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

At this point, the malice of these beings was no longer concealed. Although the specifics were still unclear, Gao Hai was certain that whether he fled in all directions, attacked the guides, or recklessly made contact with the men in white, it would only lead to certain death.

The players' screams of terror were becoming increasingly frequent.

Realizing something was wrong, the players were trying various ways to save themselves, but the current situation was clearly not easy to resolve. At this moment, Gao Hai could strongly feel that these white-clad men who appeared from the front and back of the road were there to take their lives.

Are you too lazy to even prepare a little bit or go through the motions? Or was my bomb just too effective?

Regardless, we have no choice but to retreat for now.

hum-

Andres's teleportation blessing was activated in an instant.

Gao Hai's figure disappeared from the road first, heading directly to the location where Yotsuya Miko was on the other side.

Then, Maki and Chika disappeared one after another, and through the power of the blessing, they were directly teleported to the location where Takami is now.

While there are still some unclear aspects to the spatial structure within the 【Infant Cry Village】 instance, it is certain that Andres's blessing judgment remains effective. Therefore, if they wish, the group can achieve spatial transfer through the power of the blessing.

In the last moment before the surrounding scenery changed, Maki saw one of the villagers who had been leading the way turn around and look expressionlessly at her and Chika, who were about to disappear.

In an instant, Maki's eyes widened. In that instant, she felt a strong emotion emanating from the villager, as if... something was struggling and writhing inside the villager's body, trying to break free.

That thing wants them all.

Zhenfei could clearly sense that the unknown thing possessed an extremely strong, twisted desire for all players and all living people.

The next moment, Zhenfei blinked and found herself in a village that seemed subtly different from before, where the sky was just beginning to lighten and it appeared to be early morning.

Gao Hai suddenly reached out from the side, grabbed Zhen Fei's shoulder, and threw her into an open wooden door.

Chika stumbled in from the side, and was then supported by Kaguya's shoulder from inside the door.

Gao Hai rushed in from the back, turned around, grabbed the door, and slammed it shut.

In an instant, a chilling wind blew into the room from outside the door, and Gao Hai's movements suddenly faltered before he closed the door and took two steps back.

Then he reached out and grabbed the rusty scythe that had flown over and pierced his cheek, protruding from the back of his head. He threw it on the ground, and with his head covered in blood, he turned to look at the girls inside the house.

"The villagers in Liujia Village seem to be much more enthusiastic than those in Lijia Village."

As Gao Hai continued to complain, his brain matter flowed down the holes in his face, covering his entire body.

Chapter Fifteen: A Deadly Attack Without a Source and Kaguya Shinomiya's Unique Experience

The once gloomy sky is now gradually turning into daylight.

From the early morning when they entered the instance until the dawn broke again, it seemed like a day had passed, but Gao Hai's own perception of time was at most about five hours. Furthermore, considering that he had previously stayed in [Li Family Village], Gao Hai and his two companions had not actually lived in a village under the cover of darkness, but rather had directly moved from one village during the day to another during the day.

This gave Gao Hai a slight sense of temporal and spatial dislocation, but compared to the cool feeling of the cold wind passing through the hole in his head, this minor abnormal sensation was nothing to worry about.

call--

Another gust of cold wind blew by, and Gao Hai's body trembled involuntarily, shaking from the 360-degree all-around sensation.

Wow... this feeling is quite novel.

Thinking this, Gao Hai felt a strong urge to reach out and touch the hole in his face.

"Can you stop touching me? It's disgusting, at least don't get your sleeves dirty."

At this moment, Zhenfei grabbed Gao Hai's hand and interrupted him with a somewhat disgusted expression.

Chika, standing to the side, looked as if she had discovered a new world, eager to try it out, and even seemed to want to come up and touch the hole on Takahashi's face.

The hole originated from the process of Takami and the other two, after being transferred to the space where Miko was via Andres' blessing, and then hiding inside the house. Takami, who was walking last, hadn't even had time to enter the house when he felt a strong sense of malice coming from behind him.

Despite possessing reaction speeds far exceeding human limits, and despite Gao Hai activating the blessing of ethereal transformation without hesitation, the scythe that appeared out of nowhere still pierced through his forehead without any obstruction, creating a hole in the middle of his cheek, causing his brains to immediately spill out.

Of course, thanks to Hirano Sosuke's blessing of immortality, this level of injury wouldn't really affect Takami much; he would just experience a brief moment of being through a draft.

