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

The pink-haired girl stood silently on the street, looking up at the Dansu Company's signboard, which was showing signs of rust.

She could sense the location of the Minghuijian squad, who had entered before her, and knew they had already penetrated deep into the company's underground area. She could also sense Yamada Ryo, who was currently being chased by monsters in the upper area of ​​the company. Through the power of the Crimson Domain fragments, coupled with Takami's assistance, Chika could see far more than ordinary players. However, even with this ability, she had to make a choice; she couldn't have "both."

How are you doing now? Is the clone under control?

Gao Hai's voice suddenly rang out from the depths of Qian Hua's consciousness.

{Well, it's alright. It was a little more troublesome than I expected, but still within acceptable limits.}

Chika was not surprised at all by Gao Hai's sudden question, and answered him very seriously.

[It's surprisingly serious; it's a bit unusual.]

Clearly, Qianhua's completely unfunny demeanor was somewhat surprising to Gao Hai, to the point that there was a hint of astonishment in his voice.

{You idiot, Ahai, even if it were just a game, players would still rack their brains and take it seriously at this crucial moment. Besides, this isn't a game. I'm thinking about how to rescue my family; how can something so important be taken lightly?}

Chika puffed out her cheeks somewhat unhappily and muttered a few words in the mental link.

However, her attention quickly shifted to the street in front of her. She frowned and repeatedly scanned the collapsed area at the end of the street, the Dansu Company office building, and the inconspicuous kindergarten, considering her next move.

Now is not the time to waste. Every second of delay could hurt Dad, Mom, Sister, and Little Sister.

However, the situation in the collapsed area was really strange. As a physical shortcut to the Sheep Apartment, Chika had considered trying to cross the collapsed area, but her keen sense of danger prevented her from doing so. But if she didn't choose this route, she would only have one option left, and that option didn't seem so safe at the moment.

{Ahai, I've decided, I'll go this way from the kindergarten.}

Taking a deep breath, the girl made up her mind and spoke through the mental link.

Are you planning to enter that "kindergarten"? Are you sure? No player has ever entered this area before; it's completely unknown. What might happen if you go in is entirely uncertain. Furthermore, there's no evidence that a path from the "kindergarten" leads to the "Sheep Apartment." Have you thought it through?

Gao Hai's voice didn't sound very emotional; he was simply explaining the situation to the girl very seriously.

Chika knew that this meant Gao Hai's main attention was focused elsewhere, so much so that he no longer had the energy to discern the situation on her side.

Therefore, she didn't say anything more, but walked briskly to the kindergarten and lightly leaped into the empty entrance.

A strong chill was emanating from the half-open door.

Faintly, Chika discovered that she could even hear a child's singing voice coming from the darkness behind the door:

Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are~

Soft singing, seemingly adults gently chanting, or children singing along. These sounds intertwined, accompanied by barely perceptible laughter and playful noises, and thus, along with a chilling atmosphere, seeped out from the doorway.

All Chika did was walk up to the door and gently push it open.

squeak-

Chapter 43: Fujiwara Chika's Blessing Power and the Corridor of Cycles

This place should have been a paradise for children.

Even though everything has changed, Chika can still see the beauty that once existed here.

But it is precisely because one can imagine what it was like in the past that one feels even more disgusted with the current state of the place.

A plush toy, carelessly discarded on the ground, stained with blood.

Overturned, broken, the food inside dried out, and bowls and plates decorated with cute patterns.

The brightly decorated room was now covered in dust, the shattered glass door lying on the floor, mixed with the tattered remains of tables and chairs. Stains of filthy blood were scattered throughout the house, and even though the blood itself had dried to a dark black, the lingering stench persisted.

I really hate this feeling.

From the moment she opened her eyes in the Red Nut Gray Hole, every time she entered the dungeon and came into contact with these inhuman beings, to be honest, the strongest emotion Qianhua could feel was always deep disgust.

To dissect and break down something beautiful.

Let ugliness and madness take over everything, and wantonly smear disgusting sins.

Things made from human suffering and despair should be completely eradicated!

Of course, although she was very unhappy and disliked these things, Chika knew very well what she really needed to do. She never lost her mind when facing danger, because she knew very well that in the face of terrifying things beyond comprehension, reason was the solid bulwark against these chaotic beings.

tread--

The girl's footsteps led her deeper into the darkness.

The road ahead continues to stretch out, extending ever onward into the unknown.

