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

[Suspicious circumstances have been identified: The individual's whereabouts are unknown at night, and all tracking attempts have failed.]

[Clues have been compiled]

[1. I am suspected of having a religious belief. I seek out secluded places at fixed times each day to engage in activities similar to meditation. The source of my belief has not yet been determined.]

[2. The individual appears to possess extremely strong counter-surveillance capabilities, having detected the presence of investigators on multiple occasions. However, their daily operations show absolutely no signs of training, which contradicts their speed in detecting investigators. The reason for this remains unclear.]

[3. It has been confirmed that Mio Kambara was diagnosed with advanced liver cancer two years ago, and that the cancer cells had already spread. The veracity of this information is still unclear.]

Late-stage cancer, two years ago?

Chika's gaze immediately locked onto the document.

If the documents she had seen before only gave her some doubts, then this time, faced with the evidence that Ryo found, Chika was basically certain of certain things.

"...So this instance should have been Red Moon level, but because most of its power was absorbed, it only exhibits Dark Night level strength?"

"The power originally intended to nurture the dungeons ultimately served something else; the dungeons themselves became the cradle of incubation."

As she murmured to herself, Chika's eyes grew even brighter.

Can't go wrong.

Even though there is no direct evidence yet, the girl is certain that her idea is correct.

This bizarre and distorted instance world is the very instance from which the [Internal Medicine Doctor] was conceived and born.

As for the true identity of this so-called "internal medicine doctor," Chika believes that the name he used when he was human is very likely "Kamihara Myo."

Chapter Seventy-Six: Chika's Speculations, Ryo's Questions, and Undiscovered Anomalies.

From this point on, Fujiwara Chika was certain that the person in charge of Dansu Corporation—one of its high-ranking executives, who had spearheaded various sacrificial rituals, guided the entire upper echelon in their research on supernatural beings and their powers, and oversaw the progress of each specific project—was Kambara Mio. This man was one of the three doctors trained at the hospital, and the very same internist that Goto Ichiri and Kita Ikuyo were currently dealing with.

Based on the existing clues, it can be determined that this man was originally just a powerful and influential person, but the torment of late-stage cancer plunged him into extreme despair. As a result, he was taken in by the [Hospital], and after contact with him, he was given a certain power, which enabled him to eventually complete the sacrifice and be promoted to [Internal Medicine Doctor], thus becoming a tentacle of the [Hospital].

Whether the upgraded "Internal Medicine Doctor" is still considered Kambara Myo is unclear at this point. However, based on the existing contact records between the "Internal Medicine Doctor" and the player, this monster has essentially lost all humanity, acting purely to bring despair. It's likely that its human aspects have long since disappeared. But considering it was originally sent by the "Hospital," it's understandable that it would be loyal to its duties. Therefore, we cannot draw conclusions about the "Internal Medicine Doctor's" current state. Besides, what if Kambara Myo was originally such an extremely insane person?

However, no matter how powerful these strange creatures may seem, they cannot escape their origins. They are, after all, derived from humans. Therefore, just as [obsession] is an inherent weakness of these creatures, the now fully upgraded [Internal Medicine Doctor] will inevitably retain weaknesses that Kambara Mio himself cannot resist. Therefore, analyzing from this perspective might reveal a way to control or even defeat them.

So, what is Kambara Mio's weakness...? Cancer?

With her eyes closed, Chika carefully considered this piece of information.

The reason why Kambara Mio was able to become an "Internal Medicine Physician" and a representative of the despair appears to be through a series of rituals. However, since the "Internal Medicine Physician" represents the symbolic concept of despair, then the "Internal Medicine Physician" himself must be despairing. Just as a "Psychiatrist" might genuinely believe that his Naruto-style Infinite Tsukuyomi technique can bring eternal happiness to human civilization, the "Internal Medicine Physician," as a conceptual construct, must also genuinely believe from the depths of his heart that despair is the ultimate destination—this is an unchangeable fact.

Therefore, as the predecessor of the "internal medicine doctor", Kambara Mio must have been a desperate person.

Therefore, by further reasoning, we can conclude that he must have felt utterly hopeless about his cancer and given up all resistance, choosing to accept reality. Based on this, this man was qualified to be an "internist." Therefore, even though that man has now become this inhuman being, his despair will not change. If it did, he would no longer deserve this position and power.

So, since we can deduce that Kambara Mio's flaw lies in his despair over his cancer when he was human, how should we make use of this flaw?

The girl's brows gradually furrowed.

The essence of a psychologist is escapism, so revealing reality and forcing the other person to understand the unavoidable pain and sorrow in the real world can break their defenses on the spot.

If the essence of an internist is despair, then its opposite should be hope, right?

