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

However, these fragmented records eventually became quite different.

[Sanchez]

The name appeared on the last few pages of the documents that Maki had collected.

There are only two records about him. The first one is a very short one: "Today, a foreigner came out of room 109. He said his name was Sanchez. He was originally supposed to be in room 206, but the kitchen floor in 206 collapsed, so he was moved to 109. This person didn't seem to be in good spirits; I don't think he'll like this place." That's all.

The second document that mentions Sanchez is located in the third-to-last document that Maki found.

Sanchez opened the door to 304.

He missed his daughter terribly, but the Shirakawa Apartment was too far from his hometown. With only three days to spare, he could only see her for a very short time, no matter how hard he tried. His family wasn't well-off, and frankly, we weren't much better off. Since we were trapped here, those who originally had regular jobs and incomes have had to make sacrifices because of the restrictions of this godforsaken place. Even if we were to help them out financially, frankly, we couldn't offer much.

Xu Sheng stopped Sanchez from going into room 304.

I've heard that even if someone who goes there manages to come out again, they are no longer themselves.

They will shatter, they will vanish, and eventually become ghosts no one can see, forever haunting the apartment, endlessly cycling through torment until they forget everything.

But Sanchez said he had to get into 304, that the root of everything was there, that he could change it, that he could save us all.

Is it really possible for something to happen so easily?

The entire record bears many marks of scribbles and scribbling.

Although the text itself seems detached, Maki can discern from these strokes the extremely complex inner emotions of the person who wrote this notebook at the time.

Next up is the second to last document, which is a document with only two sentences.

[The illusion of death has ended]

We can't leave the apartment.

Amidst the messy notes, Zhenfei could not imagine what Lin Wenfu was thinking at the time when he wrote those two sentences.

Princess Zhenfei raised her head and looked at Gao Hai, who was guarding the door.

She was considering calling the other person over so that he could bring Kaguya along to look at the records and the three of them could think about and analyze them together.

But Maki quickly remembered that Kaguya and Takami were currently on high alert, guarding the corridor outside the door, and protecting themselves from the remains of the man who might have written these records, who had now become the vessel for some terrifying thing.

After a moment's hesitation, Maki lowered her head once again and opened the last document she had found—a piece of paper stained with dark red ink that had been lying under the desk in room 205.

[Don't go near the window! Don't go near the window! Don't look out the window! Don't look! Don't look!!!]

The almost completely jumbled text sent a chill down Maki's spine as she read it, and she felt a strange sense of unease.

Trust no one! Don't believe anyone! Don't enter anyone's room!

Everyone's gone mad! Everyone's different now! They've all gone mad! They've all gone mad!

[I am a good boy, I will be obedient, I will stay at home quietly, I will not be punished, I am a good boy, I am not crazy, I am a good boy, I am not crazy, I am a good boy, I am not, I am not, I am not crazy, I am a good boy, good boy (the word "good boy" here is almost half the length of the letter, and every word is written very neatly)]

Trust no one, trust no one (this was written at the very bottom of the letter, in extremely messy handwriting)

You can't trust anyone. Once you've broken up, it's impossible, not even once.

Do not go to the 3rd floor; the 3rd floor is not here.

[We can't get out of the first floor, I can't get out, nobody can get out. We live here, why should we go out? (The messy handwriting extends diagonally from the bottom of the letter to the middle, with some words overlapping with the repeated "good child," which took Zhenfei a lot of effort to decipher.)]

No one can be trusted.

Don't trust anyone.

Don't trust anyone.

Don't trust anyone.

The handwriting began to repeat itself once again, becoming increasingly messy, almost resembling cursive script.

If Consort Zhen hadn't already studied cursive script and possessed a deep understanding of Chinese calligraphy, reaching a level where she could instantly recognize the old Chinese medicine doctor's prescription, she probably wouldn't have been able to understand what was written.

This repetition continued all the way to the bottom of the letter paper.

However, one sentence was not finished, and the ink on the edge of the paper seemed to extend to the back of the paper.

So Princess Zhenfei turned the letter over.

Don't trust anyone.

The handwriting was still messy, but for some reason it was easier to read than before, as if a madman had gradually calmed down.

Didn't I tell you not to trust anyone?

The next sentence isn't entirely a repetition, but it's a bit strange that it's written as if it's a conversation with someone.

I told you, don't trust anyone. No one is trustworthy; you can't believe anyone!

The handwriting gradually became messy again, as if you could really see someone yelling at you.

You can't trust anyone, not even me.

You can't trust me, you can't trust what I say, you can't trust anyone.

Why did you believe me? Why did you believe me?

It wasn't until she saw the last line of blood-red writing that the girl suddenly remembered, in a daze, that when she had just picked up the letter, the back was completely blank, with nothing written on it.

slam-la-

Some stained letters lay on the ground, revealing their empty backs.

