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

A dull thud accompanied the tremors of the ground, and the sound came continuously from all directions.

The corpses in each room are engaged in a fierce struggle with something.

Without a doubt, the sounds of countless monsters that Gao Hai heard on the third floor on the first night of the last cycle have now moved to the second floor.

If that's the case, then this door can't possibly block it.

"Shigong!"

In those fleeting few seconds, Gao Hai shouted at the girl inside the room without the slightest hesitation.

No further dialogue is needed.

After just one sentence, Kaguya immediately understood what Takami wanted to express.

Reach out.

Grab the hands of the clock.

Kaguya turned the hands without the slightest hesitation.

Click!

With a crisp sound, Gao Hai opened his eyes and saw that the light outside the window had almost disappeared, and the surroundings had fallen into darkness to some extent.

The time was rewound to around 6 p.m.

Pale-faced Kaguya avoided the wall clock on the ground, which had apparently become something terrifying in her eyes.

Gao Hai didn't have time to think about anything else. He quickly opened the living room door, rushed through the corridor, and then opened the front door to look out at the stairwell.

Then he saw Lao Guo, with a gloomy expression, slowly walk down the corridor. When he saw him come out, Lao Guo only gave him a cold glance and didn't even bother to say a word. He just walked all the way to the end of the corridor and went downstairs.

"..."

Gao Hai stood there without saying a word, simply watching the other person's back disappear.

Just now, as he was about to say something, he saw something that looked like a doll peeking out of Lao Guo's coat pocket.

The instant he felt the doll's gaze, Gao Hai realized that if he had actually said something that displeased Old Guo, he might have died on the spot in the stairwell.

So that's how it is. His actions of throwing bombs and firing guns were to drag us into it, forcing us to reset the clock so he could escape danger earlier.

His exploration on the third floor must have failed just like in the previous cycle. However, since Kaguya wasn't turned into an anomaly this time, he shouldn't be in danger. He was just frustrated by the unfavorable situation.

So this guy keeps saying don't block the way, but when something actually happens, he turns around and messes with other players?

At this moment, Gao Hai had countless curses about to burst out of his throat, but he had neither powerful obsession items nor extraordinary tools, nor weapons such as pistols and bombs. As it got later and later and the light became dimmer, all he could do was take a deep breath in the direction where Lao Guo had disappeared, then close the door and return to the living room.

This revenge must be taken.

If before, Lao Guo was merely a nuisance to Gao Hai, someone who thought was an overconfident idiot trying to show off in the Rules of the Strange Tales instance, then now Lao Guo has risen to become the most dangerous element in the entire instance. He has no doubt that this man will do even more torment them, the survivors, and the longer this kind of person survives in the instance, the higher the chances of all of them encountering danger.

"We were used, weren't we?"

When Kaguya saw Takami return from the living room, she asked him softly.

"yes……"

Seeing that Kaguya had already guessed the truth, Takahashi could only smile wryly and sit down against the wall to continue resting.

Green, who can't be relied on in crucial moments; Sun Dajun, who can only do some logistical work; Maeda Miwa, a complete waste of space; the black guy who runs off with Lao Guo after being fooled by a few words; and Lao Guo, the so-called veteran player who is the most inhuman and causes all sorts of trouble...

Upon closer examination, it turns out that everyone in this so-called game team, except for Kaguya and Maki, the two anime beauties, had problems. Moreover, apart from Sun Dajun, who at least seemed honest and could communicate and offer help, everyone else was a complete burden and a troublemaker.

Please, finding clues and deducing information in this deadly rule-based mystery is already incredibly difficult. Please don't make it any harder for us.

Gao Hai wanted to question him like that, but in the end he just sighed silently and closed his eyes to rest as night fell.

That night, Gao Hai did not play a person from the past or experience a certain event from the past in his dreams.

In his dream, a little girl stood blocking the living room door, crying softly.

Her crying was muffled, as if her mouth had been gagged; only muffled sobs could be heard.

Gao Hai stood in front of the living room door… No, was this the living room door? It seemed to be an unfamiliar door, one he had never seen before. And she was right outside, as if she were waiting for him to open the door, waiting for him to open this door and bring her in.

Why would I dream about something like that?

When Gao Hai opened his eyes, it was already bright outside.

The group gathered again, just like yesterday, in Sun Dajun's room 206. This time, Sun Dajun was in charge of cooking the noodles.

