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

This calmed Gao Hai down a bit, but he still lowered his head and kissed the girl's neck and collarbone before putting her down.

"So you know the place is wrong?"

As Gao Hai spoke, he patted the dust off Qianhua's clothes, his expression slightly regretful.

"I just wanted to give Ah Hai a kiss as a reward, Ah Hai was just too impatient."

Chika puffed out her cheeks, gave Gao Hai a light kick to the shin, and then checked herself to make sure she hadn't left any unsightly marks. Then, she opened the door first and walked out into the hallway with Gao Hai.

{…}

Kita Ikuyo has calmed down.

Having only recently regained consciousness and still with somewhat sluggish thinking, she was first bewildered by Gao Hai's trickery, then bewildered again upon learning she was alive, and finally bewildered once more by witnessing a first-person VR intimate film. Under this continuous mental stimulation, she lost her ability to think again, meaning she fainted.

Upon realizing this, Gao Hai inwardly cursed, but thankfully, after carefully sensing her condition, he determined that Kita Ikuyo had simply fallen back asleep because her consciousness hadn't fully returned. He estimated she would recover in a few hours, so he could explain later; there was no need to worry too much.

In the corridor, Maki glanced at Takami and Chika and immediately realized what had happened, her face flushing slightly as she muttered, "Pervert." Yotsuya Miko frowned in confusion; she instinctively sensed something was off between Takami and Chika, but couldn't quite put her finger on it, as she only had a vague experience from her dream. Hayasaka Ai, without a word, immediately moved closer, flanking Takami with Chika on either side. Kaguya didn't see anything wrong, but worried that Takami might not have finished testing the many mixed blessings in time, and that Chika might be disturbing him.

The other players had already gone to the meeting room to wait for Takami's team to arrive. Goto Ichiri had also wanted to wait for Takami in the hallway, but Aoyama Nanami dragged her away; otherwise, there would have been five girls standing in the hallway waiting for Takami. Hmm, that kind of scene… to be honest, Takami would quite like to see it.

However, before Gao Hai even reached the conference room, Xiong Mi had already rushed over with Jian Bing. She was even holding her phone, seemingly having just finished a call with someone, her face full of disbelief.

Without saying a word, the woman grabbed Gao Hai's shoulder, said to the others, "Let's talk for a moment," and then led Gao Hai to a small hut nearby.

To be honest, if Jianbing hadn't been standing beside him with a serious expression, Gao Hai would have thought this older woman had some inappropriate intentions, and he even considered how he should politely refuse in that situation. After all, he really didn't have any romantic feelings for a woman much older than him with wrinkles on her face.

But Xiong Mi was clearly there for something else.

"Did you use some method to rescue the players who weren't turned into dolls?"

As Xiong Mi spoke, she showed Gao Hai her phone screen. On the screen, Gao Hai saw a paused video. In the video, a young man who looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six years old was sitting on a sofa and didn't seem to be in a very good mental state.

"He was one of the two deputy members of our 'Slacking Off Gang,' and we usually called him Brother Cat. When we were operating at Teng Hua Middle School, he was the first to be attacked by [Alice]. He was then attacked by a group of students and surrounded by teachers. After running out of his life-saving items, he triggered the Giraffe Inspector's mechanism, had his head bitten off, and his entire body was torn into several pieces."

Xiong Mi spoke to Gao Hai in a serious tone.

"Unlike the dolls we just retrieved from Miss Goto that were turned into players from the 'Slacker Gang,' Cat Brother died right under our noses. There was nothing any of us could do about it. But now he's suddenly appeared in the 'Slacker Gang's' base. Although he's lost all his obsession objects, he's definitely alive. After this happened, I had Kenpei investigate the player forums, and we found some posts mentioning players who were confirmed to have died in 'Campus Ghost Stories' being resurrected. Did you do this? I've thought about it, and no one else could possibly accomplish this except you."

It was clear that Xiong Mi was still somewhat agitated.

Although she tried her best to soften her tone, she was noticeably more agitated than usual.

Gao Hai's response was quite straightforward.

"It was me who did it, or more accurately, it was me and I who did it together. During the release of our core obsessions, we briefly gained the ability to influence time, so we saved some people along the way. However, I did some screening when I was saving them; I didn't touch any of those who would obviously cause trouble."

