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

hum-

The next second, the bizarre bus, which was already nearly falling apart and beyond repair, crashed straight into the bizarre train, which had no time to react.

Rumble, rumble! ! ! ! !

This time, amidst the scattered fragments, it was the ghost bus that forcefully knocked the ghost train to the ground, causing it to overturn and fall to the side. Then, it continued to accelerate, dragging the ghost train along its front half, hurtling towards the outside of the distorted space.

The direction the vehicle was heading was precisely the outer battlefield area where players were trying to stop the flesh-and-blood monsters from invading.

Chapter 113 The Unexpected Encounter and the Place to Go

It seems there's quite a commotion going on.

Yotsuya Miko turned around and looked into the depths of the ruins behind her, towards the direction shrouded in darkness, a thoughtful expression on her face.

The distortion of the spatial structure severely obscured the girl's senses; she couldn't see through the darkness to the players fighting the monster train. However, from the lingering auras, she could roughly deduce that a fierce battle was taking place in a location she didn't know the exact location of, and both sides involved must possess strength at the Red Moon level or even the Red Moon Core level or higher.

I don't know what kind of battle it will be, but unfortunately my abilities are not suitable for use on the front lines. Right now, it's more important to get to the inner area as soon as possible and confront the [Surgeon] than to worry about the players who are fighting.

But once you find the surgeon and get close to them, will you really be able to uncover their secrets and defeat them?

Jianzi didn't actually have an answer to this question, since her ability didn't really require a certain activation distance, a fact she was well aware of. Therefore, when she was beside Gao Hai earlier, and couldn't analyze the other party from the confirmed information about the "surgeon," she knew in her heart that even if she actually got to the other party, the chances of successfully analyzing the other party's weaknesses were still not very high. This kind of blockage caused by the lack of key clues could not necessarily be resolved by simply getting closer to the other party for observation.

Even so, she had to get there.

Too many people have already made sacrifices.

The battle has dragged on until now, with nearly one-tenth of Tokyo's population gone. Innocent people are dying tragically, as are players and rescue workers. Just when victory seemed within reach, the already doomed enemy, the [Hospital], went berserk in a fit of rage, determined to drag everyone down with them. To completely eliminate this bastard, the [Surgeon], their last line of defense, must be destroyed.

I cannot back down, nor can I hide in the safe zone and watch all this continue.

Having witnessed so many sacrifices, Miko Yotsuya simply couldn't accept staying in the safe zone. So even with only a one in ten thousand chance, she had to go to the enemy and find the opportunity to exploit their weakness and truly eliminate them.

This is a responsibility and mission that I should take on. Only I can do this, so I should do it.

With such intense emotions in her heart, Miko Yotsuya continued forward, walking further and further into the darkness.

She could feel herself getting closer to a certain place.

A place that is extremely dangerous, constantly emanating a terrifying aura, so that ordinary people would find it unbearable to get close enough to be easily torn apart by the aftershocks of its power.

An aura of such magnitude, even if it's just a faint residual fluctuation, is still beyond the reach of any strange creature. Seeing this, Zi was certain that the direction he was heading was where the [Surgeon] was located.

I wonder how Shinomiya and the others are doing now...

With the spatial distortion so severe, their predecessors are no longer able to provide them with support. Now, deep within the battlefield, they can only rely on their own strength and will to fight against the tireless monster that never sleeps. In the long run, those who still possess human characteristics, capable of fatigue and injury, will ultimately suffer.

We need to speed things up.

Thinking this, Miko continued walking through the ruins, but her pace slowed down as she went.

I think I heard something?

Although it's very blurry, this noise must mean someone is talking, right?

But, in this place? Could it be a strange creature? But there's absolutely no trace of it. Even a Twilight-level strange creature couldn't hide its presence from me, could it? Rather, this situation of almost nothing being detected seems more like that of a human without supernatural powers, right?

With a frown, Miko stopped and turned her gaze toward the source of the sound.

There's no mistake, this is the scent of a human.

There were two opponents, both women. One of them had an extremely weak aura, so weak that Jianzi almost overlooked her. She had probably undergone some kind of enhancement, barely approaching the limits of human physical strength. The other woman had a stronger aura; her physical attributes alone were comparable to a weaker Dark Night-level player, but she was almost completely devoid of any aura of her obsession or blessing. In short, she was a complete blank character.

Such a combination shouldn't be in this kind of place.

While the severe spatial distortion makes it unlikely that players will encounter wandering monsters here, even so, this combination of strength would likely not change the outcome even if they faced a very weak Dark Night-level monster. Frankly, with this level of strength, they might not even be considered viable in the outer player battle zones. Against those powerful and highly corrupting flesh-and-blood monsters, their presence would be nothing more than a hindrance.

Therefore, the presence of such a person here indicates something unusual, and Miko, who had already decided to venture into danger, would naturally not overlook this subtle anomaly.

tread--

Taking a step is also a way of announcing your arrival to the other person with your voice.

Seeing that Zi was moving quickly, she passed through several collapsed ruins in the blink of an eye and approached the source of the sound. And it was during this process that the indistinct sounds gradually became clearer, and she was able to understand what the two people on the other side were saying.

