seeking death.

Instead, they noticed that the Red Moon-level players were clearly struggling to move, and they also sensed the aura of core obsession emanating from the train. Therefore, Yu Qingshan and the others quickly understood what the players were doing. Following the accidental collision a few minutes earlier, Hongxia was temporarily left on the train and hidden nearby, with Sai Saki following to protect her and also hiding. The remaining people then prepared for the battle to rescue the Red Moon-level players.

The players present were well aware of the immense danger of such an action. However, Yu Qingshan and the others didn't see any problem with it. Firstly, this "Obsession Bus" had been enhanced by Gao Hai, making it difficult even for a Red Moon Core-level monster to instantly kill everyone inside. Secondly, even if the rescue failed and the entire team was severely injured or wiped out, Sai Saki, who had already disembarked, possessed the "Obsession Bus" to summon it, ensuring that she could take Hongxia and continue escaping the area. In fact, if it became clear that the situation was hopeless, they would retreat voluntarily. After all, the main reason they chose to rescue them was because Yurikawa Hana, a special individual who could somewhat bridge the gap in strength, was present. Without her, none of them would have dared to intervene in this battle.

As for why Otoha didn't discover this information, that's her own problem. However, considering her personality and habits, it would indeed be somewhat difficult for her to pay attention to these things.

hum-

The bus was rapidly approaching the train ahead.

Although it was unclear why the massive train had slowed down considerably, as if it had suffered some kind of severe impact, there was no reason not to seize the opportunity to launch another attack now that it had the chance.

However, when the bus approached within fifty meters, Li Ling, who was driving, suddenly widened her eyes and abruptly changed her driving style from a high-speed approach.

Rumble, rumble——

Amidst the deafening roar, the massive train abruptly changed direction, deliberately colliding with the bus just as it approached.

The reality was even worse than expected. Upon noticing the bus approaching again, the strange train completely ignored the Red Moon level players still struggling on its body and turned around to crash head-on into the bus.

We absolutely cannot afford to be hit head-on!

Almost the instant the thing changed direction, Li Ling realized this and quickly swerved the steering wheel to try and avoid the attack.

hiss--

Amidst the ear-piercing scraping sound, sparks flew as the two vastly different-sized vehicles moved, leaving black marks on the shattered ground or pulverizing it even more thoroughly.

No, we're too close!

By the time they realized this, the first carriage of the train had already slammed into the side of the bus, instantly flipping the entire bus into the air.

In an instant, everyone's perspective was reversed. The powerful shock absorption of the bus, which was originally a symbol of obsession, was completely lost after being hit by the train. The balance of gravity was also displaced, causing everyone to immediately roll around in a heap on the bus. Only Wen Gu Yin Yu, who had huddled under the seats in advance, and Yu Qing Shan, who had been placed in a seat due to internal injuries, managed to stabilize themselves by leaning against the seats.

"Ahem..."

Li Ling, who was in the driver's seat, coughed up blood.

Like Yu Qingshan, she would have been thrown from her seat by the powerful recoil. However, because the entire car was thrown into the air, she was instead pinned back in her seat. Amidst intense pain, the player gritted her teeth, gripped the steering wheel tightly in this critical moment, and used her mental power to forcefully stabilize the train, bringing it back to the ground with a thud. Then, it accelerated forward, heading straight for the train whose side was now exposed in front of the bus.

"Yuri Kawakami, hurry up!"

In that critical moment, Li Ling didn't care about the issue of address and shouted directly at Xiao Hua, who had been knocked to the ground and whose head had hit his side.

To make movement easier, Xiaohua was wearing pants instead of a skirt, so she didn't have to worry about her panties being exposed if she fell. However, the fall was clearly quite painful, as tears welled in the girl's eyes as she struggled to her feet. Of course, this didn't stop Xiaohua from concentrating and summoning the golden-red flames once more.

Success or failure hinges on this moment. If this attack fails, they will have no chance left, having already been completely noticed by the monster train.

Take a deep breath.

Wipe away the blood from the corner of your mouth.

Li Ling floored the accelerator, hurtling at top speed towards the side of the monster train's carriage, creating a cacophony of tearing wind and crashing sounds.

boom! ! ! ! !

In the unprecedentedly violent explosion, Li Ling, who was driving, was directly knocked unconscious by the recoil. Almost all of her bones were completely shattered, and all the blood vessels in her body burst open, turning her into a bloody mess in an instant.

