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

The thing my sister touched at the beginning was definitely not chopsticks.

Hongxia, who knows Liang very well, made this judgment based solely on the detail that Liang dared not look up and let Xingge see the expression on her face.

Something must have changed behind the window; something dangerous has appeared. It just doesn't seem to have fully erupted yet, and if handled properly, there seems to be a chance for a safe escape. However, judging from the fine sweat on Liang's face, it's hard to say for sure whether that's possible.

Please make sure nothing happens...

Not knowing how she could help, Hongxia could only pray silently and prepare to rush up and pull people out should an accident occur.

As for Xingge, who had no idea what she had touched, she had already pulled her hand back most of the way and would soon be able to take the pen out with her.

"..."

It was at this moment that Xingge sensed a pulling force.

Her eyes widened, and she subconsciously turned to look at Liang beside her, only to have Liang reach out and press her cheek down.

"Don't get distracted, keep pulling outwards."

Liang's voice trembled slightly, and the fingers pressing on Xingge's face were also trembling slightly.

Xingge had no idea what she saw at that moment. Just understanding that "something behind the counter grabbed the pen in her hand" was enough to make this timid, older woman's heart race.

Should we continue...pulling it outwards? Shouldn't we be running now?

Xingge really wanted to ask that question, but after a brief moment of stunned silence, she took a deep breath and slowly gripped the pen to continue drawing.

She could feel the force resisting her. Whatever that thing was, it definitely didn't want her to take the pen away. However, the other party's strength seemed weak, probably only that of a young child. So, even after Xingge exerted her strength seriously, the other party couldn't really resist Xingge's power and was gradually pulled out of the pen.

Is it really okay?

Xingge could feel her heartbeat becoming more and more intense.

But Liang didn't say anything. Thinking that Hongxia was watching from behind, Xingge gritted her teeth and continued to pull hard.

"……call."

For a moment, Xingge's breathing became briefly disordered.

A hand grabbed her wrist.

Just as she was about to take the pen out, a cold hand, as if it had just been taken out of a freezer, gently grasped her wrist, trying to drag her into the darkness behind the counter.

The darkness of the window blinded me, and I couldn't see what it looked like.

Xingge could hear Liang's breathing beside her suddenly become heavier and heavier, and he couldn't return to a normal frequency.

What to do now?

What should we do in this situation?

"Keep pulling back."

Liang quickly gave his answer.

So Xingge took a deep breath, increased her strength, and began to pull her hand back even more forcefully.

Unexpectedly, the hand that grabbed her wrist wasn't very strong, and Xingge even vaguely felt that the pulling force on her side had decreased.

Liang frowned. She looked up, her gaze seemingly seeing something through the glass. She instinctively opened her mouth as if to say something, but hesitated and didn't speak. She just stared intently at the dark window, as if she was hesitating to make some kind of judgment.

"Everyone, be careful."

Finally, Liang simply said this, picked up his laptop, opened it, and let the faint red light shine on the window.

rustle--

There seemed to be some extremely faint, barely identifiable sound, the source of which could not be determined.

Xingge slowly pulled her hand out of the darkness, from her upper arm, to her elbow, to her forearm, to her wrist, and finally to her fingers and the pen she was holding.

There was nothing else.

"what?"

Xingge, who had been prepared to see something terrifying, was taken aback and at a loss for what to do in this unexpected situation.

I could feel the hand gripping me until my arm was completely pulled back, so why was there nothing there after I pulled it back?

Could it be a hallucination?

Or……

"Huh? Where did those three go?!"

Hongxia's somewhat flustered voice rang out from behind.

Upon hearing this, Ryo turned around, only to find that Shizuko Ogiyama and the others, who had been inside the house, had vanished.

In the dimly lit apartment lobby, only the three of them remained at some point.

wrong!

A strong sense of danger surged through Liang's entire body at that moment.

She quickly activated her soul vision ability again, not to see through the wall to the glass windowsill, but to scan and observe the room.

I saw it.

Shizuko Ogiyama and the others, who had been invisible just moments before, reappeared in Ryo's sight. Their expressions were puzzled; they were searching for the three of them. They couldn't see us, and they seemed unable to touch us. Had the three of us been spatially separated? Why did this suddenly happen?

While thinking, Liang, without having time to think further, subconsciously turned her head while maintaining her soul's perspective and looked at the windowsill again.

Then, she froze on the spot.

The darkness that had enveloped the windowsill had vanished without a trace.

Behind the glass, bright light had already appeared, and a figure that looked like a staff member was sitting there, looking at himself in the lobby.

Is that thing... "looking"?

Liang had no way of confirming this.

Because she was unable to find a clear organ on the other person's face that could be called "eyes".

This seemingly humanoid monster had an extremely distorted face, almost completely torn apart, as if pieces of rotten flesh had been forcibly glued together—a horrifying sight.

I felt an intense sense of oppression and a bone-chilling cold.

Even though something within her consciousness acted to stabilize the girl's mind and prevent her from suffering too much harm, the shock of witnessing something inhuman still prevented Ryo from reacting appropriately in an immediate moment.

Then she heard the thing's voice, a sound coming from the rotting flesh.

Three unregistered individuals and three intruders who are not apartment residents are requested to be removed by apartment security immediately.

Amidst the cold, repetitive sound, Liang took a step back and finally realized what she had to do.

"Signature! Quick! Signature!!!"

Yamada Ryo ran forward, shouting, heading in the direction of the monster, his eyes fixed on the registration book in front of the counter.

But the next moment, she realized that her shouts had drawn the attention of something else.

Intruder... Intruder... Intruder...

It was a childlike, fragmented, repetitive murmur.

The sound came from the window where Xingge had pulled her hand away, a sound that went unnoticed in time.

Liang turned her head and looked at the source of the sound, where she saw a wobbly, dirty little wooden puppet.

The next second, the puppet's face magnified in Liang's vision, revealing a smirk that stretched open to expose its bloodied eyes and flesh.

Boom!

With a heavy impact, the blanket was knocked to the ground, the back of the head hit the ground hard with a dull thud, and the forehead was cracked from the violent impact, spurting out bright red blood foam.

Chapter Ten: The Link with Gao Hai and What Happened After the Signature Confirmation

I can't hear any sounds around me anymore.

A constant buzzing sound rang in my ears, pounding back and forth in my head, as if someone were locked inside, as if that person were screaming and shouting at me.

My vision was completely blurred, and I couldn't see anything.

All colors were obscured by a dark red filter, the lines writhing haphazardly, unable to form anything clearly visible. It was incomprehensible; no matter which direction one looked, nothing could be understood.

I can't feel my body anymore. I feel light and airy, as if my bones have been removed and I've been thrown into the water to float. I can only drift slowly with the waves.

Where am I now...?

In the hazy, unclear state of consciousness, only the heat flowing from my forehead was exceptionally clear.

It felt like something had hit my head.

It hurts... but it doesn't seem to hurt that much...

Feeling dizzy and lightheaded... like my soul has left my body... a gentle breeze could carry me far, far away...

Bright red is everywhere... Am I bleeding? I think I'm bleeding...

If I keep bleeding like this... will I die... and just die quietly and unnoticed in this place...?

I……

I……

I think I saw something...

The chaotic consciousness suddenly became a little clearer.

Although I still can't feel my own body, something else seems to be becoming clearer and more perceptible.

That was a gaze.

That's right. Although other things are still unclear, at this moment, there should be a gaze on me.

From that dark red color that obscured the view.

From the liquid that gradually flowed and spread across the ground.

The gaze gradually became clearer, looking in her direction.

"Woo..."