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

[Oh my god, that's terrifying! Is it really okay for us to bully her? How come I never noticed her involvement in this kind of thing before?]

[Maybe that butcher taught her that. She was always a weirdo, and maybe the butcher was attracted to her! She must be a monster now. We have to kill her; we can't let her harm us!]

"Yes, that's right, kill her. We're eliminating pests, doing a good deed! Her orphanage is the same; it's definitely full of bad guys. Wait, didn't her brother come to the school a few times? Let's catch him, find an opportunity to kill him when he can't resist!"

The students' voices gradually turned furious, becoming increasingly cruel and tyrannical.

It seemed as if the teacher's laughter and applause could be heard amidst the students' conversation, but upon closer listening, nothing could be heard.

The two puppies had crossed the corridor and reached a half-open classroom door at the end. Although a dim light shone from inside, this classroom lacked the chilling atmosphere of the others. However, for some reason, the door was covered in a mess of paint—green, yellow, red, and purple mingled together, eventually almost entirely covered by a chaotic black, suggesting that many people had painted on it.

squeak-

Hayasaka peered through the crack in the door for a moment, and after confirming there was no danger, he pushed the door open and came in first.

Kaguya followed behind Hayasaka. She noticed shadows approaching the doors of the classrooms behind her, as if something was about to come out of those classrooms. So, after entering, she quickly closed the classroom doors with her front paws.

A strong smell of rust permeated the classroom.

All the desks and chairs in the classroom were completely smashed, and the wooden boards on the windows were torn off and thrown on the ground and trampled. There were broken and tattered marks everywhere, as if someone had vented their anger here, or as if an extremely fierce battle had taken place.

On the blackboard in the classroom, Hayasaka looked up and saw the final rules.

[Students ■ Article 8 ■]

[The examination revealed a survivor's neck, and the presence of a thin thread on the neck was unbelievable. It was likely a small monster that had infiltrated our group; it might have been disguised among us for some time. We must find it.]

This rule has been completely crossed out and erased, but because the traces of the erasure are not obvious, the original content can still be identified to some extent.

The next rule is written right next to this one.

Rule 9

No checks are necessary; Article 8 is invalid, and the student code of conduct is invalid.

Those who wanted to return to the shelter have already gone back; that was their choice, and it has nothing to do with us anymore.

We should go home; all of this should have ended long ago.

These two rules are different from the rules I remember. The handwriting is very neat, and it looks like the result of many years of calligraphy practice. It is unlikely that a child wrote them.

If she still possessed human reasoning, Hayasaka would likely have connected the dots to the 10th rule she had seen and come up with something. But right now, her mind was filled with thoughts of returning to her master and receiving his love and intimacy. So, after quickly glancing at these things, she quickly shifted her attention to another door in the classroom.

It rushes to the door, jumps up, bites the doorknob while placing its front paws on the doorknob, and then uses its own weight to open the door.

Outside the gate was a silent military camp, with headless or headless soldiers patrolling in silence, and searchlights moving back and forth in front of the camp gate.

"Woof!"

Recalling from its still-present memory that this was the place it had passed through when it and its owner escaped together, the little golden retriever immediately rushed forward excitedly.

Kaguya, the husky following behind, noticed that the golden retriever was behaving more and more like a real dog. For a moment, she wondered if the dog was Hayasaka. But after hesitating for a moment, she still ran out after it. The two dogs entered the military camp area and headed towards the camp gate.

The blood-red moon in the sky remained silent.

Deeper still, in the dilapidated corridors where the stench of blood continued to spread, Gao Hai, fleeing the pursuit of the Chainsaw Master, also discovered something unusual.

That is……

Chapter 62: Trapped in this deadly trap that is closing in step by step

Something seemed to have changed in the corridor.

In this place where the crimson color almost completely fills the space, where surging blood and infant corpses erode and resist each other with their bizarre forces colliding, something that was originally hidden seems to gradually begin to emerge.

It's as if the invasion of the strange, foreign Red Moon-level power forced some things that were originally hidden to become visible.

However, these things were very inconspicuous and subtle, and Gao Hai only managed to discover some of the clues during his escape.

Sometimes, it's just one or two portraits that appear on the wall, or childish doodles.

Sometimes a tall figure would appear at the corner at the end of the corridor, leading two or three children as they walked by.

Sometimes Gao Hai could hear voices coming from inside the house, from rooms he hadn't even approached. The voices sounded like children chatting; boys dreamed of becoming pilots, girls wanted to be singers, or travel the world. They shared their childish dreams and fantasies, each voice filled with hope and brimming with eager anticipation for the future. But when Gao Hai finally reached the doorway, he could only see another endless corridor, unable to actually see the room's location.

Are these things that Chiyo Hachiya herself recalled from her memories?

Gao Hai wanted to stop, to try and glean clues, but he couldn't. All he could do now was run faster, desperately trying to escape through the endless corridors, fleeing from Toyama Akira, who was still relentlessly pursuing him.

