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

Firstly, when the "Psychiatrist" attacks an object with human characteristics, the attack is guaranteed to hit. Even if the attacker uses supernatural powers to defend, this defense can only be effective once within a certain timeframe; a second attack will inevitably fail to stop the "Psychiatrist's" attack. Therefore, Miko's defense and resistance through prophecy and the two blessings can only prevent the first three attacks. When the "Psychiatrist" launches a fourth attack, Miko, unable to find a fourth method, will inevitably be hit, and no matter what method she uses, she will be unable to continue defending or dodging.

Secondly, when the "psychologist's" attack hits an object with human characteristics, the attack inevitably causes severe, irreparable damage. This damage is based on the victim's perception and is not actually a simple physical injury. In other words, when Miko is hit by the "psychologist," her self-perception is forcibly imbued with the concept of "injury." Therefore, even if she possesses strong self-healing abilities, they cannot heal the wound because the "psychologist" has forcibly implanted the mental construct of "I am currently injured." As long as this perception remains, she cannot heal her wounds under any circumstances.

Thirdly, when the [Psychotherapist] is in a hostile state with a subject possessing human characteristics, the subject's thinking and memory will be continuously damaged. As the damage deepens, the effects of all blessings will be continuously weakened, and the subject's mental activity will be forcibly reduced. If the damage cannot be stopped, the damaged subject will eventually be completely controlled by the [Psychotherapist] in terms of thinking and memory after the damage has developed to a certain extent.

The third ability initially went largely unnoticed by Miko, as her mental strength was strong enough that she theoretically shouldn't be afraid of it. However, as the battle began, she realized that this was actually the most troublesome ability. In a more game-like sense, the [Psychiatrist's] ability essentially forces Miko to make a mental judgment every turn, and regardless of whether she passes or fails, it forcibly damages her mental strength. It's an extremely disgusting, all-encompassing forced mechanism. Even though the [Psychiatrist's] attention was no longer on Miko, the continuous mental damage continued to assail her, forcing Miko to expend a great deal of energy to fight it off.

In that case... it would be impossible to use the power of the mental realm, and the mental burden would exceed the limit...

Enduring the pain, Miko took a deep breath and looked up at the red-haired girl not far away.

"What is this? It's utterly unreasonable."

Already badly injured and struggling to even stand, Kita Ikuyo was clearly no match for the "psychologist." She pressed her hand to her blinded eye, exhaled with difficulty, and looked at the swaying, twisted monster in front of her, its form sometimes frozen and sometimes illusory.

Kita Ikuyo arrived just in time to save Miko from the attack. But even so, she was no match for the "psychologist" and was immediately at a disadvantage in their first exchange, almost getting killed.

Thanks to Miko's immediate support, which disrupted the Psychiatrist's actions, Kita was able to escape the attack and continue fighting the enemy in front of her. In doing so, she confirmed a flaw in the Psychiatrist's abilities, although even with this flaw, she could only barely hold on until now.

The flaw was simple: the [Psychiatrist's] guaranteed hit attack reset when switching targets. Therefore, as Kita and Miko took turns attacking, the monster's ability constantly reset, losing its ability to completely ignore a second, repeated attack and force a hit. However, the problem was that even with this flaw identified, the [Psychiatrist] remained an immortal monster with mobility far exceeding the player's limits, making it virtually impossible to fight. Moreover, just by standing there, Kita and Miko's consciousness and memories were constantly being eroded. At this point, they had only managed to hold out for a few minutes before being on the verge of death several times.

"Phew... I have to deal with this kind of enemy as soon as I get back. What bad luck."

Despite this, Kita showed no sign of dejection; instead, he focused even more intently on facing the road ahead.

At that very moment, amidst the ruins, Angel, holding the book made of human skin, slowly approached the area ahead, where the rumbling continued.

We can already see the [Psychiatrist] fighting the messenger.

Just like the last record left at home, it was a hideous monster.

Long-forgotten memories were restored after becoming a player, and the player learned that they were not actually abandoned orphans, but rather that their entire family had been killed by a monster, and that they had become orphans. The player also learned about the cruel past in which they once had happiness, but which was then taken away.

Today is the day of revenge.

Gritting his teeth and with a ferocious expression, Angel quickened his pace, rapidly approaching the direction where Miko was.

Chapter 47: The Root of Those Bearing Hatred and Twisted Things

In the childhood memories that still remain, Angel can occasionally recall that carefree feeling.

Angel's father, a folklorist, often traveled the world, bringing back interesting gifts. Her mother was always a chatterbox, wanting to meddle in everything she saw, but her mushroom soup and meat pies were especially delicious. And then there were her grandparents, who loved to tell her stories of the past; the gentle rocking of their rocking chair still echoes in Angel's dreams. Perhaps this family wasn't exceptionally happy, but the warmth found in their ordinary lives is something she will never forget.

