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

Knowing that Jianzi had likely seen something he hadn't noticed, Gao Hai quickly asked.

“That model…it…it just turned its head to look at us.”

Startled and with her heart pounding, Miko took a deep breath and then whispered an explanation to Takahashi.

It was at this moment that Gao Hai, after carefully observing the movements of the mannequin, discovered that although it appeared to be standing still, one of its feet had shifted slightly, and the entire mannequin was moving as if it were turning around to face them.

Just now, both Miko and I were distracted by the girl who came up from behind, so did this thing move?

"Keep your eyes on it and don't look away, because it might move when we're not looking at it."

Gao Hai patted Miko on the shoulder and spoke earnestly to her. The girl nodded obediently, and although her expression still showed tension and fear, she stood there intently, staring at the mannequin, trying her best to keep her eyes fixed on it.

"Hey you, what's your name?"

Considering that staring at a mannequin wasn't very reliable, Gao Hai then looked at the girl who had followed him. Of course, it was only after observing her and confirming through the power of his blessing that she was still human and had no ill intentions that Gao Hai decided to communicate with her.

"My name is Kyoko Ogawa. I won't cause any trouble. May I come with you?"

The girl who called herself Kyoko Ogawa was very short, about 1.45 meters tall, and looked thin and malnourished. Compared to Miko, who was able to control her expressions well, this girl's fear was written all over her face, and her legs were trembling uncontrollably, as if she would collapse to the ground at any moment.

"Stand next to Yotsuya and stare at the mannequin with her."

Gao Hai didn't say much to the girl, but gave her an order and then turned to leave, carefully searching the hall.

There was a staircase on one side of the hall that led to both the upper and lower floors. Gao Hai saw the sign for this floor and confirmed that he was now on the 5th floor of the teaching building.

Next to the stairs was a corridor leading to a pitch-black place. But in that darkness, Gao Hai could vaguely see a small red glowing dot on one side of the wall, though he wasn't sure what it was.

He didn't approach the stairs, but quickly walked to the other side of the hall.

During this process, Gao Hai noticed the honor wall of the past principals of the wisteria-themed middle school hanging on the wall. It recorded the names of seven principals, which shows that the school has a long history, having been established since the Meiji Restoration and operating for more than two hundred years.

The information about the first five principals wasn't particularly noteworthy, but the information about the sixth principal, a man named Fujii Goro, caught Gao Hai's attention.

His tenure spanned from the 20s to the 60s, working in this position from his 40s to his 80s before retiring. During his tenure, he supposedly organized numerous friendly exchange activities between students and their German peers? Was he a German from that era? Is this for real?

As for the seventh principal, there is no information about him on the wall of honor. There is only a reserved empty space. Judging from the traces left, the personal introduction board of the seventh principal that was originally hanging here was removed. It is unknown who did it or where the removed introduction board is now.

Gao Hai didn't linger there. Knowing that the two girls not far away were still cautiously staring at the mannequin, he quickly walked past the wall of honor.

He saw ahead that the hall led to the third area, which was also a corridor shrouded in darkness. Gao Hai stood at the entrance of this corridor, glanced ahead, and quickly walked away after seeing nothing unusual. Then, he finally found something that was somewhat handy: a mop placed on one side of the hall.

Back in the day, I rolled a mop up in the toilet bowl at school and then used it to fight off some bullies who wanted to pick on me. Those were truly exhilarating days.

With this thought in mind, Gao Hai took the mop and returned to Miko's position. He saw that she and Ogawa Kyoko were still staring at the mannequin, which was standing still without making any movement. He walked up from the side, swung the mop, and knocked the mannequin to the ground.

bang-

With a crisp sound, the mannequin rolling on the ground shattered on the spot, scattering pieces all over the ground.

Although Gao Hai immediately used a mop to prevent the model from crashing to the ground, a considerable noise still echoed in the hall. However, after waiting a while, Gao Hai didn't see anything being attracted. It seemed that this level of noise wouldn't cause any trouble, or perhaps the strange creatures that are usually attracted to sound were now drawn to something else?

Thinking this, Gao Hai took a few steps back, avoiding the hand of the mannequin that rolled in front of him, and then swept it away with a mop.

However, this mannequin doesn't seem to be anything special, does it?