Just like Gao Hai's usual approach, he had no intention of hiding his true feelings. Of course, this was also because Xiong Mi was indeed very reliable, and in Gao Hai's view, being honest with him was the best choice in such matters.

"...You really are... ha, should I say the chosen one? You're probably some protagonist who jumped out of some wish-fulfillment novel, aren't you? Oh well, it's good to benefit from your fame. But this makes it even more troublesome to cover this up. I was thinking of just coordinating my story with [Red Society] and [Market], but you've made the whole player community aware of it, and there will probably be many more people paying attention to this. Have you considered that doing good deeds might actually bring trouble? You can't be too kind."

After receiving the expected answer, Xiong Mi couldn't help but sigh. She looked at Gao Hai with the same troublesome gaze an older sister would give her younger brother who had gotten into trouble.

"I don't think I'm doing a good deed; I'm just doing what I want to do. In fact, I chose to save those people simply because I felt they were worth saving. There's really no need to think too highly of me. Ah, of course, I admit it might cause trouble. But in that situation, I would have been unhappy if I hadn't done something along the way. After all, what I want is for my thoughts to be clear. You don't need to worry too much. We were able to successfully complete the dungeon without your and Jianbing's help. As for the follow-up issues... how about we pretend we went to another dungeon? Is that alright?"

Although Gao Hai initially appeared quite composed and self-assured, as he spoke, he realized how troublesome it would be to clean up the mess he had made in his momentary displeasure. Therefore, he began to seriously consider the follow-up issues, and his expression became less smug.

It does seem a bit troublesome.

With so many players recovering, other players will definitely intensify their investigation into the team that cracked the [Campus Ghost Stories] dungeon.

While Gao Hai himself wasn't afraid of anyone causing trouble for him, it would be a serious problem if someone were to target the friends and family of Zhenfei Qianhua and others. After all, players weren't much different from outlaws in GTA; if they really intended to do something, it was best not to expect them to have any moral compass.

"It's good that you realized what's going on. Hmm...tsk, this is really difficult to handle. The best solution right now is to gloss over it and treat it as an unknown side effect that occurred during the process of breaking the core obsession. As for any potentially malicious people, the [Slacking Off Gang] will be responsible for drawing their attention. We owe you such a big favor this time, there's no reason not to repay it. Jianbing, you're in charge of notifying all members to immediately activate Plan 7 to evacuate everyone's families. Let Cat Brother handle things with the captain for now."

"As for you, Koga, later you need to come up with a plausible process for how you and Goto accomplished this, and modify those steps that are obviously impossible for anyone else besides you and Goto. Also, when we get to the conference room, you need to make up a rather complex and lengthy story about how the core obsession was broken, preferably with some thrilling moments. Considering the final resurrection of everyone, you can also include some casualties when you make it up."

"Don't think this is troublesome. The player community is a very complex, very extreme, and there are many lunatics among them. It's an extremely divided group. Even among those you think are fine and you saved, there might be some who look perfectly normal but are actually practically lunatics. Only those who are truly without any weaknesses can be completely open and honest. But you already have ties to your group, so you need to be more cautious in your actions."

"Of course, I won't steal your credit. Among all the players you resurrected, I can help you connect with those who are truly trustworthy and worth befriending. The more friends you have, the fewer enemies you have. This is an opportunity you've brought upon yourself, and I'm not greedy enough to take it for myself. However, some players may indeed be good people, but they might have some troublesome people around them. In such cases, you shouldn't make contact easily, or you might end up getting burned."

While speaking earnestly to Gao Hai, Xiong Mi gestured for Jian Bing to get to work.

Although Gao Hai wanted to say that he could use Hedar's blessing to identify the hidden madman, seeing the other party's sincerity and having no better solution, he could only nod and accept it.

I originally thought everything would be fine once I cleared the dungeon, but the things I did on a whim have caused trouble instead. And speaking of which, is it because Sister Xiongmi went to such lengths to help me, even bringing in the whole team, that she guessed I had the ability to roll back in time?

Regardless, what's done is done. With the mirror fragments, as [objects of the abyss], completely absorbed by the Crimson City, and the multiple resonant Red Moon-level core obsessions dissipating, Gao Hai is no longer able to unleash that power. Therefore, the most important thing now is to properly handle the aftermath.

Hopefully it won't be too troublesome. After all, he still needs to talk to Goto Ichiri about Kita Ikuyo's awakening. In addition, he's already impatient to find a suitable place to continue the little game with Chika that he had to temporarily stop.