The girl, her forehead already soaked with cold sweat, nervously turned her head to look around. Only after confirming that there was nothing else in the room did she manage to catch her breath, even though her heart was pounding so hard it was almost out of control.

In this place, things that defy common sense happen one after another.

Fortunately, we finally found some clues that were somewhat valuable.

Sighing, Maki composed herself and stood up to explain the information she had found to Kaguya Takami.

boom!

The next moment, the violent shaking of the entire apartment caused Maki, who had just stood up, Takami, who was guarding the door, and Kaguya in the corridor to fall to the ground.

Chapter Fifteen: Unexpected Things Happen When They Are Unexpected

"W-What's going on? Was it an earthquake?!"

Inside the kitchen, Sun Dajun, who was startled, covered his head and screamed, while Maeda Miwa, who was sitting next to him, screamed out loud.

"Behave yourself, don't run around! Big brother, big sister, what's going on?"

Equally startled, Green managed to shout a few words at Sun Dajun and Maeda Miwa before instinctively wanting to run to find the three outside.

"Don't move, the problem isn't with us! Everyone, quiet down."

Gao Hai's voice rang out at this moment, and Zhen Fei turned around quickly without hesitation, got up from the ground, and then took out a wall clock from her backpack.

The source of that violent tremor was not 208, but 210.

Although the specifics are unknown, it's clear that the thing introduced into room 210 is now locked in a struggle with the things already in the room. And the commotion these two are causing is far more terrifying than the previous door-knocking ghost stories; the continuous violent tremors give the people inside the room a terrifying feeling that the entire building is about to collapse.

"This is……"

Kaguya, who was closest to the gate, heard the sound most clearly at this moment.

Maki in the living room could only roughly determine that the vibrations were coming from room 210, while Kaguya could clearly hear a suppressed sob coming from that room, mixed with roars and screams.

Such a chaotic sound.

The glass bottle was smashed.

The bookshelf was pushed over and placed on the ground.

The scattered, disorderly items spread outwards.

It's as if everything has lost its original form and is gradually heading towards collapse.

in the end……

The girl, her eyes wide, then realized that the sound in her ears was becoming muffled.

Gao Hai suddenly appeared in front of her, scrambling up to her as the ground shook violently, and stuffed the earplugs into Kaguya's ears.

Don't listen to random things.

Gao Hai said these words to Kaguya, one word at a time. Although Kaguya couldn't hear what he was saying because her ears were plugged, she immediately realized what mistake she had made by reading Gao Hai's lip movements.

Before I knew it, I was completely absorbed in the sound, unaware that I shouldn't listen to potentially problematic sounds for too long. Could my reaction time have dropped to this level?

Kaguya nodded slightly to Gao Hai, then stood up, leaning against the wall. The two of them supported each other as they quickly ran through the swaying corridor and into the living room. They then swiftly closed the living room door to block out the noise from outside.

Strangely enough, the shaking in the house was quite intense just now, but after Kaguya put on her earplugs, the vibrations slowed down to some extent. And after closing the living room door, the vibrations quickly weakened and stopped in no time.

"Even if we aren't discovered or chosen as a target, will exposure to relevant information, such as auditory information, still have an impact? No, in that case, we should have been attacked at 205 from the start. So perhaps it depends on whether the attacker is in an 'active' or 'inactive' state. This is getting more and more complicated. So, if things go like this, is it only safe to be in the living room with the door closed if something happens?"

Gao Hai carefully considered the possible scenarios, but he still felt that there was something that couldn't be well explained.

If the corpse in 205 was still alive, why didn't it attack on the spot instead of waiting for them to leave and then following them?

Its ability to travel to 210 based on Gao Hai's misleading information proves that it possesses human sensory abilities and can recognize human languages. So, what exactly is its thought process? What level of intelligence and memory does it have?

That thing in 210 clashed with something inside it, something whose nature was unknown. At least it sounded like a conflict. Only Kaguya, with her keen senses, could hear the specific sounds. We'll have to ask her about it later.

Gao Hai couldn't help but think of the frozen corpse in 208 again.

Why did the thing in 205 start taking action so quickly, while the thing in 208 remained silent?

And, could there be something hidden inside 204, which he and Kaguya didn't fully explore, or perhaps something that has been secretly observing them all along?

Few questions can be answered immediately.

Whether one can survive the search for answers to these questions is, frankly, an unknown.

"Compared to puzzle games riddled with problems, I still prefer mindless action games that let my mind wander and enjoy the thrill of the game..."

Gao Hai could only sigh and say this in the end.

"Big brother, what's going on outside...?"

Green, who was so frightened by the violent tremors that he almost wet his pants, cautiously peeked out from the kitchen and asked.

"This has nothing to do with us, don't scare yourself. Where are the other two?"

Kaguya hadn't removed her earplugs yet; she didn't seem to be in good spirits and would probably need some time to recover. Meanwhile, Maki sat still, seemingly also affected by something, and didn't immediately respond.