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

Looking at the newly added researchers and fanatical fans, and other perpetrators of the Fujika Middle School incident, Gao Hai yawned and prepared to leave.

He had found Yotsuya Miko lying motionless on the ground not far away.

Just like the last time it was rolled back, Miko still doesn't have the ability to move around in the Crimson City and can only lie here motionless as a decoration.

Gao Hai didn't stand on ceremony and simply lay down, using Jianzi's small belly as a pillow on her body. Then he raised the hand with the black watch on it.

He looked at the pointer above, at the pointer that was stuck at the number 1, gently swaying as it moved toward the position 0.

The power gathered from the inferno is enough to increase the number of rollbacks.

Therefore, after this rollback, Gao Hai will get a new rollback count, which means that this rollback does not consume any rollback count.

Click!

The pointer eventually returned to the 0 mark, back to the very beginning.

Gao Hai let out a deep breath, feeling somewhat more confident.

Although it was indeed very troublesome and torturous, the fact that I was able to survive for more than a day at Zaoli Elementary School before dying due to triggering the chain rule of [Friends] and the Doghouse proves that the danger level of death in this instance is not high. Of course, it's relatively low among Red Moon-level instances; lower-level instances certainly can't compare to this hellish place.

[Friend] After repeated cognitive blocks and re-recalls, the rules have become less and less restrictive for me. Even though I fell for the rule again in the observation room, after accumulating these repeated experiences, I no longer need to worry too much about it.

In comparison, the threat from the kennel is indeed still quite serious. The dual, merged entities create immense uncertainty regarding the rules for breaking its defenses. Currently, it seems the main rule lies in the "dog transformation" rule. Considering the two encounters, both "entering the dog cage" and "being watched by the kennel's entity" will result in transformation into a dog. As for the difference between becoming a purebred dog and a mixed-breed puppy, there's no definitive answer yet. Gao Hai himself suspects that the second transformation will lead to an unsolvable dead end.

Once affected by the "dog transformation" rule, players experience a significant mental regression, rendering both blessings and obsession items virtually unusable, except for equipment-type obsession items like rescue team badges, where a workaround can be found. As for the pistol, although he couldn't fire during the previous face-to-face encounter due to the dog transformation, Gao Hai believes that was mainly because his mind couldn't adapt to the dog state. If he could maintain his mental abilities after transforming, he should still be able to fire. However, he would need to hide in a dog kennel or similar location to fire, ensuring he isn't observed, otherwise, there's still a risk of failure. After all, based on his instant loss of consciousness during the second encounter, the strange creature might have a way to control the dogs.

However, on the other hand, the [dog kennel] isn't necessarily a must-go place. While this monster is clearly a boss-level entity born from the children's nightmares, it's not the core obsession of the dungeon. In other words, it's not necessary to fight it head-on; exploring other areas before the dog kennel is perfectly feasible. Gao Hai estimated that if he hadn't released all the dogs from the kennel, the monster might not have chased after them… But Hayasaka Ai is inside, so in that case, we really have to go in. Hopefully, that thing won't be a stingy monster that immediately chases after us just because one dog is missing…

So, that's pretty much the plan for the next phase. Reunite with Kaguya, rescue Hayasaka, and search for clues about Chiyo Hachiya. Hopefully, I can finish this in the second playthrough... uh, I feel like I'm setting a flag, but I don't think so. After all, so far, the situation in the Hayasaka Elementary School dungeon has been relatively mild. And didn't Miss Kumami say that the player survival rate here is over 30%? And that probability even includes players who have been stuck in the Dark Night level for too long and have to come to the Red Moon level dungeon, as well as ordinary people caught in the dungeon. With that base number, three out of ten surviving is already a terrifying thing.

However, among the surviving players, there shouldn't be anyone like me who insists on cracking the core, right?

After thinking for a long time, Gao Hai gently exhaled, got up from Yotsuya Miko's stomach, and slowly stood up.

when--

The bell rang at just the right moment. It seemed that the city would only rewind time for him and start the next cycle of action when he was ready.

Of course, before that, it's time to pack up.

Gao Hai looked up at the blood-stained apron and the filthy spoon that were falling from the sky.

The items belonging to the haunted doghouse creatures, which were considered obsessive items, ended up in Gao Hai's hands. Come to think of it, weren't the cleaver and pot from that thing obsessive items? It's a bit of a shame, but getting those two items is still pretty good; the benefits of the self-destruct skill are truly considerable.

