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

"It didn't disappear? Overall, that's a good thing, at least Jianzi can change back into her own clothes."

While Yotsuya Miko was still puzzled by her strange idea that she didn't know where it came from, Takami nodded slightly and spoke.

As for Xiong Mi herself, she only stepped forward and picked up a piece of underwear that Jianzi had dropped on the ground after confirming once again that there was no danger around.

"Wow, this size is pretty impressive. Cough cough, here you go."

Xiong Mi subconsciously whistled, then realized that he had acted like an old man in front of strangers. He coughed twice and quickly handed the underwear to Yotsuya Miko, who was already blushing.

Hopefully, these two newbies won't think that all Red Moon-level players are freaks. After all, as a key member of the "Slacking Off Gang," I'm completely different from our captain who likes to cross-dress, our vice-captain who has a special fondness for stinky feet, our assault specialist who's good at messing with both men and women at the same time, and our scout who always carries firecrackers and runs to the toilet to blow up feces, and so on.

Tsk... Speaking of which, my player team was quite normal when it was first created, so how did it turn into a shelter for a bunch of weirdos?

Thinking back to Xiong Mi from his own team, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

While Jianzi was taking the opportunity to retrieve her underwear, Gao Hai secretly glanced over and observed her.

Well, the style is quite conservative, a bluish-gray, the very ordinary kind, which matches Miko's own style as an ordinary girl (if she doesn't encounter anything strange). And the size is indeed quite substantial; she estimates it to be a C to D cup, which is somewhat smaller than Chika's, but still quite well-endowed.

However, he hadn't seen the specifics yet. Although he had hugged her once, and it was a completely natural hug, allowing him to personally experience the feeling of softness against his chest, Gao Hai believed that without a scholarly examination with his eyes and a practical experience with taste and touch, it couldn't be considered a fully healthy benefit.

"Speaking of which, don't you find it uncomfortable?"

Xiong Mi leaned a little closer to Gao Hai and asked him in a low voice while Jian Zi was tidying up the clothes.

"Disgusting?"

Gao Hai was somewhat puzzled and didn't understand Xiong Mi's meaning for a moment.

"Although entering the cleansing pool was a last resort given the dangerous situation at the time, there should have been other strange students inside, both men and women. Even if these things are no longer human and are just monsters acting according to mechanisms, don't you feel uncomfortable about it?"

Xiong Mi narrowed her eyes slightly, her expression full of curiosity.

Before becoming a gamer, Xiong Mi was a game modeler, and she even did some less serious game modeling. Therefore, when she encounters a girl with a good figure, she habitually observes her, thinking about how to build a corresponding physics model. Over time, she enjoys making light of this, though she generally doesn't reveal this trait to strangers to maintain her image. On the other hand, she has a bit of a penchant for shipping couples; when she sees a couple who seem like a pair, she'll observe them and occasionally, out of curiosity, she'll approach them to ask questions.

This time, she clearly saw the strong dependence and trust that Jianzi had in Gao Hai, and realized that the two of them seemed to have a chance.

"This..."

When suddenly asked such a question, Gao Hai remained completely calm.

"Personally, I didn't really feel much, but I would still carefully consider Yotsuya's own feelings in this kind of thing. So when we entered the bathhouse, I used this bull-headed teacher's head to kick all the other students out. Actually, there were only the two of us in the bathhouse at that time."

Gao Hai gave a very serious explanation of his previous actions.

"You're quite possessive, aren't you?"

This answer was slightly different from Xiong Mi's, but she seemed quite satisfied.

"I don't think there's a problem with being a little particular about these things."

Gao Hai's expression remained unchanged, only his tone became slightly more flippant, while Xiong Mi revealed a smile that conveyed a sense of "Wow, you're so handsome."

Meanwhile, Miko had already picked up all her clothes and then quickly ran over, clutching them in her arms.

Although she desperately wanted to find a place to change her clothes immediately, Yotsuya Miko was well aware of how dangerous the current location was. Even if she wanted to change, she had to make sure the two people here could keep an eye on her at all times... No, Mr. Taka, forget it, Miss Kumami should keep an eye on her while she changes.

"Work hard and strive to survive. Make sure you can live first, then you can talk about the future."

