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

The obsession's damage to her memories caused intense discomfort, but compared to that discomfort, the pressure from her teammates' gazes was far greater. However, there was nothing she could do; after all, she was the "only" person who had made progress during the morning's exploration, yet had lost all relevant information.

"That special object of obsession can be forcibly activated at critical moments to make the user forget the relevant memories, causing the monster that originally chose her and intended to attack her to lose its target. Hmm, that object of obsession is still very damaging to the mind. If it has come to the point where it is necessary to use that thing, the situation at that time was probably quite dangerous."

Aoyama Nanami gently patted Ichiri's back to comfort him, and then explained the situation again in a serious tone.

"Danger is certain; she's missing a fragment of her psychic energy. This means that in that instant, she suffered psychic contamination powerful enough to instantly kill an ordinary person with a strong will. The memory-erasing artifact was confirmed to have been activated after the psychic fragment shattered, proving that the information she received at that moment was not only extremely lethal but also highly persistent. None of our other teams have encountered this situation, so I have a highly probable guess: players acting alone without a team are likely far more dangerous in this instance than those acting in groups."

Xiong Mi pulled out another cigarette from somewhere, put it in his mouth without lighting it, and then stared at Goto Ichiri and said seriously.

As a seasoned office worker and a player who has endured many hardships, Xiong Mi's gaze still exudes a considerable sense of oppression when she gets serious. As a result, Goto Ichiri curls up even more tightly, and Gao Hai, who is standing next to her, even feels that this girl seems to be starting to transform from a 3D structure into a 2D one.

"But if that's the case, why did she only run into trouble during the break of the third period after acting alone all morning? Logically, if there was a problem, shouldn't something have happened already? If she was just acting alone, that shouldn't be the key issue, right?"

This time, it was Qi Chuanlian who spoke up. This player from the [Red Society], who was dressed a bit like a thug, hadn't been very noticeable before and had been mostly acting quietly. But now, when they were discussing the issue, she suddenly spoke up, as if she had some ideas.

"Indeed, the key may lie in the specific actions taken. So the question is what problem she discovered and what kind of probing behavior she took after discovering the problem, which resulted in an extremely serious backlash."

Takahashi also spoke up, and observed Goto Ichiri very carefully.

"Bullying? Nightfall Mountain Middle School has a history of bullying among students. This kid is so withdrawn; it seems like he might have triggered some kind of bullying factor?"

Kaguya Shinomiya frowned and spoke up as well, trying to analyze the possible truth.

Bullying?

Takahashi was somewhat aware of Kaguya's suspicions. After all, Japan remains one of the countries with the most severe bullying problems, where students isolate, humiliate, and torment others for all sorts of seemingly absurd reasons. Goto Ichiri herself was indeed quite unconventional in many ways. To be honest, she hadn't been bullied much by the time she was seventeen; at most, she had only been slightly ostracized and isolated by her classmates, which was quite incredible in Japan.

In other words, it was because Goto Ichiri's behavior was so unusual compared to others that she was attacked by the monster during the day.

Given that the girl's memories have been erased by the object of her obsession, this seems to be a fairly reliable answer.

However, this is still somewhat general. For those who currently know nothing, it would be better if the answer could be made clearer.

Gao Hai closed his eyes and tried to seriously consider more specific possibilities.

Hmm, I can’t think of one.

As a maverick, Gao Hai's school life was largely devoid of bullying. If anything, it might involve some school thugs coming to his door demanding money, but Gao Hai always fought back directly. He even rolled a mop in the latrine to take on a whole group of them, earning him the respect of his entire class.

Gao Hai, with his background, could not imagine what it would be like for a student to be isolated and bullied by a group of students, nor could he comprehend such pain.

"Perhaps we could consider focusing on the atmosphere?"

With a soft tapping sound, Fujiwara Chika tapped her chopsticks on the edge of the noodle bowl, then spoke thoughtfully.

"atmosphere?"

Xiong Mi was stunned for a moment, it seemed that she, like Gao Hai, was completely clueless about this.

"The atmosphere..."

Upon hearing this, Kenta Hayashibe, who had been eating and acting as a background figure, turned pale. It seemed that he was recalling a lot of bad things, to the point that he couldn't even eat.

What is atmosphere?

Gao Hai, on the other hand, chose to ask questions directly. He wouldn't deliberately keep quiet about things he didn't understand unless absolutely necessary.

"Hmm...this thing is a bit hard to explain..."

Putting down her chopsticks, Fujiwara Chika turned to look at the increasingly timid girl who, like herself, had long pink hair but whose personality was as extreme as the two poles of a magnetic field. After thinking for a moment, she continued to speak.

"The so-called atmosphere is actually just the social and living atmosphere of Japan, which is not much different from other countries and places in essence."

