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

external force.

Whether it's other players or anyone else, or unforeseen natural disasters like flooding the cave, only forces completely unrelated to the trapped person and entirely unexpected by them can kill them.

The execution of a core obsession is often a manifestation of what that obsession itself experienced in its previous life.

Just as the execution method of the core obsession in the Shirakawa Apartment was pouring boiling water down a person's throat and sewing their mouth shut, the obsession Andres formed after his death would recreate a similar condition in those cursed by this obsession. Therefore, no matter what he does, he cannot die; even if Takahiro uses a lethal object of his obsession, he cannot kill himself. Because he *knows* and *uses* these things, their effects are nullified, and there is no way to kill Takahiro.

Only external forces that he is unaware of and cannot control can change all of this.

In other words, unless someone enters this cave, safely reaches the fork in the road and enters the "dead end" area, finds themselves, and kills themselves, they can not truly die.

Is this really possible?

Gao Hai struggled to concentrate on the problem, then fainted again due to intense pain, only to quickly regain consciousness.

Is there anyone who can do this?

Who will... come...

……

Half asleep, half awake.

As his consciousness collapsed even more severely, Gao Hai gradually lost the ability to distinguish whether he was in a dark cave or somewhere else.

The hallucinations began to appear and quickly became more severe.

Sometimes Gao Hai felt like he had returned to the past, helping those small business owners investigate issues that they themselves were not comfortable with, or when he was tired of this boring job and went to write books. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was back in the dark cave.

Sometimes Gao Hai felt that he had solved all the strange tales in the world, ended all despair, and finally reached the point where he could enjoy a happy life. Then, when he took a step, he found that he could not move and realized that he was stuck in the rock wall.

Sometimes Gao Hai felt like he was sitting in a room playing games, and then Zhen Fei leaned in from behind and gently hugged him, constantly interfering with his game and preventing him from concentrating. Finally, he got angry, turned around and pounced on her, and then... No, this must be a dream. Would that girl do something like that?

This time, Gao Hai regained consciousness earlier, but it seemed pointless to do so...

There were also times when Gao Hai seemed to see something else.

It was like someone else's past experiences, like images left behind somewhere, seen by him who was right next to the core obsession.

He saw Pei Di announce with a helpless expression that the giant slide was officially closed, a wall was built, and a monument to Andres was left at the entrance of the cave.

The inscription on the stone tablet reads:

An irreversible tragedy occurred here.

A respectable father, a good man, and a child rest here in peace.

In memory of Andres, may he rest in peace.

The stele also features a photograph of Andres himself, suggesting that people have been laying flowers at the stele for a long time.

But later, the stone tablet disappeared, and the things behind the giant slide were sealed off and no longer revealed to the public.

Initially, after a security guard went missing, the wall collapsed, and other strange occurrences happened, Pei Di hesitated for a while before deciding to suppress the matter and continue operating the increasingly prosperous park. Wilbur argued with him about this several times, but at the moment the problem wasn't too serious, and Pei Di only planned to make further plans when things really couldn't be suppressed any longer.

Then one day, a distinguished-looking man visited the site and recognized its potential. He told Pei Di that he had decided to support the development of the site, and that Pei Di didn't need to worry about anything; he could simply state his needs, and he would fulfill them. He promised to make the site famous and allow Pei Di to make a fortune, and all he needed was a little bit of fame along with the site's success.

While these events unfolded outside, in the silent darkness, in the narrow, quiet cave, Andres remained in a daze. He didn't know he was dead; he was simply reliving the agony of that day. Repeating, repeating, and repeating endlessly, as if the day would never come to an end, an unchanging repetition of the agony of death.

For a moment, Gao Hai felt that his self-awareness was almost completely dissipating.

He felt as if he were Andres, as if he were about to become Andres himself, and that even the personality and memories of [Gao Hai] himself had disappeared, leaving nothing behind.

But in the end, he regained consciousness and continued to struggle to maintain himself, continuing to gasp for breath, enduring the intense feeling of suffocation, and the relentless, intense torment inflicted by the despairing cave walls. He persevered in this way.

Gao Hai himself couldn't explain what he was persisting in or what he was waiting for, nor did he know how to describe it.

Having successfully escaped this instance, would Zhenfei and the others even know what happened to them? That's impossible, isn't it? They'd probably just think they've vanished, or that they've exhausted their attempts and can't start over? No, no, no, that's not her personality... But now that she's here, how could they possibly know how to find her, or how to help her?

Moreover, while the number of players passing through that area might not be large, there were definitely some. But how long had he been trapped here? A few days? Dozens of days? He hadn't encountered any other players. Perhaps all the players imprisoned in this darkness were in a separate area, so even if there were other trapped players here, he couldn't see them, nor could he help them find a way to kill each other.

