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

A leather shoe bumped into his helmet.

pat-

An outstretched finger touched his helmet.

pat-

A tooth from a wide-open mouth touched his helmet.

Gao Hai did not look up.

But he could hear those people breathing.

The sounds of those holding onto the ropes, advancing step by step, and those lying here, the slow breathing of those people.

The sound of breathing from the people lying above him, one after another, spread out along the passageway.

Just like any other day, like everyone can do, gently inhale and gently exhale.

pat- pat-

Gao Hai continued to move forward in silence.

Reach out.

Move aside the broken leg that was blocking your way.

Ignore the white maggots crawling out of the girl's nose by the wall.

Bending down to avoid the two overlapping, bloodied and mangled figures.

It was too crowded, and I didn't manage to avoid it completely. Half an eyeball and some black, sesame-paste-like rotten flesh were stuck to my helmet.

"Why are there so many people here? Did they all fail to escape...?"

Chika whispered softly behind her.

"Sorry, I was just too nervous. You don't need to answer me, Gao Jun."

"I have a feeling that I'll have nightmares if this continues, haha, although I don't know if I'll even survive."

"Is Kaguya really in this game too? Is she okay with all this stuff? She's actually not that brave..."

Seemingly to dispel her fear, the girl behind her took a few deep breaths and soon became quite talkative.

"With so many people trapped here, their final wish must be to leave this place, right?"

"Compared to them, are we really anything special?"

"Is that a bit too pessimistic...? But, it's just that I can't be optimistic in times like these, haha..."

You can sense the dejected mood in the other person's tone.

When such a cute girl shows signs of fear, it can easily arouse a man's protective instincts and desire to show off.

However, Gao Hai simply didn't have the energy to talk to the other person at that moment.

He simply lowered his head further into the cave, passing in front of the corpses lying on top of him.

Why am I in this place?

A line of dark red blood-written words passed by Gao Hai.

It's so dark, so narrow, so crowded, where am I?

We must escape, we absolutely must escape.

I'm not a tourist, I'm definitely not a tourist, I...

More blood-red writing was discovered.

A sound like whispers arose.

Gao Hai climbed a little further forward.

He simply stared intently ahead at the road, at the still narrow, pitch-black tunnel ahead.

"Those voices...could they be following us?"

"Or is it that the direction we are heading is the same direction those voices are heading?"

Chika's voice behind him grew increasingly tense.

Gao Hai remained silent and continued to crawl forward with focused concentration.

call……

He could hear his breathing becoming increasingly rapid as his strength waned.

How far have we traveled, and how long has it taken?

There is no way to determine the answer to the question.

Staying in this godforsaken place where there is no sunlight, one simply cannot develop an accurate sense of time.

So what about the time limit for the dungeon? Although 15 days sounds like plenty of time, he has no way of knowing how much time he has spent in the cave.

The question flashed through his mind but did not affect his current state.

Gao Hai continued crawling forward.

At that moment, a mournful cry rang out from behind.

"Gao Jun, I...I think I'm stuck..."

I heard the sounds of struggling.

"Gao Jun?"

With a trembling voice, Gao Hai had already crawled forward a distance.

"Wait, wait a minute, Gao Jun, I'm stuck, Gao Jun..."

She dared not shout for help, seemingly worried that the sound would attract something else, and could only pitifully speak to Gao Hai.

But Gao Hai simply continued crawling forward, through the narrow area in front of him, and towards the wide area that finally appeared ahead.

The sound of breathing seemed to become much heavier at this moment.

The rock walls on both sides and the corpse above him seemed to be closing in even closer at this moment, as if they were going to squeeze and flatten him in the cave.

But at that moment, a pair of hands reached out from the front, grabbed his shoulders, and forcefully dragged him forward.

"..."

It sounded like something was behind me, then quickly disappeared.

Takahashi, carrying a backpack, sat up from the ground and then saw Fujiwara Chika sitting in front of him, her clothes somewhat dirty.

"I am an explorer, I am Fujiwara Chika, I am going to explore the heart and then leave the Red Nut Gray Hole."

Before Gao Hai could speak, Qian Hua nervously stared at him and spoke first.

"I'm an explorer, I'm Gao Hai, and I'm going to explore the heart of the cave and then leave the Red Nut Grotto. When did you arrive?"

Gao Hai breathed a sigh of relief as he spoke, turning back to look at the empty tunnel he had emerged from, now completely deserted.

"About... two or three minutes? Gao Jun, you haven't come out yet, I've been worried for a long time."

Qianhua patted her chest, which was slightly constricted by the protective suit, and answered Gao Hai in a softer tone.

"Is that so?"

Gao Hai nodded slightly, stood up without saying anything more, and looked at the huge cave with many stone pillars.

Chapter Six: Reflections and Discussions on the Mysteries of Rules

Stone pillars stand silently in the darkness within the rock-structured caves, like silent giants.

Gao Hai and Qian Hua spent some time finding an iron plaque standing in the cave, where they saw the writing and brief introduction.

[Large Space]

This is Area 12 of the Red Nut Grotto, a large natural area second only in size to the "Plains." After passing through this area, you will reach the "Artery" area and head towards the deepest part of the cave, the "Heart."

Please note that the temperature in this area is low; do not linger there for extended periods, especially after strenuous exercise.

There isn't much content, and there's not much to analyze.

However, at least we can at least confirm our current location.

"If this is a large space, then where were those people from before?"

Chika reached out and touched her lips, looking somewhat puzzled as she spoke.

"Who knows, the terrain here can change on its own, so it's better not to use common sense to measure it."

As Gao Hai spoke, he looked back at the path they had come out of. At this moment, the cave entrance was still there, and the safety rope could still be seen, along with the corpses lying upside down on the cave ceiling, clinging to the safety rope.

blinked.

There was no corpse; it was just a very low and narrow cave.

"First, check if there are any forks in the road. Don't split up. Let's walk around this cave together. Once we find a second cave besides the entrance, we must immediately retreat back to where we came in."

As he said this, Takahashi gestured for Chika to follow him, his gaze inadvertently drifting to the girl's chest.

Earlier in the cave, the ghostly thing following him imitated Chika's voice, trying to trick him into starting a conversation.

Because of the blessing, Gao Hai immediately recognized that the thing behind him was malicious and not human. Of course, even without the blessing, he wouldn't have fallen for it. The rules were clearly written out in a way that couldn't be violated, and he had already fallen into this trap once before on the first floor of the Shirakawa apartment building, so he couldn't possibly make the same mistake again.

However, it's worth noting that when that thing imitated Fujiwara Chika, it specifically used "getting stuck" as a reason.

Although the protective suit was a rather tight-fitting garment, Gao Hai could tell from a rough comparison that while the perfectly developed girl's shoulders were not as broad as his own, her magnificent figure was still quite astonishing.

Even the narrowest part of that cave only required her to crouch down to move forward. But what if she encounters a narrow passage where she has to lie down? Won't she get stuck?

We need to seriously consider this possibility.

"Report: A new entry point has been discovered."

Chika stretched out her hand and pointed to a cave entrance located behind several stone pillars.

The opening is quite large; even someone as tall as Gao Hai can walk in without bending down.

After leaving Fujiwara Chika to keep watch, Takami walked up to the cave entrance and noticed that it was slightly tilted upwards, and he could feel a very faint breeze. Perhaps this was the direction leading to the exit, the way to leave the Red Nut Gray Cave.