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

A warm breath landed on the back of her neck.

Seeing Zi's fingers tremble slightly as she held the pen, her breathing became a little disordered for a moment.

{Senior... what... what are you doing?!}

The girl asked in a embarrassed and annoyed voice through the mental link.

{Huh? I didn't do anything?}

Gao Hai's somewhat confused voice also rang out in the mental link, and at the same time, a breath gently caressed the girl's skin, making her mood even more chaotic.

The scene at this moment seemed somewhat familiar (see side story 01 for details). However, at that time, her relationship with Gao Hai was still somewhat ambiguous and had not been fully clarified. Therefore, even though there were some blushing and heart-pounding moments during the process, nothing really happened in the end, and nothing truly out of the ordinary occurred.

But the situation is different now.

Both Gao Hai and Jian Zi have realized that they have the same dream every night because of their mental connection, and the things that happen between them in the dream have completely broken down any possible barriers between them.

Therefore, at this moment, Gao Hai, who is standing behind Jianzi, has already revealed his true self.

Therefore, at this moment, Jianzi, who is tutoring her friend, has also come to understand Gao Hai's domineering thoughts and ambitions.

To be honest, after some issues were brought to light, the girl didn't mind making the scenes from her dream come true. After all, during those months-long dream, Miko herself had already crossed all boundaries under Takami's guidance, and was no longer the innocent little girl who would blush just by talking about related topics.

The problem is that she and Gao Hai aren't the only ones here right now.

This isn't some sweet, intimate time for couples to be together! There's a stranger here! There are other people here, for goodness' sake! And it has to be Xiaohua, it has to be Xiaohua again! She was there at the hot springs last time, and she's tutoring her this time too. Why does she have to encounter this in front of her best friend?!

{Hey senior, stop it! This is really affecting me!}

Jianzi spoke again in the mental link and tried to get up from Gao Hai and sit back down on the ground.

But before her actions could materialize, a strong hand pressed down on her shoulder, pushing her back onto Gao Hai's lap. Then, accompanied by suppressed laughter, the girl's body stiffened slightly once more.

"Wow, Miko has become so amazing! I never realized she was so talented before. Meanwhile, my grades just aren't improving at all."

Xiao Hua, who had understood many question types thanks to Jian Zi's explanation, stretched and then exclaimed.

Her voluptuous figure swayed slightly as she stretched. In the past, Jianzi might have felt a little envious of her friend. But today, her attention was completely elsewhere. In fact, if it weren't for the significant boost to her mental strength after clearing the [Infant Cry Village] dungeon, Jianzi was quite certain that she wouldn't have been able to successfully explain all the questions to Xiaohua despite Gao Hai's constant interference.

Despite having persevered as much as she could, Miko was nearing her limit. Especially with her mischievous senior constantly escalating the intensity of her pranks, immediately escalating the intensity the moment she showed any sign of adapting, the girl was close to her limit. Of course, this didn't refer to her mental limit. As the player with the second-strongest willpower in Takami's team so far, second only to Takami himself, Miko's spirit was incredibly resilient. However, even if her spirit wasn't easily broken, physical submission was a different matter entirely. And now, Miko faced the hurdle of her body failing her first.

{Don't tease me like this... You weren't like this before, senpai...}

{Hmm, really? I remember we did something much more impressive in the dream world before, right?}

Seeing that her body was trembling slightly.

Of course, although she felt ashamed, she wasn't actually angry at Gao Hai's actions. In fact, Gao Hai's actions alone were nothing to Miko, who had grown considerably since then. After all, it was just foreplay; nothing actually happened. It was just that doing this in front of her friend was too embarrassing, so Miko would occasionally try to struggle because she couldn't bear it, but she could never truly break free.

Ugh, even though I'd seen this side of my senior before in my dreams, being treated like this in real life is still a bit much. But... at least Xiaohua won't notice any of my abnormal reactions, otherwise I'd be so embarrassed.

{How can that be the same? That...that was just a dream. I didn't know I was actually with my senior...}

Even if it's a dream, the experience is real, you know. Since you already understand that, I certainly don't need to pretend to be a gentleman in front of you~

Within their mental link, their conversation continued.

After Gao Hai restrained his small actions a bit and stopped deliberately provoking Jianzi, the situation seemed to be somewhat under control. Although his actions were rather suspicious, Jianzi couldn't help but wonder if he was planning to hold back and pull off something big.

Tuk-tuk-tuk——

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the bedroom door, and then Miko's mother pushed the door open and walked in, carrying a small plate with two cute strawberry cakes on it.

"Jianzi, Xiaohua, I've prepared your favorite little cakes. If you're tired from studying, have some dessert and take a break."

Miko's mother smiled and addressed the two girls present, placing the cake on the table.

