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

But the "Alice" here is just too outrageous; it's as if the entire Fujika Middle School is a derivative of her.

Ok?

Gao Hai suddenly paused for a moment.

He looked around, carefully scanning the place in front of him.

Is this possibility even possible?

The entire Fujika Middle School... is actually just a derivative area of ​​the bizarre "Alice"? Including the underground base I'm currently in, it can't really be considered the "Fujika Middle School area," it's just a facade?

I have never truly experienced the real side of this area.

All the intelligence I've gathered so far, and everything I've experienced, is just a superficial part of this place, and may even be false to some extent.

"call……"

Take a deep breath.

Gao Hai suddenly accelerated and started running.

He thought of a possibility.

Verification must be carried out immediately; there can be no further delay. Confirmation is necessary right away.

Walk through the narrow corridor with various pipes running through it.

One after another, eerie figures dressed as researchers and teachers appeared from all around, but Gao Hai ignored them completely and ran past them, maximizing the power of his blessing and moving forward at his fastest speed.

The rescue team on the 7th floor had completed their search of the principal's office and, through the window, spotted the strangest room on the map, a room that seemed to have no connection to anything else.

The rescue team on the 6th floor had entered the biology classroom and saw the figure of "Turtle Teacher" in the empty classroom, cutting open the belly of the human model lying on the table, seemingly searching for something.

Gao Hai finally arrived at the last door, swiped his ID card in the designated area, and then calmly watched as the heavy door, a meter thick, slowly opened.

Inside the door was an open area.

A foul stench assaulted Gao Hai's face.

He stepped inside and looked around, seeing empty culture chambers and piles of rotting flesh on the ground.

Numerous pipes from all directions, from the floor and the ceiling, converge in the very center of the room, onto a small platform.

Alice lay quietly on the platform with her eyes closed, as if she were asleep.

No, there is no Alice lying there.

There was only a walking stick there.

It's just a cane a little over a meter long, made from the spine, ribs, and bones from different parts of the body.

Beside this cane, on one side of this platform, lies a corpse on the ground.

The corpse was dressed in a casual t-shirt and shorts, a style completely different from the eerie attire of Fujika Middle School, suggesting it came from a later era.

Gao Hai walked up to the corpse and found it to be just an ordinary man, nothing special. His death was also simple: he had been shot twice, once in the chest and once in the head, apparently from behind.

The man was holding a ticket in his hand.

Gao Hai used some effort to pry open the man's fingers and pick up the receipt.

It's a concert ticket, and it even has an autograph.

【Perfect Idol Alice - Neon Tour Concert】

[Time: 197■ year■ month■ day 19:40]

[Venue: ■■■■ Stadium]

Seating: Row ■■

Let's become Alice's best friends!

The receipt itself appeared to be damp with sweat, as some of the contents were illegible.

Gao Hai stared at the receipt with a furrowed brow for a moment, then heard footsteps behind him.

And that eerie aura that I've felt many times before, belonging to that thing.

【Those are Alice's good friend's things, teacher, it's best not to touch them!】

Amidst soft laughter, Gao Hai turned around and saw Yotsuya Miko standing behind him, smiling at him, and clumps of writhing, dark red flesh that had somehow flowed in from outside the door.

Chapter Thirty-Four: I Will Personally Send You to Hell

Teacher, why aren't you saying anything?

A soft, girlish voice rang out.

[The teacher is really naughty; she didn't follow Alice's game rules and even stole Alice's friend.]

The scarlet color was gradually spreading.

Even so, Alice can still forgive her teacher. As long as the teacher tells Alice how she stole Alice's friend and returns Alice's friend and her things, Alice can still be friends with her teacher.

In the dark square, Alice, who had completely occupied Yotsuya Miko's space, was smiling.

Behind her, countless mangled and twisted chunks of flesh, piled up into a grotesque mass, were gradually taking over the underground space. The path they had come from was now impossible to revisit, and to be honest, Gao Hai couldn't see any other passable routes. Or rather, even if such a path existed, it had been hidden and concealed by the power of [Alice].

Is there no way out?

The second playthrough has taken about an hour and a half from the beginning to now.

Compared to the first playthrough, there didn't seem to be much difference. Even though Gao Hai was able to deal with most of the strange things in Fujika Middle School, he still didn't have a sufficiently effective way to avoid Alice. Even though he had deciphered Alice's existence to some extent and discovered a way to stop her movements, it didn't bring about much change.

