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

He knew that as soon as he pulled the rope to give the signal, Kaguya would immediately start rewinding the clock.

Even if the rollback fails, you still have the rollback cheat to use. Although there are only 11 uses left, it's not too bad to use it once now, since there are still plenty of chances to try and fail.

In any case, now is not the time to hesitate or delay; continuing to dawdle will not change anything.

Gao Hai slowly exhaled the breath he had just taken.

The reason why you cannot interact with the exception is that in this apartment, the act of "interaction" itself is the medium through which the exception takes effect.

But is it really impossible to fully interact with each other?

Her willpower seemed stronger than others, and she had a higher resistance to abnormal mental pollution. These anomalies themselves had certain behavioral logic. For example, the knocking ghost stories would try their best to persuade the people inside to open the door, while the anomaly that took away Kaguya and others' identities would treat itself as a member of the apartment, and the corpses in the room would act as protectors, and so on.

So what was the logic behind the actions of these rescue team members who were unable to leave the apartment?

They didn't hinder him at all as he explored the house; in fact, they might even have assisted him to some extent. So...

"call……"

Gao Hai took another breath, clenched his fingers into a fist, and prepared himself for the moment.

Boom!

The raised fist slammed down.

A loud banging on the door echoed in the dark stairwell.

"Residents of 109, please open your doors! Flooding is imminent. Please open your doors and come with us to evacuate!"

Gao Hai shouted loudly, then punched the door of room 109 again.

"Please open the door quickly, the water has already flooded the apartment!"

"This is going to be very dangerous. Please open the door as soon as possible and come with us to take refuge!"

The sound of banging on the door echoed in the dark stairwell.

Gao Hai shouted at the top of his lungs, trying his best to embody the emotions of a rescue worker, imagining himself as a rescuer rushing into an old apartment building hit by a flood, knocking on the door and hoping the residents inside would cooperate and leave as soon as possible.

Of course, Gao Hai's acting skills are very poor. He has never studied acting, so his impromptu performance was not very effective.

However, he doesn't need to act too realistically.

Because after he shouted his first sentence, all sorts of sounds began to appear around him.

The door is locked, and the residents of 109 are not responding! Please open the door, another flood peak is approaching! We must evacuate immediately!

[Wasn't the first floor already evacuated? Are there still people left? Never mind, we have to get them out!]

[Request to breach the goal, no response on communications? Never mind, saving lives is the priority, I'll take the blame later! Team 1, prepare to breach the goal!]

One voice after another rang out from Gao Hai's left and right sides.

Although it was still dark all around, and nothing could be seen.

But Gao Hai could almost see rescuers standing in the surging sewage, shouting and moving about.

No, he can definitely see...

A sudden sharp pain shot through my left hand, where I was wearing a watch.

The badge worn on the chest seemed to warm up, bringing a subtle warmth.

Next, like a hallucination, images appeared one after another, gradually becoming clearer.

Gao Hai saw one face after another.

They were all very young, just passionate young people in their early twenties.

The flood peak has arrived early, and the evacuation of Shirakawa Apartments is not yet complete. We are the closest rescue team. Brothers who still have the strength, follow me!

[Roger that, Captain. Let's go! Teams 1, 2, and 3, get moving! Proceed according to the directions for floors 1, 2, and 3! Hurry!]

[Received. Everyone, check your equipment and move quickly. We must complete the evacuation of Shirakawa Apartment before the flood peak arrives!]

A series of figures waded through the murky water and rushed into an old apartment building.

Door after door was knocked on, and escorts were made one by one.

Gao Hai found himself seemingly becoming a member of these rescue teams, or rather, he was observing all of this from the perspective of the person to whom the badge belonged, observing something that had happened many years ago.

"Come on, sir, let me carry you. Hey, be careful, we'll be out in a minute."

[Don't be afraid, little ones. We're here. There are rescue boats outside to help you. You'll be alright.]

[Let's go, put on your life jackets! Don't be afraid, we're here with you!]

The water rushing in from outside the gate was so strong that it was almost impossible to stand up.

Those figures kept moving through the water, bringing out those who hadn't yet evacuated the apartment.

At that moment, Gao Hai also saw the figure standing at the front of the line reaching out to an elderly man with limited mobility.

Come on, give me your hand.

I'll take you out.

As the figure spoke, he carried the old man on his back, turned around, and allowed Gao Hai to see the person's face clearly.

The other person's voice was now clear enough to be recognized.

A life lived in vain?!

Even though the voice itself had changed somewhat, sounding younger and more energetic, and the voice he had heard in the clock hallucination was somewhat distorted, Gao Hai still recognized it at this moment: the young man's voice was exactly the same as Xu Sheng's.

