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

The girl, her eyes half-open and half-closed, murmured to herself, still trying to push forward and get closer to Gao Hai. There was an unusual blush on her cheeks, and her eyes and brows revealed a hint of allure, which reminded Gao Hai of the expressions he had seen on the faces of those two girls when he fought against Chika Maki.

To be honest, Gao Hai quite enjoys watching these scenes of cute girls acting cute. For someone like him who's inherently a bit squeamish, there's probably no better way to calm his nerves than watching cute girls.

The problem is that Yotsuya Miko's sudden outburst really baffled Takami. After spending time with her across both playthroughs, she didn't seem like the type to act so casually, and even if she did have feelings for someone, she wouldn't be so direct, would she?

"Stop, stop for a second. This sheep's head mask I'm wearing is half-rotten. Honey, are you sure your sense of aesthetics is okay?"

"It's alright...it's alright...as for Mr. Gao...it's alright..."

The perception of blessings remained largely unaffected. Gao Hai pressed one hand against Jianzi's head, seeing that the girl still wouldn't give up. After thinking for a moment, he grabbed her shoulders, flipped her over, and lifted her to his side, holding her waist.

Even so, the girl continued to struggle, twisting her body as if she were being difficult.

However, thanks to Gao Hai's superhuman physical abilities, he barely felt any of this level of struggle, so he continued forward at a faster pace while carrying the dazed girl.

The abnormality in Miko Yotsuya may be a remnant of [Alice].

Looking down at the girl's undisguised intimacy and dazed expression, Gao Hai couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Of course, it was the sheep's head hood that was raising its eyebrows. This thing was now completely integrated into Gao Hai's head; Gao Hai had now become a person with a sheep's head. However, even so, he could still speak like a normal person, and no one knew how this bizarre hood worked.

Regardless, Gao Hai doesn't believe that "Alice" turned Miko into this just for the sake of the whole life.

After confirming that Miko was completely disoriented and unable to continue her investigation, Gao Hai found a small, enclosed room, put her inside, and then turned to leave, pulling the doorknob before leaving.

During this process, Jianzi still looked confused as she tried to get closer to Gao Hai, persistently trying to kiss him, and her hands groped him several times.

Gao Hai simply removed her hand expressionlessly, shut her out of the room, and then turned and left.

"If I come back alive, I will come and release you."

Before leaving, Gao Hai said this to Jianzi inside the house.

"2...2..."

Faintly, one could hear the girl muttering something to herself. But Gao Hai had no intention of continuing the conversation and simply turned and walked away.

This underground complex looks quite old, with a maze of passageways. Some rooms contain strange instruments that seem to have no meaning, while others are covered in blood and look like a slaughterhouse.

Gao Hai couldn't find the room where Alice kept her dolls.

He also couldn't find anything, such as a map, that could help him determine his direction.

Meanwhile, the rescue team on the seventh floor had successfully entered the principal's office and discovered that the walls of the room were covered with surveillance screens of all sizes, divided into four different areas: the teaching building area, the dormitory building area, the playground area, and the swimming pool area.

This place is less like a principal's office and more like a security guard's room. It seems that the former principal of Fujika Middle School was in charge of monitoring the entire school, which explains why the strange behavior of the "Elephant Principal" is related to surveillance.

Speaking of which, surveillance equipment and this magnetic card system don't seem to have been invented during World War II, right? I think they were invented in the 1960s or 70s. Is it because technology is developing faster in this world? Hmm... it's probably just a difference between parallel worlds. We don't need to worry too much about that.

After searching the area, the rescue team on the 7th floor found a hidden compartment behind a bookshelf on one side of the office, containing what appeared to be letters and notes left by the principal.

Turning to the first page of records, the first thing you see is a line of strong, vigorous handwriting.

【Fujii Goro】

He was the 6th principal of Fujika Middle School.

Gao Hai was not surprised to see the name. While continuing to explore the underground area, he ordered the rescue team to look through the records without hesitation and confirm that they were likely left behind by one of the twisted and dark masterminds behind Fujika Middle School.

The first document was a written document, an order issued by the military to Fujika Middle School.

Gao Hai ignored the meaningless letter format and structure of the document and looked directly at its contents.

The "God-Making Project" has been launched, and your school has been tasked with undertaking one of the research projects within it.

[You must cooperate with the military researchers; this is an unparalleled honor. Do everything in your power to contribute to the construction of a great empire.]

The date on the document is around the 40s, which confirms the exact time when this bloody plan began.

The second document also came from the military, but unlike the previous written documents, this one seemed to be a more private one, appearing to be a response given to appease Fujii Goro.

[To Fujii:]

Your concerns are unnecessary. Please rest assured that this research will absolutely not harm your interests or safety.

The fact that some newly enrolled students have names and appearances that cannot be identified is not a problem at all; on the contrary, it proves that our experiment is on the right track. Extraordinary power has been gradually accumulating in this school and has begun to produce genuine anomalies. You should be proud of this; this achievement is partly due to your efforts.

