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

This corresponds to 206, which is the location of the collapsed kitchen floor.

This is room 106 on the first floor.

So, according to the map on the second floor, room 109 on the first floor should be on my right, the second room opposite.

Gao Hai carefully recalled the layout of the second floor, then took a step forward, preparing to enter the corridor.

The rope tied around the waist tightened suddenly, then loosened, then tightened again, repeating this three times.

This was the secret code that Kaguya Maki and he had agreed upon.

Half an hour has passed already?

Even though the corridor was already in sight, Gao Hai did not hesitate. He grabbed the rope, tightened it, and then relaxed it, repeating the action twice.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he closed the door of room 106, turned around, and headed back the way he had come.

Although I really want to go to 109 immediately to explore and find out what's going on inside, since this is a team operation, it's best not to act recklessly.

Thinking this, Gao Hai bumped into something as soon as he took a step.

Something very large, at least 1.75 meters tall, seemingly wearing heavy clothing, was standing in the corridor.

"..."

In the silent corridor, there was no sound other than the splashing water from Gao Hai's footsteps.

He took another step forward, veered slightly around the edge, and then bumped into a second thing.

This one was taller, maybe 1.8 meters, and was also wearing heavy clothes, standing silently in the corridor.

"..."

Gao Hai continued walking forward.

So he quickly bumped into a third, a fourth, and even more things.

He began to squeeze through them.

One silent figure after another stood in the corridor.

It was cold, without any sound, movement, or breath.

There seemed to be some kind of sound coming from the hallway outside the corridor.

The noise seemed to be spreading down from the direction of the stairwell, gradually intensifying.

It looked as if someone was struggling desperately.

It looked as if many people were fiercely entangled and fighting.

Such chaotic noises gradually spread through the stairwell outside the main gate.

Gao Hai had already squeezed out those things and returned to the living room, which had some natural light.

A gaze came from the direction of the sofa; something there had raised its head and was watching him.

Gao Hai remained silent, his head held straight and his breathing steady. He continued towards the kitchen, making sure to close the door between the living room and the hallway immediately after entering the living room. He didn't look back at the hallway even once while closing the door, keeping his back to the hallway as he did so.

Step into the kitchen.

Walk in the direction of the hole.

Gao Hai raised his head and looked at the light above, and at Zhenfei, who was cautiously peeking out from above.

"I am Gao Hai. I am not a resident of Shirakawa Apartments. I am a player in a sacrifice game who is trapped here and wants to escape..."

Speaking at a steady pace, Gao Hai recited a series of words, recounting the agreement they had made before setting off. This was a method of identification they had developed; after all, all communicable anomalies within the apartment building had identified themselves as part of the building. Therefore, as long as they could confirm that the survivor's perception in this regard was not distorted, they could essentially confirm that the other party was still themselves and remained a safe and trustworthy individual.

"It's been confirmed, the password matches perfectly, no problem."

Then Maki nodded to Kaguya, who was standing to the side and had not yet shown herself.

"Okay, get ready to come up."

Kaguya's voice followed immediately.

Gao Hai nodded slightly and stood below the hole, waiting for the person above to reach out and pull him up.

"Are you ready to come up?"

Kaguya's voice rang out, asking once again.

"All right."

Gao Hai answered calmly, the words almost coming out subconsciously, without having time to think further.

Then, realizing something, Gao Hai shifted his gaze from above to in front of him.

"Sea King?"

The voice of Zhenfei above, filled with doubt, had already sounded.

Having realized the situation, Gao Hai took a step back.

In the second exchange just now, Kaguya Shinomiya's voice did not come from above him.

But it rang out in front of him, directly in front of him.

Gao Hai, who failed to be alert immediately, answered the voice.

slam-la-

The water covering the kitchen floor began to ripple slowly at that moment.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Only in Critical Moments Do You Know Who's Reliable and Who's Not

To be honest, for a moment, Gao Hai thought he was doomed, that he was going to lose his second life and that he was going to have to start over on the spot.

