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

Alright, alright, let's go. This isn't the place for catching up. Ah... I really want some drinks and barbecue. Risking your life like this isn't fun at all, and there's no pay for it...

After a brief, earnest conversation, the student manipulated by Xiong Mi began to complain like a middle-aged office worker, and then took the lead.

The blessing from the little girl at Shirakawa Apartment clearly indicated that the student before him was a ghost, yet she also harbored goodwill towards Takahashi. This contradictory feeling was enough to explain the current situation. Therefore, Takahashi did not hesitate at all and followed the student downstairs with Miko.

Miko Yotsuya blinked. In her vision, this strange student had the face of Kumami herself, but the body of a male student and the face of a woman. This dislocation made Miko feel a little novel.

tread--

The girl turned around abruptly and looked behind her.

Strange, did I just hear someone's footsteps?

When Jianzi listened more carefully, he found that he couldn't hear any sound at all.

Could it be just my imagination?

“Mr. Gao, I think I just heard someone following us. I heard footsteps once.”

Although it might be an illusion, Jianzi had previously heard Gao Hai say that he had to tell him regardless of whether it was an illusion or not, so after hesitating for a moment, she still spoke to Gao Hai in a low voice.

"Is that so? Hmm... there shouldn't be any problem. Stay close and hold my hand."

Gao Hai stopped and listened carefully to the sounds behind him. Then he shook his head, indicating that he should follow him.

It seems that nothing unusual has happened.

Everything is still normal for now.

But in reality, this strange student being manipulated by Xiong Mi had already spoken to Gao Hai, directly transmitting some information into his mind.

[There's an Alice following you, about 3 meters away. We can't pinpoint her exact location yet. She's actively hiding herself, and we probably won't be able to prevent her from attacking. I suspect she's been near one of you since you entered the dorm. She might even have ended up in the same dorm room as one of you, because when I woke up in my dorm, there were two Alices on the beds next to me—it totally messed me up!]

This mental transmission surprised Gao Hai once again, but then he almost couldn't help but twitch his lips because of the important message Xiong Mi transmitted.

Did you stay with us from the moment you entered the dormitory building and woke up?

He immediately killed three students in his dormitory without noticing anything unusual. It's unlikely that this thing was following him, which means Alice was living in the same dormitory as Miko?!

Realizing the current situation, Gao Hai couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Chapter 46: Mental Communication and the Echo from the Darkness

In the dark corridor, only the sound of three footsteps could be heard as they slowly made their way down.

Takahashi held a red candle in his hand, glancing back every now and then to observe the situation behind him, keeping a close eye on Yotsuya Miko who was following him.

The team maintained a quiet atmosphere.

But in reality, two of the team members were having a conversation the whole time.

Are you sure that thing has been following us the whole time?

Having used similar mental communication techniques before, Gao Hai quickly adapted to Xiong Mi's mental communication with him and began exchanging messages with her rapidly.

[That's right, I could never mistake that thing's aura for anyone else's. It's probably locked onto you or that little girl now. "Alice" will actively choose targets that interest it to track after the game starts, and one of you and that little girl must have become its target.]

Xiong Mi, who was standing to the side with a cigarette in his mouth and a calm expression, also spoke quickly in the mental channel.

[That sounds terrible, though I'm not surprised at all. Its target is Yotsuya Miko, the little girl next to me. I have a blessing that can share the burden of mental pollution and cognitive dissonance to protect her. I absolutely cannot let Yotsuya be possessed, otherwise this thing will become extremely troublesome. Oh, right, what was the hairstyle of the last girl I saw off in the school building again?]

Gao Hai dismissed the new ability the watch had given him as a blessing, and then earnestly warned Xiong Mi while observing her reaction.

[Twin tails, so you already know what this thing's target is? It can even possess living people…no wonder it's so difficult to deal with. So you insisted on bringing her along to prevent her from being possessed where we can't see her, right? By the way, what was the longest rendezvous time I told you before entering the dorm building?]

Upon hearing this, Xiong Mi immediately realized what was happening and began observing Gao Hai.

[You said you'd split up if you couldn't get to the first floor within 15 minutes.]

Gao Hai answered very quickly.

