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

A wave of emotion washed over Takahashi, and he immediately thought of Yotsuya Miko. If he himself had nearly fallen victim to her attack, then Miko, that little girl with virtually no defenses, was probably in even greater danger.

We can no longer afford to be cautious; it's time to take action.

Having made up his mind, Gao Hai took out the flesh and blood object and the dolls of the two veteran players from his watch in the next moment.

Chapter 64: Fragments of a Dream Recalled by Yotsuya Miko

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He reached out and caught a handful of water, then splashed it directly on his face.

Yotsuya Miko let out a long sigh, raised her head to look at herself in the mirror, her brows furrowed with lingering sorrow.

It was already past lunchtime, and according to the schedule, it should be lunch break. Of course, this was just Jianzi's guess; she didn't look at the rule sheet. Surely, if anyone saw blood dripping from a piece of paper, they wouldn't bother to check it out, right?

However, other students may not be able to see their "perspective." Some of them may have already seen that thing that looks like a rule list, and may have been mentally corrupted, killed, or transformed into strange helpers.

But... why do I know that thing is suspected to be a rule table? And... are those terrifying things called "weird"? Mr. Gao told me about that term, but why do I so naturally bring it up in my mind?

Seeing Zi's brows furrow even more.

She had a strange, dazed feeling.

It was as if she hadn't just been dragged into this ghostly place by that pale, severed hand on the street, as if she had been struggling to survive in this place for a long time, and as if she hadn't actually entered this place at all, but another equally bizarre and terrifying place where she had gone on an adventure with Gao Hai, and had only arrived here after many battles.

It should have been a school that was dilapidated in the darkness but spotless under the lights, filled with deformed and grotesque students and monster teachers wearing animal headgear, as well as a terrifying thing that was always lurking in the darkness, repeatedly tormenting her and Mr. Gao.

Its name... is it Alice?

When Yotsuya Miko recalled the name, she was stunned for a moment, and then her body began to tremble.

Even though she hadn't truly remembered what had happened in the past, and hadn't fully recalled the events of the second and third timelines, this intense sense of fear was enough to make Miko feel terrified, and even gave her the urge to vomit.

However, it is necessary to remember it.

I can't run away anymore, I can't run away any longer. I have to remember, I absolutely have to remember!

"Not here... This isn't the place..."

Seeing that Zi lowered his head, after calming his breathing for a while, he slowly opened his mouth and spoke softly.

Yes, she was now certain that the story did not begin in this place.

Someone changed what should have happened.

Who has changed what has already happened, altered what was originally destined to happen?

It is because of that person's arduous struggle that we have achieved this situation today.

Could that person be Mr. Gao?

Ah, yes, it must be him, and it can only be him.

I feel like I saw him die.

Seeing him killed by me, having his internal organs ripped out, being drained dry by a machine, seeing him killed by a stranger with a gun… these memories feel like hallucinations, yet so real, so real that it seems they really happened…

No, it is true, it really happened.

But that wasn't me; it was Alice.

I remember now.

I am an individual chosen by Alice, just like her, just like she was before.

Because we are so similar, both possessing the same eyes that can "see," and the same "sensory" ability that is almost a curse for ordinary people. Therefore, I am the best, in fact, the only target she can choose. Only by possessing me can she hope to escape the instance, break free from her bizarre identity, and regain her qualifications as...?

Hmm, these memories don't seem to come from my own experiences?

It seemed to know why it was so focused on Mr. Gao and so persistent in trying to make him its friend.

An aura of blessings...

That is the final gift left behind by restless souls as their obsessions are satisfied and they approach their end.

It seemed to sense the aura of blessing emanating from Mr. Gao.

Those who possess blessings and bring relief to the deceased seem to hold a special meaning for it. It longs to be friends with such people, and so, in its own way, it makes them its own "friends."

There's not much more to it than what I've learned so far.

She couldn't recall much; her memories were hazy, as if veiled, and she only had a vague recollection of many things.

However, she was already certain.

Mr. Gao possesses a kind of time-resetting ability, allowing him to start over after everything has ended. It is through this ability that he has been able to fight Alice again and again, and to gradually transform this battle from a hopeless situation with no chance of survival to its current state.

This completely unfamiliar place, whose exact location is unknown, is the new area that Mr. Gao finally reached through his repeated sacrifices.

It seems that Alice's own activities are not visible here.

But Alice's influence is everywhere. The caregivers and patients are no different from her fanatical fans. They are all madly infatuated with Alice, completely turned into puppets that Alice can control, acting according to the will of that terrible monster.

They would never simply lock themselves up here and leave it at that.

We must find a way to leave this place.

No... it would probably not be a good idea to act on my own. Professional matters should be left to professionals. Since Mr. Gao has told me to comply for the time being, I should refrain from doing anything for now and just observe the situation from the shadows.

slam-la-

While thinking, Jianzi wiped her face with water again, and another thing came to mind.

Although I'm not quite sure why I'm different from my classmates and remember Mr. Gao resetting time, I always feel that along with those vague past memories, there's another very strange memory.

In that memory, I seemed to have gone to a very unfamiliar and strange place.

She was unable to move, but in a daze, she felt that everything around her was blood red, and everything was in an extremely oppressive state. It seemed that there were many screams and the sound of flames burning.

Then, someone reached out and poked her in the face.

Although I couldn't see who it was, I had a feeling that it was Mr. Gao who did it.

