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

Of course, her face remained expressionless, just as calm as before.

However, this wasn't because Liang was calm; rather, she was so startled that she was completely numb and unable to show any signs of being frightened.

What should I do next?

The girl asked herself this question in her heart.

Calm down and don't be afraid. What you need to do now is think about what to do next.

He had not yet been attacked.

"I think to myself."

Regardless of what this thing is like, I haven't been attacked yet.

The fact that I haven't been attacked proves that I haven't triggered the death rule. So no matter how terrifying the monster is, I am still safe.

So, I need to stay calm and not panic. Mr. Gao Hai isn't here with me right now; the only person I can rely on is myself. So I can't panic, absolutely can't panic. Right, just treat it like roadside weeds, like inedible wild grass. Yes, yes, yes, that's it, that's it.

Ryo Yamada is trying to hypnotize himself.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm her wildly beating heart, and then looked at the bloated corpse again.

It didn't move, but continued to look up at the cool air above, its entire body rotting and crawling with maggots, wriggling in waves under the flashlight beam.

How disgusting.

Liang stared intently at the corpse for a long while before slowly shifting his gaze away. Then, he suddenly looked back at it.

It didn't move.

It seems that this thing's actions are unrelated to being looked at; whether you look at it or not will not have any effect on it.

Well, that's a good thing. If it were something you had to keep a close eye on to avoid trouble, it could be deadly in this situation. Anyway... anyway... if we can ignore it for now, let's just ignore it.

With that thought in mind, Liang reluctantly shifted her gaze back to the inscriptions carved on the wall in front of her.

The inscriptions meticulously detailed what kind of strange creatures lurked in the upper levels of the Dansu Company, both with and without lights, and how to deal with them. However, Liang couldn't find any records related to the thing in the elevator shaft. If this was left by a survivor who came here after the area had been replicated, why is there no information about this key individual? It doesn't make sense that others wouldn't encounter it here, and only I'm so unlucky, right?

Or is it that this one wasn't missed, but rather that it simply couldn't be recorded?

While thinking, Liang suddenly recalled the contents of the note she had seen in the monitoring room earlier:

If you do choose the freight elevator, remember not to be surprised by anything you see inside, and definitely don't talk about it.

Don't be surprised, and don't tell anyone about it, okay?

If that's the case, then it's understandable why I'm still safe and sound. It's truly unexpected that one day I'd be saved because of my limited facial expressions, even when I'm frightened, I hardly show any emotion.

Liang took a few deep breaths, and after regaining some confidence, she looked again at the thing below her. After confirming that it had remained completely still, she finally calmed down and refocused her attention on the inscription on the wall. The stench permeating the entire shaft, and the fat maggots that had somehow gotten stuck to the wall, were no longer her concern for the time being.

[Lights out phase]

[Record 1: Security Guard with Light]

The girl's eyes quickly swept over the lines of text.

[Headless monsters wearing security guard uniforms, carrying flashlights. Their numbers vary, usually 3-5. They continuously patrol office building areas where the lights are off. They are insensitive to sounds outside of light sources, but can detect any sound or movement within a light source. Anyone directly illuminated by their flashlight beam will be immediately spotted; no amount of concealment will work.]

【Countermeasures (1): If they don't spot you, each security monster has a completely fixed, mechanical patrol route. You can try hiding in a safe, dark area and observing and confirming their movement route before avoiding them.】

【Countermeasure (2): Once you are spotted by a security guard monster, all the security guard monsters in the entire area will spot you. Unless you escape the floor, they will relentlessly pursue you no matter how you try to escape. Although the security guards are relatively slow in their pursuit, ordinary people can still create distance. However, as time goes on, as long as you remain on the floor where the security guards are located, one of these monsters will be added every half hour. No one knows where these extra security guards come from, and it is impossible to confirm whether there is an upper limit to this increase.】

In this situation, the best course of action is to leave the floor, which will make them forget you're there. However, if you have a reason to stay, you can try to destroy anything you can. Security guards have a tendency to "protect and repair company property," which will delay their actions. But just like the "lights on" phase, such behavior will attract extremely dangerous pursuers, so please proceed with caution.