And all of that was destroyed.

The memory of that day has become blurred, many details lost. She only remembers that her father brought back some unknown relics from somewhere, intending to study them, but then forgot about them after bringing them home. She was at school that day and wasn't home, so when everything was over and she returned home, she saw her family shattered, her family members no longer recognizable as whole. Then, she forgot what happened, along with her deceased family members, and became an orphan.

By the time everything came to light, Angel had already become a player and had experienced several dungeons.

It happened in a dangerous instance that could uncover players' memories. By chance, she was forced to review her life experiences and was able to focus on a vague memory from her childhood, allowing her to recall what had happened.

That moment of intense hatred was so profound, it felt like a sharp knife piercing my heart, sinking into the depths of my mind amidst excruciating pain.

I will never forgive, I will never let them go, even if it means my own destruction, I will carry out this revenge!

From that day on, Angel began searching for clues about the enemy, constantly investigating the characteristics of each instance, and trying to find his enemy on his own.

Unexpectedly, these clues ultimately pointed to the [hospital], and even directly to the [psychologist] who was currently fighting against Kita Ikuyo and Yotsuya Miko. This fact remained unresolved until the [hospital] officially began invading the real world, until that thing actually appeared before them, allowing Angel to connect the many coincidences and confirm their ultimate goal.

However… the enemy's power has reached such an extent that, relying solely on her own strength, she probably has no chance of achieving revenge. Her talent as a player ultimately has its limits; reaching the Dark Night level is already fraught with difficulty, making it impossible for her to challenge the higher Red Moon level dungeons, let alone anything beyond that.

Even so, as long as there is even a glimmer of hope, even a tiny possibility, Angel will not choose to give up.

"Finally... finally found it..."

As he murmured, Angel swiftly traversed the ruins that had been nearly leveled by the battle, and approached Yotsuya Miko's direction.

She didn't foolishly head straight for the "psychologist." Despite the turmoil in her heart that she couldn't calm down, Angel knew very well that she was too weak to go up there and would only be a death sentence. Therefore, after a brief moment of thought, she decisively chose to seek help from Miko.

Don't get any closer. If you do, you'll die if you enter the monster's range.

However, before Angel could actually get close, Miko's voice, accompanied by a mental fluctuation, entered her mind. Clearly, although Miko was facing severe pressure, since Kita Ikuyo was currently in charge of the direct confrontation, Miko was still able to spare some attention to her surroundings.

"I know that thing."

Upon hearing Jianzi's voice, Angel did not hesitate and immediately spoke.

“I know that monster. I’ve seen it, and I still have an object related to it that I’m obsessed with. I’ve been searching for it for over a year. I can help decipher the monster’s inner workings. Let me come up and help.”

Angel's voice trembled slightly. She felt the heavy aura that was still far away from her, and she was already struggling to control her body's reaction and had difficulty breathing. She was certain that if she got any closer, the aura released by the "psychologist" would be enough to kill Angel, even without the "psychologist" attacking her.

Are there any clues about you that suggest you might be a psychologist?

Jianzi was slightly taken aback when she didn't expect Angel to say that.

"That's right, I know about it. It reads my memories; everything related to it is in my memory. And this book—there's a page in this book that mentions that thing. Take everything you think is useful. As long as we can kill that thing, I don't care what you want to take!"

Those words, overflowing with hatred, made Miko understand Angel's realization at that moment.

After a brief silence, she turned her gaze to Kita Ikuyo, who was still struggling to hold on, and whose wounds were getting worse over time, and sent him a mental message.

{Kita-kun, could you please help me get 10 minutes?}

{Why?}

Kita, who hadn't expected to hear those words, was almost stunned. He turned to look at Miko with some confusion, but seeing her serious expression, he knew that she must have a plan.

A solution was found in such a short time? Really?

Never mind, we can't keep blocking it any longer. This thing is too strange. We can't figure out its exact strength or main weaknesses at all. We have to find a way to deal with it as soon as possible. We can't keep getting bogged down in a war of attrition.

{Release fifteen mental spikes at me}

Kita Ikuyo's reply was very quick, almost immediately after Miko's message was sent. At the same time, she continued to move around without stopping, still dealing with the strange monster that was both real and illusory.

{good}

Fifteen spiritual cones of varying sizes materialized and were quickly released from Miko's hand, flying towards Kita's direction.

Kita himself didn't even turn his head. With a wave of his hand, he used his gravity control ability to move the fifteen sharp cones to his side, then quickly retreated, creating a large distance between himself and the "psychologist".

