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

[This is so embarrassing, writer! You're being incredibly shameful right now!]

Gao Hai detected a hint of emotion in the Faceless One's voice.

[As a KP (Keeper of the Privilege), a stagehand, and the story's writer, you actually got involved yourself? You secretly modified the established rules, and repeatedly at that, causing the originally functioning rules to collapse and even leading to "chaos and disorder." Didn't you consider the consequences of your actions? Your existence truly lowers our standards; you have lost your KP status. Unfortunately, writer, you are expelled.]

The Faceless One spoke while gently shaking his head. His tone was melodious and rhythmic, like someone performing an opera.

To be honest, if this guy hadn't been wearing a hat, Gao Hai wouldn't have been able to tell that he was shaking his head. When this guy shook his head, his shoulders didn't even move.

But then again, should we remove them from the list?

It seems that in this "Sacrifice Game," the Keeper (KP) might not be at the highest level. Above these strange individuals, there may be something even higher. I wonder what kind of beings they are, and what their true motives are for playing this game.

I've been...removed from the team?

The writer, who had been lying on the ground for a while, seemed to finally regain some consciousness. He struggled to get up and knelt down, asking incredulously.

[How could this be... me being... expelled? How could this be... my fault? This is my fault? How could this be... my fault!?]

Even though he was still in a bad state and had not fully recovered from Gao Hai's torment, the writer could no longer contain his rage and pointed at Gao Hai, who was standing to the side, seemingly indifferent as if watching a show.

He's the one who cheated! He's the one who broke the rules!

[Using powers that normal players could never obtain, repeatedly starting over, repeatedly taking on challenges, and even possessing various abilities—this behavior is clearly the greatest desecration of the script!]

[The exquisite and beautiful story I designed is simply beyond the reach of trash like him! He should have died the moment he entered Fujika Middle School! But by using the power of endless rebirth, he was able to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and forcibly destroy my story. A cheat like him should be the one expelled and destroyed! I was merely protecting my story, why should I be expelled?! I did nothing wrong!!!]

The writer screamed at the top of his lungs, and Gao Hai shook his head at the sheer resentment in his voice.

The Faceless One couldn't help but lower his head and let out a long sigh.

Honestly, writer, you've really made me lose all desire to even offer you a helping hand.

As he spoke with regret, the Faceless One reached out and adjusted his hat.

Is this all you're going to say about your violation? Foolish, utterly foolish. Why don't you use your brain and think about it, writer? If this really was a violation, if Mr. Gao were truly the violator, how could he have gotten all the way here, to stand before you?

Do you think I haven't witnessed his abilities? Do you think we're unaware of the power bestowed upon us? Power comes at a price; it requires paying a price to acquire. And I have been fortunate enough to witness the dark fate that Mr. Gao encountered after obtaining that power, and the arduous efforts he made to break free from that curse.

As he spoke, the Faceless One's voice had become filled with longing, even a touch of fanaticism.

Physical pain, mental torment, the murder of loved ones. Every time he starts over, it's built on loss; every beginning is after enduring unimaginable suffering.

He paid with his own blood, like a cursed warrior, repeatedly defying the misfortunes that befell him. Writer, Mr. Gao is far greater than you imagine. Why do you think he entered your story when he lacked the strength? This is the price he paid for the gift, and the result is now before your eyes: he truly overcame what should have been an insurmountable obstacle. In fact, without your interference, he could have ended it all by paying the price only two or three times at most.

Ultimately, your laughable, absurd, and utterly shameless cheating behavior is what, in turn, made Mr. Gao great, achieving yet another victory stained with blood and pain on this hero's journey. And with your inferior level of understanding, you'll probably never comprehend this.

The Faceless One's words made the writer tremble. It was certain that these were words that struck at the heart of the writer, a mental blow on par with Gao Hai's physical torture.

But at the same time, Gao Hai himself, who was listening to these words, also felt very uncomfortable.

What kind of Faceless One are you? Why do you speak with such a Nan Tong accent? Are you guys KPs really okay? What kind of organization is this anyway?

No…this is ridiculous…I don’t admit it, I don’t admit it, I can’t admit it…

The writer's body trembled, but his voice didn't sound like he was about to admit defeat.

hum-

At that moment, Gao Hai felt a tremor. Time, which had been stagnant, seemed about to start flowing again, as if it had reached a point where it could no longer maintain this state.

The black watch emanated a slight warmth.

Gao Hai looked down and saw a crack suddenly appear on his watch.

Then, before anyone could react to what was happening, the writer's body suddenly floated into the air and flew directly toward Gao Hai and his watch.

[No, no, no! Impossible! Someone as noble as me cannot be judged! Save me, please save me! Faceless One, save me!!!]

When the writer finally realized what had happened, his cries of agony were muffled by the crack in his watch and then vanished without a trace.

With that, things can finally get back on track, and I must say goodbye now, Mr. Gao. May you forge ahead without being tripped up by any difficulties.

The Faceless One nodded slightly, then turned to say goodbye to Takahashi. At that moment, the things around him that were originally still began to move at an extremely slow speed, as if they were really about to be completely restored.

"Has anyone else obtained this before me?"

Gao Hai stared at the Faceless One and asked directly.

Why ask me again to confirm a question you already have the answer to? Of course, if you want to know more, I can only say that among those who received this gift, you have gone the furthest and are the strongest. No one else has successfully resisted the calamity that comes with receiving this gift.

The Faceless One's reply was very respectful, even a little nauseating.

"...What exactly is this thing?"

Gao Hai actually had many questions.

What exactly is the Sacrifice Game? Where did the ghost stories come from? What do the Keeper and those above the Keeper want to do? What are those shadowy figures in the real world... and so on. A whole host of questions that Gao Hai couldn't answer, he wanted to get the answers from the Keeper who called himself the Faceless One.

