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

{Gao Hai: I think I heard someone singing just now... Didn't you sense anything was wrong?}

Gao Hai's expression remained unchanged as he quickly moved away from the direction of the toilet, asking Jianzi through their mental link.

{Yotsuya Miko: No, I didn't hear any singing. Hmm, but it feels a bit colder here. And that... I don't have any evidence, but I have a really bad feeling. I think we might be being watched by something... But, but I'm just guessing, I don't really have any real feeling.}

Seeing that Zi hesitated for a moment when answering, she finally decided to express the bad feeling in her heart.

{Gao Hai: Now that you mention it, I can't just take it as a guess. If we really are being watched by something, but the other party is still hiding in the shadows and hasn't shown up, continuing to investigate might lead to big problems.}

Takahashi had a similar premonition about the girl, but since they had come this far, they had to take a look at the archives no matter what. So Takahashi carefully led Miko forward, and when they passed the elevator, he paid special attention to the floor the elevator was currently on.

【P4】

Shouldn't the floor number be F? Why is it P here? Hmm, anyway, the elevator should be on the fourth floor right now, right?

I turned around again and checked once more to make sure there were no more strange noises coming from the direction of the toilet.

Gao Hai continued walking, reaching out to grab Jianzi's small hand and pulling her forward to ensure she remained within his peripheral vision.

Soon, the two passed a sign that read "No Loud Talking" and then walked to the entrance of the multimedia conference room. Gao Hai looked into the conference room, which had a transparent glass door, and saw a dark interior where almost nothing could be seen, except for rows of empty tables and chairs and a lectern.

It's a good thing we didn't see anything inside.

Gao Hai quickened his pace slightly and continued forward with Jianzi.

Perhaps because he didn't go to the broadcasting room, the strange broadcast that Chika Maki had encountered in the first playthrough didn't play this time.

He walked safely to the door of the archives room, only to discover that the door required an identity card to open.

I never imagined that thing could still be used today.

Without the slightest hesitation, Gao Hai took out the magnetic card he had obtained at Teng Hua Middle School, swiped it on the card reader on the door of the archives room, and then, with a slight mechanical beep, the door slowly opened, revealing a somewhat dark interior environment.

{Yotsuya Miko: That card is still there...}

The girl beside Gao Hai looked at the magnetic card with some surprise. She didn't quite understand why the small magnetic card was still intact even though the Fujika Middle School instance had been destroyed.

{Gao Hai: Yeah, this thing is still here. I guess it won't disappear until the entire [Campus Ghost Stories] instance is completely destroyed.}

Stepping inside.

Gao Hai summoned Howard, the last person whose name tag on the rescue team could still summon, and instructed the firefighter to stand guard at the door. He then found the light switch in the student archives room and turned it on. As the stark white light illuminated the room, Gao Hai saw rows of cabinets storing paper files.

It looks pretty big; it'll probably take a while to find it.

Thinking this, Gao Hai and Jian Zi exchanged a glance and nodded in tacit agreement. Then, they first checked whether there were any rule sheets in the room. After confirming that there were none, they walked together to a row of cabinets, opened them, and began to look through the student files.

While the two on this side were searching for information, something else was happening in the main teaching building.

"Ok?"

Player Qichuan Lian from the [Red Society] was suddenly jolted awake from the drowsiness brought on by continuous classes.

She frowned, looked down at a notebook on the table, and after noticing the unusual thing on it, quickly took out a small button and held it in her hand.

There was movement at the entrance to the first-floor atrium.

The message entered the minds of Kaguya Shinomiya, Maki Shijou, and Nanami Aoyama in the same classroom, and then continued to spread outwards, reaching the ears of players in other classrooms.

Was that door opened?

Kaguya Shinomiya, who appeared to be listening attentively to the lecture but was actually keeping a close eye on the investigation, turned her head nervously towards Ren Nanakawa.