However, considering that he had already used the power of etherealization and activated Andres's blessing to arrive at the new place, theoretically, he shouldn't be able to immediately trigger any fatal rules. After all, Miko, Hayasaka, and Kaguya had been active in this village for quite some time, and they had stayed here for so long without any problems. There was no reason why he would be in trouble as soon as he arrived, and that he would be able to deliver a fatal blow that could ignore etherealization.

Moreover, the biggest problem is that Gao Hai cannot find the source of the attack.

Before entering the farmer's house, Gao Hai actually turned around at the last moment to observe the street outside.

As a result, Gao Hai was unable to find anything that could be considered unusual at the time.

A deadly scythe flew right over, yet the killer couldn't be found. While such a thing wasn't impossible, Gao Hai felt that given the unusual characteristics displayed by those villagers, if he had triggered some killing rule and was about to attack them, the other party shouldn't have made any attempt to conceal their intentions; they should have attacked directly.

Therefore, Gao Hai couldn't help but think that the reason he was caught in the trap might not be because he triggered some rule of [Liu Family Village], but because he triggered some rule of [Li Family Village]. As the first person to leave the area of ​​[Li Family Village] and take Zhenfei and Qianhua away with the power of the blessing, he triggered some unknown killing rule in [Li Family Village]. That's why, as he was walking at the back of the group, he was pierced through the head by a scythe of unknown origin, instantly triggering the power of the Undying Blessing.

Verifying this is quite easy; just have the new rescue team member, who is still lurking in Lijia Village, go and investigate the place where he disappeared, and they'll probably find some clues.

As for why the three of them haven't suffered any further harm from the supernatural forces, the reason is simple: they entered a certain [residential house]. In [Liu Family Village], "streets" signify danger and unease, while "mansions" represent safety and stability—this is the rule of this place. Although in reality, even inside a residence, triggering something could still lead to negative consequences, this rule generally applies in most cases, especially when the source of the threat is outside.

Kaguya Shinomiya herself was the one who discovered and applied this rule.

Unlike Miko and Hayasaka, who immediately entered Liu Family Village to investigate, Kaguya, after discovering that the paper figures were relentlessly following her and their numbers were increasing, quickly concluded that she was already being targeted by the strange power to some extent. Ignoring the paper figures would not yield good results and might even worsen the situation. Therefore, she activated Chiyo Hachiya's Domain Blessing, using an even more dazzling crimson domain to directly blast away the following paper figures.

Then, Kaguya took out the Soul-Stealing Bow, a relic of her consciousness, and used her own blood to shoot it directly through the nearest paper doll. Utilizing the powerful properties of the Soul-Stealing Bow, a Crimson Moon-level relic, Kaguya not only sealed the monster's ability to move but also gained some of its related abilities.

Next, Kaguya took out the [Corpse Candle], an object of her obsession, and lit it. After combining the effects of the [Soul-Stealing Bow] and the [Corpse Candle], Kaguya was not attacked by the paper dolls after she closed the Crimson Domain Blessing. Instead, they recognized her as one of their own and completely ignored her.

For safety reasons, Kaguya put on the [Bandit's Blind] again. Using three Grievance items simultaneously was nearing her limit, making it impossible to use a fourth. In this state, after advancing a short distance and discovering the entrance to [Liu Family Village], Kaguya didn't immediately enter. Instead, she decided to quickly circle the village's perimeter to try and determine its approximate size.

It was under these circumstances that Kaguya discovered an abandoned road on the outskirts of the village, overgrown with weeds and shrubs, which had not been used by anyone for at least several decades, and found the dilapidated temple at the end of that road.

Using the power of the Soul-Stealing Bow, Kaguya temporarily acquired the identity of a "paper doll" and told her that the temple was a "place she must not enter." Of course, this prohibition was predicated on Kaguya truly being one of those paper dolls. This meant that the seemingly dilapidated temple was actually a safe zone that could effectively prevent the intrusion of the ghostly paper dolls. Therefore, Kaguya stepped inside without hesitation, deciding to scout the place and confirm whether it could be used as a temporary safe zone.

{That was a mountain god temple}

Through a temporary mental link established by the object of her obsession, Kaguya calmly recounted her experiences to everyone.

The deity residing in the temple is named "Little Black Mountain God," but for some reason, no statue of the deity remains in the temple, making it impossible to confirm the deity's exact appearance.