With a sigh in his heart, Gao Hai put away the two items he was obsessed with, and then he saw the entire city begin to gradually darken.

when--

As the bells rang, everything around Gao Hai began to disappear, returning to complete darkness.

Just like his last time back at Fujika Middle School, Gao Hai didn't make a wish. The number of wish slots was limited, and given that he could get through with his current abilities, Gao Hai decided it was better to make as few wishes as possible. Although he could free up new slots by abandoning previously made wishes, he didn't feel it was necessary at the moment.

when--

After the final bell tolled, Gao Hai's consciousness began to gradually leave the blood-red city and return to the instance, back to the starting point of the Zao Li Elementary School instance.

So, now it's my turn.

Thinking this, Gao Hai blinked, then his expression turned puzzled. He had clearly heard the bells ringing, and he had clearly prepared to start over, but now he was still in the blood-red city, and nothing had changed.

What's going on?

A sense of unease crept into Gao Hai's heart. He looked down at his wrist and saw the number the watch hands were pointing to; the hands were currently resting on the number 1.

"Is my location 1? Does that mean I just got back? No, that's not right at all!"

Gao Hai suddenly realized the problem.

I acquired the name "Chiyo Hachiya," and during the dismemberment and cooking of the monster in the dog kennel, I self-destructed and reverted to Blood City, gaining a new number of reverts. This pointer should be pointing to 0, not 1. Does this mean I unknowingly reverted to a previous save point and forgot about it?

Something's wrong, something really wrong. Something abnormal must have happened. No, I need to create an anchor point that I can check at any time, and then try to do something else. No, no, no, I should open Alice's safe house immediately at the beginning. In short, I have to deal with this.

As he pondered, Gao Hai looked down at his watch as the clock struck midnight.

Then he saw that the numbers on his watch had already pointed to 2.

He returned to Blood City, but still had no memory of the new game cycle.

Why is this happening? I've basically overcome the backscrambling deletion mechanism, so there's no reason I should forget. Could there be some other reason causing this?

Gao Hai felt cold sweat beading on his forehead.

He didn't understand why he had lost his memory, and he didn't understand what kind of problem he had encountered.

But the changing numbers on the watch clearly told Gao Hai that he had probably encountered a major problem that was difficult for him to solve at his current level.

Why did this happen?

What exactly is it, what is the reason, and what mechanism allows one to directly erase their own memories?

Could it be the power of a core conviction?

No, I have to take precautions; this situation can't be handled like any other. I can hardly fight this on my own; I can only seek help from my watch.

when--

As the bell rang, Gao Hai took a deep breath and made up his mind.

He made a new wish upon the black watch.

After each reload and rebirth, he needs to establish a record point for his memories. This record point will continuously record his experiences and memories until he dies in some sense and returns to this blood-red city. Then he can retrieve this record and read and view it anytime, anywhere.

This wish was quickly granted. Each time Gao Hai recorded a memory, he had to consume one save point. After recording, he could access and read the memory anytime, anywhere, without any cost. However, while reading the memory, Gao Hai would have difficulty paying attention to his surroundings, so he had to carefully choose the time and place to do so.

Having absolutely no idea what had happened, this was the only way Gao Hai could think of to take preventative measures.

Hopefully this will help. What did I go through to forget everything...? Ugh, this feeling is so unsettling...

Click——

The watch hands have reached the number 3.

After the bell tolled, Gao Hai opened his eyes and heard the sound of rain pattering down.

The thing outside the window is still banging on the glass.

The old hut remains unchanged.

Gao Hai sat up on the single bed, turned his head, and saw the small figure standing in the middle of the room.

"you……"

[Liar, hehe, another liar, hehehe, I'm a smart kid, I won't be fooled by you, you're not a teacher at all! Liars must be punished, the Supreme Ruler is here to punish you!]

puff-

Amidst the splattering blood, Gao Hai's eyes widened.

Completely unprepared, he was bitten by a gaping maw on the ceiling and instantly pulverized into minced meat by countless sharp teeth.

The small figure simply raised its head at that moment, staring at the writhing, dark, and blood-red thing, and grinned, letting out an even happier laugh.

