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

She couldn't shake off the thing chasing her from behind.

Even if you try your best to escape, even if you use all your strength, whether it's blessings or empowerment, you still can't get rid of the thing chasing you from behind. Instead, the distance between you and it keeps getting closer and closer.

Kaguya felt the thing behind her gradually approaching, and she felt the despair of being about to be grabbed.

And then... what happened?

Kaguya finally came to her senses when she groggily opened her eyes and saw Takami and Hayasaka standing in front of her. She then realized that she was lying in a rocking chair.

Why am I lying in this place?

A strong sense of confusion arose in the girl's heart.

Can not remember.

In my memory, I was still in the classroom and had just woken up Hayasaka, who had inadvertently triggered some kind of mechanism.

No, that doesn't seem to be the case.

Something else must have happened after that.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember anything at all.

What is it that I...?

"Four Palaces?"

Gao Hai's voice roused the girl from her confusion.

"Hmm, Taka-kun? And... Hayasaka, I... I can't remember how I got here."

With a slightly hesitant voice, Kaguya slowly sat up from the rocking chair, patted her head, and tried to clear her head.

Gao Hai stood silently for a while before slowly approaching Kaguya. He looked her over carefully, especially at her neck, before letting out a soft sigh and signaling Hayasaka to lower her guard.

"Kaguya-sama? This one... is Kaguya-sama, right?"

Although Hayasaka Ai was able to identify Kaguya from the details of her various actions and expressions based on her familiarity with Kaguya, the sight of Kaguya's severed head and body earlier had left her somewhat confused, making it impossible for her to remain calm in the face of Kaguya.

"What happened? Hayasaka's reaction... Have you seen any strange creatures that look like me before?"

Kaguya noticed the change in Hayasaka's expression, and being as clever as she was, she immediately realized what might be going on, and then her brows furrowed.

"Yes, it was a monster disguised as a teammate, but it couldn't fool me. I saw through it as soon as it appeared. Alright, alright, this isn't the time to talk about this. We need to get out of here. This isn't a place to chat."

As Gao Hai spoke, he took the lead and headed deeper into the small storage room.

Gao Hai already had a certain idea of ​​what kind of place he would be heading to next.

Walk through a dark, narrow corridor.

We entered a dilapidated little warehouse.

Then, enter the warehouse through a side door that is carefully disguised and concealed, and you will arrive at an empty classroom.

Bells hung everywhere along the way, and numerous thin lines stretched across the path. Some of these lines were tied with various bottles and jars, which would fall to the ground with a clatter if accidentally touched. It seemed that the survivors who had lived here had developed some kind of simple warning mechanism, although ultimately these mechanisms probably didn't prove to be very effective.

"Be careful, try not to touch these lines, and don't knock anything over. Also, try not to step on any debris on the ground, and don't make any loud noise."

With this reminder in mind, Gao Hai took the lead and started walking forward.

He noticed many broken pieces of bowls and plates on the ground, which he guessed were left by the strange creatures that had come here before.

Moreover, there were many graffiti marks on the walls and floors along the way, with various phrases such as "Good students should not go in here," "This is not an open area of ​​the teaching building," and "Teachers should not enter closed areas."

When Gao Hai arrived at the empty classroom, which had no tables or chairs and only a blackboard, he saw another rule written in chalk on the blackboard.

[Student Code of Conduct, Article 2]

[Anyone in the "special classroom" must immediately close the corridor and evacuate to classrooms 3, 11, or 14 if they hear any unusual noises such as bells or breaking sounds coming from the corridor. Please note that all classrooms marked in red must not be entered. Classrooms marked in green or yellow are permitted. Never approach classrooms marked in purple or unmarked. In emergencies, classrooms marked in blue may be entered, but the mark must be painted red before entering and the color changed again upon leaving the classroom.]

Special classrooms... and different colored markings for different classrooms?

Upon seeing this rule, Gao Hai tried to recall the classrooms he had passed through before. The classroom doors in the initial surface area didn't seem to be painted, and even after entering the deeper levels, he didn't see any painted doors. However, it's also possible that Gao Hai hadn't seen the exterior of any classroom doors since entering the deeper areas of the instance, thus missing the opportunity to observe them.

The windows here were also all nailed shut, and almost no light could get in through the cracks.

Upon reaching one side of the classroom, Gao Hai opened a door with a glass window at the far end. This time, he found himself in a rather shabby little kitchen. Behind the little kitchen was a small room filled with various sheets and blankets, and a small table with a large area of ​​solidified wax on it.

Gao Hai found many small toys in the small room, and there were also many crayons of different lengths scattered on the wall.

No signs of recent activity were found inside the house.

Perhaps many people once lived here, but now the bedding is covered in dust, and no one has been here for a long time.

On the wall of this small house was another rule, the shortest rule Gao Hai had ever seen so far.

[Student Code of Conduct, Article 4]

[Keep quiet, no matter what, keep quiet. Don't get caught, don't be seen. Disobedient naughty children should hide themselves, or they will be punished.]

Disobedient naughty child...