Ultimately, one of these unreasonable monsters would be torturous enough, but this lousy school has over a dozen. They finally manage to trap one and restrict its movement, only to have a second one appear shortly after. It's certain that even if they manage to trap the second one, a third, a fourth, or even more [Alice]s will follow. For Gao Hai, whose most obsessions are already unusable, these enemies are utterly disgusting.

However, at least this time, he finally found the core of this place.

Gao Hai turned his head and looked at the walking stick made of human bones that was placed on the platform.

Alice is still some distance away from him right now. He didn't become friends with her this time. The monster isn't moving very fast. He has plenty of time to grab the staff and stain it with his blood.

So all you have to do is give it your all and get ahead of the competition...

Sensing something, Gao Hai turned around and looked at Alice, who was still standing there motionless, smiling and watching him.

After a brief silence, Gao Hai did not approach the bone staff, but instead took a step away from it.

Hey, what is the teacher doing?

Alice blinked, a hint of confusion on her face.

Which Alice are you?

Gao Hai stared intently at Jianzi in front of him and slowly asked her a question.

Alice is just Alice, okay? The teacher's question is really strange.

The girl covered her mouth with her hand and couldn't help but let out a soft laugh, as if Gao Hai had just told a joke.

"..."

Gao Hai remained silent, but turned to look at the platform again. As expected, the human bone staff was no longer on the platform.

The reason they realized something was wrong was because Alice's timing was absolutely perfect.

It was as if they had deliberately created a hopeless situation where survival was impossible, forcing him to snatch the cane, in order to try to observe his trump card and confirm how he took away each of his obsessive objects.

The reason Gao Hai was able to react was quite simple: he remembered the reason for his death in the first timeline, which was taking out that black umbrella.

After Alice's object of obsession returns to the Fujika Middle School instance, it becomes equivalent to Alice herself. So, will Alice's object of obsession, which was already in the instance and was not taken away, just lie there obediently waiting for him to take it, like a game item?

It was a trap from the very beginning.

The Alice deep underground had likely been following him and Miko from the very beginning, simply concealing its presence. It didn't possess Miko immediately, but waited until Takami left her alone before doing so. As for Takami's supposed act of breaking the doorknob, that was probably just his own assumption. After that, this thing had been following him from a distance, using the power of illusion to guide him to this place.

So where exactly will it be?

That object of obsession that was hidden away, yet rightfully exists here.

Gao Hai took a step back and then bumped into the wall.

The original underground plaza had disappeared; he was now at the end of a narrow corridor, a dead end.

Alice, however, remained standing there, blocking his way.

Behind her, the twisted mass of flesh and blood from countless dead students continued to spread toward her.

"call……"

Gao Hai's breathing has calmed down.

He turned his head to look at Alice standing not far away, and then slowly spoke:

"I've already broken the rules of the game, so why do you say I can still be your friend? Doesn't that conflict with your rules?"

As he spoke, Gao Hai closed his eyes, his mind completely focused, carefully distinguishing between the perceptions of reality and illusion.

That kind of thing isn't important. The purpose of a game is to have fun and find friends to play together. Even if you don't follow the rules, it's not a big deal. As long as you've found someone suitable, someone you can be friends with, isn't that enough?

Alice tilted her head, her attitude seemingly casual, but her voice sounded very serious as she answered Gao Hai's question.

Sure enough, the core rule that needs to be followed for this thing is simply the concept of "friends" itself. Although the rules of the "Alice Game" impose many restrictions on players, whether the parts concerning Alice will work or not probably depends entirely on her mood.

However, if that's the case, I probably know how to ensure that I will never become friends with her.

"It's impossible for me to be friends with you."

As if he couldn't sense the approaching fleshy monster, Gao Hai stood still and answered Alice in a cold voice.

"Oh dear, teacher, don't be so absolute! Alice thinks we'd make a great couple. Oh, right, how about we exchange gifts? If we do, we can become best friends!"

Alice just chuckled and reached out to take out a ballpoint pen that had been stained red.

"No matter what you say, no matter how much you pretend, I can never be your friend. There is only one thing I will do to you, and that is to send you to real hell so that you can receive the punishment you deserve."

But Gao Hai simply stood still, keeping his eyes closed, and continued speaking.

Alice has never made a mistake, she has never hurt anyone, and she only wants to be friends with everyone. How could someone like Alice possibly go to hell?

Alice just kept smiling.

"Of course you made a mistake, of course you did something wrong. No matter how well you pretend on the surface, your true nature will not change. I know that very well, so no matter what you say, it's the same. What I'm going to do will not change. I will destroy this school, I will completely destroy this place, I will rescue those innocent people from here and let them find the peace they deserve. And guys like you, I will send you all to hell."

Gao Hai's voice grew increasingly cold.