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

That is……

Blood……

The sharp needle, inserted into the temple, pierced the eyeball and slowly emerged from the eye, which was quickly soaked in blood and trembled incessantly.

One tooth at a time, they were pulled out, then sharp nails were driven into the gums, and then the hammer was raised high and brought down to drive the nails in.

After sawing off the scalp, I carefully used a dull knife and a ballpoint pen to pry open the skin, and gradually peeled off a piece of skin bit by bit.

Of course, the most important thing is to secure your hands, feet, and body.

How can you become good friends if you're always moving around?

After the items are dug up, they need to be sorted and put away properly.

The dirty blood needs to be cleaned up properly so as not to leave any unpleasant smell for my friends.

Making every friend happy is what we should do.

The gift should be prepared carefully.

You should treat your friends and guests well.

If you're impolite, your parents will get angry.

I can't make my parents angry.

Oh dear, my fingers are fidgeting again.

Alice, can I take this for you for a little while?

Do not……

No, what exactly is this...?

The chaotic consciousness has now fully awakened.

All that could be heard in the classroom was the piercing wailing.

The smell of blood continued to spread.

The singing continued amidst the nauseating, sticky sound.

She is singing:

I stepped on a cat! I stepped on a cat!

Then he chuckled softly.

It was as if she wasn't even in this bloodshed.

It was as if all those countless pitiful cries had nothing to do with her.

It was as if she had just come into this world, untouched by any filth, so pure and flawless.

Cheers could be heard coming from afar.

In places unseen, someone is shouting, someone is clapping, someone is cheering.

The laughter drifted past him.

Then suddenly, it stopped right next to my ear, even breathing on my ear.

She was talking to herself, whispering:

Alice wants to be your friend, is that okay?

Knock.

There was a knocking sound coming from somewhere.

Alice wants to talk to you, may she?

Knock.

It sounded like it was coming from very close by.

Alice is coming in, sorry to bother you~ Hehehe~

squeak-

The door was opened.

……

……

It wasn't until long after I woke up.

The body was still unable to move even an inch.

It was as if all the blood in my body had frozen, stiffened by an indescribable sense of terror.

Yotsuya Miko was panting heavily, and it took her a long time before she finally got out of bed.

We can already see the faint light coming through the window.

It should be morning now, time to get up, wash up, and go to school.

Was it just a dream?

The girl reached out and smoothed her somewhat messy hair, her eyes revealing undisguised fatigue.

This bizarre dream, with its self-proclaimed "Alice"—a strange being that seemed to be a little girl, yet also not even human—seemed to be happening before. Each time, the details of the dream were quickly forgotten upon waking, leaving only a faint sense of dread and a vague memory of having dreamt of such a person.

Why would I have such a dream?

With a sigh, Yotsuya Miko drew back the curtains and looked out the window at the sky, where things were still floating, but had become very faint, so faint that they were almost invisible.

There was one thing Takayuki didn't know: unlike him, Yotsuya Miko couldn't only clearly observe the existence of those things at dusk, and then lose sight of their outlines at night. For this girl, these eerie phantoms were now visible to her all day long. No matter the time or place, it wouldn't affect Yotsuya Miko's observation of these strange creatures.

This incident left the girl feeling very heavy-hearted.

Come to think of it, why did I start dreaming about these strange things?

And although the dreams I have each night are different, they always involve that person named Alice?

Miko Yotsuya couldn't help but recall the mysterious ritual called "Alice's Game" that had recently become popular in her class. It was said to help people make good friends. It seemed that quite a few girls were attracted to this, and some girls who wanted to find boyfriends had tried the ritual multiple times. Many people even said that the ritual was really effective.

Although Miko herself found the ritual childish and boring—drawing a six-pointed star on the table, holding a candle and lighting it, then silently chanting things like "Alice, Alice, please help me, please help me find a good friend"—she couldn't see anything magical about it and found it rather embarrassing.

She did observe several of her classmates performing the ceremony, but the problem was that she didn't see anything strange happen during the ceremony.

Never mind, it's just a dream, there's no need to take it to heart.

Thinking this, Miko opened the door and went into the hallway.

Then, she couldn't help but lower her head and look at her feet, at the footprints that stretched from the bottom of the stairs all the way to her room door before disappearing.

"Hey?"

The girl was slightly stunned.

Where did these footprints come from in my own home?

Did my slippers get wet and I didn't clean them properly?

She walked out of the house and closed the door.

As Jianzi walked away, the room returned to silence, with only the faint morning light illuminating the rather plain-looking girl's bedroom.

And that figure sitting on the edge of the bedroom bed, head slightly bowed.

I don't know when she sat there, maybe she's been sitting there for a long time. She's been sitting on the floor next to the bed, leaning forward with her head down, almost resting on the pillow.

Shh, Alice's here to bother you.

Be a good boy and rest well~

It seemed as if someone was speaking softly and chuckling quietly.

But in the empty bedroom, there was no one there, and no sound was heard.

Interlude 2-30: School Ghost Stories by Yotsuya Miko

slam-la-

Turn on the tap and reach out to catch the flowing water.

Seeing that Zi had lowered his head, he splashed water on his face and vigorously wiped it off.

The water is very cold.

It can even cause a slight stinging sensation when splashed on the face.

Using this method, Jianzi felt that she could become a little more clear-headed, and the dizziness in her head could be relieved a bit.

For some reason, she wasn't in a good mood all day. She spaced out several times in class and didn't even hear the teacher call her name.

It seemed as if her ears were always being covered by faint singing.

However, when she tried to distinguish them carefully, she found each time that she had simply misheard and mistaken other sounds for singing.

But if she deliberately ignores those sounds and pretends not to hear them, she will find that the singing becomes louder and louder, so loud that she can no longer hear any other sound, and it still won't stop.

Is it an illusion?

Or is there something wrong with me?

Looking up at her own face, which appeared noticeably haggard, Jianzi couldn't help but sigh softly.

At that moment, a girl walked past Miko from behind and went into the restroom next door.

Seeing that Zi didn't pay attention to the other person, she simply reached out and wiped the water off her face.

It's currently break time, and you can hear a lot of students making noise in the hallway. It's normal for girls to come into the restroom at this time, so there's no need to pay special attention to it.

Jianzi took this opportunity to wash her face in the school restroom, hoping to help herself wake up and avoid feeling listless.

Speaking of which, a lot of people in my class have been taking leave recently.

After washing her face and feeling a bit more refreshed, Jianzi couldn't help but start thinking.

Quite a few people are taking sick leave.

After all, there were many empty seats in the classroom; it seemed like almost half of them were already occupied.