The surrounding scenery began to show some bizarre aspects, and things that defied common sense started to appear more and more frequently.

{I have entered the kindergarten building and have not yet encountered any strange creatures or encountered any supernatural forces specifically targeting me.}

However, the spatial structure here has exhibited extremely severe distortion, far more so than the previously recorded Zhenyang Apartments and Dansu Company. Just within 30 meters of entering the building, the surrounding architectural structures became abnormal. Furthermore, the path I came from is now completely invisible.

{For reference, this place reminds me a bit of the lingering sense of loss area in the [Red Nut Gray Hole] dungeon. It feels like a patchwork of various scenes from different deceased individuals' memories. However, compared to that dungeon, the structure here seems more structured. I think this is because the overall difficulty of this dungeon doesn't reach the peak of the Dark Night level, resulting in some differences in the specific scene variations.}

Through the mental link, Qianhua calmly explained the current situation to Gao Hai and gradually moved deeper into the corridor.

Be extra careful. Although this is only a Dark Night-level dungeon, it's still a lower-level dungeon within the "Hospital" raid. If your presence is discovered, given the "Hospital's" modus operandi, they will definitely try to deploy resources against you, so don't take any risks.

Takashi's voice echoed in the girl's mind. After Miko and the others' actions severely damaged the hospital's blockade, the interference with the black watch's communication function was greatly reduced, making communication between Takashi and Chika clearer. Of course, for those without a mental link, Takashi could only communicate using domain fragments or objects of his own consciousness as a medium. Otherwise, given the strength of his mental power, even after significant dilution, attempting direct mental dialogue would still easily cause serious harm to ordinary people.

{Don't worry, don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm not using my real body right now, I'm using a clone, so the danger isn't that high. Besides, Komiko and Kita have already gained such a big advantage, if I don't get anything out of it, as a senior, I'd feel really bad.}

{And Ah Hai, don't forget, I'm now considered a powerful player who has received the Blessed Power, even stronger than Red Moon level players. No matter what, I shouldn't run into trouble in a Dark Night level dungeon!}

Fujiwara Chika's reply was full of confidence, clearly showing she wasn't afraid.

To be honest, Gao Hai was actually a little worried about her confidence. But among the players currently in this dungeon area, Qianhua was indeed the strongest. If even she couldn't handle a Dark Night-level dungeon, Gao Hai figured he'd have to find a way to personally descend and avatar to solve the problem.

Walk through a corridor piled with many plush toys.

As Qianhua takes her first step, she stirs up a flurry of fluff from the torn dolls.

Many of the furry dolls had their mouths torn apart and painted with blood-red smiles. Some dolls had their eyes gouged out, their sunken eye sockets filled with foul blood. As for the dolls with their bellies ripped apart, intestines and other large and small internal organs could be seen being forcibly stuffed into their abdominal cavities, which should have been filled with cotton.

The stench of blood permeated the dark corridor.

Even though there was a pile of dolls lying on the ground, Chika inexplicably felt that there were actually children lying there.

But who knows? After all, this is a dungeon world, and what you see isn't necessarily real. Perhaps what you're feeling and doubting right now is actually the truth. And if you really have that intention, you can actually see it—Qianhua is very clear about that.

After all, one of the abilities she gained from the Blood Blessing was [Detective Vision], a combination of the girl's own desires and the blessing's power, allowing her to see beyond appearances and observe the inner workings of things. This ability differs from Miko's Spiritual Vision; it's not used to peer into realms beyond cognition, but rather to provide a completely new perspective through analysis of the surrounding environment and the user's own needs.

For example, when Chika meets a new classmate and wants to understand them, she can quickly observe the other person's facial expressions, tone of voice, and body language details after activating her [Detective Vision] ability. She can even observe and judge subtle changes in the person's muscles, internal organs, and nerves. With this ability, Chika can discern the person's mental state in less than a second, determine what they might have done before meeting her, and whether they are deliberately hiding anything.

This ability also works on inanimate objects. Chika could activate her [Detective Vision] ability when passing a wall and immediately observe how many pedestrians have passed by on the street within a certain period of time. She could also determine the gender, height, weight, whether they were walking or running, whether their movements were hurried, and whether they had sprained their ankles based on the invisible footprints.

