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

Hayasaka checked the magazine that was loaded with bullets while explaining the situation to Miko.

{These strange creatures don't experience human emotions like fear. They behave this way because, without triggering their own rules, they exhibit characteristics from their previous life, becoming as if they are still "alive."}

While this characteristic can be extremely deceptive to unsuspecting players, leading them to believe that these monsters are actually alive, it is actually a change in game mechanics. In other words, it is a special situation that can be exploited.

Therefore, while these bullets may not actually harm those things, since those strange creatures are "playing the role of living people," bullets that could cause fatal damage in the perception of "living people" will inevitably elicit a certain reaction from them in this state.

Hayasaka Ai remembered very well the knowledge about ghost stories and strange objects that Takami had explained to her.

She was a clever and quick-witted young woman, so naturally she wouldn't be careless about such a life-or-death matter.

As for Miko, she was far from recovering from the damage she had suffered from sensing the blood pool. Although her cognitive abilities seemed to have returned, her thinking ability and speed had actually decreased significantly. This kind of cognitive impairment caused by sensing something she shouldn't have could only be treated after the dungeon ended, unless there were any other means of recovery.

Of course, that's not something the two of them need to focus on right now.

Let's start our investigation with the closest human testing area, "Human Experimentation Zone One," and see what secrets it holds.

Fully prepared, Hayasaka took a step forward and started moving forward again.

Okay, I'll be in charge of observation, you'll be in charge of action.

Seeing Hayasaka remain calm and composed, Miko's unease subsided somewhat, and she regained her focus.

At the same time that the two on one side began to act, the battle on the other side was finally about to begin.

"I'm telling you, we're not kids anymore, are we? Are you all too ashamed to show yourselves in public? Or are you all grown men who just hide in the gutter and are even less capable than a woman like me?"

With a slightly arrogant tone, Xiong Mi, a cigarette dangling from his lips, stood in a dark woodland.

Fujiwara Chika, who was already slightly out of breath from running, carefully hid behind Takami and cautiously observed the surrounding situation.

Goto Ichiri held his guitar, silent and motionless, his fingers always pressing on a single string, ready to begin playing at any moment.

As for Gao Hai, who had already been cursed here once, his biggest concern now was the location of the disabled kitten. To be honest, what he wanted to do most right now was find the cat, pounce on it, and splatter its blood all over it.

Speaking of which, Chika once suggested that I make water gun magazines from my own blood so I could shoot enemies with a water gun. Although the idea is hilarious and absurd, it actually seems to have some merit in this situation, doesn't it?

Meow~

As I pondered, the familiar, unsettling meows of cats echoed through the woods.

Several figures hidden beneath black robes slowly emerged from the woods.

"Yo, here we come."

She twirled her guide cane and hoisted it onto her shoulder as a walking stick. She grinned, a cigarette dangling from her lips, and addressed the only elderly man not dressed in a black robe who appeared directly in front of her.

Gao Hai had a vague impression of that old man. He was the one who deliberately entered the Blood Realm during his first playthrough, which caused his clothes to get tangled.

At this moment, the old man looked exactly the same as he had last time, his face full of compassion, gazing at the earth with the mercy of a saint descended to earth—as hypocritical as could be. Gao Hai could already see the greed and twisted nature beneath that compassionate facade.

"It seems that the Lord has blessed us today—"

Bang—bang bang bang bang bang—

The sudden burst of bullets scattered in all directions, interrupting the old man's words and putting the fanatics on the defensive.

Judging from their somewhat panicked reactions, they were momentarily unsure whether the attack came from Hirano Sousuke, who had attacked them earlier, or from the group of players who had appeared before them.

Meow~

The cat's meowing started again.

Gao Hai also felt it, the thing that permeated his body.

Thus, the pistol's mode changed; the endless barrage of suppressive bullets transformed into a judgment that crushed resentment.

The target is a possessive entity controlled by fanatics, belonging to [Morihara Koji], the core obsession that ended Yoruyama Middle School. Parts of this obsession's past life are known, as are some of its rules of killing, and at this very moment, he is being afflicted by its cursed power.

As a core object of obsession at the Red Moon level, this level of understanding is still difficult to seal away, but it doesn't matter. If there is a gap in quality, we can make up for it with quantity.

"How could it be the same as the previous one?!"

The old man not far away changed his expression drastically. He had realized something ominous from the extremely similar attack methods of Hirano Sousuke and Takami.