[Record 2: The Mutilated Pursuer]

[The creature is typically a gigantic, pale, severely deformed, obese, headless, and handless humanoid monster with a female appearance. There are slight variations in the appearance of recorded versions of this type of pursuer, leading to the suspicion that it exists in multiples and corresponds to the Silent Pursuer during the "lights up" phase. Like the Silent Pursuer, only one of these monsters appears at a time.]

[Countermeasures (1): Unlike the Silent Pursuer, the Mutilated Pursuer emits a continuous, piercing scream from its severed throat, making it very easy to pinpoint its location. However, due to its terrifying speed and tracking ability, once it detects you, escape is almost impossible. Therefore, the best option is to avoid giving it a chance to appear; it only appears when there is a loud noise or excessive damage to company property.]

【Countermeasures (2): If it has already appeared, escaping its pursuit is not absolutely impossible. Unlike the Silent Pursuer, the Crippled Pursuer may not be able to spot you immediately when it first appears, especially if you are hiding in a dark area. However, this is on the premise that you are not discovered by the security guard monster, because the security guard can guide the pursuer in the direction you are going. So in this case, as long as you are careful to avoid making a lot of noise, you still have a chance to survive. It should be noted that this type of monster, in theory, cannot enter the area behind the smart lock, just like the Silent Pursuer. However, the smart lock is locked when the lights are off, so theoretically there is no area that the Crippled Pursuer cannot enter. You can only leave the floor by using the service elevator to truly escape its pursuit.】

[Record 3: Crawler Employee]

[A headless and lower-body employee monster that crawls on the ground on its hands. It moves slowly and has dulled senses, but once it grabs you, it is difficult to break free. It will also quickly attract other monsters of its kind to gather around, making it quite dangerous.]

【Countermeasures (1): These monsters only roam in fixed areas, and they are difficult to notice even if you run past them. As long as there is no physical contact, they will not attack you, so just be careful when you encounter them.】

【Countermeasures (2): If you are already captured and unable to break free, you can try attacking them with a sharp weapon such as a knife. Although they are monsters, these things in employee uniforms seem to be very afraid of pain. After being stabbed, they will quickly give up the attack and curl up into a ball. You can also attack them before the employees touch them. Any attack that can cause pain to humans will have a good effect on them.】

[Record 4: Hanging a human head]

[A human head that only appears in prison areas, impaled by sharp iron hooks on the ceiling and hanging there, continuously emitting cries and screams, dripping blood downwards.]

【Countermeasures (1): They will not pay any attention to their surroundings, so you can completely ignore them and move around freely. However, you must be careful not to touch their dripping blood, as it is fatal to touch, even if it is through your clothes.】

【Countermeasure (2): In special circumstances, some heads will be in places that are easily accessible. You can try to pull these heads out and throw them to the headless employees crawling on the ground. They will fight over the heads, and the employee monsters wearing the heads will be extremely hostile to the security guard monsters and the crippled pursuers. In other words, they will fight each other. If you need to find a way to distract the security guards, this may be a good method.】

[Record 5: The Swarm of Face-Crushing Insects]

[A dark brown beetle, typically the size of a finger, with a pattern resembling a human face on its back. Its exact movement is unknown; it often appears suddenly in the darkness, moves a distance, and then mysteriously disappears. It devours both living beings and monsters, easily crushing even bones and metal. However, for some reason, these creatures do not consume the flesh and bones of living people. Therefore, any living person caught by them will leave behind a pile of mangled flesh, as if crushed by a steamroller or similar object—in reality, it is the residue chewed up and spat out by the beetle.]

[Countermeasures: Run! Don't even think about using them to deal with other monsters. These things will prioritize chasing you, and they're extremely fast and can spread out. Once you encounter one, it's basically a matter of life and death. However, note that they won't enter the prison area, so you can try to escape into the prison to avoid them.]

[Record 6: Living Photos]

[Monsters that shift position every time you enter a darkened area. They appear as various photos of different sizes pasted on the wall. These photos seem ordinary, but if you get close, they can reach out from within the photos and try to pull you inside. Once touched, there is virtually no chance of escape; they are extremely dangerous monsters.]

