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

Chapter 150: Obtaining the "Form of the Root," and the Moment the Performance Ends

Specious.

This was the first thing Gao Hai felt upon entering this place.

Everything appeared blurry and indistinct.

Corridors, classrooms, offices, libraries, playgrounds... everything a school should have can be found here. But nothing has a clear, definite shape, nothing can be clearly identified in terms of origin or specific appearance.

can not see clearly.

Nothing can be seen clearly.

It's like a 360p full-screen video, with mosaics everywhere you look.

These things seem unreal... no, this strange feeling, they seem to be nothing at the same time, yet they are everything?

For example, through this desk, I seem to see desks from Fujika Junior High School, Hayate Elementary School, and Yoruyama Junior High School all at once. No... more than that... there are many more, desks and chairs from different schools, with different styles, all kinds of completely different styles. As long as they belong to a certain "school", you can find their corresponding form here.

And it's not just a desk.

The indistinct corridors can be mapped to the corridors within each school.

The indistinct playground could correspond to the playground of any school.

These blurry, shapeless things, if examined closely, reveal traces of different schools and places.

It's like... this vague school is made up of countless schools around the world. It's a world that encompasses the concept of "school" and represents all schools, formed by the fusion of every school on this planet.

"Well……"

Gao Hai felt his mind suddenly become violently disoriented for a moment.

He realized that in that instant he understood the essence of this place, and what this so-called "Form of the Root" really was.

So-called ghost stories and eeriness always have corresponding areas of activity and are restricted by certain conditions.

The clown's voice drifted out, tinged with a touch of melancholy.

On a smaller scale, there are ghost stories about toilets, rental apartments, and cars; on a larger scale, there are ghost stories about apartment buildings, shopping malls, small towns, and hospitals. The activities of ghosts are always intertwined with the stories, and the settings of the stories are always fixed within certain genres.

After all, horror stories are often closely related to people's lives, so the existence of ghost stories is often limited by specific architectural types and terrain environments. This is the "form" of ghost stories, a seemingly superficial but actually essential part of them.

The setting of a story is crucial for readers' ability to grasp the plot. Because different ghost stories share common "forms," ​​these forms, when accumulated, create what's known as the "Form of Origin." In other words, the "Form of Origin" is essentially a conceptual construct built from the resonance of the eerie commonalities among numerous ghost stories.

The clown slowly walked up to Gao Hai, turned around, slightly opened his arms, and introduced himself to Gao Hai.

[This is where you are now, Mr. Gao Hai. This is the "root" where all the "forms" of campus ghost stories on Earth converge.]

[Of course, it is the "root cause" of the failure; there is indeed a core obsession here, an illusory obsession similar to that of a "teacher." But it is incomplete, lacking self-awareness and genuine conviction. It's like an egg that's been cut open before it's fully developed—essentially equivalent to "nothingness."]

Now that the "Campus Ghost Stories" instance has been completely cracked, this "root" that failed to grow has naturally become stillborn, with no chance of reviving. In other words, it's a "dead" core obsession. Of course, removing this core won't affect other campus-themed instances. Ultimately, since this thing is an abstraction of "commonality," removing one will naturally lead to the birth of a new one... However, regardless of whether it succeeds or fails in the end, you definitely won't see a second "root form" of campus ghost stories emerge; this thing still takes a lot of time.

As the clown led Gao Hai forward, he explained the situation of the place to him.

"So, there's more than one 'Form of Origin'? Besides this place, there are many other instances of 'Form of Origin' scattered in different locations. Let me think, all the instances that possess a 'Form of Origin' should be Red Moon-level instances, right?"

Looking at the constantly changing mosaic around him, Gao Hai pondered and asked the clown a question.

That's right, only Red Moon-level dungeons can withstand the "Form of the Root," and only extremely high-level Red Moon-level dungeons might contain it. But don't worry, you will definitely encounter the "Form of the Root" again. To be precise, you should encounter it at least once more, because there's a special dungeon that you simply cannot avoid. That will be the biggest test you face later. Hehehe, sorry I'm revealing it again, I'm just genuinely curious about how you'll get through such a dungeon.

The clown laughed.

It seemed to be expecting something, but it wouldn't say it explicitly, only laughing a few times when Gao Hai asked.

