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

With each steady footstep, Gao Hai could sense the chilling aura gradually gathering and intensifying from ahead.

"What, you think this run-down place doesn't welcome me? Don't forget, I have an invitation with me."

Gao Hai grinned and shouted towards the village from a distance of about four or five hundred meters away, then reached out and took out the invitation.

Invitations are for guests, not wolves. We can't afford to have a hostile guest like you.

Somewhat surprisingly, a response actually came from the village. Li Ziyong, who had been killed twice by the bomb, reappeared at the village entrance. However, his once smiling face was now clouded with gloom and had become noticeably paler, as if he had been seriously ill.

"Whether you're hospitable or not, once an invitation is sent, you're a guest. You even tried to kick me out before I could finish watching a ritual to invite the gods. That's so unreasonable! I think your whole village owes me a huge debt. So, have you figured out how you're going to repay me?"

Gao Hai continued to speak with a smile, and continued walking towards the village.

Hmm, I didn't sense any triggering of the power of the rules. So it seems that trying to gain an advantage through words won't work.

As soon as he finished speaking, Gao Hai immediately began to carefully sense whether there were any changes in the surrounding atmosphere, and then regretfully found that there were no changes at all.

"Ha... We, the people of Lijia Village, have lived here for generations. Only we are here to be in charge, to speak of debts and obligations. What are you? A castrated pig driven into the butcher's pen? You dare to negotiate with us, dare to say we owe you anything? You have no shame! I think you outsiders have long since degenerated beyond recognition."

Li Ziyong's face became even more distorted, and for a moment his features even showed signs of being out of place.

Around him, villagers carrying farm tools such as knives, forks, and hoes followed, each with a fierce and menacing look on their faces, their eyes filled with hatred as if Gao Hai were the truly heinous villain here.

"Really? Then why don't you dare to kill me? Could it be that you failed twice and are now afraid?"

But Gao Hai just kept smiling, kept speaking in a provocative tone, and kept walking forward toward the village ahead.

Koji Morihara's second blessing had already been activated silently at this moment.

Every word Gao Hai uttered at this moment carried a strong spiritual suggestion and possessed a special, targeted, and extraordinary power. At this moment, within the entire instance, any living person who could hear his voice and possessed the characteristics of an "evil person" would uncontrollably develop a strong hatred for Gao Hai, while the evil spirits that had "harmed others without cause in their previous lives" would disregard the rules and forcibly lock onto Gao Hai, temporarily fixing their pursuit target on him.

【…】

The old man named Li Ziyong suddenly developed a noticeable crack on his cheek.

Beneath the torn skin, Gao Hai clearly saw chunks of rotten flesh, and... the flesh and blood of those killed players, pieced together and reconstructed.

Although the old man returned to his normal expression the next moment, and even the cracks on his face disappeared without a trace, Gao Hai could still clearly hear the constant "crunching" sound of his teeth clenching, and through Li Zhaodi's blessing, he could feel the undisguised, surging malice emanating from him.

Was the lack of initial malice from these villagers due to some special property being attributed to their living flesh and blood?

Because he had only caught a glimpse from afar, Gao Hai had some guesses in his mind, but he couldn't be completely certain of some things. However, although the old man was gritting his teeth in hatred, he didn't attack directly like he had in front of the mountain god temple. It seemed that he was really afraid that Gao Hai would cause another big explosion.

Therefore, it's certain that even if these villagers can resurrect after death, there will be significant limitations. They might need to rely on fresh flesh and blood obtained from killing players to heal their damaged bodies. Furthermore, this healing process should have a limit; the more times they resurrect in a short period, the further they will drift away from humanity and closer to the undead. After reaching a certain limit, they may truly die, leaving behind only the same-named evil undead.

Although this is just Gao Hai's speculation at the moment, judging from the villagers' attitude of being full of hatred yet completely afraid to step forward, he felt that the truth should not be too different from his imagination.

So, it's about time to take action.

We do not recognize that invitation. The festival to welcome the gods has ended. Guest, the invitation you are holding has expired. Lijia Village has no obligation to serve you.

A cold voice came from behind Gao Hai at that moment.

Gao Hai turned around and saw Li Duosun, whose expression was cold and who bore a resemblance to Li Ziyong.

As the old man finished speaking, Gao Hai immediately noticed the change in the invitation in his hand. The invitation, which had been bright red when he took it out, had now faded to a dark yellow, looking as if it had been there for decades or even centuries and was about to rot.

Now, my guest, go where you belong.

Then, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed.

In the blink of an eye, Gao Hai had disappeared from the space where [Li Family Village] was located.

As he disappeared, the villagers who had been on high alert breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly cheered and began to praise Li Ziyong and Li Duosun.

Li Ziyong smiled and said, “Fellow villagers, don’t worry. As long as I, Li Ziyong, am still your clan leader, I will protect you all and safeguard the interests of our Li Family Village under the command of the Mountain God.”

Li Duosun remained expressionless, but after glancing again in the direction where Gao Hai had disappeared, a look of disgust and disdain appeared on his face. Then he strode off to return to the village.

【…】

Then, he was forced to stop.

Based on the manipulation of the invitation, it was confirmed that the man named Gao Hai had indeed disappeared. This man, who possessed a strange and incomprehensible power, and unfortunately failed to be sacrificed, is no longer a threat to the village.

But the problem is, why is that strange thing he created with bizarre methods, the one wearing blue clothes, still here?

Dududududu——

A sharp siren sounded from behind Li Duosun.

He turned around and saw a huge fire truck hurtling straight toward him with incredible speed. Incidentally, a rescue worker was sitting on the roof of the fire truck, holding a submachine gun and firing a barrage of shots into the village.