[Hehehe, hehehaha, another liar is dead, another liar is dead! Hahaha, hehehe, nobody will find you, nobody will know you, quietly, quietly, you're dead, hehehe~]

Amidst the twisted laughter, Gao Hai's mangled flesh struggled between the monster's teeth, yet he was unable to escape its grasp. After a difficult ten minutes, Gao Hai was instantly shredded again upon regaining his normal state, without any time to react, and was thus sent directly back to the blood-red city.

Click——

The hands of the watch have reached the number 4.

Sitting in the blood-red city, Gao Hai, after reading his four readings totaling 10 minutes and 0.3 seconds, could only remain silent.

"Fuck me..."

After carefully calculating the time, Gao Hai finally determined that the eerie child and the gaping maw on the ceiling appeared within 0.2 seconds. They appeared the instant Gao Hai opened his eyes and got out of bed. Then, after deducting the 10-minute invincibility period of the blessing, the remaining 0.1 seconds split into two 0.05-second intervals, which was the time it took for that thing to annihilate Gao Hai.

After being killed by that gaping, black and red maw, Gao Hai lost all memories of that particular time loop.

Even after being resurrected in the blood-red city, he was unable to regain his memories.

Can that thing's rules take effect in Blood City? No, impossible. The Alice that I fused with in the Wisteria Middle School instance could be wiped out by Blood City, so there's no reason why the power of this beast guarding the spawn point wouldn't be wiped out.

In other words, during the brief period before I was completely dead, the rules of the supernatural began to take effect. Did I lose my memory after being affected by the rules and before returning to the Crimson City?

Or is it that the process of that thing killing people inherently contains the power of the rule of "forgetting"?

What's going on here?!

Gao Hai sat on the ground and hit his head hard.

The second, third, and fourth episodes of Zaoli Elementary School completely bewildered Gao Hai, who was caught off guard, in a way that was utterly unreasonable.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Difficult Situation of Recognition and the Undeterred Challengers

Gao Hai sat in the square of the blood-red city, remaining silent and calm.

Behind him, Miko Yotsuya lay peacefully on the ground, motionless like a mannequin. Of course, she wasn't actually a mannequin; rather, Miko Yotsuya herself had developed a special resonance with Takami after two acts of flesh-and-blood intercourse, granting her the ability to enter this blood city. However, well, perhaps due to a weak signal, she was unable to move freely in this place, existing only as a kind of "furniture," but even so, she could still sense her surroundings.

Hmm, this sentence seems a bit ambiguous, and in a really bad way at that?

Gao Hai reached out and slapped himself on the head.

Why are you thinking about all this nonsense? The most important thing is to figure out how to solve the problem you're facing right now.

The reason he didn't choose to rewind and return to that small room at the beginning wasn't because he wanted to linger in that awful place; it was a genuine trap there. If he couldn't find a solution there, he'd be permanently stuck and unable to clear the dungeon.

"But isn't it a bit too shameless for the boss to block the spawn point like this..."

To be honest, Gao Hai thought it would be very difficult to make a clam.

He wasn't stupid; by now he was fully aware that he was being targeted. The distorted-looking little girl, the gigantic monster that attacked him afterward, and the superfluous special rule of erasing memories after killing her—Gao Hai was certain that he was being targeted by that so-called KP.

Especially the supernatural rule about erasing the memories of those about to be killed—frankly, does this rule have any meaning whatsoever? It's important to remember that Hayate Elementary School is ultimately a man-made creation, a copy created through human intervention. The supernatural rules active within it inevitably contain elements of human design. And clearly, even the most incompetent designer wouldn't create a rule like "erasing the memories of those about to be killed," a rule with absolutely no logical meaning.

Therefore, this can only mean that the KP secretly changed a rule, modifying its meaning. In other words, he was unfairly treated.

A KP who blows the whistle unfairly is no good KP, but if you're really in this situation, instead of complaining about things you can't change, you should think about how to resolve the current situation first.

Ugh, this inexplicable increase in intensity is truly disgusting...

Gao Hai let out a long breath, then closed his eyes and began to think seriously.

Although he was certain that he had been framed by the KP using the rules, it did not mean that Gao Hai was without the ability to fight back.

After all, no matter how powerful the KP is, there is one characteristic that is always obvious: if the KP wants to cause trouble, he must rely on the rules and cannot directly confront him.