How could this be? Could it be that Xu Sheng was the captain of the rescue team responsible for the evacuation of Shirakawa Apartment back then? Could it be that this man was actually a witness? A witness to everything that happened at that crucial moment when Shirakawa Apartment turned into an anomaly?!

Boom!

Gao Hai's thoughts were abruptly interrupted the next moment.

Because the door to room 109 in front of him suddenly opened with a loud bang.

Then, a force pushed Gao Hai forward from behind, shoving him forward so that he landed on the corridor inside the gate of 109.

Click——

The next moment, with the crisp click of the lock, the door to room 109 closed automatically.

Only Gao Hai got up from the ground, stood up in the corridor under the light of the incandescent bulbs overhead, and looked at the dry and dilapidated corridor in front of him.

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Buried Things Gradually Emerge from the Water

This place seems to be a completely different place from the damp, waterlogged first floor we just left.

Gao Hai's cautious gaze slowly swept across the corridor in front of him.

He noticed that there was no standing water on the floor of the corridor, and not even much dust, which indicated that it was cleaned regularly.

Although there were some cracks on the wall, there were no cobwebs or plaster.

I looked up at the chandelier that was lit up in the corridor.

The bright, pale yellow light brought a touch of warmth, and there wasn't a single stain on the brand-new bulb.

He stepped forward, turned the corner of the corridor, and then saw a photo album on a corner cabinet.

Opening the photo album, you'll find pictures of children, blonde hair and blue eyes, as cute as dolls, yet also very lively.

A tall, blond man often appears in the photos, either holding a child, lifting her up and laughing heartily, or walking beside her, gazing tenderly at her. At the very end of the album is a photo of a sleeping baby, next to which is a signature in English that reads, "You are my whole world."

Sanchez and his child?

He was trapped in this apartment while it was still able to communicate with the outside world, and the other residents caught in the trap were still able to leave. If the apartment's exit is within China, wouldn't that mean he'd have to take a plane to see his daughter? No, even just dealing with the entry and exit documentation would be a huge problem. How would he reasonably explain his sudden appearance to the local government in this situation?

Does that mean he will basically never see his daughter again?

Once Gao Hai realized this, he could more or less understand why he would take the risk of testing 304, and why there were people who supported Sanchez and assisted him in committing illegal acts.

However, there's no point in discussing these things that have already happened.

In short, let's keep walking forward and see what secrets this 109 holds.

Thinking this, Gao Hai subconsciously touched his waist but found nothing. Then, realizing the problem, he looked down and discovered that the rope that was originally tied around his waist was gone.

The rope broke?! No, the rope simply disappeared.

If only the rope had broken, the part of it wrapped around his waist should still be there, but the fact is, there's no sign of rope on Gao Hai at all. Not only that, his shoes and trousers, which should have been soaked, are completely dry. Only the badge is still on his person, and the black watch on his left wrist is still there; otherwise, everything about him is exactly the same as when he woke up in the apartment.

Gao Hai realized something.

He stepped forward, crossed the hallway, and arrived at the living room door.

Next to the living room door, at the end of the hallway, there is a wall clock, identical in style to the one on the second floor. The difference is that the hands of this clock don't move; they are completely frozen, as if time has been stopped.

Gao Hai moved closer to the wall clock.

He had no intention of changing the hands of the clock.

He simply stared at his own reflection through the slightly smooth metallic surface of the clock.

That shattered face was crushed in the middle by a truck.

Did my identity change from a living person to a corpse after I entered this room?

In other words, just like what I saw in that dreamlike scene last time, what I entered this time was also a remnant from some time in the past?

After confirming this, Gao Hai turned around and opened the living room door without hesitation, stepping directly inside.

The next thing I saw were various photos, newspaper clippings, and slips of paper with different contents hanging in mid-air, strung together by a rope.

The walls were covered with a dense array of documents and information, the table was piled high with thick books and files, and torn pieces of paper were scattered on the floor. An old desktop computer stood on one side of the room, and the smell of ink permeated the air, remaining vividly clear even now.

Gao Hai reached out and took a piece of paper that he had cut out from a book.

[The most mysteriously disappeared old apartment building in China, ranking first among the top ten strangest tales!]

A mysterious apartment that can never be found; its residents are said to be cursed, unable to escape even in death.

It seems to be a rumor collected from supernatural tales?

Without hesitation, Gao Hai took down another piece of newspaper scraps.

[The Vanished Apartment? The Rescue Team Mysteriously Disappears – What's the Truth?]

[All those involved reported no recollection of the incident; could it all be a case of mass hysteria?]