Despite emanating an eerie aura, this thing collapsed with a single tap, much like a real mannequin, shattering upon impact. This was somewhat unexpected for Gao Hai. He had prepared himself for it to grab him like a mop and attack, then activate his blessing power to throw it away.

Or does this thing only reveal its eerie side when people get close to it?

"Look around and see if anything is following us. I'm going to clear this thing away. Don't go near the debris on the ground."

After giving instructions to Miko and Kyoko, Takahashi swept all the model fragments on the ground to one side with a mop. Then he walked to the map, quickly scanning the entire map and memorizing its contents.

Just like the intelligence we received before, this floor plan is completely distorted, and it's the kind of structure that a normal building could never have.

Judging from the map, the entire fifth floor appears to be where the second-year junior high students have their classes, with a total of 24 classrooms, 3 teachers' offices, 2 restrooms, 1 storage room, 1 printing room, the second-year archives room, 2 staircases, and an elevator. Although the floor itself is severely distorted and disordered, it is still possible to roughly figure out what the place would look like normally.

To complete Alice's game, you need to find a ballpoint pen, an eraser, a notebook, a ruler, and a compass—all items commonly used by students, and logically, they'd be easiest to find in the classroom. The problem is, it seems likely that each classroom is crammed with 25 ghosts. If you search each classroom one by one, the entire floor will soon be in chaos.

Then, let's try that archives room.

Generally, such a place should have records of all the students, which might help us figure out who this "Alice" really is. But then again, isn't this "Alice" probably the core obsession of Fujihana Middle School? So obtaining information about her will likely lead to bad results, right? Ugh, I wonder if this accidental intrusion will restrict my watch or force me to complete it perfectly. This is really giving me a headache…

"time to go."

Having made up his mind, Gao Hai said something to Jianzi and led her toward one side of the corridor.

From the moment he entered the hall until the events that followed, Gao Hai silently timed it; roughly three or four minutes had passed.

After such a long time, apart from Kyoko Ogawa, no other female student entered the hall. The corridor from which he and Miko had come was now shrouded in silent darkness, devoid of any sound.

However, Gao Hai soon heard voices other than his own.

crunch - crunch -

Shortly after stepping into the corridor, the three of them suddenly heard the sound of plastic parts rubbing against each other behind them.

Kyoko Ogawa covered her mouth, almost so frightened that she sat down on the ground.

Jianzi nervously turned around and looked towards the back of the corridor.

Before Gao Hai heard the footsteps, he had already sensed the malice directed at him, and thus knew what was happening behind him.

The mannequin caught up.

Just moments ago, it had been shattered and scattered all over the ground, but now it had silently returned to its original state and was following behind Gao Hai and his group. When the three of them turned around to look at it, the thing was still moving forward, standing there motionless, as if it really were just a mannequin.

"So, is this a low-spec version of 173 coming to track us?"

Gao Hai muttered this under his breath, then heard a faint sound, like water rinsing. He turned to look in the direction of the sound and found it was coming from the toilet on one side of the corridor. And as he turned his head, in the dim candlelight, Gao Hai saw something flash past the toilet entrance, as if it had deliberately hidden itself inside, trying to avoid being seen by him.

Chapter Seven: Yotsuya Miko's Senses and the Sudden Attack

Like a mannequin in a Japanese urban legend, the thing seemed to have locked onto Gao Hai and his companions, relentlessly following them. Whenever one of them turned around, it would catch up with incredible speed, then stop and revert to a motionless doll whenever any of them looked back at it.

Gao Hai tried to smash this thing twice with a mop. It wasn't difficult at all; the mop would just shatter it into pieces all over the floor. But as soon as he looked away for a moment, the thing would quickly return to its original state and continue to follow behind them.

Perhaps we could try disassembling this thing and throwing the parts into different places?

Although he had some bold ideas, after some thought, Gao Hai decided against taking any rash actions. After all, while this thing didn't seem very threatening, considering its connection to other strange entities, if it were to become beyond repair, something terrible might happen. It was better to maintain the current relatively controllable situation.

Moreover, Gao Hai could sense that this thing's eerie nature wasn't just about tracking living people. It seemed that if it got too close to a living person, something bad would happen. Therefore, even if he smashed it, he absolutely couldn't get close to this thing.