The group in the living room had a general discussion, or more accurately, Kaguya Takami, Maki, and the other two discussed their views and then prepared for their next mission to explore the third floor.

“This time, Zhenfei and I will go to the third floor to explore. Mr. Gao Hai, you can stay on the second floor.”

Kaguya finalized her strategy for this operation.

"I think I can continue to be in charge of the exploration mission. After all, I explored twice yesterday, and I went to the third floor, so I have some experience."

Gao Hai was still somewhat hesitant, feeling that he should still be in charge of the exploration and investigation.

"That's why you need to rest today, since you've already investigated twice. Also, you need to keep an eye on things here."

Kaguya shook her head, directly denying Takami's words, and her gaze was fixed on Maeda Miwa, who was sitting on one side of the room and smelled bad.

The mentally unstable woman was dragged out again, and the reason for bringing her out was simple: to make her turn the clock. Sun Dajun and Green had already turned the clock, and Gao Hai claimed to have regressed once, so he was also treated as someone who had turned the clock. In this situation, only Maeda Miwa was left as someone who could be used to turn the clock, so after considering it, the group had Green open the door and bring the woman out.

Perhaps she'd gone a little dazed from being cooped up in the house for two days, because Maeda Miwa was much quieter this time. She didn't shout or scream randomly anymore, and she was even a little more lucid and able to communicate. When she saw Kaguya watching her, she stood up unsteadily, muttering things like, "I'm not useless, I'm useful, I'm useful," and then waved her hands and jumped around a couple of times, before laughing again.

"To be honest, I actually think there are still many problems with releasing this woman."

Gao Hai shook his head as he looked at the guy whose brain had completely broken down.

Only room 205 contained two corpses, and behind the sealed kitchen door, it was unknown whether anything else might be inside. Because they sensed the unusual nature of room 205, Takami and the others hadn't investigated it, and Takami had always harbored suspicions about Maeda Miwa, the woman who emerged from that room.

What's the point of throwing such a complete waste into this kind of dungeon? Is this kind of sacrifice game completely indiscriminate?

"Of course I know there are some problems, but this is the only way for now. If we don't consider her, we only have Princess Zhenfei left to rewind. So even though there are many suspicious things about her, we must make use of her, at least let her ring the bell once, and make full use of her abilities."

Kaguya was clearly aware of the problem Takami was referring to, and she felt quite helpless about it, her expression revealing a hint of worry.

If it weren't for Lao Guo's appearance last night, given that both Kaguya and Maki could rewind time, the appointment of Maeda Miwa could have been postponed.

However, only Maki is currently capable of rewinding time, and considering her excellent abilities, it wouldn't be appropriate to leave her on the second floor to turn the clock. Therefore, we have no choice but to use Maeda Miwa in this round and let her play her part.

"I'm useful, I'm useful, really, really. You can try it if you don't believe me, hehehe, I'm very powerful."

At this moment, Maeda Miwa approached, walked up to Takami and Kaguya, and then lifted up her clothes.

Faced with this scene, Gao Hai didn't hesitate to take a few steps away from the crazed woman. While gesturing for Green to come and take the woman away, he reached into his pocket, took out the 304 key, and handed it towards Kaguya.

"No matter what, you must be careful. You are the backbone of our team."

To avoid an overly serious atmosphere before the operation began, Takahashi made a little joke to Kaguya.

"Hmph, such petty flattery won't work on your great-aunt."

Not far away, Zhenfei, who was stretching and preparing to leave, looked over and snorted at Gao Hai.

Green grabbed Maeda Miwa's shoulder, who was still trying to come forward, his eyes unconsciously drifting to the skin beneath her lifted clothes. He swallowed hard, and a wicked glint appeared in his eyes.

"Don't worry, as the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya family, I will not fall in a place like this."

Kaguya Shinomiya ignored Miwa Maeda, who was being held back, who was still shouting, "I really am useful!" Facing Takami, she smiled faintly and spoke in a somewhat arrogant tone as she raised her hand to take the key that Takami offered.

But what she caught in the end was not the key from Gao Hai's hand.

It was Gao Hai's hand that fell down.

puff--

Spurting blood gushed from the severed wrist.

Maeda Miwa twirled the sharp knife in her hand, slicing open the neck of Green, who had walked up to her, and then directly cutting off Takami's right hand.