What exactly was that memory about?

I can't figure it out at all. Maybe I'll only be able to find out the specifics after I meet with Mr. Gao?

Thinking this, Miko reached out and wiped the water off her face, then looked up at herself in the mirror, and at the twisted and disordered bodies standing behind the mirror.

Their appearance could still be considered human.

Despite their completely distorted features and bodies resembling rotten flesh torn apart and pieced back together, they could still be considered...human?

Is she the one?

Jianzi heard the voice coming from one of the figures standing behind her.

[There's no mistake, it's the same type as No. 2. What a pity, it looks like this material will end up in No. 2's hands. If I could leave Takamagahara, I might be able to use it to create a new No. 2, no, I'm sure I could create an even better one.]

Another figure spoke up immediately afterward. The creature's eyes were almost completely bulging out of their sockets, and it looked at Jianzi as if she were an object that could be destroyed at will.

Regardless, the facade of Fujihana Middle School has been breached. Although we can't see exactly who did it, it's certainly an opportunity. We've been detached from the real world for so many years; it's about time we returned. Speaking of which, Sato, don't you think she's watching us?

The third figure moved a little closer and placed his almost completely rotten, sticky hands on Miko's head. One eyeball, hanging outside its socket, slowly rotated, as if scrutinizing Miko.

"..."

The girl didn't say a word, but silently reached out and wiped the water off her face in front of the mirror.

She turned around, and there was nothing behind her.

She was the only person in that restroom.

But the voices of the three figures continued to reach her ears.

[Impossible. "Takamagahara" is a top priority; no one can see us.]

[Hehe, who knows? What if an even better material than No. 2 appears? This log might just be the top-tier kind. But judging from her reaction, it doesn't seem like she saw it. Well, that level of talent is unlikely to exist. No. 2 back then was the result of our utmost search.]

Alright, enough of this pointless talk. We need to find a chance to leave. If we stay here for another few years or decades, we'll eventually be assimilated into the same kind of monsters. It's a pity that we were so close to succeeding at Nightfall Mountain, but that damned brat chose to stay instead of running away. I even set up a scheme to keep a sliver of her consciousness. Sigh. But this time, we have a lot of usable materials from the vine flowers, more than twenty. I'll pick out the healthier one.

Those things seemed to be able to observe the outside world only with the help of a mirror, so after Miko left the bathroom in the single-person ward and closed the door, she could no longer sense the presence of those three things.

But what exactly is it?

It doesn't seem to be a monster, but it can't be considered human either; rather, it's something in between.

Are they like Alice? No, it seems that compared to Alice, those three things have more of a human aspect. And also...weaker? But their manner of speaking and tone are more chilling than any other monster.

We must let Mr. Gao know about their existence!

As Miko was pondering this and preparing to do something, she suddenly sensed an extremely terrifying aura spreading throughout the entire mental hospital building.

Rumble, rumble—! ! !

The next moment, she felt the ground tremble violently, and she was knocked to the ground by the force. Cracks spread across the walls and floor, and the loud noise outside the ward door sounded like a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting apart.

Chapter 65: Dropping a nuclear bomb into a bottomless abyss

Xiong Mi opened her eyes and saw Gao Hai sitting not far away.

The exchange between the two did not take too long, about ten minutes. Xiong Mi understood that Gao Hai himself was "cursed" and had to clear the Fujika Middle School instance in order to leave this place. She also learned that he had successfully contained Alice's two obsession objects and broken the false appearance of this instance.

Gao Hai didn't elaborate on how he accomplished this, but Xiong Mi didn't ask either. After roughly understanding the situation, although she found it quite absurd that Gao Hai could defeat Alice from Fujika Middle School, since he could actually pull her out of Alice's hidden dollhouse and bring her back to life, it proved that Gao Hai indeed possessed very strong abilities. She could simply regard him as her savior and partner.

Xiong Mi has always been very open-minded and optimistic in this regard. After all, if she weren't that kind of person, she wouldn't have become a high-ranking member of the "Slacking Off Gang." It is precisely because she has the ability to cheerfully accept whatever comes her way that she can stay in such a unique player team.

However, Xiong Mi himself is very pessimistic about what needs to be done next.

"The two of us, plus an ordinary high school girl with superhuman perception abilities that even Red Moon level players can't match, and more than 20 clueless burdens, are going to be exploring a Red Moon level dungeon with absolutely no exploration experience, and we're going to solve everything during the exploration phase and just destroy the dungeon, right?"

Xiong Mi sat casually against the wall on the ground, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. After thinking for a while, he tried to summarize what Gao Hai had said.

"That's right, at least I can't live without doing it."

Gao Hai's attitude was very frank.

"It's alright, I'm going to die anyway, and nobody else should have any hope of survival."

Xiong Mi nodded slightly and said with a relaxed expression, looking even more at ease than when he was resurrected in the third playthrough.

Yeah, he's probably really convinced he's doomed.

Gao Hai was somewhat embarrassed by this, but he had to admit that there were indeed many unreliable aspects to the matter, though what he said was also the truth. Under the requirement of the black watch as a cheat, no matter how absurd it sounded, he really had to resolve the core obsession of the Fujika Middle School instance, allowing the Japanese number one gunslinger who killed him with three shots to satisfy his obsession and dissipate, otherwise he could not leave this place under any circumstances.