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

{As a result, after being cursed, I found my memories were disordered. Images and sounds that didn't originally belong to me, of unknown origin, began to invade my mind. Even after I left the instance and returned to the real world, these things showed no sign of dissipating; in fact, they became even stronger.}

It took me several months to figure out that the strange power targeting my bloodline was actually just a trigger. What truly caused these things to keep appearing was my own connection with a certain kind of strange tale, something that could only be activated through bloodline memories and hadn't completely dissipated even after being passed down to my generation.

{And that was it, the thing that was originally meant to bind me, to enslave me to death. Only after coming into contact with it again did I truly understand what was really going on.}

Place the broken statue on the ground.

Li Xiaoxiao then began to recount what she knew.

Before actually encountering the [Infant Cry Village] instance, Li Xiaoxiao only vaguely knew that her ancestors were related to [Zhang Family Village], that her ancestors owed the village a great debt of gratitude, and that they had promised to return one day to repay it.

This promise has been maintained by the power of the supernatural tales, transforming from an initial verbal commitment into a supernatural power with special effects. However, ordinary people who have never been exposed to the [Sacrifice Game] and have not gained extraordinary powers cannot understand this connection, nor can they remember the promise. Therefore, even though those who left the village and multiplied, their descendants' bloodlines remained unaffected until Li Xiaoxiao, a player, accidentally activated this power, at which point she began to be affected and wanted to return to this place.

However, even after returning here, the images and sounds in her mind remained ambiguous. This made it difficult for her to clearly explain her purpose to others, ultimately leading to her solo journey during her third time around. As for the outcome of that operation, that remains unknown. However, Kaguya speculated that if reaching the space where [Zhangjia Village] is located was a probabilistic event, given Li Xiaoxiao's actions of running alone through different spaces in the dark, it was unlikely that she would achieve her goal.

What was that promise?

Kaguya carefully observed Li Xiaoxiao and asked her a question.

{...The Zhang family lifted the curse placed on my ancestors by the Li family. After my ancestors escaped the forest alive, they needed to find someone capable of saving them, leading them out of this desolate village, or eliminating the Li family.}

Li Xiaoxiao stared at the broken statue, and after a moment of silence, spoke in the temporary mental link.

This answer surprised both Kaguya and Chika.

Based on clues gathered from previous investigations, they knew that the people of Zhangjia Village had attempted to remain neutral in the conflict between the Li and Liu families, choosing to believe in both the Mountain God of Xiaoheishan and the Fox Goddess, and even an unknown third god, hoping to appease multiple factions. However, their cleverness led to a terrible consequence, potentially causing them to disappear even before the Liu family, becoming, in the eyes of the night watchmen, the ones who "dug their own graves."

So, back then, the Zhang family didn't just take sides; they even secretly interfered with the Li family's actions, and made connections with those Li family members who were driven out of the village and cursed, destined to die a terrible death. Did they want to ask for a return by doing favors, or even turn this into some kind of bloodline curse?

Are these three villages in this instance truly extraordinary? But if the Zhang family could accomplish such a feat, it proves they must have also acquired some kind of supernatural power. Is it the power of the Black Mountain God? Or did the Fox Queen respond to them? Or perhaps… is it that unknown third god?

Kaguya vaguely realized that the issues behind this problem were probably not so simple.

The next moment, the light disappeared rapidly.

When the three realized the weather was changing, the sun overhead was completely obscured by dark clouds, and the entire village began to fall into darkness.

The aura of the eerie creature was spreading.

The intense, eerie aura that had permeated the entire village, which had been completely imperceptible just moments before, suddenly became clear.

Kaguya and Chika, who were originally about to teleport away, stopped at this moment, looked at each other, and decided to stay.

Although the perception was not very clear, that feeling just now must be the core obsession.

Just as previously speculated, there exists a fourth core obsession in Zhangjia Village, something that disappeared along with the Zhang family and whose true nature remains unknown.

Now that we've decided to stay in this place, we can't just leave easily. Who knows if we'll be able to trigger that thing next time we come back?

I can already sense that the sky is starting to change.

Although it is not yet nighttime, some ominous situations have already begun to spread.

Without hesitation, the group quickly found a mud house, slipped inside, closed the door, and hid. As for the villagers, they had vanished as soon as it got dark. There was no trace of those phantom villagers, not even in the house where the group had hidden. They didn't know if they had simply disappeared or what had happened.

Goto Ichiri's summoned clones took the initiative to stand guard at the Tsuchiya window. Kaguya took out a silencing doll and hung it in the house. Li Xiaoxiao took out several items of obsession to purify the house and isolate and protect it from the power of ghost stories. Chika carefully checked the house to make sure that nothing was hidden under the bed or in the closet.