No matter how dangerous the situation, he would never give up, even if it was destined to be futile, he would fight to the very end, refusing to surrender until death, and still believing that hope would eventually come. This unwavering belief was something that Kambara Mio, who had chosen despair and compromise, and who had chosen to become an "internist," could never accept.

So, how about finding someone who had a terminal illness but was successfully cured to show it?

Or should we let it witness firsthand Ah Hai's unwavering resilience in destroying high-difficulty dungeons and enduring all kinds of hardships without ever bowing down?

I always feel like this isn't enough.

Or... find a way to forge a medical record and tell it that the previous cancer diagnosis report was fake and that it never actually had cancer while it was alive?

It might be useful, but it's too easy to detect, so it doesn't seem to work.

Perhaps the truly correct choice is to make it fully understand that we, the players who chose to save the world, represent "hope" and "never giving up." No, no, no, that would only make this guy target us even more, wouldn't it?

Hmm, this won't work. I have absolutely no idea how to deal with an internist. Should I really be trying to figure out how to deal with a psychiatrist using the same methods I use on a psychologist?

It seems we were too hasty and rushed. Although all the players have expended a great deal of effort, gathering numerous clues and making general deductions about the events within the dungeon, and can now piece together over 90% of the past history, finding clues that directly point to Kambara Takeo, especially those pointing to his weaknesses, is still proving extremely difficult. Perhaps we should wait for the frontline intelligence from Ichiri-chan. If we can combine this with firsthand information obtained by the players who directly confronted the [Internal Medicine Doctor], the situation might be different.

Wow – Wow –

Yamada Ryo continued to flip through the documents.

Fujiwara Chika practically emptied the entire office, which contained a considerable number of documents. The two of them only read through what appeared to be the most important parts; there was still a great deal left to look at.

At this point, Chika's focus was on how to use this knowledge to find clues that would benefit the player, and she didn't continue to look through other relatively unimportant documents. Ryo, after all, lacked the combat power to participate in the upcoming battle against the [Doctor], so since she had nothing else to do, she continued to look through the remaining scraps of documents, intending to see if there was any information that could be of use.

"Although I have already checked these documents with my mental power and can confirm that there are no major problems, I should still be as careful as possible when looking at them. You never know, some corrupted information might harm you."

After thinking for a while, Chika, who hadn't come up with a solution yet, noticed Ryo's actions and spoke up to remind him.

"Ok, I know."

The girl with short blue hair nodded slightly, then quickly turned her attention back to the documents in her hands.

They're really serious. Not long ago, Ahai said that this Liang classmate broke down and cried because of too much pressure. Has she gone through something and grown up? I hope it's not because she experienced several near-death experiences that she's grown up. That would be too tragic.

Chika glanced at Yamada Ryo a few more times, and only after confirming that the other person's mental state was fine did she turn her thoughts back to dealing with the [internal medicine doctor] and other related issues.

Currently, Ichiri-chan and Kita-chan have temporarily controlled that thing through the blessing of future teleportation. Although it's unknown how long they can maintain this control, at least for now, the monster cannot affect the dungeon environment. So, what I need to do now is to pass on the information. As for measures, although I can't think of any right now, I can share my thoughts with everyone so that we can work together to find a solution, instead of working on it alone.

Furthermore, there's no need for us to prioritize dealing with the [Internal Medicine Doctors]. After all, these [Doctors] are essentially beyond the player's limits; forcing a fight to the death is pointless. In comparison, finding a way to break through the barrier here, allowing Ah Hai to project his power in, is far more important. Once Ah Hai arrives, no matter what kind of [Doctor] there is, or how many there are, they won't pose any threat.

Hmm... But this isn't exactly an easy task, since Ahai needs a lot of power to remotely manifest his power. Before, he was able to send out clones in the edge of space thanks to the energy accumulated by Miko-chan's friend using the Crimson Domain to absorb excess corpses. This time... well, if he wants to summon Ahai's clone this time, he'll have to find a way to gather the energy he needs, which is no easy task.

Furthermore, there's a very troublesome issue: there are actually two doctors in this instance now—an internist and a psychologist. However, because the rules are completely clear, this is very easy to control; with proper preparation, it's unlikely to cause much trouble. But since the hospital can manage to put two doctors in the same instance, who can guarantee it won't throw a third one in as well?

And that "surgeon," with whom there's no concrete record of contact so far, that truly leaves no survivors, where all those who come into contact die rapidly afterward, leaving no trace whatsoever... To be honest, if that thing were to actually come, Chika really wouldn't know how to deal with it.

Tsk, forget it, let's not think about these unpredictable things, let's focus on what we already know.

So, the most convenient and important thing we can do now is to crack the current instance and remove the block.