However, he ultimately did not choose to ask such a question, because he knew that if he did, the other party would probably not answer at all.

After a moment of silence, he asked a question that seemed trivial and meaningless.

That is a great gift that is untouchable to us, one that we are not qualified to touch. I do not know how it chooses its host. But the fact that you can become its user in this generation must be because of the greatness you possess, and only you can wield such power.

The Faceless One bowed again, his voice growing ever more humble, yet carrying a barely perceptible hint of ecstatic anticipation for the future.

Then, his last voice, as he disappeared, gradually faded away, flowing through Gao Hai's ears like a hallucination, and vanished without a trace.

Time, which had been frozen, began to flow again. The obsessions that had found peace vanished without a trace, the chaotic colors disappeared without a trace, and the remains of the dungeon began to crumble rapidly, heading towards destruction amidst bursts of roaring sounds.

As for the name of that great gift, I have indeed had the privilege of hearing it. Although it changes in countless ways, and no one but the host knows its appearance, its name has never changed, and that name is—

The Key to the Unity of All Things

Chapter Seventy: Restless and Restless Souls, and the Moment of End

It seemed like I could see a small, enclosed room.

I saw a little girl sitting in this room, curled up with empty eyes.

Empty houses, empty schools, an empty world stretching to the horizon, as vast as it has always been.

But for the child who lost everything, she felt as if she were locked in a closed room from which she could not escape. No matter how much she cried out, no one would pay attention to her, and no matter where she went, she could not find a safe haven.

So in the end, she could only choose to close herself off, to go mad, and even to intentionally hurt others.

She even used some abandoned research materials she found after sneaking into the underground base to actively manipulate her classmates, making them believe that she could communicate with the dark creature and summon a terrifying monster. However, her imagination wasn't very good; at most, she could only imagine a monster with a huge mouth full of teeth.

But at the time, she didn't know that someone was secretly watching her attempts, enjoying her gradual descent into the abyss. It wasn't until one day, after the butcher overheard something and relayed it to her, that she realized her desperate struggles might still be a joke.

The time to close the net was fast approaching. After learning things she shouldn't have known, the only butcher who cared about her quickly disappeared without a trace. She truly had no one left who cared about her.

So in the end, she chose to end everything completely, destroying everything in the most cruel way.

Anyway, no one can escape it, so why not let her end it? That might be better, wouldn't it?

……

It felt like a very, very long dream.

The little girl opened her eyes, sat up from under the covers, and yawned.

The sound of her mother came from the hallway. She was calling Liangping, who loved to sleep in, to get up and scolding the lazy idiot for always staying in bed.

The chef downstairs had already prepared breakfast, and the girl could smell the aroma from her bedroom window.

Breakfast was prepared earlier than usual today. The girl thought to herself, "It must be because the new butcher uncle is helping out that he can get things done so quickly."

The girl, thinking this, changed her clothes, opened her bedroom door, and saw her younger siblings already running downstairs.

Everyone, move slowly, be careful not to fall! Chiyo, you're up, go wash up first.

Standing in the hallway, the mother smiled and spoke. She wasn't Chiyo's biological mother, but rather the person who ran the orphanage and had adopted many children. But to Chiyo, she was her mother, the best mother, no less than anyone else.

"Ok!"

So the little girl smiled, turned around, and started walking excitedly forward.

The sunlight outside the window was as gentle as I remembered.

The laughter of the crowd remained unchanged.

So, I don't need to go anywhere, and I don't need to get anything. Just being here is enough for me.

As long as I can come back to this place, I don't need anything else.

……

The resentment has been dispelled.

The obsession thus found peace.

The shattered world is falling into darkness.

Gao Hai, carrying two half-grown puppies, landed on the first floor of the orphanage, which remained undamaged amidst the ruins and whose gate, damaged by the chainsaw, had even been repaired.

"You guys go back first, I'll catch up soon."

Hayasaka and Kaguya haven't fully returned to human form yet, but their bodies are already beginning to change. After the Butcher's disappearance, the ghost story rules, secretly modified by the KP "writer" of [School Ghost Stories], are finally starting to break down. Takami predicts they'll be fully human again once they return to the real world; however, well, the aftereffects are another story—hopefully, they won't be too severe.

Two half-grown puppies entered the orphanage and then disappeared without a trace, leaving the instance.

Gao Hai navigated through the shattered ruins, avoiding the twisted, eerie shadows and the crazed headless man. After some time, he finally found Yuan Shanming, who was struggling to crawl through the ruins.

The man looked quite disheveled at this moment. Severe mental damage and physical weakness had almost turned him into a cripple. But even so, he still did not give up on survival and struggled in the ruins until Gao Hai came back and found him.

"Hey, how's it going?"

Gao Hai walked up to Yuanshan Ming, looked at him and asked.

"You...did it...?"

Still struggling to find the words, Toyama Akira looked up at Takahashi with difficulty and asked vaguely.

He wanted to ask Gao Hai if he had truly cracked the core obsession of this dungeon, something that could be answered with a glance, a rhetorical question. It was clear that cracking the core obsession of a Red Moon-level dungeon was so astonishing that Yuanshan Ming would ask such a question.

"Let's save our reminiscing for later. By the way, don't expect me to return those things you're obsessed with; they're my reward for saving your life."

Gao Hai spoke casually, reached out to help Yuan Shanming up, and then quickened his pace to move.

After the terrifying colors disappeared, the instance's collapse returned to normal, and it began to gradually crumble into the endless abyss of darkness.

Gao Hai was actually quite curious about what lay at the end of that pitch-black expanse, but he figured he'd probably have to die to find out. He felt it wasn't worth wasting his life to verify something so trivial, so he suppressed his curiosity.