{No problems for now; the houses here seem to be essentially the same as those in the Li and Liu families' area.}

After checking everything, Qianhua spoke through the mental link and then reported back to Gao Hai that she was safe.

{That's good. So, Ms. Li, do you have any clues or further leads regarding fulfilling your bloodline promise?}

Upon hearing this, Kaguya nodded slightly, then turned her gaze to Li Xiaoxiao beside her.

{...I have no clue yet. I only know that my ancestors did promise the Zhang family they would find a way to get them out. It seems...the Zhang family members, regardless of age or gender, all believe that there are people outside, people who can save them, people who can change the situation in the village. This promise is to find those people...}

Li Xiaoxiao didn't seem to have fully digested the gradually clearing memories, and it took her a while to come to her senses before she spoke.

{Given the historical context, the people the Zhang family was referring to who could rescue the villagers trapped by the power of supernatural tales must have been the exorcists, right?}

After a moment's thought, Qianhua quickly connected Li Xiaoxiao's words with the previous intelligence.

While it's unclear when "Infant Cry Village" truly became a dungeon, the Ghost Suppressors, as the last group of outsiders we know of who entered the village, possess the strongest power and are the most professional at dealing with ghosts. According to Gao Jun, they even have ways to resist and suppress "that thing" to some extent. Therefore, disregarding the existence of gods, I think only the Ghost Suppressors can do anything about it.

Kaguya agreed with Chika's words, and she also thought of the Zhenguiren force.

Li Xiaoxiao fell silent for a moment, her expression showing thoughtfulness and reminiscence.

But then, before Li Xiaoxiao could say anything more, a chill blew into the house from the crack in the door.

Something is approaching this room.

It's hard to say if it's a core obsession, but it's definitely not something you can get along with.

thump—

A soft sound, as if something had fallen to the ground far away.

thump—

Then came a more distinct, heavy thud as it moved toward the cabin.

Kaguya exchanged glances with the other two, first speaking to Ichiri through a mental link, and then waiting for the clone to approach before leaning against the wooden door of the hut and peering out through the crack.

thump—

Then, amidst the dull thud, she saw the figure of a villager, stiff and taut, leaping straight over and standing steadily at the doorway.

The other person's face turned bluish-purple. He slowly extended his equally tense and stiff hands, then jumped again, crashing directly into the wooden door.

Boom-! ! !

Chapter 123: The Unusual and Endless Surge of Zombie Villagers

What is this?

Kaguya was taken aback when she saw this thing.

Judging from their clothes and appearance, the other person should be a villager from this village. However, unlike the phantoms that were immersed in their own worlds that we had seen before, this villager looked completely like a corpse, and... he didn't seem to have any strong aura?

Kaguya closed her eyes and carefully opened her senses. She could vaguely feel that the strong aura of the strange creature was still slowly approaching the house, but it was still far away and had not yet truly arrived.

In other words, the thing outside the door was not the source of the eerie aura the players sensed. Moreover, even after the creature had reached the door and started banging on it, the players still couldn't sense its presence; they could only perceive the distant object that hadn't yet approached. This meant the corpse contained almost no eerie aura; otherwise, it wouldn't have gotten so close that the players wouldn't have discovered it only after hearing its voice.

So what is this thing? A scout for the monster?

Because she grew up in a closed environment, Kaguya Shinomiya was unfamiliar with the horror figures in different cultures, so she only found the stiff corpse that could only hop forward very strange. Chika, however, relayed Kaguya's description of the thing in the mental link to Takami, who then commented in the mental link, "Are there zombies in this dungeon?"

Boom! ! !

Amidst the violent thud, the bluish-purple, stiff villager jumped up again and slammed his fist against the door.

The door, already quite fragile, was made of wood, and at this moment, a crack appeared, making it seem as if it would shatter at any moment.

If we don't do anything, that thing will probably smash through the door and rush in right away, right? But it couldn't break through the wooden door after two attempts, so it doesn't seem very strong. Is it really a threat to the player?

Because her usual role models were players like Takami and Chika Maki, Kaguya didn't think the stiff corpse's strength was particularly impressive. Even before her enhancements during her time at the Shirakawa Apartment, Kaguya was confident she could punch through the not-so-thick wooden door. In her view, it was incredibly strange, almost unbelievable, for something that could only threaten an ordinary person with little physical training to appear in a dungeon like this.

However, although the creature didn't exude the aura one would expect from a supernatural being, it was clearly not something normal, and it might even be cursed, which would be troublesome. Therefore, out of caution, Kaguya decided it was best not to make contact with it easily.

With that thought in mind, Kaguya retrieved a small bell through the deep link and hung it on the doorknob.

