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

What Alice wants...

What is it that I, Alice, truly desire...?

Have you been secretly watching and following me lately? What are you trying to do?

Gao Hai's mental link has been transmitted.

So it was discovered after all? After all, their souls are so closely connected, it's quite normal that they were discovered.

[Hehehe, does the teacher want to know the answer?]

Almost instinctively, I gave that reply in an affected and pretentious tone.

At the same time, the long-lost joy rising from the bottom of my heart seemed to be telling me something.

Please spare me the riddles; if you have any questions, please just say so, as I don't have much free time right now.

Gao Hai's response carried a hint of helplessness. He hadn't noticed anything amiss. Of course he hadn't, since he trusted me and trusted his own fragmented spirit.

So, that's what makes it really interesting, isn't it?

Alice is looking for information about the play she'll be starring in, specifically about what kind of leading role she should play.

Therefore, he once again gave the answer with a joking laugh.

[Oh, this is still a riddle? Alice? Hmm, she just ran away like that, was it really necessary?]

And naturally, he still didn't understand what she was trying to say.

But it doesn't matter, Alice has awakened, Alice has understood, Alice is no longer confused.

So, let Alice weave her trap.

hee hee~

……

So you didn't reply?

In the steamy bathtub, Miko blinked and looked at Takahashi, who was also bathing beside her, with some confusion.

"Who knows what she's up to? Anyway, she's never done anything wrong, so let her be."

Gao Hai waved his hand, then looked down, his lips slightly twitching.

"Compared to Alice, who's always playing pranks, I have much more important questions that I need to discuss with you."

"So you just want it again, huh? Senior, you really can't stop for a moment."

The steam in the bathroom intertwines to form a mist, gently enveloping the bathtub within.

Meanwhile, a seemingly ethereal figure, already far removed from this place, had begun her next move. Naturally, Gao Hai remained oblivious to this next action, which was directed solely at him.

Chapter 1 Interlude 5-05: The Wanderer and the Closing Band in Preparation and Alice's Scheme.

The date with Yotsuya Miko ended with a bath together in the evening and a fight afterward.

Well, after all, Takami is still too strong now. Compared to the Five Armies Battle that once made him struggle, in the recent Second Five Armies Battle, he was able to single-handedly route the four invading girls. Under such circumstances, Yotsuya Miko, alone, naturally had no chance against Takami. So after a brief battle, Miko quickly surrendered, whimpering, "No, no!"

After that, Gao Hai stayed with Jianzi for a while longer before leaving because Jianzi's mother was coming.

It wasn't that Gao Hai was afraid of meeting the parents. For him now, he wasn't afraid to explain his relationships with the girls to anyone. In his view, having chosen this path, he had the responsibility and obligation to be at the forefront, and he should bear any criticism. Especially the girls' families—that was something he should face.

However, Miko Yotsuya herself didn't think so. She was still a little shy about revealing their relationship, so she asked Takami to keep it a secret from her mother for the time being. Takami didn't quite understand, but since Miko was so insistent, he didn't interfere. Although he had noticed that Miko's mother, Touko Yotsuya, had only briefly interacted with him and the other girls, she had likely already figured out their true relationship, but was just pretending not to understand and remaining silent.

It seems quite interesting that the mother and daughter are keeping things from each other. I wonder how Jianzi will react when she finds out that her mother already knew about this.

Thinking this, Gao Hai paused on the street for a moment, and then instantly appeared in another city a thousand miles away.

Without anyone noticing, Gao Hai casually walked into a shop, grabbed a cup of milk tea, and left. Of course, before leaving, he didn't forget to use his mental power to create an identical cup of milk tea and put it back. Then he traveled to another country, found a restaurant that looked quite popular, copied a dish that the chef had just prepared but hadn't yet served, took it with him, found an empty seat, ate it, and then walked out of the shop. The next second, he was back in Tokyo, which was still in chaos.

For Gao Hai, who has now truly broken through the limits of humanity and stepped onto the path of divinity, the various limitations that previously existed in using the power of blessings and obsession objects no longer exist.

If he so desired, he could easily overcome spatial barriers and travel to places thousands of miles away. Even breaking free from the constraints of planets and reaching the moon would be effortless. However, going further afield, such as to Mars, would take some time. The cosmic scale is still quite vast for Gao Hai at present; it's estimated that he will only be able to easily traverse various planetary systems once he reaches a stable god-level strength.

Similarly, with just a thought, ordinary people around him would be unable to see or sense him, and nothing he did would attract any attention. Furthermore, if Gao Hai wished, he could also release his spiritual power to make everyone around him submit to him, altering their consciousness to make them genuinely acknowledge him as their master and willingly do anything for him, even die. However, Gao Hai knew he still had some principles, so he wouldn't do such a thing.