Gao Hai undoubtedly hated this kind of riddle-solving behavior, but considering that the other party had indeed helped him a lot, or to be more precise, that he would not have been able to get through this terrible dungeon without its help, Gao Hai finally decided to put up with it.

Anyway, whatever kind of test it is, I'll have to experience it sooner or later. I'll just wait and see when I actually see it. I've already experienced five high-difficulty games in the past two months, what's one more?

However… if such a unique instance truly exists, is it possible that I had already encountered some related information beforehand? Like the information about this Red Moon-level instance, [Campus Ghost Stories], I actually learned about it from Ichiri as early as right after clearing Shirakawa Apartment. Sometimes, crucial information is hidden unexpectedly, and you only remember when you first encountered it when you actually come across it later.

As they pondered, Gao Hai and the clown finally stopped on the roof of a vaguely defined school building.

In this place, Gao Hai saw something.

It's something vague and indistinct, its specific content indiscernible. Upon closer inspection, you'll find there's nothing there at all, but if your attention wanders even slightly, you'll sense that something exists in front of you. Something colorless, formless, breathless, and without self.

"Is this it?"

As Gao Hai felt this strange sense of disorientation, he frowned and asked.

[That's right, you just need to walk up to it, reach out and touch it, and it's yours. After all, you are the ultimate winner, possessing the blessings of the core convictions of all three schools. This thing can automatically recognize your presence, so rest assured, there will be no danger.]

The clown answered very seriously.

"I'm not worried about the danger. If you really wanted to harm me, you have plenty of ways to do it. There's no need to make it so complicated. I'm just a little worried that this thing might transform me or something. After all, this thing looks a bit unsettling and strange."

Gao Hai shook his head and said with a smile, though he said he was worried, there was no trace of concern on his face.

You can rest assured about this. The unfinished "Root Form" is essentially a stillborn child, and it's normal to feel uncomfortable. However, it is harmless and will not cause any physical or mental alienation; it is purely nourishing.

Absorbing the "Form of Origin" will be entirely beneficial to you. In fact, the greatest function of the incomplete "Form of Origin" is to enhance blessings, increasing the power of the blessings you receive and making them stronger. This way, when facing high-level dungeons, even low-level blessings will not be easily suppressed and can play a more effective role.

The clown acted like a meticulous commentator, immediately providing explanations after Gao Hai raised a question.

Since the other party had already gone this far, Gao Hai naturally had no reason to hesitate any longer. So he stepped forward and reached out to touch the invisible thing.

hum-

The next moment, Gao Hai felt a slight burning sensation spread from his fingers and quickly spread throughout his body.

Something has changed me.

This power penetrated deep into his bones, reaching every cell in his body.

Whether Gao Hai himself was willing or not, after absorbing this thing, a part of his essence began to change.

"You've hidden an effect from what you haven't mentioned."

Gao Hai, having grasped this point, said in a low voice.

Yes, I can only tell you this after you absorb it. The incomplete "Form of the Root" still possesses the qualifications to "become a god." Therefore, only by absorbing it can you still possess the qualification to confront the remnants of those beings without relying on that great power.

The clown's actions became much more respectful.

It bowed deeply, even bending its knees, and bowed to Gao Hai in greeting.

If the clown's friendliness towards Gao Hai before was more of an attitude of mutual equality, then at this moment, Gao Hai could vaguely sense a bit of respect from it.

click-

The sound of something cracking spread outwards.

Gao Hai looked down and discovered that the indistinct building beneath his feet had cracked.

With the [Form of Origin] being absorbed by Gao Hai, the [Campus Ghost Stories] instance has finally and completely lost all its origins and can no longer maintain its existence.

[You have 3 minutes and 11 seconds left. After that, time will start flowing again. It's time for this performance to end. I look forward to your next performance, Mr. Gao Hai.]

The clown politely offered a reminder.

"That doesn't sound too rushed, so goodbye then."

Gao Hai nodded slightly, said nothing more, waved goodbye, and then jumped down from the building, quickly returning along the invisible path he had come from.

The clown stood silently in place, watching as Gao Hai picked up Goto Ichiri, who was motionless in the time-stopped state, with one hand, and with the other hand he picked up the large bag containing the puppet that the old player had turned into. He then leaped towards the last remaining glimmer of light at the exit of Yelu Mountain Middle School and landed inside.