The woman lunged forward with astonishing speed, and the instant she severed Gao Hai's right hand, her left hand had already grasped a second slender knife, thrusting it straight at Kaguya's face.

In that split second of danger, Kaguya reacted instinctively, her eyes widening as she raised her hand to shield her face. Her hand was then pierced, and the blade sliced ​​open her cheek, leaving a bloody gash.

Boom!

A heavy kick landed on Kaguya's stomach the next moment.

Gao Hai had already reacted at this moment, enduring the excruciating pain of his severed hand as he charged forward, but the woman dodged him with snake-like movements, reached out and snatched the severed hand, grabbing the key held in it.

The next moment, Kaguya kicked the woman in the back with a horizontal kick. The woman was unable to completely avoid the heavy blow and rolled on the ground in a sorry state. However, she immediately flipped over and jumped up, and then tried to retreat to the side of the house.

The retreat was not immediately successful.

Because Maki, who had just realized what was happening, rushed forward and grabbed the thin rope attached to the key, pulling it to stop the woman's movements.

Ignoring her injured hand, Kaguya rushed forward again, ready to launch an attack.

"Wow, they're really a group of amazing newbies. This is clearly a mission that no newbies could possibly survive."

With a mocking tone, the woman swung her knife and cut the thin rope. She moved again, dodging Kaguya's attack with an agility that was almost impossible for a normal person. She quickly retreated to the direction of the living room door and threw a small knife, which was driven directly into the wall clock on the side of the room, severing the clock's hands.

At this moment, Maeda Miwa's entire appearance and demeanor have undergone a complete transformation.

"You're like Lao Guo... a veteran player who sneaked in illegally? You're not Maeda Miwa at all..."

Sun Dajun was so frightened that he almost collapsed to the ground, while Gao Hai, who was kneeling on the ground clutching his bleeding severed hand, looked at the woman's appearance and understood everything at that moment.

The two corpses in room 205, the one that appeared fresh from suffocation, were actually the original player of room 205. This woman, like Lao Guo, somehow forced her way into this instance she wasn't supposed to enter, killed the new player in the room, and used some means—perhaps the power of a possessed object—to take over the other player's identity. The reason the corpse in room 205 left during the day might be because this woman's actions disrupted the rules of room 205, leading to this abnormal situation!

"So you guys are really a group of amazing newcomers. If you were given time to grow and improve through normal dungeons, you might become one of the top Red Moon players. It's a pity that most of you probably don't have that chance anymore."

The woman grinned, her tone brimming with malice.

Kaguya charged forward again to attack, but her fist passed right through the woman's body and missed.

In the eyes of everyone in the room, Maeda Miwa, who had been a crazy and useless person for the previous three days, gradually dissolved and disappeared on the floor like mud.

"Well, I don't have any particularly amazing skills. I just happened to get lucky and acquired two obsession items that are good for survival. So, I really enjoy reaping the benefits without lifting a finger. The first floor of Shirakawa Apartment has been difficult to explore since it deteriorated, but thanks to you guys this time, I'm very grateful. In return, I'll tell you the original way to clear this instance: find a way to get the [Debt Collector]'s clothes. As long as you wear the [Debt Collector]'s clothes and get out of the first-floor door before your mind is assimilated, you can leave this instance."

"This is the truth, I'm not lying to you. Of course, this was the method used before. Now the [Debt Collector] has lost its form and become invisible. This instance is being [fixed], perhaps because it has devoured enough lives, or perhaps because it has been stimulated by something. The original strategy for clearing the instance has completely failed, but in contrast, the core obsession that was originally untouchable now has a real opportunity to be touched."

"I'm so sorry you encountered this situation. The changes in the instance, coupled with the forced intervention of two players who aren't newbies, have made this apartment more dangerous than ever before. Even so, I'm truly, truly grateful that you managed to get the key to room 304. Hehehe, I hope you survive, newbies~"

Although the woman's body had almost completely disintegrated into a puddle of mud, her voice continued to echo in the room.

Those words, brimming with wicked humor, seemed to be deliberately provoking everyone present, wanting to see them lose their composure before mocking them even louder.

"You've been putting on an act all these days..."

Kaguya's voice was chilling, and her expression was extremely gloomy. She clenched her fists, unsure of what to do, which only made the other party laugh even more unrestrainedly.