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

Therefore, humans escape reality and weave beautiful fantasies for themselves, imagining in their dreams that they are not yet sick, not yet hurt, and not yet have lost something important.

When the pain of reality becomes too cruel and suffocating, humans develop the desire to escape, hoping that none of this has happened. If even dreams cannot alleviate this torment, humans may even try to end it all, wanting to travel to an eternal dream through death, thereby escaping the constraints of the real world.

Yes, Yotsuya Miko saw all of this clearly.

It is a [psychologist].

It is an escapist, a fictionalist, and a fearful one.

It represents all patients who fear reality and yearn to escape it through false dreams.

It is one of the representatives of suicide, and one of the sources of fear that humanity cannot escape. As long as there are still sufferers in this world who try to escape hardship and are unwilling to face reality, it cannot be truly eradicated and will exist eternally.

Its obsession, its delusion, is to replace the real world with a false, painless, and sorrowless illusory dream, granting all humanity an eternal euthanasia, thereby achieving the destruction of civilization. Of course, in doing so, it will also destroy itself, but as a symbolic manifestation of those who yearn to escape reality, knowing that their choice will bring irreversible disaster yet remaining unmoved by self-destruction, this is precisely the essence of such a thing. Ultimately, the "psychologist" is simply a crystallization of the extremely selfish and distorted side of human nature.

Yes, this is the essence of a "psychologist".

Under Miko Yotsuya's golden eyes, the terrifying monster could no longer conceal itself and was forced to reveal its entirety to her.

But that alone is not enough.

Even though she successfully deciphered the essence of the "psychologist" and found the flaw in the rule of "using real pain to stimulate and temporarily suppress the ability to act," Jianzi vaguely realized that what she was seeing was not perfect and there were still things that were being covered up.

But what exactly is it?

How can we find out about this blocked information?

All I want is to free people from suffering.

Why do you insist on stopping me? Why hurt my patients?

The monster's cries were filled with pain, its movements became sluggish, and its body trembled incessantly.

The television screen located at the head of the monster flickered continuously, playing various images. At this moment, Miko, who was facing this thing directly, could clearly feel the various emotions emanating from the [psychologist], and saw those scenes filled with pain.

An elderly man, paralyzed in bed, with sores on his back, defecates and urinates directly on himself, and no one cares.

A child born with a disability was abandoned by his parents and struggled to grow up for a period of time, only to be told by a doctor that he was destined not to live to adulthood due to his congenital disability.

The white-haired mother knelt before the tombstone, silently weeping, while the photograph on the grave depicted a young figure.

Those suffering were wailing and crying, their despair converging on the "psychologist." Under the stimulation of Yotsuya Miko, they awoke from the beautiful dream woven by the "psychologist" and were forced to recall their painful experiences once again. This restrained the "psychologist's" actions, preventing it from harming Miko, Kita, and the others as recklessly as it had at the beginning.

It's unclear whether those who merged with the "psychologist" are still alive, but it's safe to say that their existence is what gave this monster, which possesses such immense power over humanity, a weakness. While Miko didn't actually intend to harm these people, and felt some guilt for her actions, what's done is done. She wouldn't make excuses to comfort herself, nor would she abandon her actions because of guilt. After all, compared to those captured by the illusion and merged into the monster's body, the safety of those still alive in the real world is far more important.

Why...why...?

The monster continued to ask questions.

Neither of the two girls present intended to communicate with it. Kita was already at her limit, barely able to maintain consciousness. Miko, on the other hand, knew that while the thing appeared to be seeking communication, it was essentially just talking to itself. After being disturbed by her, the [Psychiatrist] was now in a very chaotic mental state, its thought process constantly shifting and intertwining, to the point that every word it uttered could be seen as different personalities speaking, with no unified consciousness whatsoever.

Tread-

Some hurried footsteps came from behind. Just as Miko helped Kita up, she saw Angel falling hurriedly from above. This player had obviously arrived in a hurry. Without Miko's strong physical abilities, she had practically been jumping, rolling, and falling all the way down, resulting in numerous wounds on her body. But she herself didn't seem to care about these things. Her gaze remained fixed on the direction of the [Psychiatrist] the entire time, and a certain emotion was clearly suppressed in her pupils.