As for those teachers who fail to notice anything amiss and treat those students like normal people, do not communicate with them or try to remind them. Since they have already become like this, let it continue to develop as it is. Reduce your interaction with those people to avoid getting hurt as well.

We cannot send additional personnel at the moment; the combat mission is becoming increasingly urgent, so let's hold out for a while. We have already begun preparing the next phase of the offensive plan, and you should also seize the time to continue your research and produce results that can be applied to the battlefield.

【——Sato】

A new name has emerged.

This guy seems to be someone in the upper echelons of the military. Perhaps the experiment at Fujika Middle School was orchestrated by him behind the scenes. I wonder if he died in that school.

The next few documents were records of enrollment each year, marking the proportion of those whose names could not be identified and those who were enrolled through normal channels. In less than three years, the proportion of students with unknown origins skyrocketed from 15% to over 92%. Eventually, only Class 1 of each grade remained entirely composed of externally recruited students; the vast majority of students in the remaining classes had been replaced by those with unknown origins.

Based on these records, it can be inferred that the school actually killed around two thousand students. Considering that each student was wiped out along with their family members, Gao Hai estimates the actual death toll to be at least ten thousand. He can only say that these guys are truly terrifying and beastly.

It was at this time that Gao Hai found a very hidden little room in the underground area.

The room appeared to be a safe house or similar place, filled with empty cans and trash. The door was reinforced, but it was now twisted and torn open, leaving a passable area. In one corner of the room, there was a pile of filth, and lying there was a corpse that had lost its limbs and head, its body dissected and its internal organs removed. Judging from its clothing, the person appeared to be a researcher.

Gao Hai stepped into the room and saw a crumpled piece of paper next to the corpse, which looked like the person's last words.

I'm going to die, that's right, you're going to die, you idiot.

The handwriting on the paper was quite messy, and even Gao Hai would have difficulty deciphering it.

[I should never have accepted this appointment in the first place. I should have resigned as soon as I realized something was wrong. Even being sent to the front lines would have been better than staying here. At least I would have died a quicker death and wouldn't have to live in constant fear like this every day.]

These people have gone mad, or rather, everyone has gone mad.

[At first, it seemed like those weirdos had infiltrated the student body, thinking it was a good thing to reduce casualties. Bullshit, utter bullshit! I've carefully studied those students whose identities I couldn't pinpoint. Their blood samples matched those of students who had died in the past, and their clothing and behavioral patterns also matched those of the deceased. These guys aren't some students of unknown origin; they're the dead returning.]

[Then some teachers and frontline researchers got into trouble, which was inevitable, even though we had established rules to protect ourselves. But dealing with this kind of thing, one slip-up can be fatal. Then those people came back, even though they were already dead, thrown into the crematorium, they were back the next day. Some people didn't realize the problem, they had already been affected, some people noticed something was wrong but pretended not to know and let it continue to develop.]

Of course I know why we have to do this. This experiment has reached a point where it can't be stopped. If we ultimately fail to produce results, everyone will have to commit seppuku. Damn it, even so, we can't let this happen!

[Finally, even the sealed underground research institute started experiencing this situation, and that's when I knew we were probably doomed. Everyone was dealing with the dead, and those dead were mixed in with the living. Whether they knew about it or not, they were all communicating with those things normally. From that moment on, I knew we were doomed.]

The person in charge of Nightfall Mountain Middle School is a complete scoundrel. What do you mean by "produced usable results"? If they really had results, why haven't we seen any significant changes over there? I think it's just like that Enterprise ship that's been sunk multiple times—all talk and no action. To date, there hasn't been a single concrete project that has released the strange power outside the area where it's located. How dare they spout such nonsense… forcing us all to speed up the process, forcing us to loosen all restrictions, and now we've reached this point…

I can hear the knocking now, Alice... Alice has come to see me...

She treated us all as friends, haha, I don't know how she did it. According to the rules, students are not allowed to be friends with teachers and researchers, but now there are hardly any living people left in the entire base.

[She shouldn't be able to get in. When we designed her, we specifically added restrictions to prevent her from doing things like walking through walls. So as long as this door is properly closed, she can't come in and hurt me.]

But the food is almost gone... the food in this shelter is almost gone... why hasn't rescue arrived yet? What have those bastards in the military been doing? I don't want to die, I don't want to die, it's not my fault, it's clearly not my fault... I was just following orders, I was just following orders, I shouldn't be the one being punished...

I don't want to die...

I don't want to die...

I don't want to die...

I don't want to die...

I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die...

Finally, the repeated, disordered handwriting occupied almost half of the paper.

Then, at the very bottom of this paper, there is a message with very cute handwriting.

Alice and you are already good friends!

It seems that this person's fate is already predictable. Oh no, you can actually tell what the final outcome will be just by looking at the appearance of this corpse.