Thinking this, Gao Hai couldn't help but sigh. After Xiong Mi finished speaking, he nodded and discussed the general approach to the matter before opening the door and returning to the corridor to walk towards the conference room with the girls who were waiting for him.

As for the player forums and player circles around the world that Gao Hai couldn't see at this time, the storm had only just begun.

Interlude 3-42: Some follow-up issues and some normal development methods

The resurrection of the dead is not entirely unacceptable to the player community.

After all, since being drawn into various supernatural dungeons, players have encountered all sorts of unreasonable and extraordinary powers.

However, the issue of dead people being resurrected from Red Moon-level dungeons, especially those who died right before everyone's eyes and were absolutely dead, inexplicably coming back to life, is on a completely different level.

Using a movie analogy, the resurrection of the dead, as commonly understood by gamers, usually refers to characters who appear to be dead in the story but are deliberately not shown on screen, only to be revealed in a post-credits scene—a kind of "resurrection" that everyone knows is true. In other words, some skilled players use various tools to put themselves in a near-death state, surviving for a while before successfully escaping. While Xiong Mi's return from Teng Hua Middle School was certainly shocking, it wasn't particularly unacceptable.

However, this resurrection feels like a character taking a direct hit from Godzilla's breath, and then in the next episode, the writers inexplicably declare that although this character was an ordinary human, he miraculously survived. It's an unacceptable situation, yet it has occurred in such an illogical way, leaving everyone utterly bewildered.

Furthermore, some players who pay attention to the lives of ordinary people discovered that with the collapse of the [Campus Ghost Stories] instance, the ordinary people who were swept away and killed by this instance actually returned to the real world. Although these ordinary people who returned had lost their memories related to the instance (Gao Hai erased their memories for safety and used the power of his core obsession to cover up the aura and information of the ghost they carried to prevent them from being found), and no valuable clues could be found, their survival was already a huge shock to the players.

However, it should be noted that although Gao Hai and Goto Ichiri managed to save the lives of these ordinary people, from the moment they entered the instance, they were already labeled as "players" by the [Sacrifice Game]. Therefore, a month later, they would have to participate in instance missions like other players. Moreover, because they came from the "Dark Night" level instance [School Ghost Stories], if they couldn't get a ticket, they would have to start from the Dark Night level instance.

To be honest, Gao Hai estimated that it was quite pessimistic how many of these people who had been given a second chance to survive would live a month later. But there was nothing he could do about it. He had already done his best, and he couldn't possibly do anything more for these complete strangers. In the end, they were already dead, and now they had finally been given a second chance and a month to live. What the future held was entirely up to their own fate.

However, on another note, well… seeing those classmates from Jianzi's original class, that former vice class monitor, what was her name again? Anyway, she and a few other girls who had worked with her before, and who didn't seem too stupid, could be recommended to [Market] to see if Xiaoheshu would be interested in recruiting new members. As for himself, Gao Hai felt that his current team was already quite sufficient. Even if he were to recruit new members, they would have to be veteran Red Moon level players; there was no need for any more newcomers.

In short, after a meeting, the presence of Gao Hai and his group was ultimately concealed by Xiong Mi, with the [Slacking Off Gang] and [Red Society] taking on the main firepower. However, after the veteran players inside the dolls were successfully released and their abnormal mental states and confused memories cleared, the [Slacking Off Gang] and [Red Society], which had suffered heavy losses, had recovered considerably, so no one dared to actually do anything. However, this was something they only learned a few days later. Right now, the group had just returned to the real world and had to get busy again, so for the time being, no one had the mind to think about anything else.

In the end, when Gao Hai finally returned to his newly renovated home, it was already 10 p.m.

"Why does it have to be so tiring just to sit and talk about what to do?"

With these thoughts in mind, Gao Hai entered the game room where he used to spend the whole day, only to find that because he had been away for so long, he felt a bit rusty when he picked up the game controller, and playing felt particularly awkward. The problem was that Gao Hai discovered the screen flickered constantly when he played console games, and the game character's movements were somewhat laggy, which was quite frustrating.

Perhaps it's because my senses and basic physical attributes have improved so much that my demands for the game have also increased?

Gao Hai abandoned his game console, which was limited to 30 frames per second, and switched to a high-performance computer to play games that could unlock the frame rate. He found that even 60 frames per second games would flicker slightly for him, and the game only became smoother after the frame rate exceeded 80 frames per second.