"But how should I put it... the 'atmosphere' in Japan is one that can easily become extreme. To put it bluntly, 'anti-foreign' behavior is very common in Japan, and in relatively closed environments like schools, this 'anti-foreign' phenomenon often becomes very serious."

"Don't cause trouble for others, and don't seek special treatment. If most people are the same in a certain aspect, then the rest of the group should also be consistent. If you can't do that, you may be ostracized and considered someone who doesn't fit the atmosphere. Sometimes this phenomenon can even arise from very subtle things, such as whether a person is fat or thin, whether they are extroverted or introverted, or even whether they prefer salty or sweet food, or the color combination of their clothes—all of these can become reasons for rejection."

“Even the bullying behavior itself can change anytime, anywhere. People can read between the lines and go with the flow. Even if it’s just a small ‘difference,’ for example, if you slap someone less when you’re bullying them today, you might become the next person to be bullied tomorrow. This distorted atmosphere has been lingering in this place for a very long time. For everyone who grew up in Japan, even if they haven’t experienced it, they have definitely seen it happen.”

"Yeah, including myself, I was once isolated because I was more outgoing and liked to have fun than other classmates. So, 'atmosphere' is a big monster that has been entrenched in Japan for a long time."

As she spoke, Fujiwara Chika herself revealed a somewhat complicated expression.

To be precise, it wasn't just Fujiwara Chika; Kaguya, Maki, Miko, Hayasaka, as well as Aoyama Nanami, Nanakawa Ren, and Hayashibe Kenta—all the Japanese players present wore extremely complex expressions that clearly hinted at a story.

Except for Goto Ichiri, whose face was now expressionless. Well, at the beginning, when Fujiwara Chika was explaining, little Pochi would show a pained expression as if she'd been shot after almost every sentence she uttered. But after Fujiwara Chika finished speaking, the girl completely melted—no, she completely died—or rather, she showed the serene look that only a dead person would have.

To be honest, Gao Hai felt that he would hardly ever find another girl with such an outrageously expressive face as Goto Ichiri in his lifetime.

But… the atmosphere… even with Chika's earnest explanation, Gao Hai still couldn't grasp it. At most, he could only grumble that the social atmosphere of isolating and bullying others over trivial matters, even turning such behavior into "common sense," was indeed strange. Hmm, but thinking back, weren't those petty thugs he encountered in school also prone to violent fights over the smallest things? It's just that these thugs never amounted to anything; they were always just a minority.

That said, how could a girl like Chika have ever been isolated? It seems a bit unbelievable, considering she's usually such a social butterfly.

"When I hear you say you feel isolated, it's like listening to a fantasy story."

Gao Hai couldn't help but complain to Qian Hua.

"Yes, it's true. Although the friends I hung out with back then seemed to be very close to me, they would say things like 'can't read the room,' and they would deliberately avoid me when we talked about certain topics. Even though it was just basic passive-aggressive isolation, it was still quite painful to notice. It felt like I had been betrayed by my good friends."

Somewhat dissatisfied, Fujiwara Chika slammed her hand on the table and shouted at Takahashi in a very serious manner.

"So, how did you deal with this isolation behavior?"

Gao Hai scratched his head, then asked again with some curiosity.

At the same time, Goto Ichiri, who had previously looked completely dejected, perked up and looked at Fujiwara Chika with a mixture of curiosity and anticipation, perhaps wanting to learn some advanced techniques from this social butterfly.

"Well, it's simple. After all, I have more than one friend. I'll just be a superficial friend with this one, and I'll maintain good relationships with the others."

The next moment, Fujiwara Chika, with a "I have a lot of friends" expression, answered seriously.

Kaguya and Maki, who had few friends due to their personalities, fell silent at this moment and subconsciously clenched their fists. Miko showed a slightly envious expression, while Hayasaka didn't care. As for Goto Ichiri, ah, she died again.

Xiong Mi clicked her tongue and shook her head; she still didn't empathize with the scenario Fujiwara Chika described.

However, she had previously investigated a lot of related information because she needed to explore this instance, so she knew that the bullying rate in Japanese schools could reach over 85%, which meant that out of a hundred students, only about ten had never been bullied or had never bullied others, which was quite outrageous.

As for the reasons, there are many explanations from various perspectives. I've actually heard of the "atmosphere" that Fujiwara Chika mentioned, as well as things like social hierarchy and cultural characteristics, which are all quite incomprehensible.

Furthermore, based on Xiongmi's own understanding, bullying in Japan doesn't seem to easily escalate into real violence. Instead, it's more about childish behaviors like isolating victims, talking behind their backs, writing profanities on their desks, or hiding their shoes, books, and other belongings. But today, Goto Ichiri may have only made a very minor attempt, yet she directly encountered the danger of having her memory erased to pass the level, which is truly puzzling.

"The atmosphere you're talking about... do you think that something she did disrupted the atmosphere?"