【…】

The monster did not react in any way. Or rather, after saying a couple of words when it first appeared, it never spoke again, just wandered around silently, suddenly attacking the two players, then suddenly stopping and standing there dumbfounded, or casually dodging the counterattacks from Kita and Miko.

To be honest, Kita was quite skeptical about whether this thing was even serious. The power it had already displayed was so formidable that even Kita and Miko working together couldn't find a way to break the deadlock. But now that Miko had suddenly announced a new idea, all Kita could do was try his best to buy her time.

Even if this method might bring her unimaginable danger.

"Doctor, I'm sick."

Kita, who had stepped back again, slowly spoke.

The next second, all the sounds disappeared for a moment, and the collapsed edge of the space even showed a brief period of stagnation.

Kita knew that her words had triggered the rules. At this moment, all the strange creatures in the [Hospital] at the edge of the space must have clearly sensed her presence, and their hostility towards her was rising like never before.

Are you in a lot of pain? Are you feeling very sad? I am a psychologist, do you need treatment?

A gentle, inquiring voice, seemingly emanating from a non-human entity, came from behind. Before anyone knew it, the "psychologist" had appeared behind Kita, its twisted arms stretching out as if to encircle Kita and turn him into a cage.

As expected, this thing was much faster than it had previously demonstrated. Sure enough, its attitude towards me and Yotsuya had been more of a bully toying with the weak; it hadn't taken anything seriously from beginning to end.

At that moment, Kita didn't even have time to look back.

Having already prepared herself, she simply picked up the phone that was emitting a faint red glow and crushed it with her bare hands.

Crack—Boom—!!!

The surging crimson light instantly engulfed Kita herself, as well as the terrifying thing behind her that wanted to grab her.

The ground collapsed and shattered, and the monster twisted amidst the blood-red light and shadow tried to break free, but was kicked by Kita in mid-air, and the two fell together to the bottom of the ruins.

There's no need to worry about issues like the transfer of hatred for the time being.

Kita knew very well that once she used language to identify herself as a "patient," it would be difficult for the "psychologist" to shift their focus away from her. After all, no matter how outrageous her own strength was, it wouldn't change the fact that the "psychologist" originated from the "hospital."

Therefore, this rule is absolutely impossible to violate.

Now that someone has identified the "patient," these strange entities originating from the "hospital" must concentrate their efforts to try and capture them.

"Patient... I'm here to help you... I'm here to help you..."

The monster emitted a soft voice, and its limbs wrapped around her once more.

The powerful force released by the shattered crimson domain temporarily halted the monster's movements, preventing Kita from being defeated immediately.

However, she had already noticed that the bloody light was dissipating rapidly. Even if she released all the power of her domain in one go, it would probably only be able to barely hold out for a short while if the enemy's level was too high.

Hopefully, I can hold on a little longer, at least until Yotsuya gets it sorted out. I really don't want to experience being captured by a monster again.

While thinking, Kita continued to fall into the ruins below, carrying the "psychologist," trying to increase the distance between himself and Miko as much as possible.

Meanwhile, Jianzi, who had taken the human skin book from Angel, turned to the last page of this strange, obsessive object containing a lot of information, and found lines of jumbled text.

"The Human Skin Book of Obsession—the text on this thing changes as the user investigates. I spent a lot of time investigating my target, and I didn't expect it to be related to the [Hospital]. The obsession couldn't display much information because the target's level was too high. However, perhaps because I've been using it for over a year trying to track down the target, it's slowly starting to show some clues. Will this help you?"

Standing in front of Miko, Angel asked earnestly, her green eyes revealing a hint of anxiety.

"...Indeed, I can feel it. It must be because of the many times we've tried it. Some connection has indeed been established."

Seeing Zi answer softly, her eyes fixed on the words on the page.

[Healing, Distortion]

The devout, the mad, the path leads to the end of darkness, a path from which there is no return.

Hospitals exist for patients; nodes connect to the present world; patients choose doctors; patients make choices.

If you only look at the surface of the text, it probably just seems like a nonsensical riddle. After all, these sentences are disjointed and don't make any sense at all. Even though they mention concepts like "hospital," "patient," and "node," the way they are expressed is truly perplexing.

But Zi didn't see it that way.

What she was focusing on was that elusive connection, the connection that Angel had successfully made after more than a year of repeated attempts—the connection with the "psychologist."

Thus, the girl came to understand.

Thus, the source of the twisted entity known as the "psychologist" began to unfold before her.

The escapist.

Fictionalist.

Those who are afraid.

To escape the unchangeable fact of being sick and suffering.