Although the temple appeared completely abandoned from the outside, upon entering, I found candles still burning, no ashes or cobwebs, and a faint warmth emanating from it, giving me a strange feeling that I would be safe inside.

Then, I encountered living people in that temple, or at least people who looked like living people, people I could communicate with.

It was an old woman.

With a kind and gentle expression, she emerged from the corner of the house carrying a broom. She simply smiled at Kaguya, who was wary and had drawn her bow, and then ignored her, continuing to slowly sweep the main hall of the mountain god's temple.

Kaguya Shinomiya was wary of the suddenly appearing old woman for a long time. After probing her several times, she found that the woman seemed to be a real person and did not have any malice or deadly supernatural power. Therefore, after hesitating for a moment, she decided to try to communicate with her.

"Hello, are you the abbot here?"

Kaguya hesitated for a moment about how to address the other person, and finally chose this slightly awkward form of address.

"Hello, young guest. Although this place is dilapidated, it's still enough to shelter you from the rain and wind. As long as you don't scribble or steal anything from the Mountain God, you and your friends will always be welcome here. Hehehe, if there's anything you don't understand, there are some records left by other guests in the side hall that might be of some help. This old woman isn't very educated and doesn't understand any principles, so please don't bother me."

Kaguya's words seemed to have triggered something, and the old woman smiled and spoke a series of words in a calm and measured tone before continuing to clean up on her own.

Like an NPC pre-programmed to give standard answers, but precisely because of this, the old woman felt more like a normal character in a [Sacrifice Game] instance. Without further hesitation, Kaguya quickly headed towards the side hall the woman had indicated. It was there that Kaguya discovered many obvious traces of life left behind by previous inhabitants, including various travel bags, sleeping bags, and all sorts of other odds and ends.

It was on the walls of this very place that Kaguya saw line after line of text, repeatedly revised and added to, seemingly written by many people in a relay. It even included translations in different languages, demonstrating the complexity of the people who had visited this place.

This document has no title, but based on its content, Kaguya decided to name it:

Survival Rules of Paper Doll Village

Chapter Sixteen: The Gradually Improved Rules and Records Left by the Pioneers

I am originally from Mianzhou, but I do not know why I have fallen into this strange place, and I have not yet found a way to escape. To this day, I have spent at least several weeks here, and have witnessed the tragedies of my companions more than once, as well as the appearance and disappearance of those who came after me.

Now, I no longer hold much hope of escaping this place, but for those who come after me, I have decided to leave behind some records of the patterns of this place, which may be of some help to other unfortunate people who have suffered the same fate.

This place is called "Liu Family Village," but it is actually an abandoned village, inhabited only by eerie paper figures. Aside from those who have stumbled upon this place by mistake, and the old man in this mountain god temple, there are no other living people. If you encounter any, they are definitely not living people, but something else in disguise. Do not approach them.

Unlike the outside world, day and night alternate extremely quickly here. Day and night each last only three hours, and a day is completed in six hours—only half the length of a day outside. I cannot find the answer to this strange characteristic, but I urge those who come after me to remember it well. The danger level of "Liu Family Village" during the day and at night is drastically different. Under no circumstances should you walk in Liu Family Village during the day; too many have died tragically, their bodies never even being found.

[Furthermore, do not venture into the nearby woods. I do not know how you, the reader of this text, arrived here, but please remember, you cannot find your way out on foot. Once you venture deeper into the surrounding woods, you will quickly lose your way. There are no stars to guide your direction, the direction of tree rings, compass needles, etc., are all erratic; there is no correct guidance whatsoever, and no matter which way you go, you will inevitably end up back in Liu Family Village… or you may disappear forever before you even reach it. There are bears, tigers, and other things in this woods that I cannot even describe.]

Do not attempt to hunt the animals here. You can take food from the farmers at night, but do not attempt to hunt the animals, absolutely not. Wild vegetables and fruits are normal, but these are often found in the woodlands. Do not enter the woodlands unless absolutely necessary.

Only at night can one venture into the village, but this doesn't guarantee safety; Liu Family Village remains fraught with danger even at night. Stay away from the white light, the night watchman, and the wandering paper figures. Entering the houses isn't always safe at night, but remaining on the streets is certain death; the demons and monsters lurking there are far beyond our capabilities.

I will mark some safe houses. The red lanterns of those houses will have the character "喜" (xi, meaning happiness) written on them instead of "囍" (xi, meaning double happiness). These are houses I have entered and exited many times at night without ever encountering danger. If you are unable to escape Liu Family Village and return to the Mountain God Temple before daybreak, you can also hide in these houses. But remember to be careful with your words and actions, as there are things in the houses during the day, just not as active as those on the street.