Xiao Hua's eyes immediately lit up as she thanked Jianzi's mother, while Jianzi managed to maintain a normal expression and exchanged a few words with her mother.

Then, after Miko's mother closed the door and left, Xiaohua eagerly picked up one of the small cakes. Just as Miko was about to reach for a cake as well, she suddenly widened her eyes and turned to look at her side.

{Senior/Academic/Senior-}

There were still more words left unsaid.

"Wow, is this the newest strawberry cake from Rabbit Shop? That's amazing! I've always wanted to buy this, but it's always sold out when I go to the shop after school."

With a face full of anticipation, Xiao Hua picked up the small cake, and after a moment of reflection, gently bit into the cream and strawberry decoration on the cake.

pat-

The pencil in Yotsuya Miko's hand fell onto the table.

"Delicious!"

With a blissful expression, Xiaohua opened her mouth and gently bit one side of the cake, the oozing cream immediately spreading onto her tongue.

Crack!

Miko Yotsuya's fingers dug a shallow hole in the small table.

At this moment, the only thing the girl could do was suppress her voice and try to push away the man who was deliberately teasing her.

"Ah... I feel so happy. Jianzi, aren't you going to eat it? If you don't, I'll eat your little cake too."

Xiao Hua, who had already finished her small cake, noticed that Jian Zi was still "sitting still" until now. So she tilted her head and asked with some doubt, while she herself was getting a little restless.

Yotsuya Miko did not answer Xiaohua.

She no longer had the option to answer her friend. She realized that Gao Hai's slightly excessive but not offensive teasing was actually a way to numb her reaction, to gradually make her adapt and ignore the sinister intentions behind his little actions.

If this were a dream, Miko was certain she would quickly realize what Takahashi was planning. However, since this was the real world, and she wasn't alone with Takahashi in the room, coupled with the chain reaction of distractions and a lack of focus, the girl ultimately fell into the trap.

{Wait, at least not now—}

The mournful cry never truly rang out.

"Hey!"

Xiaohua unceremoniously reached out and snatched the remaining small cake, taking a bite of its soft sweetness.

Jianzi suddenly tilted her head back, took a deep breath, and then covered her mouth with her hand. She remained silent, her body trembling slightly as she sat there for a long time without making any move.

It wasn't until Xiaohua became confused by Jianzi's unusual behavior of not reacting at all and nervously apologized, thinking that she might have really angered Jianzi, that the girl finally managed to catch her breath and tried to maintain a normal expression to show that she wasn't angry. She even comforted Xiaohua a few times.

As for Gao Hai, the mastermind behind it all, he has already quietly left without a trace.

It's just too much.

Even a girl as gentle and good-tempered as Jianzi couldn't help but clench her fists, wanting to find Gao Hai and settle accounts with him.

But it was clear that Gao Hai, who had far more experience in this area than Miko, would not give her any chance. So when the girl finally recovered and turned around angrily, she could no longer find the prankster.

While catching up with him wasn't impossible—after all, with Andres's location blessing, Miko could teleport to Gao Hai's side at any time—it would be difficult to explain the situation to Xiaohua and her mother. No, explaining wasn't really necessary, as the information-masking effect of her supernatural powers would make them overlook it. But Miko didn't want that to happen; abandoning her friend and running away seemed too much to her. Therefore, Miko could only choose to remember the grudge and plan to find Gao Hai when she had time.

Hmm, I'll go find him in my dreams tonight.

Having made up her mind, Jianzi let out a long sigh. After tutoring Xiaohua's homework for a while without changing her expression, she took the opportunity to slip up to the second-floor bathroom to change her clothes and repair her old, badly damaged outfit. Then, when Xiaohua decided to stay overnight because it was late, Jianzi laid out a makeshift bed in her bedroom. After showering and changing into their pajamas, they chatted for a while before, feeling sleepy, yawning and saying goodnight to each other before turning off the room lights.

Xiao Hua, who had already stayed at Jianzi's house many times, fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and her breathing soon became even.

Although Jianzi has now become a superhuman in effect, able to go for days and nights without rest if she wants, she can still maintain the routine of an ordinary person under the control of her powerful mental strength. Therefore, she rubbed her eyes and went to sleep, intending to go to the dream world to cause some trouble for Gao Hai.

Then, as she lay down on the pillow, she noticed a figure on the other side of the pillow.

"Hey?"

The unexpected situation that occurred again left Miko stunned.

"Shh-"

{Your best friend and mom are already asleep, you don't want to wake them, do you, my lovely little Jianzi?}

At the same time, Gao Hai smiled and touched her lips with a finger, then spoke with a wicked grin in the mental link.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Jianzi realized that Gao Hai was serious.