Furthermore, what we need to focus on now is not just this human model.

"Just now, the person who went into that restroom was wearing our school uniform, but I couldn't tell if it was a classmate I knew."

Seeing that Zi had also seen the thing that flashed by at the toilet door, she immediately whispered to Gao Hai about it.

Did she see clearly what passed by the toilet door?

Gao Hai only saw something appear and disappear, but he didn't expect that Jianzi next to him could see it clearly. She could even make out that the other person had long, curly black hair that was close to her waist. He didn't know how she could see so many details.

No, Miko's eyes only target strange things; she only sees things very clearly when she's looking at them.

"Speed ​​up, try not to make too much noise, and stay away from that toilet."

As Gao Hai spoke, he moved forward along the wall of the corridor, quickly passing through the area where the toilet was located.

Seeing that Zi was walking over cautiously, he kept looking back to avoid the mannequin getting too close.

As for the girl named Kyoko Ogawa, she was trembling and wanted to walk faster, but her hands and feet wouldn't obey her commands. She could only barely keep up with the two of them. Every now and then, when she heard the sound of the mannequin walking behind her, she would turn pale with fright. It was clear that she was in a very bad state of mind.

Walk to the end of this corridor, turn the corner and you will pass three classes: Class 4, Class 3, and Class 2 of the second year of junior high school. Then you will enter a large hall. At the very back of the hall, you can find the entrance to the archives and the restrooms. Once you get there, you should be able to find something useful.

However, it's unclear what the situation will be like in these three classrooms that we will inevitably pass by.

As they pondered, the three of them took turns turning back and slowly made their way to the corner of the corridor.

The dark corridor was littered with broken tiles and wall plaster, and some trash bags were scattered on the ground. It was clear that the bags themselves had begun to fade due to their age, and there were also some strange graffiti drawings on the walls.

Gao Hai's gaze swept across the wall, examining some of the graffiti. He noticed that the content was largely the same: various ferocious monsters were depicted alongside them, either being torn apart or eaten on the spot, or imprisoned in cages carried by the monsters. Strangely, in every single graffiti, the little girl's face was filled with a smile, as if everything the monsters did to her made her happy.

As you turn the corner in the corridor, the dark passageway is illuminated by a faint light.

The light came from a window on one side, from which a faint glow emanated from the classroom, illuminating the corridor with a light the same color as candlelight.

Gao Hai stepped into the corridor, turned his head, looked into the window, and saw the scene inside the classroom of Class 004, Grade 8.

The classroom was dilapidated and had been abandoned for a long time.

All the desks were still neatly arranged on them, and a candle was lit on each desk, burning quietly and releasing its light.

The seats were empty.

Every seat was empty; only the candles on the tables remained.

It looks like a resource room specifically designed to provide players with candles to collect and extend their survival time.

But Gao Hai had no intention of going inside.

The fact that Miko deliberately avoided looking out the window already spoke volumes.

"Where?"

Gao Hai lowered his head and whispered in Jianzi's ear.

"...They were all under the window, watching us."

Yotsuya Miko didn't have the courage to look those things in the eye anymore, so she avoided their gaze and spoke to Takami.

Those were students, their bodies torn apart, a bloody and horrific sight.

Although they were almost unrecognizable as human beings, as if they had been cut into pieces of flesh, they were still stuck together and wearing complete school uniforms. They were all lying in front of the window, knocking on the window, as if reaching out to her for help.

SOS...?

Seeing that neither Takami nor Kyoko could see or hear the students, Miko's heart began to pound faster, and she could only lower her head and continue walking forward.

Why am I seeing these things?

Why do I have to go through this?

So terrifying, so horrifying, just one glance makes my legs go weak, and I feel utterly terrified.

The girl cried out silently in her heart.

She turned her head again to look at the mannequin following behind her. Seeing that it had unknowingly moved closer again, she quickly walked over and only calmed down a little after reaching Gao Hai's side.

Speaking of which, Mr. Gao has remained remarkably calm even now.

Yotsuya Miko secretly glanced at Takami, looking at the man whose expression remained unchanged throughout, who had been cautiously advancing.

Unlike himself, who was merely putting on a brave face, this man seemed genuinely calm, completely unfazed by the terrifying things. He was diligently analyzing the current situation and actively taking action.