In that brief moment, which lasted only a few seconds, whatever he realized, he couldn't stop Gao Hai from doing what he was about to do.

"Hey, I'm talking to you—"

He raised the gun and pointed it at the sky.

Gao Hai called out to the old man, then laughed:

"You shit!"

Bang bang bang bang bang——

Chapter 76: The Fighting Style of Red Moon Level Players and the First Loser

The eerie meowing subsided at that moment, and it probably wouldn't be heard again for a long time to come.

Although the power of the curse has been planted in Gao Hai and the others' bodies, it will still erupt and kill them after a period of time. But at least for now, with the source of the curse sealed, these fanatics cannot use that curse to do anything else, such as accelerating the eruption of the curse on Gao Hai and the others.

"It seems this is a trial."

The old man, whose appearance had become much more disheveled than before, slowly spoke, his expression now grave.

"Wow, you're quite bold. Are you really that sure this isn't your death day, Evalist?"

Xiong Mi's voice rang out from afar at that moment, causing the old man's expression to change abruptly.

My name was exposed?

How did these players know his name? He never revealed this to anyone else...

Wait a minute, those bullet-scattering suppression tactics were already clearly problematic. Could it be that the police officer we initially thought was a monster was actually a manifestation of some kind of obsessive power? These despicable and shameless guys actually have such methods?!

Evalist, the conservative leader in "The Shepherd," quickly realized that they were at a disadvantage.

The enemy's methods were far more insidious than they had anticipated, and they had come prepared with ill intentions. Although they had prepared an encirclement in advance, they currently knew nothing about the enemy, who had likely already obtained crucial clues from their captured comrade.

"The enemy was prepared for the execution of Plan Three!"

With a roar, the old man suddenly waved his hand and threw out a small wooden cross.

The intense light of the flames burst forth in the next moment, and in the blink of an eye, several crosses covered by the burning fire rose from the ground. The number corresponded exactly to the number of people on Gao Hai's side, and a figure appeared on each cross, a figure similar in height, build, and appearance to the one on Gao Hai's side.

hum-

The crimson light then spread out in the next moment, blocking the erosion of the power of the obsession objects, making it impossible for the crosses to clearly reveal the appearance of Gao Hai and the others.

At this moment, the 6-hour cooldown required for the Blood Domain to be deployed was far from enough. However, with Goto Ichiri continuously creating clones to die, Takami's Blessing was off cooldown ahead of time and activated at this moment to block all attacks from the outside and protect everyone in the domain.

This is... the power of blessing? A blessing capable of withstanding the Judgment Cross? A Crimson Moon-level blessing?

Evalist looked up at the crosses that could no longer reveal human figures, and his expression became even more grim.

He and a black-robed man not far away began using other objects of obsession. Evalist himself took out a toy gun and fired a shot, while the other took out a trumpet and played a few notes.

As expected, it was useless; the red domain blocked the power of the obsessive object.

Although they haven't really put up much of their strength yet, and still have various obsession items and a small amount of blessings to use, the crimson barrier that can directly resist the power of the supernatural tales has made the old man realize the severity of the problem, and he has begun to consider whether to retreat.

That's right. Although they seem like fanatical believers who would do anything for their beliefs, this "doing anything" mainly refers to the lower and middle-level players, such as those Night-level players who have been stockpiled as necessary consumables. Once they enter a situation where there are no cannon fodder available and they have to take risks themselves, these fanatical players will immediately and honestly assess the level of danger and the magnitude of the benefits. If they find that the benefits are not necessarily outweighed by a lot of disadvantages, they will choose to run away without any shame.

Boom boom boom boom——

The dense hail of bullets continued unabated.

At this moment, the figures of the fanatical players either became blurred, flickered, or turned into something like a phantom, each using their own unique abilities to avoid the bullet attacks.

Amidst the explosions, trees were snapped and destroyed, sending splinters flying everywhere. And if you looked closely among the flying splinters, you could see blood splattered along the trajectories of the bullets.

Obviously, because the bullets were all fired from the blood field, the thing inevitably got covered in blood. As a result, during the scattering process, a large amount of blood spread to the surrounding area, making the air full of flying blood foam.

At this moment, Evalist himself underwent a change, giving him a peculiar ability to be unharmed by external objects.