But in the very next instant, what he felt first was not something coming from the front, but the sudden tightening of the rope around his waist.

whoosh-

The sound of the wind amplified in an instant.

Gao Hai's eyes widened as he realized he was flying through the air, being forcefully pulled from the kitchen to the ceiling, through the hole above, and back to the kitchen on the second floor.

In that instant, Gao Hai's gaze followed the direction of the rope and saw Kaguya holding onto the other side of the rope with one hand.

The girl, who was less than 1.6 meters tall, assumed a horse stance, grabbed the rope with one hand, and pulled hard, lifting Gao Hai into the air and rescuing him in the shortest possible time.

Such astonishing strength... no wonder she's called the "Queen of Muscles"?

With a sigh in his heart, Gao Hai suddenly slammed onto the kitchen stove, then fell down and rolled onto the floor, his whole body writhing in pain.

The two girls on the other side didn't have time to pay attention to Gao Hai's situation. Maki practically lunged forward, grabbing what looked like a makeshift wooden plank to cover the hole in the floor. But then an even greater force came from below, sending the plank and Maki flying and crashing into the ceiling.

Something is climbing up from below.

Gao Hai, who was seeing stars after being thrown, didn't even have time to turn around and see what had happened in the broken room.

But he could already smell the dampness and hear something gripping the edge of the hole, making a sound like a drowning person struggling to breathe, trying to climb up from the dark floor below.

"grid--"

On the other side, Kaguya lifted another plank, seemingly calling out someone's name, and was about to pounce on it again to stop the thing.

Is it over?

The ground has started to flood, and murky water is beginning to seep out from the floor.

Signs of corrosion appeared on the walls, and specks of greenish-yellow moss began to spread.

Something grabbed Gao Hai's arm.

It was so cold that it made Gao Hai feel almost frostbite just from touching it.

"what……"

Gao Hai opened his mouth and gasped for air, but still couldn't inhale any.

At that moment, he was forced to suffocate, feeling as if his throat and lungs were filled with sewage and mud.

"Green, clock!"

Kaguya's voice was finally uttered in its entirety.

But time did not rewind at that moment.

Princess Zhenfei fell heavily onto the wooden board from mid-air, a wound appearing on her forehead, which immediately spread with a dark red color.

Gao Hai, who was already in a state of severe suffocation, was unable to even think. He could only reach out and grab whatever was touching him, trying to push it away and get away from this terrifying presence.

tear-

It seemed that Gao Hai had casually pulled something off.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black figure that seemed to have stepped into the kitchen at that moment.

Boom!

The next moment, a heavy, loud bang occurred, as if the entire room was shaking violently during an earthquake.

Gao Hai seemed to hear a sharp scream.

It sounded like a cacophony of voices, a muffled scream at the last moment as someone sinks into the mud.

The corrosion on the wall faded away rapidly at that moment.

The water on the floor suddenly disappeared, leaving only a few damp traces.

"vomit--"

Once Gao Hai regained control of his body, he immediately got up and then spat out a mouthful of muddy water.

"Ugh—uh—"

The same thing happened to Kaguya and Maki, who were in the same room. All three of them suddenly had a lot of muddy water in their throats. As the anomaly in the kitchen subsided, they all started vomiting.

Sun Dajun rushed into the kitchen. He was startled by something in the kitchen at first, but then gritted his teeth and mustered his courage to run forward and help Gao Hai, who was kneeling on the ground spitting mud, to his feet so that he could lean against the stove for support. He then tried to help Kaguya up, but Kaguya pointed first to a hole in the kitchen floor. Sun Dajun was stunned for a moment before he understood what she meant. He quickly grabbed a piece of wood he had nailed shut earlier and covered the hole, then turned around and saw that Kaguya and Maki had already stood up.

"What just happened?"

Despite trying to maintain a cool and collected image, Kaguya was now in a sorry state after vomiting from the previous attack. Tears and snot were streaming down her face, and she could only wipe them away while staring at the thing standing in front of the hole in the floor that had been resealed.

It was that charred corpse.