Completely forgetting her desire for revenge, the girl couldn't help but let out a silent lament for what had happened in the hours leading up to dawn.

Interlude 4-09: The Step Taken by Yotsuya Miko and the Rest of the Story

On the third day after the end of the [Infant Cry Village] instance, it seemed no different from any other day for people in the real world.

The prelude to destruction has yet to reveal any signs. Even though many players have taken action, and even though undercurrents are stirring beneath the surface of the world's calm, everyone must admit that they truly cannot see where the devastating crisis will occur. This warning from Gao Hai has yet to yield any evidence. If it weren't for the [Slacking Off Gang] and the [Historian]'s insistence on taking action and refusing to back down, many would probably have dismissed Gao Hai's team's warning as the ramblings of another idiot driven mad by dungeons.

However, regardless of the circumstances, at least for now, ordinary daily life remains a major component of this world.

Even though many resources and manpower have been gradually mobilized in secret, and even though the power mobilized by the players, whether overt or covert, is gradually increasing and will reach the level of a world war within the foreseeable future, at least for now, ordinary people cannot detect anything.

After a busy first two days, Kaguya Maki and the others have temporarily paused their efforts. After all, they were essentially only mobilizing the resources of their own families; once the various families were fully operational, their individual roles would be significantly reduced. Ultimately, no matter how gifted they were, the girls were still students who hadn't truly left school and lacked real-world management experience. Therefore, rather than mobilizing resources, they were essentially acting as both a key to unlocking their families' full power and a guide in their direction.

Therefore, on the third day, the girls temporarily returned to their school life to relieve the pressure of the dungeon challenge by returning to their daily routines.

However, Chika soon noticed that Yotsuya Miko had taken the day off.

The reason given seemed to be illness, but as a player who had undergone multiple enhancements of extraordinary power, Miko herself couldn't possibly be sick. In other words, it was just a made-up excuse. Of course, with the arrangements made by the Shinomiya family, the Fujiwara family, and several other families, no one would say anything even if Miko disappeared without a reason.

But Chika felt something was off.

Even though this might seem like a perfectly normal thing—in fact, it's quite normal for a player to change their actions in the real world—Chika felt something was off when this happened to Yotsuya Miko.

After all, although she had only known Miko for a little over a month, Chika had already seen that Miko was the kind of person who was extremely adaptable and wouldn't easily change her own rhythm of life. Someone like her, who had maintained a normal life before being pulled into the dungeon, and who remained unchanged even after seeing certain things ahead of time due to her awakened powerful perception, was unlikely to start changing her rhythm of life and making choices that she wouldn't normally make after only a month or two as a player.

Therefore, there must have been some external motivation that led her to skip class, which is not a good behavior for a child. And as far as Chika knows, the person most likely to be the prime suspect and the one most likely to do something to affect Chika is undoubtedly Takahashi.

Hmm, Akai didn't come to work today either. Although he rarely comes to Shuchiin as a security guard, he usually shows up at the school from time to time. Especially during school hours from Monday to Friday, Akai would diligently perform his security duties in order to see the girls who were taking classes there. So today, with Omiko's unusual decision to take leave, and Akai not coming to the school to look for her or Maki or the others, that already says a lot.

Then again, among the girls who have already established intimate relationships with Ahai, it seems that Koko hasn't been slept with by him yet. So, does this mean that this time Ahai has chosen to cross a previously uncrossed boundary and take things to the very end?

Hmph, it just so happens to be at a time like this. If that's the case, I have a feeling that Ah Hai might take advantage of this seemingly final month to do something outrageous.

The perceptive Chika had already realized the possible truth and sensed some of what might happen next.

But she had no intention of making a fuss, nor did she take advantage of the opportunity to sneak out; she simply watched quietly with a "let's see what happens" attitude.

As for Maki and Kaguya, they genuinely couldn't detect certain problems. Hayasaka, while somewhat aware of the issues, naturally wouldn't take any initiative to address them, given her personality. Thus, the situation at the school remained largely unchanged, at least on the surface.

Meanwhile, as the girls spent what could be described as an ordinary morning, in the second-floor bedroom of Yotsuya Miko's house, one of the girls opened her eyes, turning her head with a hint of helplessness to look at her shameless senior sleeping beside her. After thinking for a long time, she still couldn't come up with anything to say, and finally just sighed softly, getting up from the bed spread on the floor and walking towards the bathroom in a somewhat strange manner.

Gao Hai had already woken up and had clearly felt the interrogative gaze from Yotsuya Miko a few minutes earlier. But he had always been indifferent to such things, so even though he was awake, he had no intention of getting up. Instead, he continued to wrap himself in the blankets filled with the girl's sweet fragrance.

It felt pretty good.

Recalling the sensations of last night, Gao Hai couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.