Xiong Mi had naturally noticed Jianzi's gaze, so she patted Gao Hai on the shoulder, gave him a serious warning, and then gestured for him to turn around. As soon as Gao Hai turned around, Jianzi immediately started changing her clothes, forcibly suppressing her shame, and quickly changed into her original outfit.

Alice has still not appeared.

Gao Hai dared not connect with the senses of the rescue team member who had entered floor 0. He could only vaguely sense through the rescue team's badge that the person hadn't been killed yet. It seemed that the things in that strange floor only targeted the living, which was why the strange rescue team member had survived until now. He just didn't know how long the three Alices could be held off. Without a physical form, he didn't know if the Alices could figure out a way to snatch the doll from the rescue team member's hands.

"I've changed it, thank you, Miss Xiong Mi."

The girl, her face still slightly flushed, bowed earnestly to express her gratitude.

"gone."

Gao Hai didn't pay much attention to Jian Zi's emotional changes. After she finished changing, he immediately spoke and took the lead, followed by the other two.

In any case, we can't afford to waste any more time; we need to get to the actual underground floor as soon as possible.

Thinking this, Gao Hai quickened his pace. Xiong Mi noticed that Gao Hai might be worried about not having enough time, so she also adjusted her pace and sped up. Jian Zi, who was behind her, was pulled by Gao Hai and jogged along. The three of them quickly crossed the corridor and arrived at the last section of stairs.

"According to the spatial structure of this staircase, if we go down from here, we should be able to enter the actual underground floor."

Standing on the stairs, Gao Hai gazed at the staircase leading into darkness and pondered as he spoke.

“Normally, that would be true, but the rules of the Alice Game state that ‘the underground floor does not exist,’ which is quite suspicious. And if it were really that easy to enter the underground area, the Alices should have gone to greater lengths to disguise it. So there is probably still a problem.”

Xiong Mi stood against the wall, pondering as he spoke, without rushing downstairs to explore the interior.

"Should we find something to drop down and see how it goes?"

Seeing the two discussing their strategy, Jianzi, who didn't want to be left out, thought hard for a while before raising her hand to offer her opinion.

tread--

In the boiler room next to the stairs, a gaunt, strange student came out carrying a kettle of boiling water.

This monstrous creature, which only repeats certain behaviors from its previous life and only unleashes its killing spree when its own rules of action are triggered, sensed the presence of a human at this moment. So it slowly raised its head and looked in the direction of the presence with its terrifying, sunken face.

At that moment, Xiongmi, Gao Hai, and Yotsuya Miko also turned to look at the strange creature.

The two sides remained silent for about 0.3 seconds at that moment.

Somewhat afraid of strange creatures, Miko immediately looked away.

Gao Hai only had time to ask, "Can we try throwing this down?" before Xiong Mi had already walked up to the strange creature. Her bronze eyes glowed faintly, completely sealing off its ability to move. Then, she lifted the creature with one hand, and the power of her blessing activated in an instant, embedding a fragment of a personality into the creature. The next moment, she threw the trash in a perfect parabolic arc.

Dong-dong-dong——

The student had already been thrown down the stairs and rolled onto the ground. Then, Xiong Mi's power forcibly manipulated his body, causing him to tumble and crawl deeper down the stairs.

Xiong Mi stood at the edge of the stairs, silently manipulating the strange object to descend step by step.

The darkness seemed to be expanding in her perception, and from Yotsuya Miko's perspective, she saw red, line-like things appearing on the female player's body, extending into the darkness below.

In the dim light, Jianzi felt that part of the line extending into the darkness seemed to be slowly turning black.

Huh, what's going on there?

"How's the situation?"

Gao Hai asked first.

"...We've gone down at least six floors, but it's still just stairs, and we haven't been able to get to the correct floor yet."

Xiong Mi's brows furrowed even more, and her voice carried a hint of uncertainty.

What is this, some kind of trickery?

Should we try going back? I feel like this isn't working. Generally, encountering this kind of bizarre wall-breaking situation means that strange rules have started to take effect, meaning you're being watched. But this is just a weird student... what exactly is that thing...?

