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

At this moment, Xiaohua had indeed reached the end of the corridor, which was the entrance to the toy room.

The door to the room in front of her could no longer be described as a "room door" used in ordinary homes; rather, it should be described as a heavy, closed iron door used in prisons or mental hospitals.

The rust-covered gate was a mix of red and bluish-black, and an extremely strong rust smell could be smelled as one approached it, so strong that it was nauseating.

However, looking into the room through the latticed window of the iron gate, one could clearly see the warm light emanating from the room, along with toys such as dolls, small robots, puzzles, and a board game. It looked like a playroom prepared entirely for children. Xiaohua even felt a sense of warmth after seeing the room's layout. She believed that the adults who could decorate such a room genuinely wanted their child to be happy and joyful, and were not bad parents who would harm their child.

But if that's the case, why are the corridors filled with exam papers and have an unsettling, chilly atmosphere? It feels contradictory, something's not right.

"Xiao Jianzi, shall I go in now?"

Although her mind wasn't working well and she couldn't come up with any answers, Xiao Hua, guided by her instincts, felt she should keep going. After a moment's hesitation, she decided to ask Jian Zi what she thought first.

"Um...wait a minute...the signal is a bit weak...um...um...let's go in...be careful..."

The sound from Miko's end became a little unstable again, but after a burst of interference, the communication was restored once more. This time, however, Xiaohua felt that Miko's voice seemed even more distant, as if it wasn't entirely coming from the phone.

This feels weird, is that okay?

Xiao Hua looked at her phone with some confusion and found that the screen, which had previously displayed the "Calling" message, had reverted to a state of garbled text.

[Interference...buzzing...getting worse...can you still hear me...?]

Seeing that the voice of the other person was now clearly more disturbed, Xiao Hua could hardly hear what the other person was saying.

"I can still hear it, I can still hear it, oh well, let's go into the room first."

Without hesitation, Xiaohua reached out and grabbed the handle of the heavy door, slowly pulling it open.

The warm light in the room then fell on Xiaohua, giving her a wonderfully warm feeling, as if she were basking in the sun.

I remember seeing something in that record before, something like the monster would appear immediately after you entered this door?

This thought went through Xiaohua's mind, and then she stepped inside and entered the not-too-large entertainment room.

Click——

The door behind her closed automatically, as if someone was following closely behind her.

No, there was definitely something behind me.

Xiaohua hadn't felt anything particularly strong before, but now she was certain that there was something behind her. Something cold, twisted, and extremely unsettling was right behind her, outside the door, staring at her intently.

"..."

The girl slowly turned her head around.

Then she saw the thing outside the fence window, its hands gripping the iron bars tightly, its face pressed against them.

"call……"

A faint white mist rose from his breath, filling the room before dissipating.

It's cold.

It was on a completely different level from the cold I had experienced before.

Xiaohua knew that the thing standing outside the door truly wanted to kill her, to tear her to pieces. This twisted and terrifying hatred, amplified by the power of the supernatural tale, had a real influence on the surrounding environment and was all directed at her.

So, it really appears when it appears in this room? But its appearance... isn't it a bit too strange? Is this really the same eerie creature we encountered in the hallway earlier?

The girl felt something was off because the monster standing outside the gate looked extremely strange.

It looked like it was meant for a middle-aged woman, or perhaps a doll that resembled a middle-aged woman? Xiaohua didn't know how to describe it, but it looked like a doll with autonomous movement capabilities, and it wasn't wearing any clothes. Its skin had obvious wooden-like structure characteristics. Xiaohua didn't know if it was a real living doll or if someone had put a doll shell on it.

[Sizzle... sizzle sizzle...]

The interfering noises from the phone seemed to grow even louder at that moment.

"...Was the communication cut off?"

Meanwhile, Miko, sitting in the corridor, had her brows furrowed deeply, and her expression had become grim.

An unexpected interruption broke her communication with Xiaohua. She had just confirmed that Xiaohua had reached the door of the [Toy Room] when this inexplicable interference suddenly appeared. She wondered if something was deliberately causing trouble.

What's the current situation with Xiaohua? Hmm, I'm really worried about her. Even though she's a Twilight-level monster, that's still a core obsession level. What's her current condition?

Tuk-tuk-tuk——

Just as the child was unable to reconnect to the communication, a loud knock suddenly rang out from outside the gate of the mansion.

Along with the sound came a pool of dark red blood that slowly seeped in through the crack in the door.