The [Peace Bell] is the last of the three Dark Night-level Obsession Items given to Gao Hai by the [Market]. It's a very simple, functional Obsession Item. The item itself is a dirty little silver bell with the word "Peace" engraved on it. To use this Obsession Item, the thin rope attached to it needs to be tied to a doorknob. A door bound to this bell will have extremely strong defensive capabilities, easily withstanding high-intensity attacks, and also possessing excellent resistance to the strange and supernatural power of ghosts. It can be considered a convenient tool for creating a safe house.

It's worth noting that the conditions for this obsessive item to go out of control have not been figured out by any player. Whether you forcibly break down the door after tying a rope to it, untie the rope, or try to go around the door to enter the house, it won't trigger the item or cause any changes.

Because of this, many daring players deliberately tested this item to see what it would do if it went out of control. However, with the market controlling the scale and methods of the tests, no player successfully figured out the conditions for it to go out of control. In the end, it was only through seeing the item and empathizing with it that the key conditions for it to go out of control were discovered.

Thump—ring ring—

After another violent impact, the wooden door, which was already on the verge of shattering, stubbornly held on this time, showing no damage whatsoever from the impact of the corpse.

The protective effect of the object of obsession has begun to take effect.

Just as Kaguya had suspected, once the power of this Dark Night-level obsession began to protect the wooden door, the strange creature that had been trying to break down the door was unable to do so no matter what it did. In terms of the conflict of rules, it couldn't shake the small silver bell at all.

{It seems a bit too weak; it was actually suppressed by a Dark Night-level Obsession. Are there really monsters this weak in this dungeon?}

Qianhua, standing nearby, was also quite puzzled. The strange creatures that had appeared before, like the blood-red wedding dress, were easily suppressed by Gao Hai after their initial clash. However, Gao Hai had to use multiple Red Moon-level blessings in coordination to achieve this, thus demonstrating the relative strength of the strange creatures. But this suddenly appearing corpse was far too weak. Qianhua estimated that the power it displayed was at most that of a regular strange creature from a Dark Night-level dungeon, or perhaps even weaker.

How could something this intensely strange appear in a dungeon? It's just too bizarre!

At that moment, both Chika and Kaguya noticed the abnormality of the strange villager and began to ponder the possible reasons.

In the corner of the house, Li Xiaoxiao, holding a broken black stone, closed her bloodshot eyes and fell back into those ambiguous memories and dreams.

thump—

Amidst a series of dull thuds, the bruised and stiff corpse continued to pound on the door.

Kaguya stood silently by the door, recalling the conditions that caused the bell to go out of control: killing a mother whose child is under five years old within five meters of the door where the bell is tied. Once this condition was met, the obsessive object would immediately go out of control and cast a powerful curse on the living people around it, plunging them into intense hysteria and despair.

Kaguya remembered that Takami had said that after he first obtained this artifact and, with Yotsuya's help, successfully broke the loss of control condition, he was initially unable to believe it. After all, the fact that a Dark Night-level artifact, after losing control, wouldn't instantly kill the player but instead inflict a mental abnormality was quite harmless compared to other artifacts of the same level, making it hard to even tell if it was truly an artifact.

So, neither the obsessive object nor the strange object seems quite normal. In Gao Jun's words, this is like... two chickens pecking at each other?

Boom--boom--

In the gaps between thoughts and memories, the corpse continued to ram the door repeatedly, seemingly tirelessly charging at it.

The real source of danger has now become much closer.

Although they couldn't perceive it as clearly as Takahashi, Kaguya and Chika could still vaguely sense that the approaching thing was slowing down, as if it was becoming hesitant and uncertain.

The reason for this situation was unknown to both of them, and for safety reasons, Kaguya did not intend to use her hearing blessing to try to directly observe that thing under these circumstances. Therefore, after a brief moment of thought, she turned to look at Li Xiaoxiao behind her.

{Ms. Li, among the memories you've had, are there any parts related to the current situation? If there's any other valuable information, I hope you can share it as soon as possible.}

As she spoke, Kaguya gazed intently at the other person.

{No, I think I've said everything that's clear enough to be described in words. There might be something else, but the images and sounds are too vague for me to express.}

Li Xiaoxiao seemed to be in a daze for a moment before she came to her senses. She opened her eyes, glanced at Kaguya, and then shook her head, speaking in the temporary mental link.

Her mental state seemed to have deteriorated, and the confusion in her expression became more pronounced.

After unearthing the broken statue, something deep within Li Xiaoxiao's consciousness seemed to be triggered. Her consciousness was clearly under considerable strain, making it difficult for her to maintain a conscious state.

{...If I think of any useful clues...I will say so immediately, I promise.}

After taking several deep breaths, Li Xiaoxiao regained some clarity and spoke earnestly to the two of them, standing up to prepare for any potential threats.

Is she really capable of doing this?