【Countermeasures (1): Only photos with a humanoid shape will come to life. Usually, the attack range of the photos is about half a meter to one meter, so you can avoid their attacks by keeping your distance】

【Countermeasure (2): Live photos can disguise themselves as ordinary photos, but they will possess certain characteristics similar to a human face. Therefore, when you shine a flashlight directly into the eyes of a live photo, it will try to avoid eye contact or block the light with its hand. All human-shaped photos that are turned away from you from the beginning so that you cannot see their faces are considered live photos; this is a common disguise tactic used by live photos.】

【Countermeasures (3): There may be floating living photos in the prison area that can move freely. Once you find any trace of such a monster, please leave the prison area immediately. Living photos can enter almost any area, including shafts. Although they are not fast trackers, they are extremely difficult to get rid of. They can even squeeze into the edges of sealed boxes. It can be said that the safe zone is nothing in the face of this thing.】

Compared to when the lights are on, the number of active monsters inside the building appears to be greater and more dangerous when the lights are off.

Overall, with the guide in hand, Liang felt a bit more confident and thought she had a good chance of passing the level on her own.

But what's the situation with the "prison area"?

Isn't this an office building? When did this prison area appear here? Does turning the lights on and off completely change the entire floor?

Liang sensed something was amiss.

The seemingly nonsensical description of the "prison area" made Ryo realize that the upcoming operation might be more dangerous than she anticipated. But she had no other choice; staying put and doing nothing might ultimately lead to her death. Therefore, after a brief moment of thought, Ryo continued moving downwards.

The highly decomposed corpse shifted position as Liang moved.

This might sound a bit strange, but Ryo noticed from the moment she started moving that the distance between the monster and her remained constant as she moved downwards. It seemed that unless something unusual happened, the distance between the thing and Ryo would remain constant and unbreakable, so there was no need to worry about touching it.

Puff——

That being said, there is another problem at hand.

His throat bobbed a few times, and after struggling to hold it in for several moments, he managed to maintain his composure and didn't vomit.

The walls are becoming sticky.

The once-normal cement wall gradually took on a fleshy color, began to secrete slippery oils, and started to have wriggling maggots swimming inside.

Plop-plop-

The cool back slid against the damp wall, crushing and squeezing the maggots.

Yellow grease dripped down, and the maggots landed on her head, body, hands, and legs. Even when she tried to swat them off, new maggots would fall off, and more and more of them would fall off.

Gollum—

The plaster on the wall beside me had peeled off, revealing a dense mass of insect eggs and maggots inside.

Gollum-

Foul-smelling yellow corpse oil dripped down from above, along with clumps of sticky worms, onto the girl.

"Woo..."

I couldn't hold back any longer.

Liang, a pampered urban girl, couldn't help but cover her mouth with her hand to try and suppress the waves of nausea.

Then, the corpse came forward.

As Yamada Ryo's expression changed due to nausea and he gradually lost his composure, the swollen and rotting corpse crawled up and presented its terrifying and ugly face to Ryo.

"..."

The girl kept her mouth shut, staring at the corpse in front of her in the narrow shaft where corpse oil and maggots kept falling.

It was only then that Liang noticed that the corpse was wearing a skirt, suggesting she might have been a pretty young girl in life.

But now the dress has faded and has been torn apart by the bloated corpse.

Gollum-

Another piece of plaster fell off, and more insects wriggled and made noise in the sticky grease.

Liang continued to move her body downwards.

Even with her hands and feet trembling and a terrifying, monstrous creature right in front of her, she continued to move downwards, slowly gliding among countless frantically wriggling maggots.

【…】

It seems I heard a sound.

It comes from this thing in front of you.

He opened his swollen mouth.

It opened its mouth, which was crawling with insects and gnawed sores.

Liang saw the corpse in front of him and spoke.

She heard it speaking.

[Save...save...me...]

The girl, whose bones were broken, crawled with difficulty into the shaft, reaching her hand upwards and murmuring softly.

Her body quickly began to rot, and a foul stench began to spread.

Flies, seemingly appearing from nowhere, began to lay eggs, and maggots hatched from the still-living girl's body.

Help...help...

What is it like to feel your body being eaten away bit by bit, to be overwhelmed by those insects?

Liang had never had such an experience before, but she was certain that if she had encountered such a thing, she would have completely broken down and gone crazy before she died.