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

In the final moments before his consciousness faded, Gao Hai heard the countdown finally end.

Time reset to zero, requirements unchanged.

boom!

The pervasive crimson light instantly overturned the ancestral hall, blasting it to pieces.

Tables were overturned one by one, and villagers lay sprawled on the ground, blood mist filling the air and the scene in complete chaos.

The towering mountain god statue swayed several times before finally collapsing heavily to the ground with a loud thud.

Amidst the rubble, among the dumpling filling scattered on the ground, on a tattered black watch, the single hand was already trembling.

Click!

The next moment, the pointer moved from the 0 mark to the 1 mark.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Prisoners and the Newly Arrived Girls in the Blood-Red City

open one's eyes.

What I saw was the familiar, blood-red city I had seen countless times before.

The first playthrough of the [Infant Cry Village] dungeon has now come to a complete end. Although the ending wasn't exactly dignified, and it left him with a sense of melancholy, Gao Hai had grown accustomed to the gruesome deaths of his first playthrough. If he had to give an evaluation, he even felt that the manner of his death wasn't particularly unpleasant, and the process wasn't unacceptable.

Sit up from the ground, move your shoulders and arms, and then stand up.

Beneath the silent, blood-red glow, flames burned in the cracks of the plaza.

The sinners, unable to escape, wailed incessantly, enduring endless burning in agony. Even those who suffered mental breakdowns were quickly restored to a state of normal thinking before continuing to endure the eternal torment of flames, constantly extracting strength in the process.

After taking a few steps, Gao Hai stood at the edge of the rift, listening intently to the words these guys uttered between their screams.

Please have mercy on me, please have mercy on me, please have mercy on me...

No… I want to become a god… I shouldn’t be treated like this… No…

It hurts so much... Alice is in so much pain... Someone please save Alice...

Help... Help me...

【Ugh... How could someone as noble as me... No... This shouldn't be my ending...】

They all have quite a lot to say, so it seems the fire isn't hot enough; we should add some more ingredients.

As the only one capable of freeing these prisoners, the owner of that black watch, Gao Hai, could release these men tortured in the flames and allow them to return to the outside world, or be completely pulverized, leaving not even a trace behind, if he so desired and gave a clear command.

Of course, listening to these things screaming at this moment, he would never do such a thing. After all, there's nothing to sympathize with about the guys who get sucked into this kind of place.

Moreover, without the "sacrifice" of these prisoners, Gao Hai wouldn't have been able to restore all the save slots within a month during the mission breaks, filling the three slots provided by the writer. Therefore, in his view, it would be more appropriate to find more neighbors for these heroes to ascend to heaven shoulder to shoulder, so that more people could be happily burned here.

hum-

In response to Gao Hai's idea, the flames burning in the rift became even more intense, and the screams of the prisoners became louder and more miserable.

"Hmm, everyone's full of energy, everyone's full of energy."

As Gao Hai spoke, he walked slowly along the edge of the crack in the square, waving solemnly at the figures in the flames.

None of the prisoners in the inferno responded, not even the most powerful of the strange creatures, including Alice. All the prisoners seemed unable to perceive anything beyond the flames, unable to comprehend anything outside their own cages.

However, Gao Hai had no interest in talking to these guys, so he quickly shifted his attention to where he was headed next.

Of course, "high sea" refers to the location of the "writer".

Now that the [Campus Ghost Stories] instance has been officially destroyed, Gao Hai is still somewhat curious about the current state of the [writer] who once caused him so much trouble. He quickened his pace slightly, wanting to ascertain the other party's situation as soon as possible.

"Ok?"

It seems that some unexpected changes have occurred.

Ahead, the tall pillar remained in its penetrating state, imprisoning and scorching the writer, just as it had always been.

But this time, the imprisoned [writer] himself was in a blurry state. His body structure was as if it had been covered with a mosaic, and his emotions were on the verge of complete collapse and dissipation. He could not even maintain his basic body structure. He had reached the point where he needed the stake that was piercing him to provide power to maintain his form.