Time resumed its flow.

The last two players also left the instance.

As the illusory Fifth Academy vanished like bubbles, only the clown remained, floating in the darkness.

Finally, only when all the remnants of this Red Moon-level dungeon had vanished, only when the faint light from the exit where Gao Hai and Goto Ichiri had left had completely faded, only when there was truly nothing left there, did the clown finally bow slightly in the direction where the light had disappeared. Then he twirled his body, performed a short dance, and took off his hat, bowing once more to the boundless darkness.

There were no cheers or applause; everything was completely silent.

Even the clown's figure vanished into the darkness, leaving no trace.

Chapter 151: The Operation to Save Everything Begins Now

Gao Hai could feel his body being enveloped by warm white light.

Perhaps because he left the instance too late this time, Gao Hai could feel his consciousness slowly rising in the deep sea. Although he was indeed escaping the bottomless abyss below, it would still take some time before he truly reached the surface and the place bathed in light.

This feeling is a little boring, like the loading screen of a game is stuck, only loading slowly at a rate of 1%.

The girl next to him subconsciously moved closer. Although it wasn't to the point of hugging, the distance was clearly greater than that between ordinary passersby.

It's strange that the two sides were basically strangers before this happened.

However, there was nothing that could be done about it, after all, Takami and Goto Ichiri had spent a considerable amount of time together.

Not long ago, at the moment when all conditions were met to begin releasing the core obsession, Takami, after much deliberation, finally decided to make a dangerous attempt. Goto Ichiri, upon being asked by Takami, agreed without hesitation. As a result, the two worked together, using the power of the obsession to traverse decades of time, gradually returning to the present from those decades ago, and in the process, making some kind of subtle modification to the "past".

Although the two of them did not actually live for several decades in a row, but rather constantly traveled through various important time points, if you calculate carefully, the amount of time spent in this process is by no means small.

A few months? Half a year? Or about one or two years?

To be honest, because there was no reference point for time, Gao Hai couldn't remember exactly how long they spent. However, he did remember that his initial interactions with Ichiri were quite awkward.

"Um... um... what do you need me to do?"

In a small space outside of space and time, formed by the power of obsessive objects, Goto Ichiri stared tremblingly at Takami, who was sharing the room with her, and asked in a trembling voice.

"Huh? There's nothing I need to do right now. I need to think about how to accomplish something as important as 'Changing the Future'."

As he spoke, Gao Hai sat down in the small space, his gaze sweeping over the guitar in Goto Ichiri's hand, as well as the cat floating in mid-air, the mirror shards, and the teacher's certificate.

This place is truly magical; it constantly emits various strange lights, and occasionally blurry or clear images flash by. As for the space itself, it's roughly square, about 5 meters long, wide, and high—not too big, not too small, just enough for two people to move around in.

At this moment, with the power of the resonance of several core obsessions, Takami and Goto Ichiri can use this small space filled with strange and dazzling light as a time machine, freely traversing all the time points from the birth to the death of Asamoto Eriko, Morihara Koji, and [Nothingness]. Of course, the location can only be chosen around these three core obsessions, and cannot be more than a thousand meters away. Overall, the restrictions are still quite large.

On the other hand, even knowing that this is the result of the resonance of the power of several Red Moon-level core obsessions, the idea of ​​truly changing the past still feels absurd, even if it's limited to a few decades. Other Red Moon-level obsession objects don't have such powerful functions. This shouldn't be something that can be achieved solely by the power of Red Moon-level artifacts, right? Could it be related to this mirror? After all, the core obsession corresponding to the main obsession object that transcends time, [Eriko Asamoto's guitar], is contained within that mirror fragment originating from the abyss.

And how to change the past and the future is no small matter; it requires careful decision-making.

Gao Hai had seen some time-travel movies and TV shows, like classics such as *Back to the Future*, or poignant stories like *The Butterfly Effect*. He was also familiar with the classic grandfather paradox and parallel universes. After all, that's how novelists are; they may not understand the deep scientific theories, but they can always come up with a whole bunch of nonsensical and impressive hypotheses and conjectures, as long as they can impress the reader.

In conclusion, Gao Hai ultimately decided to adopt the time deception theory from Steins;Gate.