The police officer, who had stood silently for a long time, drew his pistol after confirming the malice around him through Gao Hai's mocking blessing. Inside the village, the illusory figure that had been hidden for so long finally revealed itself.

Rumble, rumble, rumble——

The next moment, as the four rescue team members attacked simultaneously, the intertwined loud noises reverberated continuously throughout the village.

Chapter Twenty-One: A Land Overflowing with Desolation and Unique DNA Data

Where have I ended up?

Gao Hai opened his eyes, got up from the ground, and looked around.

Under the dim sky, all the rice in the fields had withered, leaving only waxy yellow stalks.

Looking around, all the trees had withered and died, and even the trunks themselves had cracked. Everywhere was a withered yellow, and broken dead leaves were piled up, emitting a foul stench.

There wasn't a single living person to be seen in the village ahead, and the village itself had become extremely dilapidated for some reason, looking as if it had been abandoned for decades or even longer.

Death intention.

At that moment, Gao Hai felt an intense sense of impending death.

He realized that the village he was in, the space he was in, was a desolate place where no life existed, only pure death.

Why is there such a place in this instance?

If the ancient inhabitants of [Li Family Village] had truly utilized the power of the strange creatures to survive for many years and established a complete cyclical system within this instance, then such a death trap shouldn't exist here. After all, the scenes within an instance often reflect reality at a certain point in the past. This large-scale death trap can only prove that this instance truly experienced such a situation, or at least that such a scene appeared in the memories of many people.

The current scene made Gao Hai realize that his initial guess—that the villagers were simply using the power of the strange creature to prolong their lives—was far from complete. The secrets behind this ancient instance would likely require considerable time and effort to unravel.

As for now, let's think about how to survive.

After all, Gao Hai could clearly sense what was approaching him.

{This place...}

Kita Ikuyo's ethereal figure emerged from beside Takami, glancing nervously around. Although Kita herself couldn't sense the unusual aura around her because she was now only a soul and her physical body was imprisoned within Takami's spirit, the abandoned village, devoid of life, was already quite strange. Therefore, the girl keenly sensed that Takami had probably been thrown into a very dangerous place.

"call……"

Gao Hai's chest heaved up and down.

He could feel his breath rushing out of his lungs, then being caught by something and silently sucked away.

Those things have already found him.

Those things that exist in this land of death.

Even though they are not visible.

Even perceiving their existence is quite difficult.

But they are indeed here.

The dense, intensely yearning desire for the living, the lingering, intangible forces, were rapidly awakened with the arrival of Gao Hai, a living person.

However, something is a little strange...

Based on the terrifying aura Gao Hai sensed, these things should be attacking immediately, converging from all directions.

But now he vaguely sensed that these things seemed to be moving somewhat sluggishly. It was as if these things had already undergone some kind of transformation before they met Gao Hai, or rather... it was as if they had already eaten half full, so they were a little unwilling to continue to struggle.

What's going on?

The unexpected turn of events left Gao Hai somewhat bewildered.

He had already prepared to be killed and have his progress reset immediately after being transferred to this place, and had even decided to release the fourth bomb for this purpose. However, although this place was extremely dangerous and terrifying, the invisible monsters seemed to have gone on strike and had no interest in Gao Hai, their prey. They all ignored him. This was really too strange.

Did someone else enter here before me and do something against the rules?

Judging solely from his surroundings, Gao Hai couldn't immediately discern anything unusual. However, he had no time to dwell on such matters. Although the invisible monsters hadn't immediately attacked, they were beginning to stir. If he didn't want to be cornered by them, Gao Hai had to act instantly.

But where should we go?

Gao Hai looked behind him, at the seemingly endless withered forest surrounded by mountains.

You can't go in.

With just a cursory glance, Gao Hai was certain that venturing into this withered primeval forest was no good idea. This seemingly ordinary, barren forest harbored endless death; even if his blessing offered the possibility of resurrection and re-engagement, entering it would only result in being completely devoured.

So, is going into the village the only option?

Although the place still felt pervasive with death, and it seemed that terrifying monsters lurked in every shadow and corner, Gao Hai could still find a glimmer of life on this side.

tread!

Once he made up his mind, Gao Hai quickened his pace.

With the power of the rampage blessing, he left only a fleeting afterimage in place before breaking the sound barrier and rushing into the village.

This abandoned village is very similar to [Li Family Village] and [Liu Family Village] in appearance and internal structure, giving people the feeling that they are the same. But for some reason, this village appears so dilapidated and filled with a sense of death.

Gao Hai wandered through the village, and so far he hadn't seen anything tangible or physical attacking him, but his instinctive sense of danger had made him move increasingly swiftly. It was at this moment that he keenly noticed that although the village had been abandoned for a long time, there were obvious signs of living people entering and leaving in many places, and these signs were clearly fresh, left within the last few days.

Are these traces left by the villagers' activities?

No.

This shoe print... could only be left by modern athletic shoes, it couldn't have been made by the villagers' cloth shoes and animal skin shoes.

And the size, length, and width of this shoe print seem somewhat familiar.

As Gao Hai ran swiftly, constantly moving through various corners of the village to avoid the invisible deathly aura that was gradually encircling him, he also observed the various traces, large and small, that could be seen everywhere in the village.

He could already feel his DNA stirring.

Yes, I remember this mark.

My thinking speed suddenly increased.

At this moment, Gao Hai recalled Maki's white feet, then Chika's playful little feet rubbing against his thighs, Ai's little feet encased in semi-transparent white stockings, Kaguya's little feet in black stockings, and finally, Miko's long white stockings in the dream.