Chapter Sixteen: The Blessed Spiritual Summoning Power and the Girl Who Continued Eating and Drinking

Splash—splash—

The cold, damp rain seemed to fall endlessly into the dark city.

Then another change occurred.

Although Miko cannot yet clearly perceive the specific nature of the change due to actively suppressing her senses, judging from the ominous atmosphere permeating the air, it is probably not a good thing that has happened.

Has the power of hospitals penetrated even further into the real world?

How is the senior doing now?

There was no way to confirm Gao Hai's current situation; all that could be sensed was that he was still in the same place and had not moved at all.

Furthermore, compared to worrying about the situation on the senior's side, there are actually quite a few issues that need to be addressed on my own side as well.

Tuk-tuk-tuk——

A steady, loud knock sounded on the door once again.

The blood that was slowly seeping in through the crack in the door was becoming increasingly thick.

"Someone is knocking on the door?"

The mother, who had been sitting next to Miko, was startled by the knocking. Having already witnessed those twisted and grotesque creatures, she asked "human," but her expression clearly showed she didn't believe the person standing outside was alive. As for the bloodstains, she couldn't see them due to the dim light; only Miko, through her own senses, could confirm the presence of these corrosive phenomena.

"Mom, don't pay attention to that voice. As long as we stay in the house, nothing will happen."

Seeing that her son had gently placed his hand on his mother's palm, he smiled at her and said...

Seeing her daughter so calm, the mother, who had been somewhat flustered, calmed down a bit and simply sat quietly beside her daughter, although she still showed some discomfort at the knocking.

Of course, although Jianzi said there was no problem, it was not actually the case. She could clearly sense that several strange creatures, at least at the Dark Night level, were gathered outside the door, and their power had indeed surpassed Gao Hai's [Rules of the House], gradually eroding the building.

The reason for this phenomenon is simple: there is already a strange creature in this mansion.

Due to a change in some currently unclear rule, the supernatural entities originating from the [Hospital] have gained the ability to resonate with each other. In this situation, any mansion already inhabited by supernatural entities, even if the survivors within are still alive and struggling, will allow those supernatural entities that would otherwise be kept outside to gradually erode the mansion and project their own power inside.

This erosion is almost permanent; even if the monster is eventually banished, the erosion cannot be easily eliminated. This twisted force actively penetrates the building's structure, and even using the fragmented Crimson Domain to combat it is difficult to truly destroy it. In fact, it may even destroy the building's structure, causing the originally closed building to lose its protective rules and reopen its internal and external interactions.

Furthermore, the eroded buildings themselves act as coordinates, attracting the roaming monsters of the streets. As long as a tangible erosion point exists, these monsters can continuously erode the building, slowly transforming it into their territory. Even without the appearance of monsters, the erosion process itself can gradually expand. They are like living entities, possessing the ability to autonomously replicate and spread.

Did it evolve such characteristics in response to the power of the rules of its predecessors?

Seeing this, Jianzi had to admit that the opponent Gao Hai was facing this time was probably completely different from any of the previous ones. This kind of targeted change ability was unprecedented in all the dungeons they had experienced. No… that’s not quite right. In fact, the power of the Blood Flower could make targeted changes, but the level of that being was completely different, making it impossible to fight against it. However, now that the senior had established a friendly relationship with that being, if only… well, such thoughts were not advisable. The calamities that befell humanity must ultimately be overcome by ourselves.

The erosion isn't too serious yet, but if left unchecked, even if I'm fine, Xiaohua will be in greater danger. So, we have to take action; we can't just sit here any longer.

"call……"

Jianzi gently exhaled.

An invisible wave then emanated from her body.

Miko Yotsuya herself received a blessing from the Blood Flower, and her three unique abilities are [Spirit of Prophecy], [Perception Anchoring], and [Mind Domain].

The Spirit of Prophecy is a perception of the future achieved by treating the timeline itself as the object of perception. This ability is not something that Miko's current mental strength can control, so it consumes a great deal of energy, and at most, she can only foresee events that will happen 10 seconds in advance.

The second ability, perception anchoring, is the restriction and enhancement of one's own perception. This ability allows Jianzi to use her own mental power to greatly enhance her perception, thereby perceiving things that she might not have been able to perceive clearly before, or to use her mental power to restrict and weaken her own perception, or even to seal it away and make it temporarily ineffective.