Right now, if Chika wanted, she could use this ability to scan and analyze the piles of plush toys in the corridor. She believed that if she did that, she could easily recreate how the corridor originally looked. But she wouldn't do that. Firstly, her purpose in coming here was to find a shortcut to [Sheep's Apartment], not to investigate clues; secondly, she found the scene disgusting. Even without using her ability, she could already imagine what it looked like, and she had no interest in actually seeing it.

tread--

The end of the corridor had come into view for Chika.

Ignoring the doors around the corridor that were either closed, ajar, or gently swaying as if enticing someone to step inside, Chika stood before the heavy wooden door at the end of the corridor, reached out and grasped the doorknob, and gently opened it.

Ahead lay a corridor identical to the one before, except this one lacked the disemboweled dolls and was brightly lit, with a faint smell of paint in the air. On one side of the corridor stood a sign bearing the kindergarten's true name: [Dansu Company Affiliated Kindergarten].

Is this really the name?

Completely unsurprised, Chika stepped into the corridor and continued walking forward without faltering.

Along the corridor, many rooms had no doors at all, and the rooms were empty. Some rooms were not even decorated, with bare cement floors and walls exposed, just like newly built houses.

Chika made no comment on this, but continued forward indifferently until she reached the end of the corridor and opened the same heavy wooden door again.

Then another corridor appeared before her eyes, a brightly lit corridor where she could faintly hear children playing.

An infinitely looping corridor?

Chika silently stepped inside, her expression showing little panic.

She wasn't worried about getting lost or wasting too much time here. This confidence stemmed from her other blessing, [Guidance of the Lost], which, like [Detective Vision], was a purely supportive blessing ability. However, unlike [Detective Vision], [Guidance of the Lost] didn't provide Chika with intelligence support; instead, it granted her a special intuition, an ability to find routes and goals that was difficult to explain using common sense.

Through this ability, even when Chika is aware of her goals and the places she wants to go, she always seems to find herself on the right path, almost unconsciously. Even if she's not consciously aware of it, she'll find herself on the easiest and quickest route.

Unfortunately, this ability only works on Chika herself, and therefore doesn't consider the situation of her companions at all. Not long ago, Chika attempted to lead a team of survivors to an evacuation and tried activating the [Guide to the Lost] blessing for navigation. She discovered that the blessing power led her to a dangerous area haunted by strange creatures, nearly killing her team members.

After the evacuation was complete, when Chika returned along the same route to try and find out the specific reason, she realized that the dangerous area was indeed the shortest route to their destination. However, while the strange creatures lurking along that route posed no threat to Chika herself, they were far beyond the capabilities of her survivor team. The blessing [Guidance of the Lost] hadn't taken this into account, judging solely by Chika's own abilities. Chika was somewhat disappointed for a moment, frustrated that her new energy was useless.

However, right now, it is precisely because of the guidance of this blessed power that Chika can walk confidently on this corridor that has been cycled several times. As she walks, she also has time to observe the changes that occur in the corridor after each cycle, and she is always paying attention to the cold aura that is gradually spreading in the corridor.

Change is happening; something is brewing, gradually emerging from the darkness.

The girl opened another door, and this time, the corridor behind it was plunged into darkness. Stepping inside, Chika could clearly hear the loud sound of rain pounding against the windows, and every now and then, the white curtains on one side of the corridor would flutter and dance, as if someone were hiding beneath them.

This time, something seems a little different.

Even though she hadn't actually seen the strange creature, Chika's senses had already begun to warn her, alerting her to the unusual phenomena that were gradually brewing in this place.

Keep moving forward.

The girl walked silently forward in the empty, dark corridor.

Beside her, the sound of rain pattering came from outside the windows, with raindrops hitting the windowpanes every now and then, as if someone was constantly knocking on the glass.

On the other side of Qianhua, the doors were tightly closed, obscuring the view inside, but faint sounds could be heard intermittently.

She remembered the voice.

That was the sound I heard when I first came in.

It was a children's song that adults sang softly with the children, a song that should have been cheerful, but which seemed a bit eerie in the darkness.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star~

The sky is full of little stars~

[Hanging in the sky, shining brightly~]

[Looks like lots of small eyes~]

It was as if the song was playing in my ears.

Before anyone noticed, the singing sounded perfectly normal, with no obvious abnormalities.

But the moment Chika realized the anomaly hidden in the singing and became alert, the voice suddenly became chaotic and distorted.

[A flash... a flash... sparkle...]

The little star... hangs... hangs... hangs in the sky...

[Many...eyes ...