"Uh……"

Amidst the painful, suffocating sounds, Gao Hai's body trembled, surrounded by the rock walls.

tick-

I can hardly feel my body anymore.

Pain has become the only remaining sensation.

What time is it now?

Where are you now?

Where am I?

The twenty-fifth day, the twenty-seventh day...

Gao Hai himself was unaware of the passage of time.

tick-

His consciousness was still fading.

So scattered that even past memories have become blurred.

Unable to die.

I still can't die.

There's still... there's still no way...

tick-

"Gao Jun, you're here, right?"

A girl's voice.

It sounded like it was coming from a dream, or like it was coming from somewhere right next to me.

In a daze, Gao Hai seemed to smell someone's scent.

A familiar, nostalgic scent, a feeling that seems to have been experienced and even embraced not long ago.

Do I still have any senses left?

In a daze, Gao Hai tried to open his mouth to respond, but no sound came out.

"No need to answer, I know Gao Jun can't answer me right now. It's okay, I'm here, it's alright."

In the comforting voice, I felt a warm touch blossoming in my embrace.

Who is that?

Something seemed to have changed in the rock face.

Another person squeezed into the narrow rock face that should have been occupied only by himself.

Why is this happening?

who is it?

"I was the first person to find you, that's great."

As the girl's voice rang out, memories of the past seemed to resurface little by little.

"You're such a wicked and sinful guy, stealing the hearts of two girls. You know, after finding out that Shijou really liked you, I had already decided to give up."

"But you know, Shijou-san never gave up looking for you. She gathered all the information she could and came back here, and so did I. At that time, I was thinking, could I find you before Shijou-san? And I actually succeeded."

"Hehehe, but there's nothing I can do about it. After all, I came out of the [blood vessels] with you. It's only natural that I would think of this place and find it first. I'm very smart, you know."

In his smug voice, Gao Hai gradually recalled the other person's long pink hair and her lively and adorable personality.

"So, Shijo and I modified the explosives you took from Shirakawa's apartment. I'm strapped with one now, and it's set to detonate in three minutes. We managed to get some information about this instance. This explosive, as a [lethal item I used], can't kill me, but it will definitely kill you, Taka-kun, because it was caused by an [external force] unrelated to you. This way, you can start over and let everything begin again."

The girl continued talking.

She seemed to have so much to tell Gao Hai, and worried that time would run out, she kept talking and telling Gao Hai, never stopping for a moment.

"Your disappearance was quite a blow to Kaguya and Shijou. They talked a lot about you, and in the end, they all decided to use the admission tickets they got after clearing the dungeon to return to this place and look for your whereabouts."

"This past month has been tough for everyone, but once we start over, everyone will forget these painful memories and can begin all over again, right?"

"Kaguya said that we need you, and we must have your abilities to ensure the success of our upcoming missions. So when it's our turn to make sacrifices, we can't back down. Kaguya always has a lot of reasons, but I didn't think that much about it. I guess Shijou feels the same way."

"After entering here, she said she could feel the connection between you, but no matter how she called out to you, you didn't respond. At that time, I thought maybe I would have a chance to find you first, and I actually succeeded."

"So next, after you start over, Shijou will forget the painful days after losing you, and I... will forget the time we spent together, right? I'll become that new player who just joined the game, following behind you without knowing anything. Will you still lead me forward and teach me how to survive here, just like before?"

More memories came back.

The moment of struggling through the cave with this girl, laughing and talking with her, walking side by side, moving forward step by step together.

Why is she here?

This hellish, endless dark world—a world she shouldn't have been drawn into.

No, why is she here? No, no, what does she want to do?

"No matter what, this girl who was attracted to you and fell in love with you will soon disappear from your world."

"As for the me who starts from scratch, hmph, what will I become? Maybe I'll be just as foolish as I am to be attracted to you?"

"However, I have a very strong possessive streak, so I want you to know the difference between this me and that future me, so that you, Gao Jun, can't see me and her as the same person, so that you can only remember this one me and keep this one me firmly in your heart."

"A day of meeting, followed by a month of longing, which is 720 hours, a full 2.59 million seconds."

"This is all the time I've spent thinking about you since Gao Jun entered my world, so..."

Boom——

The raging flames engulfed everything.

Before everything was completely shattered and destroyed, Gao Hai looked at the girl's dirty little face covered in blood and mud, and the silly smile she gave him, just like the one he had seen when he first met her.

Chika Fujiwara.

She was unable to say the last thing she wanted to tell herself.

But Gao Hai already knew what she wanted to say.

So please don't forget me.

Please don't forget the girl who likes you.

The endless darkness shattered with a deafening roar at that moment.