From the moment she entered this instance, Kaguya had a bad feeling that she had forgotten something. This made her restless, as if there was something she hadn't noticed, and something she should have noticed appearing and disappearing around her.

She didn't recall the person's existence, only vaguely sensing that someone was missing from her side. This was unavoidable, as Kaguya hadn't retained any rewind memories. For her, the Hayate Elementary School arc only remembered the final loop where everything collapsed; she had no memory of the struggle against the cognitive blockage beforehand. Furthermore, unlike Maki or Chika, she hadn't developed a deep relationship with Takami. Before this arc began, Kaguya had only gone on a few dates with Takami, rarely engaging in any intimate actions. Without a deep emotional connection, she couldn't recall that someone was missing from this arc.

However, the sense of incongruity was getting worse and worse, and anxiety had been tormenting Kaguya since the beginning, making it difficult for her to concentrate.

She had considered many possibilities. After noticing that Kumami, Maki, and the others had left inexplicably and acted strangely, and then returned and started emphasizing that "the courtyard is very important," Kaguya began to vaguely sense that what she was experiencing now was not the first time.

Has anyone acted like this before? Even though everyone else's memories show everything has only just begun, he seems to know everything as if he could foresee the future… Ugh, I can't remember who that person is. What's going on…?

Since the cognitive blockade cannot be broken immediately, Kaguya can only focus her attention on the important matter at present, which is to find the way to open the skylight door of the main teaching building.

The players had already tried their best to get past that door, but to no avail; they couldn't open it at all. The suggestion to jump from the rooftop into the courtyard was rejected because it was too conspicuous, and as for stupid ideas like kidnapping the teacher to force him to open the door, that goes without saying.

But now, things seem to have changed.

I saw it. I saw someone take out a key and open the courtyard door. I will investigate the origin of the person who opened the door and the situation inside. Miss Xiong Mi, I'm counting on you to interpret this information.

Previously, Qi Chuanlian had been laughing and joking, but at this moment her expression turned serious. She picked up a pen and began to lightly sketch on the notebook that was open on the table.

So, two tiny paper figures, only five or six centimeters tall, peeked out from the corner by the courtyard door on the first floor and looked at the tall figure who had just opened the courtyard door with the key. He was wearing thick clothes, a big hat, thick gloves, and a mask, and his hair was so thick that his face was completely obscured.

{Looks like a teacher? At least definitely an adult; that height is probably well over 1.9 meters.}

The key that opened the door was a silver-gray key, showing signs of wear and scratches; the person who opened the door put it away.

While transmitting messages through the object of her obsession, Qi Chuanlian also manipulated the two small paper figures to move.

He stood at the door without going in, just observing from the outside. Hmm, I'll let one of the little paper figures go in first.

Then, one of the paper figures quietly walked past the tall figure and stepped into the courtyard.

{Successfully entered; the paper figure wasn't immediately destroyed. Hmm, looks like a botanical garden; so far, it's relatively safe, and there shouldn't be any problems—}

Bang! ! !

Blood and brain matter splattered out together, filling the entire room in the blink of an eye.

The next second, both Maki and Kaguya instinctively widened their eyes, and even the relatively calm Aoyama Nanami was momentarily stunned.

There was absolutely no chance to offer any assistance. The player named Qi Chuanlian's head exploded on the spot, turning the entire classroom crimson.

Then, the students lowered their heads.

Suddenly, all the students in the classroom, who were filled with strange creatures, lowered their heads as if the power had gone out, and lay motionless on their desks.

Even the teacher giving the lecture stopped what he was doing, lowered his head like a zombie, and stood there motionless.

Snapped--

The classroom lights went out, and the entire classroom became dim at that moment.

Then, before the players present could react, footsteps suddenly sounded from outside, approaching step by step.

Chapter 52: The Gradually Spreading Silence and Darkness

The moment Nanakawa Ren's head exploded, Shijo Maki had to admit that she was completely stunned.