Now it's truly certain that with the further strengthening of my body, my visual abilities can no longer adapt to poorly optimized games.

"Does this mean I won't be able to go to the cinema to watch movies? If I remember correctly, the normal frame rate for movies is 24 frames per second, right?"

While secretly complaining to himself, Gao Hai played the game for a little longer before feeling unwell and preparing to wash up and go to bed.

After reading an unpleasant tragic ending, I couldn't stand it and created a happy ending, but it only caused me more trouble.

I don't know what Sister Xiong Mi is planning, but judging from what she said this afternoon, now that the [Slacking Off Gang] has made up for its personnel losses, there aren't many player groups left that can come up with a scam. With her leading the team, there shouldn't be too many problems to worry about.

Speaking of which, Sister Xiong Mi was worried that if the [Slacking Off Gang] intervened, they would steal Gao Hai's credit. She even planned to secretly contact the player organizations whose members Gao Hai revived, hoping to expand Gao Hai's player network. It's unclear when she planned to do this. Gao Hai, in fact, didn't care about the credit. After rescuing the people, he was in a state of clarity and didn't care about what happened afterward. However, if he could gain the attention of a few friendly organizations with whom he could cooperate, that would be quite good.

slam-la-

Amidst the sound of running water, Gao Hai washed his face, humming softly the tune of "All My People People."

Suddenly, a slight sensation came through the mental link.

{Fujiwara Chika: Umi, what are you doing right now?}

It's Qianhua's message. Why is she sending me a message at this time? Hmph, it seems her motives aren't so pure.

{Gao Hai: I'm washing up now, getting ready to rest and go to sleep.}

{Fujiwara Chika: Ugh, you're resting so early? Don't you think this is a bit boring?}

Gao Hai: There's nothing I can do right now, I'm really bored, so I can only go to rest early.

{Fujiwara Chika: Hehehe, then I'll try to make Akai more talkative.}

{Shijo Maki: Wait a minute, what are you all talking about here?}

{Miko Yotsuya:……}

{Kita Ikuyo: Hmm, I feel like I had a really bad dream about something...}

Something discordant seemed to come through the mental link at the end, a sound different from a normal mental link conversation. But Gao Hai was no longer aware of it, because Andres's teleportation blessing had been activated silently, and the girl's fragrant scent appeared beside him.

"Hey, I'm coming to ambush you, Ahai."

Fujiwara Chika spoke confidently and then reached out to hug Takahashi.

The soft touch of her skin and her burning body temperature enveloped Gao Hai, along with a slight white mist, and seemed to have a touch of moisture.

"Did you run over here halfway through your shower? You haven't even dried off all the soap yet."

Gao Hai was somewhat helpless about Qianhua getting his clothes wet. Although his tone was still normal, his eyes had become sharp. Red Hare was also ready to gallop and set sail at any moment.

"Hehe, is Ah Hai planning to punish me?"

A small, fair hand gently hooked around Gao Hai's neck and stroked his chin.

For the two soldiers who had already experienced more than one Normandy landing, if war was imminent, then there was no need for further discussion. Wherever they were, it could be used as a battlefield, so they could simply start fighting.

{Kita Ikuyo: Ugh... Ugh... Ugh, what is all this?!}

The girl, who had been completely forgotten, suffered a tremendous mental shock.

I think I heard something strange.

Gao Hai was somewhat puzzled. He temporarily escaped the atmosphere of the fierce battle of World War II, and then felt the teleportation blessing being activated again. He then saw Maki, wearing pink pajamas, appear in front of him.

"As expected, I knew you'd come here, Fujiwara! And you too, Kai-kun, were you in such a hurry?! You could have just told me, 'This, this kind of thing, I, I can help share the burden!'"

While the Shu and Wei kingdoms were locked in fierce battle, the Wu army suddenly arrived and immediately issued a declaration of war against both sides.

Faced with this battle situation, Gao Hai could only offer one expression and one response.

{Kita Ikuyo: Wait, wait, you guys wait a minute...}

{Kita Ikuyo: Wow, wow, I can't even do this... this position... wow, something like this...}

{Kita Ikuyo: Ah... Ahh...}

Finally, the girl's consciousness, which had only recently recovered and was still very fragile, was extinguished once again under the continuous and intense stimulation.