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

As a few thoughts swirled in her mind, Liang quickly passed through the corridor she had already traversed once before and entered a new place she had never been before.

The chains on the ceiling were gone, which made Liang feel somewhat uneasy. After walking a short distance further, she noticed some small office structures on the left side of the corridor. These offices, seemingly for middle-level management, were half intact and half melted, some with small desk lamps still lit. Under the flashlight's beam, she could see signs on the walls that read, in distorted script, "Work for Dansu Company until death."

Would a mid-level manager at Dansu Company really hang such a weird thing in their office?

Considering the previously confirmed information that the backup switch for the power distribution box should be located in the "office area" rather than the "office," theoretically, the small offices here shouldn't contain what Liang is looking for. However, just in case, the girl stopped here temporarily and searched the offices a bit.

During her search, she discovered numerous employee work schedule adjustment plans, as well as documents analyzing employees' family lives, personal experiences, and personalities. These documents revealed that middle managers seemed to be constantly searching for employees with significant commonalities and similarities, and trying to schedule them to work at the same times. Furthermore, according to the documents, all employees assigned to the same group had their last recorded work shift as night shift. After this night shift, the records no longer mentioned the employees' names, instead using the group itself as a code name.

It's as if those employees' names no longer need to be mentioned; they're practically nonexistent.

Could this be the sacrificial ritual being performed in the office area?

While thinking, Ryo searched through the documents again and quickly found a small, locked safe. Although she couldn't find the key, after trying it and finding that the lock wasn't very secure, she simply grabbed the safe door and ripped it open with all her might, performing a spectacular brick-throwing act on the spot.

"these are……"

The safe contained some seemingly insignificant odds and ends, as well as a dirty piece of paper.

She first took out the first item stored in the box, a small marble, the kind of glass marble that children used to play with.

At first glance, this thing doesn't seem to have anything special about it, but when you hold it in your hand and close your eyes, Liang finds that he can vaguely see some images.

It seemed to be a small child, a snotty-nosed child who looked at the other children with envy. He stared at the marbles in the children's hands, wanting to reach out, but not daring to actually step forward, and finally could only stand there dejectedly.

Then, someone patted the child on the shoulder. The child turned around and saw his mother smiling as she reached out and placed a set of colorful marbles in his hand, saying softly, "Go play now."

...This seems to be an object of obsession?

No, it doesn't even reach the level of an object of obsession. In terms of power, this thing is far less powerful than the chaotic dominoes that Mr. Gao Hai gave me. This should just be an object that carries obsession, something that is particularly important to a certain strange creature, something that carries the other party's obsession.

While thinking, Ryo picked up the second item.

This item is a small piece of chalk.

This time, Liang saw a young mother laughing lightly as she drew a thin line on the wall with chalk. Then her cute and lively daughter skipped over to the wall and leaned against it, slightly tiptoeing so that her little head was higher than the line.

Many fine chalk lines have been drawn on the wall, from low to high, witnessing the child's growth and the mother's overflowing happiness.

Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth... Each item carried a joyful memory, and each fragmented memory was filled with happy smiles.

They are the lingering shadows of obsession.

They are the beautiful memories that those former employees cherished and longed for while they were alive, now remaining only in this hell that have been trapped there forever.

"call……"

Liang's breathing had become heavy.

But this time it wasn't because of fear, nor because of exhaustion.

Instead, as she read through these remaining memories and experienced these fragments of happiness, and then looked back at the current state of this godforsaken place, her mood became heavy, and she increasingly understood some of Gao Hai's behavior when he taught her about ghost stories.

Regardless of the reasons or excuses, the culprits who created this tragedy of duplication must be eliminated.

Some might think that the perpetrators and victims are the same, both having fallen into this hell, so it's enough to simply break the dungeon and let everyone rest in peace; there's no need to subject the masterminds who have already paid the price to further punishment.

But in my opinion, that little punishment is far from enough. Only a more profound experience for those beasts can truly atone for their sins. And ultimately, the victims suffered for doing nothing wrong, only to be dragged into a world of unimaginable agony. The victims clearly endured far more pain; why should both sides be allowed to rest in peace? I simply cannot accept such a thing, no matter what. Hmm… these are just my own thoughts; you don't need to take them too seriously.

Mr. Gao Hai must have been recalling something, which is why he was so indignant at that time.

At that time, Liang didn't quite understand what Gao Hai was angry about, but now she understands, and she understands it better than ever.

Harming innocent employees, imprisoning those who should have lived ordinary lives, turning them into twisted monsters, and trapping them in an endless cycle of agonizing work. Even that last vestige of happiness is hidden and locked away. This is utterly outrageous; those who commit such acts deserve no forgiveness whatsoever. If there were no power to punish them, perhaps it would indeed be left to run its course. But for those who have the power to end this, as long as even a shred of fairness and justice remains in their hearts, they will never allow the perpetrators to be released like the victims.

"call……"

After calming down, I realized I had lost control of my emotions.

Liang reached out and gently patted her cheek.