The Minghui squad had done everything they could. Now, if they wanted to reach the location of the core obsession that served as a substitute, Kashiwatani Eiji, they only needed to open the door with the Blood Key. And this crucial obsession item, the Blood Key, was indeed on their person.

As she pondered, Chika reached out her hand, and a dark red key appeared in her palm.

This key was brought in by Miko Yotsuya. Before entering this sealed area, she had a final conversation with Takami. During the conversation, Takami thought for a moment and then transferred this object of her obsession to Miko, who then passed it on to Chika. Therefore, Chika can now go to almost any area in this instance if she wants.

As for where Chika met Miko when she took Ryo to the apartment after leaving Danso Company, why Miko didn't go to the apartment together after giving Chika the key, but instead went alone, and where she went afterward, these were questions that couldn't be answered at that time. Chika didn't ask in detail then; she only needed to know that as her teammate, Miko wouldn't do anything to harm anyone, and that was enough.

Therefore, let's choose Eiji Kashiwatani as our next target.

While cracking the core might not be easy, at least we can take the core artifact first. Without the core artifact, the instance's stability will inevitably decrease, and Ahai's chances of breaking through and re-establishing contact will become much greater. Okay, it's settled then!

Chika made a decision in her heart.

Have you decided to take action yet?

Yamada Ryo then looked up at Chika, who was about to leave, and asked her a question.

"Well, I'm leaving now. You and the others can continue to take refuge here. This place should be safe for a long time. As long as you don't touch the monitoring room, you don't need to worry about being attacked by the monsters."

Chika nodded to Ryo, then prepared to leave.

"I have a question."

Liang, who seemed to be deep in thought, frowned slightly and suddenly asked a question.

"what happened?"

Qianhua, not understanding what was going on, turned to look at Liang.

"Based on the intelligence we've gathered, it's clear that this Kambara Mio is a very malicious, yet also very cautious, person. Perhaps I'm just overthinking it, but I do have some doubts. If the information he left behind contained elements of wariness towards later investigators, or even misleading information, how can we distinguish between them?"

As Liang said this, she raised one hand in a serious manner, just like a student raising their hand to answer a question from the teacher in class.

"Is the information left behind misleading? That idea seems a bit too conspiratorial, but... um..."

Subconsciously, Chika thought that Liang's idea was a bit too deliberate.

However, the heavyweight, repetitive nesting experience in the "Campus Ghost Stories" made Chika shut her mouth. She realized that what Ryo said might not actually be false.

If the information itself is misleading, then there's no need to involve a psychologist, unless the psychologist is also misleading. No, that's unlikely; there's no reason to use a powerful individual of that level to divert attention. So, the information itself is misleading, but that misleading information should be directed at ordinary people. However, if the target is a player with various extraordinary powers, this misleading information could be exposed, potentially causing danger. Thinking about it this way might align with some seemingly contradictory points.

It seems best to be more cautious with our next actions.

"Those of you who stay behind, be careful. I'm leaving now. This is for you. Contact me anytime if anything happens."

As she spoke, Chika took out a communication item from the Market support system—a somewhat dirty-looking walkie-talkie—and tossed it to Yamada Ryo before leaving the room to investigate the area where the Megumi Squad had left the last clue.

She didn't say goodbye to her family because Chika knew that would make them worry.

But it was precisely because she didn't choose to do so that she didn't notice that in the small bedroom where her family and Hongxia Xingge were hiding, Hongxia was in a slightly dazed state.

Chapter 77 The Locked Curse and the Desire to Meet the Spirit of the High Sea.

I can't remember.

Despite having a persistent feeling that I've forgotten something important, I just can't recall it.

vaguely.

My vision began to blur.

It was as if I heard someone speaking to me, a voice coming from an unknown distance, but I couldn't find the source of the voice.

The surrounding scenery kept changing. The people beside him changed from his familiar older sister and the Fujiwara family to a group of strangers, and then disappeared. Finally, even the safe house was gone, and everything dissolved and dissipated.

It felt like falling into a dream, where everything was piled up in a way that was both reasonable and unreasonable, creating an absurd scene that could not be analyzed rationally.

However, deep down, Hongxia understood that she was not dreaming.

This is definitely not a dream.

Something bad has happened; something unexpected has occurred.

She must have seen something, sensed something that others hadn't, perhaps even a crucial clue. This information pointed to some kind of dangerous contamination, but initially it wasn't obvious, so she and others didn't notice it. Until now, until the anomaly began to become clear, or rather, until Hongxia herself became aware of it.

"Woo..."

The girl fell to the ground.

"Hongxia? Hongxia, what's wrong?"

Xingge, who noticed something was wrong immediately, rushed over in a panic, trying to help Hongxia up from the ground.

"What, what's going on?"