While thinking, Xiong Mi put down the cigarette he was holding and looked at Fujiwara Chika before asking her a question.

"Yes, that's what I mean."

Seeing that Xiong Mi had brought the topic back to the main point, Qian Hua nodded gently and answered in a serious tone.

"But acting alone is already out of place, so where does the idea of ​​breaking the atmosphere come from?"

Xiong Mi frowned and asked again.

"No, being isolated and excluded is still just a kind of atmosphere. For Japan, it's just a very common phenomenon."

This time, Chika shook her head, her expression becoming more complicated.

"However, if the isolated person refuses to accept this situation of being 'bullied and excluded' and tries to resist or try to integrate or explore, that is what disrupts the atmosphere and is what is even less acceptable and tolerated."

"In other words, if you've already been bullied but refuse to accept it honestly and instead insist on fighting back, that's even more unacceptable and disruptive. Because at that point, you've already started to cause trouble for others."

After saying this, Gao Hai began to feel that Goto Ichiri himself was about to completely dissipate into ashes and disintegrate on the spot.

That was really something I didn't like to hear.

If you're being bullied, you should just put up with it; Gao Hai never tolerates that kind of attitude.

Back when he was a child, before he used a dung-filled mop to beat up those thugs, Gao Hai had tried to seek help from his useless homeroom teacher, who only cared about students' grades and found everything else troublesome. He received the response, "Why are they only bullying you? It takes two to tango. Don't you have a problem too?"

So he slapped the teacher across the face, then kicked him between the legs before the teacher could rush at him in a rage, and then, straddling the teacher who was lying on the ground with a bruised face, slapped him several more times, asking him as he hit him, "Does a slap make a sound? Does it make a sound?"

Although this behavior did cause him a lot of trouble, the final result proved that sometimes you have to be brave to solve problems; if you back down, you really become a dog.

"So, under normal circumstances, what is the truly effective way to break this situation?"

Thinking this, Takahashi looked at Chika and asked in a calm tone.

"Well, should we fight back?"

Then the girl tilted her head, revealed a sly smile, and deliberately imitated Gao Hai's disdainful tone when he provoked people to answer.

Chapter Fifteen: The Dispersed Investigation at Noon and Miko's Strange Sensations

12:33

Dormitory building, room 212.

Dim light filtered through the curtains, through the washroom area and the half-open door, illuminating the quiet dormitory room.

Standing in the dormitory, Gao Hai's gaze fell on the bed where he had first woken up. He lingered on the fairly tidy bed for a moment, then lowered his gaze slightly, as if he wanted to look under the bed.

Is that thing that was under the bed still inside?

Gao Hai admitted that he was somewhat curious.

Of course, he was just thinking about it and wouldn't actually do it.

After all, he remembered very clearly that the third rule in the dormitory building’s “survival rules” stated that if anything unusual was found under the bed, then one could not sleep on that bed for the entire next day, and one could not try to check under the bed again.

Gao Hai would only do something reckless when he had no other choice, and the current situation is far from deteriorating to that point, so it is more appropriate to proceed cautiously for now.

Since there's nothing to do here, I need to find somewhere else to spend my lunch break today.

I wonder if I'll encounter anything unusual this time.

While lost in thought, Gao Hai had already left the dormitory, completely ignoring his three roommates who were already lying in bed. Although he vaguely sensed that their gazes seemed to linger on him, as if they were lying in bed asleep but were actually secretly observing him.

Because I was alone in the dormitory and didn't stay with anyone else, did I become an "outcast, antisocial person" in the eyes of these three students dressed as ghosts?

Gao Hai considered whether he should grab the three creatures and slap them a few times, then ask them a few questions like, "Is your dad handsome?" But considering that Goto Ichiri had broken a piece of his mental shield and had to have his memories erased to ensure his safety, he ultimately gave up on that idea.

Five hours have passed since we entered the instance around 7:00 AM, until now, past 12:30 PM. Takahashi has already replenished the spirit fragment that Goto Ichiri lost, and in three hours, the spirit blessing from Hachiya Chiyo will automatically generate a new spirit fragment, filling Takahashi's current 9/10 spirit fragment slots again.

So far, I seem to have received blessings from three underage little girls.

Well, the first blessing came from Li Zhaodi, granting him the ability to distinguish between good and evil, while also slightly increasing his sweet tooth. This was probably because the child found sweetness wonderful, thus enhancing Gao Hai's senses in that area. The second blessing was from the real Alice; this little girl gave him a safe house filled with all sorts of delicious snacks. Finally, there was the blessing from Hachiya Chiyo of Hayate Elementary School, which twisted his mind, allowing him to absorb the blood of life.

It seems that the art style of the third little girl's blessing is quite different from the first two.

However, that's not the main point. The main point is how I should spend the time between 12:30 and 2:00, the start of the first class in the afternoon.