Is it because the copy it was responsible for was destroyed and its original existence was stripped away that it became like this?

Or is it that this thing suffered too much damage?

Standing before this thing, Gao Hai closed his eyes and carefully sensed it for a while before confirming that the self-awareness of the "Writer" had not completely dissipated and still existed within this broken body. However, its very existence had been negated; some unknown force had influenced it, causing it to enter a state of rapid decay and disintegration. Yet, the power of the black watch prevented it from dying, thus trapping the "Writer" in a cycle of decay from which it could not die, enduring a far more agonizing situation than the villains in the sea of ​​fire.

"Oh, there's such a new way to play? I don't know if you'll like it."

After confirming the writer's condition, Gao Hai couldn't help but complain. As soon as he spoke, the writer, who was stuck on the pillar and unable to move, suddenly turned his gaze and stared intently at him.

A strong sense of hatred spread through that gaze.

An almost endless resentment was brewing and fermenting within the writer.

Such a frenzied and vivid hatred was a novel experience for Gao Hai. And from the emotions contained in that gaze, he understood something to some extent.

As a Red Moon-level instance, [Campus Ghost Stories] can be understood in a sense as an anchor point between the [Writer] and the [Real Universe]. As long as this instance exists, the [Writer] can gain some kind of special power. This kind of binding doesn't seem to be common among KPs, but the [Writer]'s possessiveness of the instance was so high that they secretly used this method. As a result, after Gao Hai solved Nightfall Mountain Middle School and Baidos, the break of this anchor point backfired on the [Writer], causing it very serious damage.

However, if it were only this, it wouldn't cause any irreparable damage to the [Writer]. The problem is that the [Writer], as the most crucial source of existence in higher dimensions, has been lost. That thing has now become Gao Hai's extra energy bar, only consumed to allow him to activate the various functions of the black watch, making the [Writer] essentially illusory. Unable to maintain its own status, it suffered a severe blow in one fell swoop.

Without the black watch, this guy would probably have turned to dust by now, right?

As for this hatred...

It's certain that the writer doesn't hate Gao Hai because he's ended up in this dilapidated state.

It was merely a grudge stemming from the demise of "Campus Ghost Stories".

If you were to translate it, well, it would be something like, "How could you break my dungeon? How could you, such trash, ruin my perfect dungeon? I curse you to a terrible death!" And it has to be said in a particularly devastating tone.

"I was initially curious to see if I could learn anything from you, but judging from your appearance, you probably only know your crappy school ghost stories. Goodbye, I'll come back to see you next time I have time. You can just keep burning it here."

After waving his hand and making a few sarcastic remarks, Gao Hai turned and left.

The writer glared furiously at Gao Hai's back, and for a moment it desperately tried to break free from the pillar. But as the power of the black watch was transmitted, it quickly lost all sensations other than the burning and stinging pain, and could only endure the endless cycle of mad torment like the prisoners in the sea of ​​fire.

Meanwhile, Gao Hai had returned to where he started.

After wandering around the square, Gao Hai's mental damage from being made into dumplings alive had almost completely recovered, and his mental state had returned to normal.

He sat down again on the ground, reflecting on the various actions and their consequences from the first playthrough, organizing the clues he had gathered in his mind. At the same time, his gaze swept across the figures of the girls lying on the ground in front of him.

Miko Yotsuya, Maki Shijou, and Kaguya Shinomiya—these three girls, lying in a row, looked exactly the same as when they last came.

As for the newly joined Goto Ichiri, she is now lying on the side of the three girls in the "four" generation, with a slight distance between them, and is asleep with her eyes closed and not moving.

And finally, there's Kita Ikuyo, lying next to Koichi, staring at Takami.

His gaze swept over the five girls in turn, and Gao Hai sighed inwardly. Then, he casually reached out and touched Kaguya and Maki's faces, Miko's thigh, Ichiri's head, and Kita's, who was staring at him...