“Miss Xiong Mi, there are red threads on your body, and the places where those threads connect to the outside seem to be dyeing and turning black.”

At this moment, Yotsuya Miko took a step closer and carefully reminded Kumami.

"The red line... what's that? Hmm?! Can you see the [Lifeline]?"

Xiong Mi was genuinely startled by Jian Zi's perceptive abilities.

The students who were being manipulated in the stairwell have stopped walking.

At that moment, Xiong Mi severed the connection between the two, causing the fragments of the student's personality to disintegrate on their own.

Just before losing sight of the stairwell, Xiong Mi saw the stairwell gradually transforming into something else, with the words "[Floor 0]" slowly appearing on the wall, and a warning bell rang in her heart.

"The underground area of ​​the staircase only leads to the 0th floor, let's go!"

"So it really isn't that easy after all..."

In just a few words, without needing further explanation, Gao Hai pulled Jianzi into his arms and began to walk quickly. Xiong Mi deliberately lagged behind Gao Hai, maintaining roughly the same pace, serving as the rearguard of this temporary team.

"If the underground staircase is blocked, then it's probably on the top floor. The dormitory building might be upside down; the only way out might be on the rooftop!"

Gao Hai spoke with a serious expression, and then, while running, he explained what he had felt when he threw the doll: the gaze of that strange creature that seemed to come from both the sky and the ground, and a certain possibility that he had guessed without actually verifying it.

“One of my puppets went up and collapsed on the 10th floor. Through its gaze, I saw the layout of the 10th-floor corridor and a room number, 1003. Could your key take us to that door?”

Xiong Mi approached Gao Hai as she ran, explained the situation, and asked him questions.

She didn't question Gao Hai's idea at all, and directly fast-forwarded to the step of verifying success or failure.

"No problem, just hurry up!"

A faint red light flickered in Gao Hai's eyes. He first changed his posture, pulling Jianzi, who was almost flying in the air like a kite, into his arms. He used his fingers to protect her cervical spine by blocking the back of her neck. Then, he exerted his strength and accelerated his body, passing through the entire corridor in one go.

Something from floor 0 has already come out.

Even though they had all increased their speed as much as possible, that thing would catch up with them sooner or later.

Just like everyone says, everyone will eventually be caught up.

tread!

Gao Hai abruptly stopped in front of the entrance to the bathing area, which was reserved for outstanding students.

He had removed this door a dozen minutes ago, which nearly cost him his life on the 0th floor, thanks to Alice's actions. But now, the place had been restored to its original state; the walls had healed like a wound, and there was no trace of anything amiss.

Insert the blood-stained key into the lock.

Xiong Mi stopped walking and mentally transmitted the outline of Room 1003 that he saw to Gao Hai.

The next moment, with a soft "click," the door that Gao Hai opened led directly to the 10th floor of the dormitory building, less than two floors away from the roof.

Chapter 53: The Notes on the 12th Floor and the Reliability of Veteran Players

"So this is what they call the dormitory for outstanding students."

Gao Hai looked down at the so-called dormitory, which was carpeted, had various exquisite paintings on the walls, and each student had a single room the size of a small apartment, fully furnished with all kinds of amenities. He couldn't help but shake his head and say.

"It can only be said that the school is very good at creating division. But Red Moon-level dungeons are always varied in their absurdity, otherwise they wouldn't have reached this level. After seeing this kind of thing a few times, people will become numb to it."

With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Xiong Mi calmly replied while exhaling white smoke.

"In fact, every dungeon I've experienced so far has been pretty brutal, and the level of brutality keeps increasing. It feels like I'm witnessing the lowest limits of humanity step by step, and I'm a little afraid to think about what else I'll see next."

After glancing at some "trinkets" placed in one of the dorm rooms with one door open, Gao Hai frowned and sighed again, his words carrying a hint of helplessness.

"There's nothing we can do about it. This is a strange world after all. To create a place like this, you often need a lot of intense resentment and madness. Naturally, there are a bunch of unsettling things mixed in with it. You'll get used to it. Hmm, there's nothing blocking our way for now. Let's go."

Xiong Mi, speaking with the air of someone who's been there, walked to the stairwell first. After carefully confirming that there was no danger, she signaled the two behind her to follow.