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

Perhaps, when he comes into contact with a certain KP again, he will know the answer to the question.

Hopefully, I'll encounter a more normal KP back then, and not another piece of trash like this "writer".

tread--

With heavy footsteps, Gao Hai easily evaded the pursuit of those strange creatures and returned to the entrance of the orphanage area once again.

Because of the "writer's" reckless alterations that caused the collapse of the dungeon's underlying rules, even though the dungeon has returned to normal, the monsters that remain in the dungeon have all become extremely weak, resulting in a very poor intensity in this chase. As a result, Gao Hai did not feel the tension of the life-or-death escape he had experienced in the previous dungeons.

"We've arrived. Remember to treat me to a meal once you've fully recovered."

Arriving at the entrance of the orphanage, which was also the exit of the Hayate Elementary School instance, Gao Hai stopped and prepared to throw Toyama Akira inside as he spoke.

"Thank...thank you...and...those...are...your...otherwise..."

With a weak smile, Toyama Akira waved his hand feebly before being tossed inside by Takahashi, returning to the real world.

Considering that players will inevitably return to the place where they entered the dungeon when they return to reality, well... I wonder if their teammates will be at the place where they exited. If so, I hope they won't scare them.

And what that guy said at the end, did he really hand over those obsession objects to me? Why did he have to emphasize something so obvious? Was he worried I'd misunderstand something? Or was it related to someone in his team? But considering that the blood pen is indeed very powerful as an obsession object, providing excellent intelligence regardless of its positive or negative effects, his other teammates might feel the pinch.

Of course, no matter how much it hurts others, Gao Hai will never return it.

Just kidding. From the moment he rescued Miss Xiongmi, she was a top-notch teammate, even paving the way for his victory with her life. In Gao Hai's eyes, Miss Xiongmi owed him nothing. But Toyama Akira has been out of control ever since he was rescued. Not to mention Fujika Junior High, this guy from Hayate Elementary School almost tore Gao Hai apart. To get rid of him, Gao Hai endured a lot of pain and torture, and in the end, he even went so far as to take him out, allowing the incapacitated Gao Hai to leave the instance alive. What's a few items of obsession as payment for that?

"This rescue operation can be considered a complete success."

Gao Hai sighed softly.

Their goal was to save Hayasaka, who had accidentally wandered into the instance, but they ended up causing quite a stir.

Is it the key to the unity of all things?

Gao Hai looked down at the watch he was wearing.

This thing doesn't look like a key at all. Shouldn't it be a silver key?

As a struggling writer, Gao Hai was well aware of the immense prestige represented by the title "[All Things Return to One]". And after learning from the "Faceless One" that he wasn't the first person chosen by the Black Watch, but the only one chosen to survive to the third stage of the dungeon, he felt even greater pressure.

Gifts and misfortunes, it's really hard to laugh.

What secrets lie behind the so-called "Sacrifice Game"? Will the mystery be revealed when I finally complete two Red Moon-level dungeons and encounter things beyond Red Moon level?

As I pondered, the surrounding sounds became increasingly noisy.

All the students have found peace and left this instance. Although they committed evil deeds while alive, in the Black Watch's judgment, such sins, maliciously orchestrated by those behind the scenes, seem to fall outside its scope of judgment.

As for the researchers and soldiers, headless or with heads, who have now gathered around—the culprits who created this school and led things step by step into madness—they still cannot rest in peace, cannot escape this copy, because there is only one place they are allowed to belong.

Your resentment and pain can only flow into hell, just like your sins.

Gao Hai slowly opened his mouth and coldly delivered the verdict.

The black watch opened another crack, swallowing everything inside and sending it into the blood-red city, into the never-ending sea of ​​fire.

Click——

The watch's markings slowly moved from 7 back to 6, then to 5, then to 4, and finally stopped at the 2 mark.

Compared to the time it returned to 0 after Fujika Middle School, this was still somewhat worse, and this time it consumed the most resources. It's truly disgusting that someone was sabotaging things behind the scenes. However, after acquiring more fuel, the watch's regeneration ability has accelerated again. If this continues, soon I won't need to worry about the regeneration time after the dungeon ends.