"Has it been resolved?"

Angel asked Miko, who was supporting Kita.

"It's only temporarily trapped. Don't get close, or the monster might recover at any time. To truly defeat it, we need to find a way to rely on the power of our senior... I mean, Mr. Gao Hai. Only his personal intervention could possibly find a way to destroy it."

Noticing the intense emotional fluctuations in Angel, Jianzi quickly spoke up to prevent him from having any last-minute urges to confront the "psychologist."

"...I won't do anything reckless."

Angel naturally understood what Jianzi was talking about. She took a deep breath, her expression not changing much, but her gaze never left the monster.

“I have been waiting a long time to take revenge on it, and I don’t mind waiting a little longer.”

As Angel said this, he looked away from the monster and quickly went to Miko's side to help support Kita, who was in very poor condition. The three of them then prepared to leave the area temporarily.

rustling—rustling—

However, it seems there's something that doesn't want the three of them to leave.

"That aura...could it be..."

The first to notice something was wrong was Miko, who suddenly turned her head to look around and then saw those huge eyeball monsters.

These things, like insects, crawled and jumped through the broken ruins, densely surrounding the three players from all directions.

"Why are there so many?"

Unexpectedly surrounded by such an astonishing number of Red Moon-level monsters, Angel, who was usually quite calm, couldn't help but mutter to himself in surprise.

"It seems the hospital really doesn't want me and Miss Kita to leave; they're determined to keep us here."

Having already guessed the reason, Miko sighed softly, her eyes hardening as she prepared for a tough battle.

Regardless, the enemy is now in front of me, and there is no longer any way to avoid them. So, the only thing I can do now is to fight with all my might.

"...I will do my best to support you."

Seeing that there was nowhere to run or hide, Angel also picked up the human skin book and prepared for battle. Although she didn't actually think she would be of any use in the upcoming fight, she just said that to fit the mood.

【Ah, Angel】

Hmm? That voice... sounds so familiar...

Suddenly realizing something, Angel turned his head and looked in the direction where the "psychologist" was.

Yes, yes, it really is you, Angel.

Similarly, the television screen was pointed at Angel's "psychiatrist," and the distorted screen displayed a face that Angel found somewhat familiar, yet also somewhat unfamiliar.

-

Xiao Hua looked up at the burning, increasingly dilapidated city ruins above.

This was the fifth time she had looked up to observe. Each time, the collapse of the city itself became more severe. Each time, she could clearly feel the disintegration of that area and realize that it was gradually heading towards destruction.

However, she didn't just look up to admire this surreal apocalyptic scene. The reason why the girl kept looking up to observe was due to another reason.

"The noise inside has stopped."

As she said this, Xiaohua turned to look at Kazama Ren beside her.

"Yeah, I noticed that too. Whatever they're fighting, it seems they've already decided who's the winner. Hopefully, the humans will win, otherwise we won't be able to handle any super powerful monsters that come out later."

Kazama Ren sighed, her expression becoming very serious.

Kita Ikuyo and the "psychiatrist" made such a commotion in the city ruins that the two of them, who were in the factory, could clearly feel it.

However, although they knew that the commotion above was significant, the two of them, who had already ventured deep into the factory, had no way to intervene at the moment and could only listen to what was happening.

As for the progress of the investigation into this huge factory, Kazama Ren felt that at the current pace, they might not find anything useful even after a year.

There was no way around it; the size of this place was far beyond their expectations, and the scenery was highly repetitive, making it easy to lose track of where they were. Moreover, an enormous number of strange creatures roamed around, and the two could easily bump into them if they weren't careful. While the [Death Makeup] could conceal their presence, close physical contact with these creatures would likely cause problems, forcing them to move cautiously and quickly evade any large-scale attacks, significantly slowing their movement.

The only good news was that they could continue moving along the conveyor belt, since their ultimate goal was the warehouse where the corpses were piled up. With a clear objective, even if their progress was slowed down by various factors, they could still continue.