My name is Xie Liuzhi, a lowly bodyguard under the Mianzhou Escort Agency. If anyone finds a way to escape this place, please go to Mianzhou, find my mother, and convey my last words: "Your unfilial son has failed to establish himself and his family, and only wishes that his mother is well."

The earliest inscriptions on that wall appear to be at least a hundred years old.

This was just the initial record; many more additions were made by later writers.

My name is Zhao Baolai, and I am an accountant at a pawnshop.

[I and several other stranded survivors have been living here for 34 days. Thanks to a message left by Mr. Xie from who-knows-how-many years ago, many of us are still alive, but many have also died. I have pen and ink with me, so I will record some things that Mr. Xie couldn't explain clearly, as well as the names of us survivors. I hope that those who come after us can one day use our information to escape. If anyone can do so, I hope you can help us find our families.]

[Additional note: The day-night cycle in Liujia Village is not strictly six hours, but rather fluctuates irregularly between five and eight hours, though it mostly stays within six hours. Therefore, one must never rely on calculating the time to determine how much time one has left, but must always pay attention to the sky. Once it begins to lighten, one must not remain in the streets or woodlands of Liujia Village. During the day, only a small number of houses and the mountain god temple are safe.]

[Secondly: Running water is very dangerous. This may sound strange, but many people have had accidents because they drank river water or accidentally spilled water on themselves. It seems some evil lurks in the flowing water of this wretched place. Only completely still water, like the water in a large lake, is safe to drink. So don't drink river water, and don't splash water carelessly.]

[Thirdly: To determine the safety of a residence, three methods can be used: first, check if there is a coffin in the yard; second, check if the house door has been damaged; and third, check if there is blood inside the house. If any one of these three conditions is met, there is definitely danger inside, and you should never enter. The more conditions that are met, the greater the potential danger inside. Never enter a house with these characteristics unless absolutely necessary.]

[Fourth point: Animals are dangerous. Don't underestimate seemingly ordinary animals, whether they are deer or rodents in the woods, or livestock such as chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep that may be found in homes. They are not ordinary creatures. Do not attempt to harm these animals; in fact, it's best not to even approach them. Especially avoid animals that try to approach you from behind. If one of them leans against your back, never turn around to look at it or respond to what it says, otherwise you will most likely not be able to escape.]

[Fifth Supplement: Do not touch the food that has already been prepared and placed on the table; it's a trap! It's a trap! That's not food for humans. If you actually eat that food, you'll never leave this village!]

[Sixth Supplement: My companions and I followed Mr. Xie's example to further identify the residences. For those uncertain residences, which were sometimes dangerous and sometimes not, we marked them with the character "安" (safe) on the gate. For very dangerous residences, we marked them with the character "危" (danger). These markings sometimes disappeared and sometimes reappeared, and we are not entirely sure why. However, seeing these markings, combined with the markings left by Mr. Xie, should be of some help to those who come after us.]

[Seventh Supplement: Funeral processions appearing on the streets are not absolutely unavoidable. As long as you are not enveloped in red light, and there is no red paint smeared on you that is immediately visible, you can survive. However, if you encounter a wedding procession on the street, run immediately and do not let them catch up. At this time, even houses are not safe; you must return to the mountain god temple. Only there can you truly avoid those things.]

Now, most of me and the other survivors have perished, and we're almost unable to even organize a group to go out and explore.

We've almost run out of food and water from the village, and those things keep lurking outside. I don't think we have much time left to live.

[To those who come after us, if any of you manage to reach this place alive, please remember that we are Zhao Baolai, Cheng Yuan, Zhang Zizhen… (There were originally several more names, but for some reason they were forcefully erased)]

As the first and second people to leave records, Xie Liuzhi and Zhao Baolai's accounts were quite detailed. After them, the records became much simpler, consisting mostly of scattered supplementary text and the names of those who had once lived there.

[Supplying personnel: Lin Guoliang]

These paper figures usually only move around on dirt roads and within villages. They don't easily venture into the woods, perhaps because they don't want to, or because they can escape into the woods to hide when there's nowhere else to go.

Conversely, those creatures that roam the woodlands are also reluctant to venture into villages, but the dangerous ones among them are extremely agile, making it very difficult to escape them by hiding in a village.

[Supply by: Anonymous]