"Well then, it's time for us to leave."

Standing beside the last remaining gate of the orphanage in this darkness, Gao Hai raised his head, looked at the two blurry school areas in the distance, and further away, at the third almost invisible phantom. He turned around and left without hesitation, thus leaving this instance.

hum-

A jumble of sounds echoed in my mind.

Amidst the chaotic interplay of light and shadow, fragmented images flashed into Gao Hai's mind.

In other words, you obtained these amazing things in a hotel and learned the research methods there?

Someone was speaking, but the voice was muffled and it was impossible to tell who it was.

Yes, that place... is both magical and terrifying. Everything I have achieved so far started there.

Another voice followed, this one was clearer, and it was definitely Sato's voice.

If that's the case, what left the deepest impression on you there? Was it a terrifying monster, or an incredible set of rules and mechanics?

The same voice spoke again, sounding very curious.

[...is a needle]

The next moment, Sato's low voice carried a hint of suppressed fear.

【Needle?】

The person asking the question was very puzzled.

[One hand, one second hand, it must be the second hand. That clock only has that one hand, that thing, only that thing I can't… no, it's nothing, just pretend I didn't say anything. Alright, time to get to work, we need to prepare for the capture of Chiyo Hachiya.]

Sato's voice finally betrayed his fear, but the conversation ended there, though he refused to stop.

Footsteps echoed, and Sato quickly left, disappearing without a trace.

The one who had asked the question first quickly let out another sneer.

[Second hand? Ha, it must be that thing others have mentioned. I really don't know what's so interesting about it. Alright, now it's time to properly study my story. Although the rule of not letting these things leak out and having to control the scope of influence is really boring, this kind of problem is no challenge for me. Hehe, still calling me a "writer," do you think I can't tell you're being sarcastic? I'll soon let you know that my story is the best and most perfect, hahaha—]

The voice, full of pride and arrogance, was now clearly disturbed by background noise, and Gao Hai was unable to see the other person's face no matter what he did.

Perhaps it's because the owner of this image can never appear again.

Thinking this, Gao Hai quickly opened his eyes after the chaotic images disappeared and he realized that he had escaped the dark and distorted instance space.

Then she saw Hayasaka Ai sitting in front of her like a little puppy, and Shinomiya Kaguya, who was holding onto a table on the side of the house and trying to stand up on her own two feet.

Naturally, Gao Hai's vision was completely unobstructed, allowing him to see everything clearly, both what he should and shouldn't see, and immediately record it into his own DNA sequence.

"Ugh? Ugh?! Gao Jun, you, you, you turn around right now!"

Kaguya's panicked voice, already tinged with tears, rang out sharply.

Hayasaka instinctively covered her body as well, but her face quickly flushed, and she looked at Takami with a hint of expectation, showing no intention of avoiding his gaze.

As for Gao Hai, who was enjoying this long-awaited light novel plot, well, he was very relaxed.

.

.

.

Volume 3 (Middle): The Closed Chamber

Finish

Conclusion of Volume Three

This concludes the middle section of Volume Three.

Well, I originally estimated it would end around chapter 60, but it ended up being chapter 70. Rounding it up, it's about the same as chapter 60, so it's not a big problem.

Well, controlling the length of a story is still a bit difficult for me. In the first half of the volume, the wisteria chapter exceeded the planned length, reaching 35 words. To avoid it becoming too long, I separated the early chapter. Now the early chapter is also 27 words, all exceeding my own expectations.

In other words, the two volumes that were originally placed together now total 61 words, or a full 161 chapters. Considering that the second half of the volume includes two large maps, Nightfall Mountain and Bydos, plus a concluding section, I can only say that my initial estimate of 300 chapters for the second volume was probably too conservative.

Looking back now, when I was writing the outline, thinking, "This is such a cool super-large campus ghost story dungeon with four maps and eight core elements," I really want to go back and beat him up.