As for other things like basic strength and speed, improved mental abilities, and energy projection, those are even less significant. To be honest, Gao Hai can hardly imagine what he was like a few months ago. In the less than half a year since entering the [Sacrifice Game], his strength has increased by an enormous amount, and he has experienced countless hardships and obstacles. So much so that now, when he looks back, he feels somewhat unfamiliar with his past self before experiencing the Strange Tales dungeon, as if it were something from many years ago that he can only recall in vague fragments.

...It seems like that's actually true. After all, it's been less than half a year, but in reality, it took me more than a month to successfully complete the second dungeon mission. Also, in the Nightfall Mountain Middle School dungeon, I and I traveled through time together to reverse everything, spending almost a year or two rescuing people. In addition, there were the rollbacks that I experienced in each dungeon to varying degrees, so the time I actually felt was far greater than the actual time that passed.

Thinking about this, Gao Hai raised an eyebrow. He pondered for a long time but couldn't think of any suitable words to describe his feelings. In the end, he just sighed, then strode forward, casually strolling around the city under the night sky.

It's really much quieter now.

Gao Hai's gaze swept over the dark, unlit buildings, looking down the street until he reached the very end, but he didn't see a single pedestrian.

For Tokyo, a megacity with a population of tens of millions just days ago, its current ghost town-like silence and desolation is truly unbelievable.

Gao Hai strongly doubted that even if he successfully rescued those who could still be saved from the [Hospital] instance and restored some of the city's population, Tokyo would still find it difficult to return to its former prosperity. Damage of this scale would require ten, twenty years, or even more to repair, and for those directly affected, it would take an entire generation to forget the pain. But these few short days couldn't change anything.

However, that's none of his business.

Whether Gao Hai is grateful or resentful, it doesn't matter.

I have already transcended the realm of humanity to a certain extent, and in the future I will inevitably be one step ahead of human civilization, reaching the level of a god.

Until human civilization is truly able to utilize the power he brought from the Village of Infant Cries to leap to a higher level as a whole, reaching a level close to his, Gao Hai does not intend to interfere too much in the operation of this civilization, nor does he care how the individuals within this civilization judge him. Although he is still willing to continue to interact with some people with whom he has a good relationship, Gao Hai has already decided on his future way of dealing with those who are unrelated to him and does not intend to change it.

"Hmm? Want to come in and hide for a bit? No problem, I've given you the permissions, you can handle it yourself."

As Gao Hai walked and pondered, he suddenly received a message from Fujiwara Chika. After learning that her older and younger sisters had been frequently disturbed by various people recently and hoped to find a place to hide away in peace, Gao Hai quickly replied, granting Chika access to the [Alice's Hut] so that she could bring people into that alternate dimension.

Chika's sisters—if I remember correctly, the older sister is named Fujiwara Toyomi, and she's already a university student; the younger sister is named Fujiwara Moeha, and she's currently a 14-year-old junior high school student. All three sisters have very voluptuous figures; even Moeha, at her junior high school age, has a D-cup bust, which is quite impressive.

Fujiwara Moeha... well, 14 years old is still too young. Let's wait until she's a bit older.

As he pondered, Gao Hai's image of the three Fujiwara sisters underwent a slight change. But quickly, remembering Fujiwara Moeha's age, Gao Hai abruptly ended the association, calmed himself, and returned to a state of perfect composure.

Then, he took a step forward and walked towards the lighted sign in a small alleyway under the cover of night, where there was finally some noise.

That's the entrance to a livehouse.

A seemingly unremarkable yet bustling livehouse located underground, accessible only by descending a staircase on one side, attracting numerous bands to linger there.

Gao Hai already knew the name very well, even though he had only been inside once.

【Stars】

This livehouse in Shimokitazawa has now reopened thanks to the decision of nearby evacuees, attracting idle disaster victims by hosting music events to keep them engaged and prevent them from getting too bored and causing trouble for others.

It was during this process that the previously disbanded band was able to reunite and resume operations.

Although they had only rehearsed for less than a day, both Ichiri and Kita were now Red Moon level players, and Nijika and Ryo had been enhanced by Takami's power. All four of them were extraordinary, possessing exceptional memory and fine control over their bodies. Therefore, in just a few hours of rehearsal, the four girls performed even better than they had in the past few days or weeks of rehearsal. As a result, Hoshika, who had originally wanted to tease her younger sister and prevent her from returning to the stage so soon, was speechless.

At this moment, Gao Hai came to this store to watch the band's performance end.

After overcoming pain and torment, the four girls are reunited for the first time. It sounds very promising, and hopefully it will be a great performance.

Thinking this, Gao Hai walked down the stairs and entered the store. At this moment, there were already twenty or thirty idle customers gathered in the store. At the bar, he could see Xing Ge yawning, and PA-san, the sound engineer whose name had not yet been revealed in the original "Lonely Rock," was also there. Gao Hai did not disturb the two of them, maintaining an invisible state so that he could not be seen by others as he walked, and soon arrived at the rehearsal room of Fanxing.