Yes, no problem. We can confirm that the current conversation is between the two of them, and nothing is interfering. You can relax and continue the conversation.

Although it seems that Alice doesn't have the ability to cause trouble during mental communication, both Gao Hai and Xiong Mi are clearly terrified of Alice. Therefore, they have to confirm the situation with each other before they dare to continue talking, even when exchanging information.

In short, Alice can possess and manipulate living people, and seemingly can also possess the dead. However, from my observation, it seems very difficult for ordinary people to be possessed by her. Yotsuya Miko, on the other hand, possesses a very special visual ability. With this ability, she can even directly access the contents of Fujihana Middle School's rules from decades ago from a hallucination, memorizing every single word. Perhaps because of this, she easily sees things she shouldn't when facing Alice, and then, due to a lack of willpower, becomes mentally unstable and is possessed.

"...So, she's actually a ticking time bomb? And the kind you can't lose, you have to keep her with you? Dude, how did you manage to survive in that teaching building with this girl? I really don't know whether to admire you or pity you."

[Anyway, if only Alice is with me, I still have a chance to trap it. No… it's hard to say, since I'm not sure about its rules of conduct in the dormitory. Anyway, Miss Xiongmi, if you find yourself in a situation where escape is impossible, you can try swearing to it that you'll kill it. Alice seems to have a strong hatred for good people who are quick to condemn evil; doing so might make her stop considering you a friend.]

"Is that so? That's one way, but let's talk about it later. I've fooled those two for now. These Alices shouldn't share their memories, at least not the Alices from different areas. I've noticed the Alices in the dorms don't seem to know how the Alices in the classrooms caught me, so I can continue to stall for time. Be careful, I'll rejoin you as soon as possible. By the way, have you taken off that hood?"

[I haven't taken it off yet. I have a fixation item that can remove the assimilation effect of this headgear on me, so I can keep wearing it until I reach my limit.]

That's good. Just don't take it off. If you remove the hood, the hood's permissions won't work on the eerie atmosphere here. The monsters active here seem to recognize people who have removed their hoods, and will ignore the player's permissions in that situation and attack them.

Is there such a situation?

Gao Hai was somewhat surprised by this, but he didn't pay much attention to it. After all, he hadn't taken off the hood since he woke up in the dormitory and put it on. The game hints recorded by the players for Fujihana Middle School included the rule that "once you put on the mask, you can't easily take it off." Based on that rule alone, Gao Hai wouldn't risk taking off his hood to test the waters. Even when he went to rescue Miko, he didn't remove the hood the entire time.

But then again, when I played through the second time, I was still a little scared of my mask, so why was she so much calmer this time?

And those students, their reactions were very strange, not at all like how a student should behave when facing a teacher. Why is that?

While he was thinking, Gao Hai had already arrived at the corridor on the second floor.

Looking ahead along the dirty, wet ground, in the dark corridor ahead, one could faintly hear the sound of water gushing out.

The strange student controlled by Xiong Mi had fallen behind Gao Hai and Jian Zi. Xiong Mi could only control this strange thing for a short time, so she put it behind her and used it as a moving warning device.

slam-la-

As I continued walking, the sound of the flushing water gradually became clearer.

Gao Hai looked to his side and saw the room number: 212.

As he descended the stairs to the second floor, he had already seen a rough map of the floor. It wasn't much different from the third floor, except for one less room and an additional passageway connecting to the teaching building. From where he was now, continuing forward would lead directly to the entrance to the restrooms; it was time to make a decision and take action.

The figure of a tall rescue team member appeared beside Gao Hai in the next moment.

Taking a step, the rescue team member quickly reached the toilet door and turned to look inside.

The washrooms and toilets on each floor of the dormitory building are all in the same place, with a wide entrance directly in the wall, allowing direct access without any doors. The washroom is to the right of the entrance, and the toilet is to the left. At this moment, the sound of flushing water is coming from the toilet on the left, which is particularly loud in the darkness.

If we walk directly down the corridor, the distance between where Miko and I are and where the toilet is being flushed might be reduced to less than 10 meters, which could potentially violate the rules here. While I'm protected by the balaclava and shouldn't have much of a problem, Miko would likely receive a warning.