In any case, this chapter is now over, and the middle part of Volume 3 has come to an end. After a short interlude of daily life, we will arrive at the final chapter of this volume.

To be honest, I'm not very satisfied with this one. From August 18th to today, it took me almost a month and a half to write the Hayate Elementary School arc. Compared to the first and second volumes, which are similar in length, one was completed in a month and the other, which took almost a month, this volume took far too long. There were too many delays, which probably didn't provide a good experience for readers who were following the story, and the writing process was also very painful for me as the author.

The problem is quite obvious: the Hayatei Elementary School arc wasn't designed with a sufficiently long or comprehensive set of rules from the outset. In the original concept, this arc was merely a supplementary arc following Fujihana Middle School, and because it wasn't intended to be very long, its framework was relatively simple. In fact, only the rule regarding cognitive blocking was written initially; the rest was planned later as the arc needed to be independent. Therefore, encountering problems like writer's block was predictable and a self-inflicted hardship.

This can only be considered a lingering issue stemming from the Fujika Middle School arc. Hopefully, everyone will still be satisfied with this flawed story.

The upcoming intermissions will be much longer, since the main characters don't have any urgent missions this time, so they'll be the kind of normal, fun intermissions. Maki and Chika's relationship needs further development, Miko's relationship needs nurturing, Hayasaka needs a little walk, and Kaguya needs to get closer to someone (and I mean genuinely get closer, not to persecute her). In short, there will definitely be something enjoyable to see; everyone knows what our style is in this regard.

The interlude is expected to have around 20-30 chapters. Unlike the main story, which always exceeds the word limit, the interlude will always be shorter than expected. I can only say I'll try my best in this regard.

Regarding Kaguya's romantic storyline, while many have complained about the four treasure chests, it actually has little to do with them. The real issue lies in the unpredictable nature of Kaguya's romantic relationships. Furthermore, the introduction of Hayasaka, with her contrasting personalities, inevitably led to different choices, resulting in the current situation. However, Kaguya's storyline will be richer in the upcoming interlude, as they've now reached a point where they're getting closer.

As for the final part of Volume 3 (Part 2), readers who have read the Tanabata Memoirs side story already know some of the relevant content, so I won't go into detail here. Readers who are interested can check out the side story section.

Also, Goto Ichiri, who was originally slated to appear in the second volume and was listed as the fourth female lead but has been detached from the main storyline until now, it seems her turn for a role is finally coming. For some reason, I feel a bit guilty towards Pochi...

So, as usual, here's the preview image for the second half of the volume. Some readers might find this image scary, so here's a warning: readers who are afraid of this kind of picture shouldn't force themselves to read it!

Volume 3: Interlude Part 2

Interlude 3-13: A Rest After the Return and a New Crimson Moon Blessing

Kaguya finally couldn't stand it anymore and rushed forward without even looking at him, chasing Takahashi out of the small living room. Back in the corridor, Takahashi looked at the somewhat unfamiliar corridor of the mansion, as if he hadn't been there for a long time, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

You're back.

Once again, we overcame the difficulties and returned to the real world.

Having survived the arduous exploration and battles, everyone returned to the real world unharmed.

Then, after another two weeks, I'll have to go back into the dungeon again, damn it.

However, we don't need to worry about this now. In short, we can finally rest now and temporarily stop working so hard.

"Could you please prepare a guest room for me? I need to rest for a while. Thank you."

While Kaguya was asking the maids at the mansion to help her get her clothes, Takahashi grabbed one of them at random, asked her to find him a guest room, went in, and immediately fell asleep, completely asleep in less than a minute.

Put all your worries and troubles behind you.

Without thinking, without leaving yourself any confusion, just close your eyes and welcome the rest after the battle.

He slept soundly, deeply, and comfortably, waking up without a trace of fatigue, completely refreshed to greet the new day.

She didn't know why the servants in the mansion looked at her with such strange eyes; for some reason, these maids all seemed to be somewhat afraid of her.