He tried attacking with the object of his obsession again and finally confirmed that unless he personally entered that realm or the lame kitten regained its mobility, other objects of his obsession or blessings would be useless against it.

Tsk... It's as troublesome as a turtle shell.

The enemy's overwhelming firepower could only be defended against, not countered. Furthermore, this domain, capable of withstanding the power of various obsessive entities, rendered their offensive methods useless. Their crucial trump card, the little cat, was stuck and malfunctioned after being hit by a strange bullet, unable to be actively controlled and deepening the curse. With these factors combined, even though the actual odds of victory weren't entirely certain, their side, with six players, seemed to have the upper hand. However, player-versus-player combat is unpredictable, and a single miscalculation could be fatal. Therefore, Evalist was beginning to feel that running away as quickly as possible was the best course of action.

So next, let's look at that cross... wait, a woman's appearance appeared on the cross. There's someone outside that area, she's outside!

By the time I realized it, my gaze was already uncontrollably drawn to it.

Unable to control his movements, Evalist's gaze was forced to shift under the powerful force of the object of his obsession, landing on a half-rotten red apple that had somehow ended up on the ground.

"The Lazybones Gang?!"

He recognized the apple and the player group that possessed it. Although Evalist had never actually met the members of the Slacker Gang due to differences in their activity areas, their acceptance of modern technology, and the fact that they had never entered the same instance, he still knew quite a bit after doing some basic intelligence gathering.

The Crimson Moon-level Obsession Item, Fairy Tale Princess's Apple, originates from a three-core world that appears on the surface to be a beautiful fairy tale. Of course, since we're only talking about the surface, the reality inside is entirely different.

This instance is rarely open now, and its entry tickets are basically monopolized by the [Slacking Off Gang]. One of the three core items within has already been taken by the [Slacking Off Gang]. Of course, the other two core items won't appear here; considering the danger of this operation, the [Slacking Off Gang] would never entrust Xiong Mi with such a vital item as a Red Moon-level core item. However, she can still obtain a few non-core items instead.

The rotten apple that Xiong Mi threw out at this moment was one of the obsessions originating from the dungeon, and it was a rare cursed obsession.

Its effect only works when it's discarded and unclaimed. First, it compels all living people nearby who can see it to turn and look at the apple, creating an urgent desire to possess it. Then, driven by this instinct, people will begin to fight over the apple. The person who holds the apple is immune to the collective curse it imparts. Once the apple is obtained, all players who didn't get it will see a mysterious object—visible only to themselves and completely undetectable to others—and be relentlessly pursued by it.

As an obsession item with extremely strong offensive and coercive mechanisms, this rotten apple is undoubtedly only suitable for player-versus-player combat, a PVP-only item that cannot provide a good gaming experience in dungeon exploration. Originally, Xiong Mi only brought this thing along because the other members of the team insisted on it, just to have more means of self-defense. Unexpectedly, this time they encountered a notorious fanatical player team right from the start, and they were actually able to make good use of this thing.

As for the dangers of doing so...

boom--

Amidst the raging flames, Xiong Mi, whose body was engulfed in flames just like the man on the cross, picked up the apple he had dropped at his feet again.

Then, the burning body turned into a burning rag doll in the next moment, while Xiong Mi himself appeared in another place not far away.

Deep within the forest, Evalist himself had vanished, and the other five fanatical players had also disappeared without a trace. Having encountered this unfavorable situation, these guys retreated even faster than Gao Hai had predicted. Like all veteran players who have survived numerous missions, knowing how to escape danger is far more important than the skill of using artifacts in combat.

After all, Gao Hai's group was already cursed by a Crimson Moon-level core artifact; if left unattended, they would soon die. Given this, why waste their own artifacts and blessings against such an enemy?

The idea is correct, but the question is, can we escape?

The police officers, dressed in dirty uniforms, had already left the blood-red area and were tracking in one direction.

Within the crimson domain, Goto Ichiri sat cross-legged on the ground, his fingers gently plucking the strings of his harp. A clone was created just minutes earlier, hiding in a concealed spot and watching the direction from which the fanatics fled.

Gao Hai himself had cleared a small open space and placed a headless Buddha statue, about the size of a finger, on the ground.

This is the Headless Buddha, one of the six Red Moon-level Obsession Items owned by Xiong Mi himself, originating from an extremely mysterious and bizarre instance. Unlike other Obsession Items that can be used immediately, this one requires prior preparation and can only be activated through a certain ritual.