How about trying to break down the dormitory walls, or even destroy the ground to advance? But doing that would result in a "trash within 10 meters" situation. However, that doesn't seem like a big problem, since we've been through trash everywhere we've been. The dormitory building in the dark is essentially an abandoned place. If we were to delve too deeply into this rule, Jianzi would have already become a "bad student."

After hesitating for a moment, Gao Hai ultimately decided not to do so.

Although he couldn't pinpoint the exact reason, the strange -1 floor he had accidentally entered earlier had put considerable pressure on Gao Hai. He guessed that while the dormitory building didn't present a distorted and bizarre structure like the teaching building, there was probably a chaotic and twisted side hidden beneath its seemingly normal surface, and any action that broke with convention could potentially lead the player into this distorted area.

Well then, let's try to follow the rules first. Anyway, if something goes wrong, it's Guo who will suffer.

[I am a rescuer. Are there any survivors inside? Please reply!]

After Gao Hai made his decision, the rescue team member stood at the entrance of the toilet and shouted loudly inside.

【…】

There seemed to be a faint sound coming from the toilet.

It sounded like someone's footsteps pacing back and forth in the darkness.

It sounded like someone was replying to the rescue team, but the voice was so muffled that it was almost completely drowned out by the sound of the toilet flushing.

[I am a rescuer. Are the survivors inside male or female? I will use this information to guide my rescue operation!]

So Gao Hai asked the rescue team member to ask the questions again.

【■■……■……】

The sounds from the toilet seemed to have gotten louder, but they were still difficult to discern under the cover of the flushing sound, making it impossible to determine the other person's gender.

In Alice's puzzle game rules, players can only enter the toilet after finding out the gender of the person inside. Therefore, Gao Hai did not hesitate and immediately ordered the rescue team members in front to shout into the toilet for the third time.

[I am a rescue worker. Are you a gentleman or a lady?]

Actually, Gao Hai wanted the rescue team member to say something like "gg" or "mm" to try and lighten the mood, but after thinking about it, it didn't seem appropriate. Besides, the rescue team member only takes orders when it comes to rescue-related matters, and Gao Hai really couldn't order him around in such situations.

[Am I asking... or...?]

This time, Gao Hai, with the help of sharing his senses with the rescue team, finally managed to make out the sound coming from the toilet.

It sounded like a male voice.

The voice was deep and resonant, just like the voice of the rescuer.

No… that voice in the darkness was exactly the same as the rescue team’s voice!

At the moment Gao Hai realized it, a male voice, devoid of any emotion, rang out from inside the restroom.

[I'm a rescue team member. Are you a gentleman or a lady?]

The repetition was exactly the same as the third time, and the voices were exactly the same as those of the rescuers. It was as if the words spoken by the rescuers were being played back verbatim, like a recording being played back.

The next moment, Gao Hai lost all contact with the rescue team member.

The tall figure that had been standing at the toilet entrance had vanished. It seemed an invisible force had pulled it inside, and upon entering, the rescuer instantly disappeared, returning to Gao Hai's watch to await restoration.

slam-la-

The sound of running water in the toilet continued.

As if they had seen something very amusing, a sound of someone secretly laughing came from behind Takami and Miko.

Chapter 47: The Adventures of Seeing the Child and the People Who Were Taken Advantage Of

Mr. Gao, he seemed very nervous the whole time.

As they descended the stairs to the second floor, Yotsuya Miko secretly observed Takami's reaction.

At first, there didn't seem to be much of a reaction. Although he was alert to his surroundings, he was relatively normal. But after the arrival of the strange student controlled by Miss Xiong Mi, Mr. Gao suddenly became nervous for some reason, as if he had discovered something bad but dared not make a sound for fear of being discovered.

[Did you see that? Did you see that? Did you see that?]

Suddenly, Jianzi heard a sound.

Those sounds were coming from the dormitory rooms on both sides of the corridor.

It emanated from those strange creatures—no, it was as if this place was recreating something that happened at a certain moment in the past; she was hearing the voice of a certain moment from the past.

[Did you see that? They're students from the 3rd and 9th floors. Looks like there are only these three this time.]