Wait a minute, is something wrong?

Gao Hai's gaze suddenly focused as he looked at the red-haired girl's small face, at her wide-open eyes that met his own.

Gao Hai:?

Kita Ikuyo:? ? ?

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The First Exchange in the Crimson City and the Start of the New Cycle

silence.

At this moment, the blood-red city seemed somewhat silent.

Gao Hai's eyes widened.

Kita remained silent.

The two people, one squatting and the other lying down, just stared at each other without saying a word or moving, the atmosphere not very harmonious.

No, why are you awake?!

At this moment, Gao Hai really wanted to roar.

Since obtaining the black watch as a cheat, although many girls have entered Blood City, whether it's Miko or Maki, they can only lie motionless on the ground like statues. Moreover, they need to undergo at least two fusions before they can clearly retain their memories and barely remember any impressions related to Blood City.

But Kita Ikuyo was clearly not like that at this moment. Her wide eyes were filled with vivid emotions, as if she were accusing Takami. She would even blink from time to time. She was completely awake!

Why is this happening?

The girl I had previously fused with in both flesh and spirit never experienced anything like this. Why was Kita able to maintain a clear sense of self from the moment she entered, and even open her eyes to look at me? This is completely wrong, isn't it?

And if she was conscious from the beginning, wouldn't she have seen me touching Maki and the others? Ah, although whether she saw it or not doesn't really matter, since she's already seen things much more exciting. But there's still a big difference between these two situations. Is she so afraid of me because she thinks I'm some kind of pervert who collects girls' furniture?

Black watch, what are you doing? Why are you not following the script? What have you been doing?!

"...Oh, you were awake all along? What a coincidence."

After internally ranting for a while, Takahashi smiled calmly and said to Kita Ikuyo, who was lying on the ground.

"..."

Got no response.

The girl just stared at Gao Hai with a terrified expression.

At this moment, Takami noticed that although Kita seemed terrified, her body was almost completely still, only showing slight signs of trembling. It seemed that although Kita was able to remain conscious and make eye contact with Takami, her body was actually unable to move; she was fixed in place like Maki Miko and the others.

Even so, this was quite a shock for Gao Hai. He really didn't expect to see a second person who was awake besides himself in the blood-red city.

Is it because her mental energy is constantly enveloped and permeated by me that she possesses far superior mobility in Blood City? Compared to Maki and the others, Kita is equivalent to having merged with me countless times. Does that mean... anyone other than me entering this blood-red city can at most blink and tremble a couple of times?

In short, let's explain the situation first.

"Ahem, anyway, judging from your expression, you may have misunderstood something. Let me tell you about the current situation."

Takami sat down next to Kita, gathered his thoughts briefly, and then began to tell her about his mysterious black watch and the various special abilities he had gained from it. At first, Kita Ikuyo seemed a little dazed, but as she listened, her expression towards Takami changed. Her body trembled several times, as if she wanted to express something, but unable to move, she could only remain lying on the ground.

After thinking for a moment, Takami lay down and attempted to connect his mind with Kita Ikuyo's through Chiyo Hachiya's spiritual blessing. The process wasn't smooth at first, because Kita instinctively felt a sense of repulsion when he got close, but since he couldn't avoid it, Takami quickly connected with Kita's mind.

It was much easier than expected because her mental energy had been integrated with mine for so long that even if she herself was unwilling, I could easily establish a mental link with her in the Blood City space.

Noticing the almost effortless connection between their mental energies, Takahashi couldn't help but have some subtle thoughts. However, he quickly stopped paying attention to it, because he had already sensed Kita's active mental energy.

Even for Zhenfei and the others who had undergone two fusions and retained their memories of Blood City, Gao Hai was unable to communicate with them in this place. Even linking with them through mental energy yielded no response; those linked could only recall Gao Hai's words in Blood City after a time rewind. The reason for this was that the girls' minds were not active within Blood City, so even though they could retain their memories, they couldn't maintain clear thinking during the rewind process.