Although she had witnessed the terrifying power of the supernatural before, in Maki's opinion, a Red Moon-level player should not be so easily killed like a minor character.

After all, according to Gao Hai's account of the first playthrough, Miss Xiong Mi came alone to rescue her and Chika, and later entered Class 10 of the second year of high school to obtain information about the core obsession, Eriko Asamoto. It is said that Mr. Akira Toyama also possessed extremely powerful strength when he was possessed by a strange entity and went mad, which caused Gao Hai a lot of trouble. Therefore, in Maki's understanding, the so-called Red Moon level players are the highest combat power of players in this world, and are the pinnacle of this world apart from beings like Kai-kun who possess extraordinary power beyond comprehension.

As a result, Qi Chuanlian, who is also a Red Moon level player and whose strength should not be much weaker than Miss Xiong Mi, has died from a headshot. This is far beyond what Zhen Fei expected.

What exactly happened to her?

What kind of terrifying monster could it be that even a Red Moon-level player...?

Hey?

The next second, Maki's eyes widened suddenly.

She had already prepared to mourn for her teammate, but then she suddenly saw Nanakawa Ren's headless body tremble a few times, then sit up straight again, and give a thumbs-up to the other three players in the room to indicate that she was okay.

For a body completely blown away from the neck up, the ability to make such agile movements is quite terrifying. However, Maki immediately glanced at Aoyama Nanami beside her and found that the veteran player's expression was very calm. She then realized that Nanami's current change was within expectations, and thus her mind calmed down a bit.

However, this does not mean that we can relax about the current situation.

The silence continued to permeate the dimly lit classroom.

The students, each with their own strange aura, sat motionless in their seats with their heads down, as if they had lost all power and had stopped breathing and their heartbeats.

Even the teacher who was giving a lecture stopped completely at this moment, and the entire school became deathly silent, as if there was nothing that could move anymore.

It's as if something that was supposed to keep these things running and active has stopped running at this moment, causing these strange creatures to change from their original active state to a stagnant one, like a program that has crashed due to an error.

If that were all, it might not be enough to cause too much panic. But the problem is that as these things stopped, approaching footsteps could be heard in the corridor outside.

step-step-

Something is coming.

Even though you can't see what it is, you can feel a strong sense of unease about it, something you absolutely don't want to face.

Kaguya clenched her fists nervously. She wasn't very brave, and even after being tempered by three dungeons, her heart was still beating faster.

Want to run away?

Her gaze shifted to Maki, who also looked uneasy, and then to Aoyama Nanami, who had already stood up from her seat. The latter walked briskly to the window on one side of the classroom, glanced down briefly, then decisively took something out of her person and approached Kaguya and Maki.

"Come closer to me, be quick, don't worry, nothing will happen."

As Nanami spoke, a smile appeared on her face, and her calm demeanor in the dangerous situation was undeniably convincing.

Without hesitation, Kaguya and Maki immediately got up from their seats and moved closer to Nanami.

The next moment, the three figures disappeared, replaced by a photograph floating in mid-air, and three figures in the photograph with their backs to the camera, who looked very much like Nanami, Maki, and Kaguya.

The photo floated onto the desk of Nanakawa Ren, who was maintaining her senior's demeanor, and she grabbed it and stuffed it onto the open notebook.

step-step-

The footsteps finally reached the door, followed by the doorknob trembling slightly.

Despite losing her head, Nanakawa Ren remained calmly seated, continuing to manipulate the paper doll using her obsession object to explore, as if she were completely unaware of the thing outside the door.

squeak - ah -

The door opened.

For some reason, the area outside that door wasn't a corridor, but pitch black, so dark that nothing could be seen. Yet, just across that door, although the classroom was dark, at least some light filtered in from the window, illuminating the space.

The light seemed unable to penetrate the darkness outside the door.

And the thing hidden in the darkness seemed to have begun to peer into the room, looking at the figures inside the classroom.

【…】

The students remained silent in their seats, their heads still bowed.

【…】