Only Mr. Gao Hai himself can handle this kind of situation. My abilities are far from sufficient to solve this problem; I'm already struggling to survive. I should focus on getting the switch and then getting back to the duty room.

While thinking, Liang glanced at the few remaining unchecked items in the safe, and after a moment's thought, took them all out to examine them.

This action ensured that Ryo didn't miss the object of his obsession placed at the very back of the safe, which was also the only item in the safe whose obsession intensity met the standard for an object of obsession.

It was a small, pink thermos cup for women, with cute cat stickers on it.

After receiving the item, Ryo saw a couple relying on each other. She saw the husband preparing a nutritious vegetable soup for his wife, putting it in a thermos and taking it to Dansu Company, where his wife worked, along with a bento box.

This should be an item that can repair the user's injuries. The side effects are currently unknown, but the positive effects alone are enough to make Liang carry this thing.

Now I have two items I'm obsessed with: a domino that can disrupt the movements of strange creatures, and a vegetable soup thermos that seems to have healing abilities. This should significantly improve my survivability.

Liang looked at the safe again and noticed a dirty note inside, which looked like it had been torn from a notebook.

She pulled out the paper, held it in front of her, and immediately smelled a faint odor of blood.

Only then did she realize that the note was so dirty because it was covered in dried blood, as if the whole piece of paper had been fished out of blood.

What's strange is that even though the paper itself is soaked through, the words on it remain clear, so clear that even with a flashlight turned off, Liang can still read the words written on it, and can see the content in the dark.

Are we merging?

We are waiting.

We're just staying here.

However, although the text on the paper was very clear, the content was extremely strange, with little connection between the paragraphs, leaving the reader somewhat confused.

Everything has lost its meaning.

Adapt to everything, adapt to everything, and always adapt to everything.

Get used to everything, whether reasonable or unreasonable, until nothing matters anymore.

We don't remember, we've already forgotten.

[Everyone is just staying in this place, just repeating the same thing over and over again, it's meaningless.]

What are we waiting for? No one is waiting; we're just here.

[Integration?]

Some say this is despair? Despair?

We are merging, we are becoming one, we are becoming the same, we are becoming unimportant.

Nothing matters anymore; nothing at all matters anymore.

From beginning to end, it was all meaningless.

Life has no meaning, survival has no meaning, breathing has no meaning.

All I do is work, all I do is work, all I do is work.

Go through the door, go through that door.

Then go

Then go

【Then】

Go to work

Then go to work.

【Work】

[Work work ...

The increasingly distorted text was eventually filled with the word "work".

No, that's not right.

From the very beginning, this piece of paper should have only contained the word "work". There was no other text at all; there was simply no way to find any other text besides it.

What was that I just saw?

Well……

My mind seemed to become chaotic, and I couldn't think straight. It felt like the groggy feeling you get after a long sleep following a late night.

puff-

Unable to control herself, the girl plopped down on the ground, covering her forehead with her hand as she felt dizzy, as if everything around her was spinning.

Unable to organize thoughts coherently, it felt as if a part of my brain had been shattered by an impact. For a moment, my thoughts felt like a viscous paste, with everything mixed together, stirred, fused, and then suddenly torn apart in a distorted way.

Then, that feeling vanished in an instant.

A cool sensation was released from the depths of her mind, instantly restoring Liang's chaotic thoughts to normal and allowing her to regain her thinking ability in the next second.

I could sense that something was protecting me from some extremely dangerous erosion.

This substitution seems to have caused considerable damage to that thing. Is it... that the information on the paper itself carried some kind of contamination, causing my mind to be attacked upon seeing it, thus triggering something Mr. Gao Hai had left behind beforehand?

Without hesitation, Liang quickly threw the paper away.

She wasn't sure how long she had been unconscious, but in such a dangerous place, that one mistake was enough to create many variables. Therefore, the girl immediately became extremely alert and quickly got up to look around.

Then I was almost grabbed by a pale hand.

"Well!?"

The girl, who had dodged the sudden backward movement, jumped up in the next moment, pushed off the wall with her legs, and flipped herself onto the office desk.

Something was slowly crawling on the floor.

In the cold light of the flashlight, Liang saw those things.

It has no head or lower body, only a torso and two hands.

It's an "employee," the kind of employee ghost that Liang had seen before when the lights were on—those employees fixed to their office seats.

But unlike before, the employees here now are not restrained and are free to move around. So they crawl around on the ground, aimlessly and randomly, densely occupying a large area of ​​the surrounding space, constantly wriggling under the light of the flashlight.

When did it appear?

Ryo knew perfectly well that these employee ghosts weren't there when he was in these office areas. But after seeing what was hidden in the safe, they suddenly appeared and took over a large area, making it difficult for Ryo to get past them and leave.

Could it be that it was because I brought out the items that embodied their obsessions that these unfettered employees appeared here?

As Liang pondered, he shone his flashlight around to observe the situation.

Then she saw the headless security guard appear from one side of the corridor, with his flashlight shining straight at her.