"So, is this guy who's guiding us really okay? Have we come full circle back to this place for the third time?"

"Yes, there may indeed be unexpected situations."

"Should we continue like this? I don't think this is a good thing. We've been going in circles for a long time, and it feels like we'll never get out of this situation..."

"In any case, it has a strong Mr. Gao aura, so it should be a truly friendly organization that came to help us. Let's continue to follow it for now."

"Of course I know it's here to help us, but we've taken such a long detour, and Hongxia has no idea what's going on. Ugh, this is so frustrating. When will all this mess finally end..."

"There's no point in complaining now. If we leave it, the two of us will have even less chance of finding our way out. Putting everything else aside, if we encounter another monster, we definitely won't be able to escape. So let's keep going. Maybe we'll be able to find something soon... There seems to be some movement. Be careful."

Did they actually spot me?

In just a few words, Jianzi noticed one of the voices become wary. Realizing they had sensed her, Jianzi showed a surprised expression. Before approaching them, she had already roughly determined their strength by sensing their auras; logically, given their displayed strength, they shouldn't have been able to detect her. But the reality was beyond the girl's expectations, making her realize that one of them might possess a highly gifted sensory ability.

However, that's not the focus right now.

"There's a third person here? I didn't detect a trace of them at all... Wait, how could it be you?!"

Before actually meeting the other party, Jianzi had considered whether the other party was a powerful Red Moon level player, but she did not expect that what she saw was a blurry, indistinguishable gender, and something that looked like a strange creature no matter how you looked at it.

A familiar scent.

This is a rescue team member, one of the symbols of the rescue team badges worn by his predecessors, and also one of the core beliefs of the former Yeluoshan Middle School.

So that's it. No wonder I couldn't sense its presence. Once this being enters combat and conceals itself, even the [Hospital] might not be able to find it if they searched for it themselves. I guess this [Teacher] confirmed my presence beforehand, knowing I was an ally, before revealing it. Otherwise, even if I were right in front of the [Teacher], I probably wouldn't have been able to see it hiding in the alternate dimension.

"You are……"

As for the two living people following behind the "teacher," namely Yamada Ryo and Iji Tomoka, they were now looking at Miko with wary expressions.

"I am Yotsuya Miko. I have a very close relationship with my senior... namely Takami. You can think of me as his representative and agent. I am here now because I have a very important mission. If you don't mind, I hope you can explain why you are here and what you have encountered. Perhaps some things you have seen or heard by chance can be of great help to me..."

Seeing that she spoke to the two people in front of her in a gentle tone, she could tell from their wary reaction that they must have suffered a lot. Therefore, she tried to show a friendly attitude to facilitate the conversation as soon as possible.

“I know Gao Hai. He left me with a great deal of power. Without him, we would have died long ago. Also, we do have some intelligence that we hope to give to Mr. Gao. If you can make use of this intelligence, that would be great.”

However, before Jianzi could finish speaking, Liang's eyes lit up, and he immediately took over the conversation.

Then, the two sides opened up the topic and quickly completed a series of exchanges.

Ryo made no attempt to conceal the information he had confirmed, sharing it all with the obviously powerful Miko. Miko, who hadn't expected to actually obtain information about the "surgeon," lowered her head in deep thought, only looking back at Ryo and Hoshika after a long while.

“If you need help, I can come along. After all, that thing reacted strangely when it was in front of me, so maybe the key to the problem lies with me.”

Upon seeing Jianzi look up, Liang immediately spoke, his expression very serious.

"...You should all follow me for now. Although I'm heading to a more dangerous area in the inner part, nowhere is safe right now. Following me will at least provide some protection."

After a brief moment of thought, Miko nodded in agreement with Ryo's idea.

However, she didn't actually want Ryo to face the [Surgeon] verification rules again; she wasn't that kind of person.

The reason for choosing to have Ryo and Hoshiga follow him to the most dangerous area was primarily because the aftershocks of the battle between the players and the monsters in that unknown direction were still reverberating and gradually approaching the outer area. Miko knew very well that that area was now under the watchful eye of the [Hospital], and while the [Teacher's] power was formidable, it wasn't enough to guarantee safety in front of the [Hospital], and being discovered would only attract more attention. Presumably for this reason, the [Teacher] kept leading Ryo and Hoshiga in circles, refusing to actually venture into the outer area.

Considering that a large number of strange creatures are currently spreading outwards and wandering everywhere, and that the [Hospital] is still recklessly injecting power into these creatures, the [Teacher] is more skilled in stealth than combat. If they encounter a large number of Red Moon-level strange creatures or Red Moon-level core obsessions, the [Teacher] will have no problem protecting themselves, but Liang and Xingge, who are too weak, might be killed by the aftershocks. Therefore, with the addition of himself as a protector, the situation is at least better.

As for when they really get close to the inner area, she will have Liang and Xingge hide away and will not actually bring them in front of the big boss.

"Let's go, we need to hurry."

After making the decision, Jianzi communicated with the "teacher" for a while, then had the other party follow her, and led Liang and Xingge to change their direction.