No, not necessarily. After all, the things blocking our path are getting increasingly powerful. If we continue deeper, we might eventually encounter powerful monsters that can see through disguises. And then… well, why think so much? We've already come this far; can we really turn back now?

Kazama Ren pondered silently in her heart, unconsciously tightening her grip on the axe.

Xiao Hua, standing to the side, didn't think too much about it. Although the single-minded girl noticed that there were more and more strange creatures moving around her, she didn't think much about it and just focused on continuing to walk deeper into the factory.

Hmm, it's a pity I can't stay on the conveyor belt anymore. Those monsters seem to have gotten smarter; they're checking the conveyor belt on their own now. Could it be because I was discovered on the conveyor belt before that they've become wary of them?

While pondering, the girl gently bit her finger and continued forward along a passage next to the conveyor belt, protected by the faint light of the crimson field.

Deformed, fleshy monsters crawled across the walls, leaving behind a trail of writhing blood; twisted, infant-like lumps of flesh, connected by umbilical cords, opened their countless eyes to observe their surroundings; swollen pustules rolled around in the passageways, where tiny worms frolicked and thrashed about, flowing onto the ground along with the pus.

Xiaohua has completely desensitized to these horrific and gory scenes and no longer finds them problematic.

She skillfully followed Kazama Ren, dodging several monsters that got too close, then climbed up a ladder to another platform, and continued to move forward quickly, following the direction the conveyor belt was heading.

How far is it from here?

The girl, who could feel her strength waning, thought to herself.

Her gaze swept past the pile of excrement in the corner, past the human hands hanging from the ceiling, and past the cockroaches crawling on the floor, many of which were already dead. Then she turned her gaze to… wait, cockroaches? Dead cockroaches?!

"Wait a minute, Kazama-neechan, something seems off."

Realizing something was wrong, Xiao Hua stopped and reached out to grab Kazama Ren in front of her, saying something quickly.

"Huh? What's the problem?"

Xiao Hua's sudden remark puzzled Kazama Ren, but she immediately stopped and turned to look at Xiao Hua behind her.

So Kazama Ren's outstretched dark hand grasped nothing, failing to catch the unsuspecting player on the spot.

"what--"

Xiao Hua, who clearly saw the terrifying dark monster emerge, opened her mouth wide and almost screamed.

But before she could act, Kazama Ren, realizing what had happened from the reflection in her pupils, acted immediately. She took a step forward, grabbed Xiaohua by the collar, lifted her up, turned around, and threw her more than ten meters away, landing in another passage.

Bang!

In the next second, with a deafening roar, Xiaohua looked up and only had time to see the passage where Kazama Ren was collapsing and falling, leaving a few sparks in the darkness. The indistinct monster, shrouded in darkness, had already landed in the passage where Xiaohua was. Although she couldn't see the monster's eyes, Xiaohua immediately felt a strong sense of being watched, realizing that the monster was staring at her.

The crimson light burst forth in an instant.

He couldn't see when the monster moved in front of him, nor did he know when the fragments of the crimson domain unleashed their power to defend themselves.

The girl only remembered a violent shockwave that sent her flying into the air. At the same time, the monster followed closely behind, trying to do something, but was pierced through the body by a climbing axe that flew from somewhere, causing its movements to slow down.

It felt like something grabbed me from the side, cold and foul-smelling, like something that had been rotting for a long time.

Several cockroaches crawled across the walls, the ground, and the slowly moving conveyor belt.

Then, she fell downwards, into the darkness to a place she herself did not know where she was going.

Chapter 50: The Will to Answer the Call and the Burning Fury

It seems I heard a sound.

It came from a very, very far place, so far away that it was impossible to hear clearly; one could only vaguely sense the presence of the sound.

However, one could vaguely sense that the voice was calling to oneself.

There's no mistake, that voice is calling me over. I have to get there quickly, I have to get to the side of that voice as soon as possible. Although I don't quite understand why, I have to do it now, I have to get to the side of that voice as quickly as possible!

I have to... I have to move... Why does my body feel so heavy? No... I can't stay still like this, I have to move...