The former ability isn't very useful to Miko at the moment, mainly because she can't withstand the drain and can't really use it in actual combat. While the latter is indeed significant, often preventing Miko from suddenly dying, to truly unleash its full potential, she still needs powerful teammates to protect her. Using this ability alone presents considerable limitations.

What truly gave the girl combat abilities was the third ability, which she herself called the "Mind Domain."

Its function is actually quite simple: to simulate the appearance and aura of things that Miko herself has seen and perceived, projecting false phantoms into the real world. These phantoms are essentially just virtual creations of mental energy, lacking the ability to interfere with the real world; they are, in essence, just a scare tactic. Therefore, Miko was initially quite disappointed with this ability. However, later, when she actually tried to project some extraordinary things using this ability, she realized that it was essentially a highly simplified occult ritual—a forced ritual ability that established a direct connection with the indescribable through "image."

A dark red light flickered.

Using the red light emitted by the phone, Jianzi concealed the red light that appeared when she performed the blessing, so that her mother would not notice anything amiss.

Then, the flames ignited.

From outside the mansion's gates, from the strange creatures that had gathered in front of the gates, a fierce fire broke out and instantly engulfed the creatures.

The blood that was spreading in front of the door stopped spreading instantly, and even began to recede step by step.

The shadows twisted and turned in the darkness, and the inhuman and emotionless filth almost shattered at that moment, falling to the ground and temporarily losing its ability to move.

Those were flames originating from that blood-red city.

It was through the transmission of memories that Takahashi allowed Miko to see the image of the flames of judgment burning countless sinners.

The girl projected a false flame made of mental energy using the power of the [Mind Domain].

Thus, the false flames became the vessel for the true flames of judgment, channeling their power into the real world to directly inflict heavy damage on the enemy.

Of course, something of this level is far inferior to the true Flame of Judgment. After all, it's essentially a projection forcibly summoned using the mental energy consumed by Jianzi as a "sacrifice," and its power is limited compared to the original. But even so, its power is far beyond the maximum health bar of a mere Dark Night-level monster. If it weren't for the monster's extremely strong immortality, making it difficult to completely destroy, Jianzi could have KO'd a large number of them with just this one round of fire.

As for why it wasn't used on the Twilight-level monster that trapped Xiaohua, well… because that thing isn't very good at distinguishing friend from foe, and might burn Xiaohua to death along with it. Previously, during a date with Jianzi, Gao Hai discussed the safe use of the Mind Domain ability with her. Through several tests summoning these flames, Gao Hai determined that unless someone is a born saint or an infant without complete thought or independent action, any living person burned by these flames will be instantly killed; the only difference is whether they experience a painless, peaceful death or suffer excruciating torment before dying.

Only Gao Hai, who could be considered the master of the flames to some extent, was able to move freely within the flames summoned by Jianzi without being attacked. Apart from that, even if Jianzi herself dared to touch the projection she summoned, it would still burn without hesitation, making it quite a troublesome thing.

Of course, summoning the Judgment Flame isn't always necessary to use this ability. In fact, tests have shown that any creature of the Crimson Moon level or higher can be projected into the real world through the projection created by Jianzi. The problem is that these summoned creatures are uncontrollable and will continue to act according to their own rules, making it largely meaningless. As for attempting to project beings beyond the creatures themselves, aside from the projection of flames—a summoning slot that only possible with Gao Hai's help—the native gods have dissipated and can no longer respond to summons. Blood Flower… Jianzi simply cannot summon beings of that level, and besides that, she can't find any other targets to summon.

slam-la-

The torrential rain continued to fall relentlessly.

The strange creature knocking outside the door had turned into something almost charred, and apart from occasionally twitching, it was unable to do anything.

Of course, they weren't truly destroyed; the false projected fire only caused severe damage. Given time, these things would eventually recover completely and return to their original state. However, Jianzi wouldn't give them that chance.

Before I knew it, I could easily suppress Dark Night-level monsters, and even Red Moon Core-level monsters would have a hard time withstanding the flames I summoned. And if things really got desperate, I could summon something even more dangerous. Haha, but I guess I, as the summoner, would probably not survive then.

Seeing this, Zi sighed inwardly for a moment, then turned her gaze to the corner of the corridor.

Communication with Xiaohua has not yet been restored.

The interference was much stronger than expected. The fragments of her crimson domain probably didn't have much energy left. Moreover, this level of interference didn't feel like interference from a Twilight-level core obsession, but rather something else mixed in.