I can sense the presence of Ichiri and Kita among them; at this close range, they've probably already noticed me. Hmm… Nijika and Ryo's presence is also there, but they can't sense me in this state. However, if all four of them are gathered in the rehearsal room, it seems they're having their final rehearsal before going on stage, so I'll just stay out of it.

While thinking, Gao Hai slightly relaxed his senses and then heard the sounds coming from the rehearsal room.

"Hey, hey, hey, why did Pochi-chan suddenly make a mistake? And why does she look so nervous?"

Hongxia's somewhat surprised voice reached Gao Hai's ears. It sounded like something went wrong during the rehearsal, and it was something that should have gone wrong in a place that would never make a mistake in a normal rehearsal.

"No, no, no, no..."

That's the slightly delayed, stuttering sound from Goto Ichiri's tape recorder. Ah, I see. She must have realized he was listening to her performance after noticing his presence, and that's why she tensed up. If that's the case, should I try to hide my presence when she goes on stage later? No, I have a feeling that would only make things worse.

"Boqi-chan's expression is like that of a mistress caught cheating."

Liang's somewhat cold voice followed, and his words were extremely weighty, instantly causing Ichiri to let out a near-death scream. Hongxia's angry rebuke, filled with shame and annoyance, followed closely behind, and the rehearsal room became quite lively for a moment.

"Alright, alright, seniors, and Ichiri-chan too, it's almost our turn to go on stage. Let's rehearse one more time and cheer each other on!"

Kita Ikuyo's energetic voice, which seemed to bring her radiant beauty to life, also reached Takami's ears.

To be honest, Gao Hai was stunned for a moment when he first heard that voice.

I almost forgot! Kita Ikuyo from the original manga "Lonely Rock" was supposed to be a cheerful and energetic girl.

However, in her own world, for Kita Ikuyo, who was forced to experience the "Sacrifice Game" before even graduating high school and died once in the dungeon, enduring much pain and torment, that energetic girlhood had been a long, long time ago.

In other words, is it acting?

After all, neither Nijika nor Ryo could possibly understand the pain she had endured. Oh no, Ryo should be able to understand, since that girl was rather unlucky. Perhaps the resurrection ability given to her by Takami lowered her own luck stat. While Nijika and Hoshika, who also experienced the Tokyo Ghost Stories War, never died even once, Ryo died repeatedly, experiencing profound pain in every sense of the word.

While this is nothing compared to the suffering Gao Hai herself has endured, it is undoubtedly a tremendous psychological burden for a young girl in the prime of her life. However, it seems that her mental state is not too bad now, and she doesn't appear to be in much pain, which is good news.

In short, Kita's deliberate act of reverting to her past self can only fool Nijika, right? Wait, Nijika seems to have seen her颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of being listless,颓废, or颓废) side before, so perhaps her deliberate performance can't even fool Nijika.

I have a feeling this isn't quite right, but since she has already made her decision, and it is indeed her own business, I won't say anything more and will let her decide for herself.

With this thought in mind, Gao Hai quietly disappeared, continuing to observe everything from the sidelines.

Unbeknownst to him, in the Alice's Hut in another dimension, in a basement unknown to anyone, a petite and lovely, yet slender and voluptuous girl with long golden hair was slowly sitting up from the floor.

The first thing you need to prepare is a body that can bring you pleasure, hehe, then you're all done.

He grinned.

Her pink tongue gently licked her lips.

Alice, with her dark red eyes, stretched out her small hand and looked at her own fair body and the several gleaming chains and handcuffs piled in the corner of the room. She couldn't help but laugh happily again.

[It'll be ready very soon, teacher!]

Chapter 1 Interlude 5-06: The end of the band's performance and the girls' reactions.

"Hello everyone, we are—The End Band!"

Accompanied by Kita Ikuyo's youthful shouts, Nijika swung her drumsticks, followed by Ichiri's guitar and Ryo's bass, which together created a smooth melody, while Kita's cheerful singing filled the entire venue.

Many disaster victims who had come here simply because they had nothing else to do were invigorated by the high-quality songs. Gao Hai, who was standing quietly at the edge of the crowd, watched the youthful and spirited girls on stage and couldn't help but clap softly.

Although he was completely ignorant about music, Gao Hai could still tell what kind of songs were good. And the songs these four girls were playing were undoubtedly quite beautiful, the kind of songs that he should sit down and listen to for a while.

Speaking of which, although they are called a girl band, the playing level of these members is actually professional, or even higher than professional level, right? It's normal for Ichiri and Kita to be Red Moon level players with abilities stronger than ordinary people. How did Ryo and Nijika reach this level at the age of seventeen or eighteen? Are they really super girls that only exist in the world of anime?

Thinking this, Takami stroked his chin, adopting a very serious, thoughtful expression. On stage, Ichiri, seeing this expression, assumed Takami was about to criticize her and immediately tensed up. However, even so, she didn't go off-key, maintaining a high-intensity performance through her incredibly precise control of her body. This change in expression didn't escape Kita's notice, and he followed Ichiri's gaze to confirm she was looking at Takami below, his expression showing a hint of confusion.