This journey didn't last too long, although the twisted monsters that appeared from time to time caused considerable trouble. Miko had to fight alongside her teacher against these severely distorted monsters, engaging in battle after battle.

However, during this process, Miko, who witnessed firsthand the "teacher's" ability to switch between dimensions, was also quite shocked, because she had never seen such an extremely precise switching ability in Takami, who possessed the same ability. Considering the precedent of the "police officer," the girl acted somewhat impolitely, suspecting that although her senior had obtained the powerful strength of the core obsession, he seemed to need more practice in using it compared to the monster's true form.

"Phew...almost there, are we almost there?"

Among the three and one ghost, Xing Ge, who had the worst stamina, was already sweating profusely and had to stop to catch his breath from time to time.

"Judging from the distance, it's not too far, but... um, it's a strange feeling."

Seeing Zi stop, he looked around at the ruins and broken roads with a puzzled expression.

Although I didn't see anything moving, this feeling... yes, there seemed to be some kind of spatial blockade nearby, and... there were more living people, players and survivors, hiding somewhere nearby.

Chapter 114 More Survivors and Insurmountable Obstacles.

There was the presence of living people, and more than one at that.

Roughly estimated, there should be more than ten but less than twenty people, and judging from their aura, none of them should have reached the level of Red Moon.

To be honest, while the survival of Yamada Ryo and Iji Tomoka was already unexpected for Miko, at least they did retain Takami's aura and were protected by "Teacher," so it was somewhat plausible. But the fact that even more living beings' auras could be detected now was something the girl couldn't understand.

Regardless, this is an extremely dangerous spatial distortion zone, teeming with strange creatures released by the [Hospital] roaming freely. For players below the Red Moon level, surviving in such a place should be incredibly difficult. How did these people manage to survive? Were they truly that lucky, perfectly avoiding all the dangers and finding a safe zone? Is it really that simple?

Hmm, I still need to go and take a look.

The survivors who made it this far might possess some useful information, just like Yamada and Ijichi-neechan. Without their information about the "surgeon," Miko estimated that even if she charged into the inner battlefield and faced the enemy head-on, she would have difficulty truly identifying their weaknesses. But now, with the information provided by Ryo and Hoshika, she felt much more confident than before. This made her wonder if obtaining even more useful information might improve the situation.

“I’ve just detected more signs of life. Let’s head this way.”

Thinking this way, Miko decided to temporarily change direction. Ryo and Hoshika didn't say anything and obediently followed Miko. As for the "Teacher," she took over command of the monster after Miko appeared. Therefore, unless she did something obviously suicidal or harm innocent people, the "Teacher" would unconditionally obey Miko's orders.

So, what kind of people are these?

With a cautious mindset, Jianzi quickly approached the location of the living beings' presence.

This process was not easy. At this time, the [Hospital] was continuously releasing more monsters through the spatial rift between the instance space and the real world. This forced Jianzi to engage in many battles during her journey, constantly repelling the monsters that would occasionally appear from her surroundings. Sometimes, when she encountered ranged attacks such as curses, she had to find the hidden enemy's location, otherwise, even if she had walked a long distance, the enemy could still keep bothering her.

Under these circumstances, it was more than ten minutes later when Jianzi finally approached the gathering place of living people. Because of the commotion she had made along the way, Jianzi was certain that the other party had already noticed her arrival. In fact, when she was about a hundred meters away from them, she saw several figures emerge from behind a collapsed high-rise building, waving and greeting her from afar.

"Hello, are you a Red Moon level player who came to provide support?"

These people, both men and women, stepped forward. They faced Yotsuya Miko, who was just a high school student, with great respect, as if she were some important figure.

"Huh? I'm not a Red Moon level player. I'm a former... I was sent by Mr. Gao Hai to observe the innermost battlefield as a [Surgeon]. You can just call me Yotsuya. May I ask how you got here? Could you tell me about your experiences here?"

Miko, who considered herself just an ordinary high school student, wasn't quite used to the respectful attitude of these men and women who were clearly gamers. However, she knew that now wasn't the time to dwell on their attitudes, so she stepped forward and asked them about the general situation.

"We didn't enter this place on our own initiative. It's a bit complicated. We're not actually the same group of players, but rather people from different places carrying out different missions. For various reasons, we were drawn into a closed space, and then, as that closed space changed, we ended up here. Initially, there were many of us, but by now, many of us have been lost. We just can't find a way out, so we have no choice but to continue hiding here..."

The players exchanged glances, then observed Jianzi for a moment longer. It was unclear what they had confirmed, but their attitude towards her became even more respectful than before. If the situation weren't so urgent, Jianzi suspected they might have knelt before her. To be honest, being treated like some kind of super-powerful figure was really unsettling. After all, in Jianzi's opinion, she was nothing special and had no reason to receive such worship.

Fortunately, although these people were a bit too respectful, at least they knew about the current emergency situation. So they quickly began to explain the situation to Jianzi, allowing her to understand how these players were trapped here.

The story goes back several dozen hours, when the battle between Gao Hai and the [Hospital] was far from over, and the three [Doctors] were still active. Although the players were fighting with all their might, the situation was far from optimistic.