Rumble--Rumble--

Amidst the heavy explosions, the blood-red chainsaw pierced through the walls, relentlessly destroying the space.

The walls that players couldn't destroy, or even leave a mark on, were easily broken by this monster's power, being ruthlessly destroyed as if cutting tofu.

The surging blood continued to expand.

In that scarlet liquid, pale infant corpses writhed and rolled.

Gao Hai saw a figure holding a candle, slowly walking through the blood.

They wore demonic, ferocious masks and sang sacred songs, dancing as if performing some kind of grand sacrificial ritual.

[Tommello Slaughterhouse] is a well-known Red Moon-level dungeon among players, and Gao Hai knew a little about it. On the surface, this dungeon seems to be just a slaughterhouse, but it actually involves a secret cult. According to players' investigations, that organization once occupied a very isolated town with a population of several thousand, and through decades of brainwashing and control, turned the entire town into a loyal vassal of the church.

After years of development, that small town had effectively become a terrifying death trap, where people relentlessly killed in search of sacrifices. From killing the townspeople's children to murdering all passersby, they were eventually discovered by a government councilor, leading to the killing of the councilor and several of his men in the ensuing conflict. Upon discovering that some of the councilor's subordinates had escaped, the then-leader realized his rule was doomed. He gathered the entire town and demanded that everyone drink wine laced with cyanide, ultimately resulting in the town's complete annihilation. The town subsequently descended into a world of eerie legends, becoming an extremely terrifying Red Moon-level dungeon.

Tomillo Slaughterhouse is where the cultists in this instance dispose of corpses. On the surface, it may seem like just a slaughterhouse, but inside it is filled with the wails of countless innocent people and the frenzied roars of mad villains.

Now, as Toyama Akira spends more and more time in the Hayate Elementary School instance, the power of the Blood Saw in his hand begins to project more and more of the power of another Red Moon-level instance into this instance, and it looks like it is about to get completely out of control.

Why didn't Chiyo Hachiya appear?

Gao Hai was very puzzled.

Last time, after Toyama Akira lost control at Fujika Junior High School, he was immediately beaten up by a group of local monsters and locked in a hospital room, unable to resist at all. But this time, no monsters from Hayate Elementary School appeared to stop Toyama Akira, as if the place had been forgotten, with nothing else around except for Takami who was desperately trying to escape.

Why is it that even after things have gotten to this point, this instance hasn't produced any rejection reaction?

Could this also be KP's interference?

That's possible, but it's also possible that's not the case. After all, he hadn't seen any strange creatures other than Chiyo Hachiya in the orphanage area during his last playthrough; it was as if the ghost stories didn't exist in this space at all. If it weren't for the corridor itself stretching endlessly, Takami might have thought that there were no strange forces in this area at all.

Perhaps the orphanage area was never meant to be home to any supernatural beings other than Chiyo Hachiya. For that girl who lost everything, fell into despair, and eventually went mad, she would never have allowed any supernatural being other than herself to enter the place where she grew up.

Therefore, if Chiyo Hachiya herself does not appear in this area for some reason, then no monsters will come here, and the monsters that invade this instance will not encounter any force that can stop them, and will be able to freely occupy this place.

Because I was being chased by Chiyo Hachiya at the start of the game, I had to use the dismissal notice to lure her away. And then she just stayed with the killer? Come to think of it… when I officially encountered Chiyo Hachiya in the Deep Zone, she was walking next to the killer. But I took the killer's corpse with me, and then I used the dismissal notice to lure her to the killer in his weird form. Could this have triggered Chiyo Hachiya's mechanics, causing her to stay with that killer and refuse to leave?

Thinking about it more carefully, my decision to use the hairpin to enter the orphanage was partly driven by necessity to explore the area, but also by unavoidable circumstances. After all, the corrosive effects of that black sludge area were simply too terrifying, and there were also people from Takamagahara spying on us there. To survive, I had to find a way to leave that area, so choosing to enter the orphanage was a completely predictable action.

If that's the case, ha, while putting pressure on me with an early kill, they anticipated my next move and used Toyama Akira's countermeasures to completely cut off my escape route, trapping me in this area and forcing me to face a monster that had already locked me down, and coincidentally, it was something like multiple obsession objects going out of control—something that could counter suppression rounds. They really know how to play; this enemy is truly masterful. Gao Hai had considered the possible methods of the lurking KP, but he hadn't expected such a series of interconnected deadly traps.

The officer who left in another direction, as perceived by their senses, has yet to find anything of value. Without Hayasaka's assistance, Takami, who is not skilled in tracking, cannot discern anything unusual about the dust on the ground. The officer, who is the embodiment of Hirano Sosuke's fragmented obsession, also lacks strong tracking abilities because his obsession originates from someone who is not a professionally trained police officer. Therefore, he can only wander around aimlessly like a headless fly.

buzzing-

Amidst the roar of chainsaws, Akira Toyama's enormous, almost completely monstrous body charged forward once more.