I wonder if there's any correlation between this rule and the game's hint about "obedient children".

The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped slightly.

Gao Hai didn't find a second door in the room, meaning this place was a dead end. But he felt that if this really was a survivor's hiding place, the situation wouldn't be so simple. There must be a secret passage here that could be used for escape; otherwise, he should have found the survivor's body or run into the monster directly. Therefore, there must have been a clue that he had missed.

"Gao Jun, look here."

Kaguya's voice rang out from not far away.

He looked up and saw that Kaguya and Hayasaka had walked to a corner of the small room and were rummaging through a pile of clutter to find an old-fashioned radio.

Kaguya Shinomiya herself was clearly clueless about this device, but Hayasaka seemed to know how to use this decades-old relic. She tapped on it, carefully examined the different buttons, and then quickly began adjusting it. As she did so, the previously quiet radio began to emit static, and faint voices could be heard.

"Be careful, and be prepared to turn this off at any time."

As Gao Hai approached, he glanced at the side of the radio station. Someone had written on it, in a style distinctly different from the children's childish handwriting, and it was chaotic and distorted, as if it had been written with trembling fingers.

【? ■Rules■10】

There is no safe place anymore; there are no more shelters to speak of.

The limitations no longer exist; new rules, which we cannot comprehend, have replaced our self-righteous compilations.

Next, nightmares will engulf us all; there will be no more hope.

She's coming. She's found us all. She'll never be as obedient as she used to be.

We created our own hell.

And it was at this moment that the radio, which Hayasaka had tuned, finally emitted a clear sound.

【Report!】

It was a powerful voice that made Gao Hai subconsciously hallucinate a classic "Good, very energetic" meme.

[The 1st Company of the 3rd Infantry Battalion, 1st Regiment, 201st Division has assembled and is ready for combat!]

Then, the report was delivered in an even louder voice, in a tone full of Showa spirit.

[Alright, Operation codename "Plague" is ready to begin. The target must be captured alive; leave no survivors! Forward, warriors! Offer your warrior spirit for a great and prosperous future! Once we successfully capture the target test subject and grasp this key to victory, victory will be ours, and a bright tomorrow awaits us!]

The voice of another man that followed on the radio gave Gao Hai a subtle sense of familiarity.

I feel like I've heard this voice somewhere before, and this man... seems to be someone from the military?

[To die for him! To die for him! To die for him!]

Before Gao Hai could even recall where he had heard the sound, the radio broadcast a roar full of Showa-era spirit.

It seemed that the sound from the radio had some kind of connection with this distorted space. At the same time as he was listening to the broadcast, Gao Hai vaguely heard the roar of motorcycles and the sound of fully armed soldiers running forward outside the window.

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Moment the Past Was Revealed and the Preparations That Had Been Made All Along

A piercing, noisy sound rang out simultaneously from the radio and outside the window.

That was the sound of soldiers marching forward.

It was the sound of hundreds of soldiers surrounding a school and advancing their lines step by step into the school.

boom!

Gunshots rang out as soldiers smashed the locks, kicked open the doors, and rushed into the building.

bang bang bang-

Gunshots, screams, and wails rang out continuously over the radio.

The sounds of children screaming in terror and stumbling as they ran away could be heard, followed by the shouts of an adult, which were then drowned out by more gunfire.

The stench of blood began to spread.

The soldiers continued advancing without flinching, with some even muttering sarcastic remarks like "What a waste."

There are still so many survivors. I gave her so much time.

A voice filled with doubt and disappointment rang out on the radio, accompanied by a faint sigh.

It seems that only a purely man-made monster like "Alice" can produce carnage more efficiently.

Another voice followed, offering a calm assessment.

Whether it's setting off at night or standing up early, we've focused too much on the "human" aspect. This is our oversight; there's nothing we can do about it, since we lack experience.

[However, perhaps she knew the source of her power, which is why she left these people behind? No, no, no... that's unlikely. How could a little kid be that smart?]

[Sigh, there's no other choice now. This individual is basically fully developed. Once we capture her and release her into the Kingdom of Amelia, we won't need to worry about anything else. Heh, the sight of a truly bizarre creature spreading uncontrollably is something I can't wait to see.]

Amidst the sighs, the voices of the children and adults gradually subsided.

The soldiers were advancing deeper into the school.

Heading towards this seemingly normal but actually completely twisted, blood-red campus littered with corpses and horrific graffiti.

Some soldiers began to encounter something strange.

They reported on the radio that they had seen some kind of phantom, claimed that they heard something pass by them, and felt someone breathing on the back of their necks.

The soldiers who entered the second floor came to their senses and found themselves on the third or even fourth floor. The soldiers who were about to enter a classroom found themselves standing in the classroom in the blink of an eye. At the same time, each soldier felt that something had appeared around them, and that something else had infiltrated their ranks.

However, as the explosives were set and buildings collapsed with deafening roars, these strange phenomena began to subside. The bizarre occurrences no longer seemed to truly harm the soldiers, and their advance became increasingly smooth.

zizi——