Kazama Ren and several other members of the Sunflower Squad at the back of the carriage were also severely injured. They had no chance to attack or defend themselves. Even with prior preparation, they were easily crushed by the terrifying power far exceeding their limits, collapsing instantly with severe injuries to their internal organs and blood vessels. It could be said that almost everyone hit in this wave was killed on the spot, and those still alive wouldn't live much longer.

However, Wen Gu Yin Yu, who had hidden beforehand, Yu Qing Shan, who was concealed in the back row, and Wang Gui, the weakest of the three who had been guarding the back row, were all unharmed. It seems that this peculiar vehicle, the Obsessive Object, truly possesses extraordinary power, to the point that even the higher-level Monster Train failed to detect these three hidden living people. Of course, this was mainly because the Monster Train's attention was not on this little bus from beginning to end; dealing with the Sunflower Squad players was merely a trivial matter, just a way to shoo away annoying bugs.

"Oh...ah..."

Xiao Hua, who was also knocked to the ground, felt her mind go blank. The pain spreading throughout her body almost made her lose consciousness. Although Gao Hai's golden-red flames successfully protected her from injury and death, the intense pain she had never experienced before made Xiao Hua unable to move for a moment. In a daze, she no longer knew where she was or what she was doing.

As for the strange train that was hit from the side, it continued to move forward without even leaving a mark.

The attack had no effect.

Unsurprisingly, even with this desperate act of ramming, the result was still meaningless. It did not cause the slightest damage to the monster train, nor could it even slow down its movements.

Of course, precisely because this was clear, no one expected such an attack to be effective from the beginning.

"Thank you so much!"

Akira Toyama stood up from the front of the car.

The still-burning golden-red flames left a thin trail on the train, passing right by Akira Toyama's feet. This momentarily weakened the suction force on him, allowing the player to seize the opportunity to escape.

Although Xiaohua's initial target was the seemingly incredibly strong police officer at the front of the car—her intended target for escape—her aim was clearly not very good, and the attack ultimately hit slightly off-center. Nevertheless, the flames from Gao Hai successfully helped a Red Moon-level player escape, and what a Red Moon-level player can do is far beyond what the Sunflower Squad and their group could accomplish.

A faint light flashed as Akira Toyama casually unleashed a healing artifact, which struck the bus from a great distance and penetrated deep inside, providing some degree of healing to everyone inside.

He acted swiftly, simultaneously releasing the restraints on the lawyer, Masaaki Ishido, and Koyo. Then, he launched an attack on the enemy that Ishido had struck, shattering him on the spot with a powerful blow before crawling into the car.

"What's the situation inside?"

As soon as Ishido Masaaki was freed, he quickly asked Toyama Akira, who was inside the carriage.

"No, the door to the front of the car is blocked. We can't force it open with the power of the object of our obsession!"

Yuanshan Ming stood at the end of the first carriage, trying various methods to break through the sealed iron door in front of him, but he couldn't leave even a mark on it. Unlike the carriages that could be easily destroyed, the hardness of this iron door was beyond imagination. Yuanshan Ming suspected that even a nuclear bomb exploding at point-blank range wouldn't be able to break through this door whose aura intensity exceeded that of the Red Moon Core level.

"It's impossible to open that door using physical means; we can only rely on the officers' ability to hit it despite the spatial isolation."

The lawyer, who had also been freed from his restraints, did not follow them into the carriage. Instead, he went to the front of the vehicle and untied the police officers from their restraints.

Perhaps because the core artifact had been seized and suppressed by the lawyer from the beginning, even though the [Hospital] has forcibly controlled the [Writer] to make it active again, the power this core artifact can exert is much weaker than before. Therefore, after the players were freed, rescuing the remaining trapped people became much easier.

However, just seconds after the lawyer freed the officers and restored their freedom of movement, another intense binding force began to envelop them. The power of the core obsession originating from the driver's cab inside the vehicle tracked the players who had been locked onto, causing them even greater trouble and slowing down everyone's movements. Even the non-human officers were once again bound by an invisible force, far stronger than the bindings imposed by the players, leaving the officers who had finally managed to climb onto the hood of the vehicle to launch another attack frozen in place.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, Akira Toyama, who was inside the carriage, was directly sucked onto the unbreakable carriage door, almost unable to move.

Tsk, how come it's started again so soon?! Shouldn't such a large-scale attack require a long preparation time?

Oh right, right now it seems like the two core obsessions of the Monster Train and the lousy author inside are going against us, but actually it's the [Hospital] behind the scenes giving these two things unlimited health and mana to mess with us. Normally, issues like cooldown time after using skills don't exist here. This kind of unreasonable opponent shouldn't be judged by the same standards you use to deal with the usual monsters.