No matter how far away Gao Hai was from this thing, as long as Gao Hai himself appeared in the creature's line of sight, it could instantly arrive in front of him. This unreasonable lock-on displacement meant that Gao Hai could never truly shake off his opponent, and could only have his physical and mental energy continuously depleted in each chase.

Boom!

After a loud bang, Gao Hai used the butcher's corpse as a shield to block Yuanshan Ming's attack, and the surrounding scenery changed once again in an instant.

What Takahashi saw this time was a middle-aged woman smiling as she led children in playing games in the hallway, watching them jump around. Chiyo Hachiya herself was among the children, but she looked younger and more carefree.

The next second, these images vanished without a trace, leaving only surging blood, the menacing Toyama Akira, and figures walking forward one after another, chanting loudly.

We can't let these things continue to run rampant.

Gao Hai realized that as the monsters from another Red Moon-level dungeon increasingly corrupted this place, the already dilapidated orphanage would likely be completely altered. As the lowest level area of ​​the Hayate Elementary School dungeon, this was undoubtedly the key to breaking Chiyo Hachiya's obsession. In other words, if he kept running for his life and never confronted these things head-on, even if he could survive, he might never be able to break the obsession in this loop and would be forced to start a new one. And if things really came to that, Gao Hai didn't even dare to think about what other terrible things the Keeper might do.

What should I do?

Gao Hai asked himself this question in his heart.

With what he has, how can he resolve the current situation?

Twilight-level artifacts are unlikely to be effective, and under the level suppression of Red Moon-level artifacts, they are basically ineffective against this guy.

The Blood Key needs a door to function, but the problem is that I can't find a door at all.

The badge's power could barely guarantee I wouldn't get hurt, but the summoned rescue team couldn't control it, not even the strongest police officers. The same reason the suppression grenades were ineffective was that this thing had more than one out-of-control obsession, making it extremely difficult to obtain useful information to make the suppression grenades work.

The hairpin is a teleportation item, and the Butcher's corpse is an area item; neither is functional. The "Expulsion Notice" is also unusable now. Gao Hai tried it, but the school principal corresponding to that item was torn up by Chiyo Hachiya because of the attack on the Butcher, so it has no effect on that item for now; he can only wait for the strange object to recover. Besides these, there's the Butcher's apron and its spoon. One is a resistance shield; wearing the Butcher's apron gives Gao Hai better resistance to strange forces, but it also seems to create some kind of identity ambiguity. The other is a very strange item that seems to have no special power whatsoever. Considering that items dropped in Red Moon-level dungeons aren't necessarily Red Moon-level, this is quite frustrating.

What should I do?

At this moment, Gao Hai was racking his brains to the fullest extent.

Now how to do?

How can we break this deadlock and escape this dangerous situation filled with malice?

KP's strategy consistently utilizes elements already present in the "Campus Ghost Stories" instance. It seems to be constrained by some limitations, preventing it from employing entirely unknown elements for brute force. Since known elements inevitably contain weaknesses, where might I find these weaknesses to exploit?

buzzing-

The chainsaw roared and swung once more amidst the baby's cries.

The image reappeared in the corridor, showing a man sharing homemade pastries with children. However, due to the continued spread of blood, the scene quickly disappeared after only a short while. Before disappearing, the image was clearly severely distorted, turning into a fragmented, bloody skeleton feeding pastries to a group of dismembered, rotting flesh.

Gao Hai took another step back, and was then forcefully pinned to the ground by Toyama Akira, who pounced on him. He was only saved from being cleaved in two by the butcher's corpse blocking the way between them.

But then the singing believers came forward and surrounded Gao Hai. Gao Hai began to feel breathless, as if invisible chains were binding him and trying to crush him on the spot.

The shattered corpses were submerged in blood, and the infant corpses floating in the water began to spread to a wider area.

Many infant corpses appeared around Gao Hai. A small hand reached out and dug a piece of flesh from Gao Hai's arm, then a second hand, then a third hand. Gao Hai's arm was quickly hollowed out, leaving only bloody bones. A hole was dug in the side of his abdomen, and an infant corpse crawled in, pulling out his intestines section by section, tearing them all out of his abdominal cavity. Then many infant corpses began to cheer and play.

One hand reached over Gao Hai's head and ripped off his left eye and scalp. The second hand then tore his ear apart, followed by his mouth being ripped open. A hand grabbed his chin and ripped off his entire jaw with a sound of bones breaking. His tongue was then pulled out.

As for her legs, only a small portion remained long ago, and more were being torn away by those tiny fingers.

"call……"

Gao Hai's breathing became difficult.

The intense pain stimulated his nerves, making him even more alert.

The chainsaw hummed as it pressed down, getting closer and closer to his cheek.

With only one arm remaining, pressed against the butcher's corpse, Gao Hai stared at the blood-red eyes of Toyama Akira, who was possessed by a strange entity, peeking out from the cloth bag. He seemed to be able to see a hint of contempt hidden in that crazed expression, just like the look in the eyes of the KP who grabbed him by the neck after breaking through Fujika Middle School.