Gao Hai put down the letter and turned around, only to see a researcher lying next to him with a face covered in blood.

The next moment, the thing let out a shrill howl, suddenly stood up, its limbs and head broke off, its chest and abdomen opened and its internal organs flowed out, and its torn body rushed forward.

Chapter 33: Reflections on Alice and the Area Reached

It took Gao Hai about half a minute to turn the researcher who had suddenly jumped up back into a motionless lump of flesh.

A slight dizziness ran through his head, probably from reading the other person's last words, which caused some mental pollution. However, Gao Hai was already under multiple enhancements, so he didn't feel any pollution at all. As a result, when the researcher, who had transformed into a strange creature, attacked, Gao Hai reacted immediately, took out his machete, and chopped the thing to pieces on the spot.

Although this cannot truly eliminate the inhuman anomaly, its mobility has naturally been reduced to the extreme under such division, to the point that it can no longer even move.

"That sounds like a really good reason, 'I was just following orders, I did nothing wrong,' should I say it's a classic case of 'classic'?"

With that, Gao Hai walked out of the room and looked deeper into the dark research institute.

He was now very close to the location of the gaze of one of the underground [Alice] he had sensed earlier.

I wonder what will happen then.

As Gao Hai processed the information he had gathered, he continued to advance cautiously.

Perhaps, once I get there, I'll be able to find out the truth about what Alice really is?

Although that's what he said, Gao Hai already had some guesses and ideas.

That said, this so-called "Campus Ghost Stories" seems to be just like the Red Nut Gray Hole—purely a man-made disaster. In fact, the situation here is even worse than the Red Nut Gray Hole. At least in the Red Nut Gray Hole, strange phenomena occurred first, and then people intervened. But in this instance, hell is purely man-made, a dark place teeming with the bizarre.

Even as the situation began to spiral out of control, and the situation became increasingly uncontrollable, they showed no remorse and allowed it to develop in an even worse direction, ultimately resulting in a happy ending with a complete wipeout.

Let's organize our thoughts.

The existence of "Alice," whatever it may be, possesses a bizarre aspect. The core of this bizarre rule lies in "making friends." Whether it's the requirement to complete the game ritual and become friends with Alice before killing, or the absolute priority given to the flesh and blood dolls representing Alice's "friends," both clearly illustrate the core rule of this entity.

Is she a little girl who likes making friends?

Considering that Alice herself was likely a specially selected vessel, perhaps the original Alice was just an ordinary girl. Researchers used this child's personality and memories to mold her into a weapon with bizarre powers, who loved making friends and was absolutely obedient to her teacher. And ultimately, they succeeded; the Alice they desired was indeed born. However, this bizarre entity was so powerful that it ignored some of the original rules and limitations.

It seems like a reasonable approach... but no, this approach has flaws.

In his hallucinations, Gao Hai saw Alice holding a concert. At that time, Alice seemed to be alive and had an incredibly high level of popularity, almost like a national idol. Moreover, judging from the scene in the hallucination, it was clearly in the 1960s or 70s or even later, which conflicts with the timeline of the experiments during World War II.

The "Alices" seen at Fujika Middle School seem to be without physical form, merely capable of creating illusions. To inflict actual damage, they must possess someone, or Gao Hai must take out that human skin umbrella, an object of obsession that appears to be made from the skin of an "Alice," for it to have a physical form.

Based on what we've learned from the underground research base, it seems that the final Alice destroyed the entire school, wiping out everyone there.

Perhaps Fujika Junior High School was actually "safe" to some extent at this stage. After Japan's defeat, no one would normally try to enter such an abandoned school. Even if homeless people came in, they would not be able to access the secret areas inside the school.

But the seventh principal who appeared later, the one whose identity was never recorded, may have done something. Perhaps he restarted the school? Perhaps he opened a passage to the secret area and entered this underground research base? Whatever the possibility, this person of unknown name and identity is quite likely the reason why [Alice] transformed from a monster into a human and left the school area.

Then, at the very end, Alice reverted to her bizarre state. She appeared to have been dismembered, and the black umbrella was created from a part of her body. Gao Hai speculated that Alice was likely divided into four parts, corresponding to the four areas of Fujika Middle School. The black umbrella might be an object of Alice's obsession belonging to the sealed-off swimming pool or sports field.

At this point, Gao Hai couldn't help but wonder: Alice wasn't the core obsession of the instance, so why was she the key to every area of ​​Fujika Middle School? Why would taking her obsession item seal off that area? This should be a characteristic of core obsession items. Normally, when an ordinary obsession item is taken, only the corresponding strange entity disappears, and the related scene might change.

For example, the rescue team at Shirakawa Apartment is strange. If Gao Hai takes all the badges from each rescue team member, then as long as he leaves the instance or puts the object of his obsession into the watch that isolates everything, then the rescue team members will no longer appear on the first floor, and the scene of the flood will have a certain possibility of disappearing.