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

"My Lord, you have saved me, I will worship you for the rest of my life!"

Whether a prayer is serious or not, the emotions it contains are undoubtedly sincere.

But this sincere prayer, in essence, was helping the hospital and harming Gao Hai himself.

Because, after all, Gao Hai is not a true god.

After he had stopped moving forward, trapped between the concepts of humanity and divinity, the power of his sincere faith would push Gao Hai from behind, forcing him to continue, forcing him to gradually cross the boundary of divinity. And now, under the hospital's scheme, once this boundary is truly crossed, it means Gao Hai has truly become a follower of the hospital's concept of divinity, it means everyone's actions have utterly failed, and everything has entered the worst possible state.

In fact, even setting aside the biggest problem that the power of faith would lead Gao Hai to the embrace of the hospital, faith itself is already a troublesome issue.

Hayasaka knew very well that even believers from the same sect had different imaginations of the same deity. In a sense, the deity each person worshipped could be considered a god imagined in their own heart. And when this idea was projected onto Takami, who had not yet truly become a god, it brought about one mental tear after another, constantly causing serious damage to Takami and having a lasting impact on his thinking and soul.

And the most crucial point is that even with so many serious consequences, Gao Hai can only remain seated on this throne. Only here can he provide maximum support to players and survivors throughout the city, and save as many lives as possible, thus ensuring that the [Hospital]'s ritual to destroy human civilization cannot truly succeed.

As for having other players relay a message not to worship Gao Hai, Gao Hai had already tried this in his fourth playthrough. Firstly, the players' execution went wrong, resulting in more survivors praying to him. Secondly, he explained that this process, to some extent, conformed to the rule of "acknowledging one's own divinity," making the corrupting effect of the "hospital" even stronger. Therefore, in the fifth playthrough, which is the current round, Gao Hai could only endure it alone; only a very few people knew that Gao Hai was constantly suffering damage from the power of faith.

"Owner……"

Hayasaka reluctantly reached out and gently placed his hand on Takami's knee.

He is still the same person.

But the fear in the girl's heart could never be eliminated.

She was terrified, terrified that her master would no longer be her master, terrified that Gao Hai would no longer be Gao Hai.

Even though she could clearly sense Gao Hai's presence and knew that he had held firm to his principles without revealing any weakness, Xiao Ai still couldn't put her mind at ease. Every time she woke up and saw him as he was now, she couldn't help but feel afraid of his change, afraid that the person she relied on would disappear.

Go to sleep, take another nap.

So Gao Hai spoke softly.

"Oh...Master..."

The loss of power within her body brought a strong sense of weakness and pain, and Hayasaka's spirit quickly weakened, but she still did not let go of Takami's small hand that was gripping her knee.

"It's okay, I'll take care of your pain. I'm here, everything will be alright, go back to sleep."

Reach out.

Takahashi gently stroked Hayasaka's beautiful long golden hair.

The girl's consciousness quickly became hazy, and she soon fell into darkness, drifting into another deep sleep.

For Hayasaka Ai, whose mental strength was far from enough to withstand the damage from the [Throne of Mind], even though the vast majority of the damage had been absorbed by Takami, she still had to constantly fall into a deep sleep to resist the remaining little bit of damage, otherwise she might die suddenly in a short while.

If he could, Gao Hai really wouldn't want his daughter to suffer like that.

However, there's no way to protect everyone solely by the power of the Crimson Domain fragments. To truly defend against attacks from the monsters from ordinary people, and to give players a genuine means to combat and permanently destroy them, Hayasaka Ai's blessing power, the Silent Domain, is essential. Only by combining the power of the Crimson Domain with Ai's Silent Domain can Takami absorb and purify various obsessions through the fragments' power, forcibly putting to rest the monsters whose obsessions would normally require a complex process to eliminate.

However, if this continues, Xiao Ai probably won't be able to hold on for much longer.

Sitting on the blood-soaked throne, feeling the machines cutting through his flesh and internal organs, Gao Hai glanced at Hayasaka Ai, who had lost consciousness and fallen into a coma again, sitting below the throne, and felt a bit irritated.

Yotsuya Miko has lost contact, and Kita Ikuyo, who went to look for her, has also gone missing. Goto Ichiri is currently doing well, but she will undoubtedly draw the enemy's main force soon, and it's uncertain how effective Ichiri will be against the completely unknown "Doctor." Kaguya and Maki are doing relatively well, but according to the plan, they will soon venture into dangerous territory. Finally, there's Hayasaka Ai, who has been suffering alongside me at the "Throne of Thought"...

We can't continue like this; we can't let the enemy lead us by the nose anymore.

Princess Maki's plan is indeed risky, and the enemy is unlikely to be completely unprepared for something so important. Sending someone out could easily trigger a reaction, or they might have even set a trap from the start. However, given the current situation, breaking the deadlock quickly requires unconventional methods.

So, firstly, to prevent things like internal eavesdropping, you have to pass the message to someone you trust.

The hope is that from among these people, a vanguard squad can be formed to attempt a real breakthrough into the enemy lines and detonate those Red Moon-level dungeons.

Gao Hai closed his eyes and began to unleash his spiritual power.

[Hehehe, is Teacher ready for an adventure? If I fail, the enemy will definitely be on guard next time, and Teacher might find herself in an even more passive position~]

Alice's voice echoed in his mind, and at the same time, her image appeared in Gao Hai's consciousness.

Perfect, as if she existed solely to seduce, with a curvaceous figure, sparkling idol outfits, long golden hair, and inhuman beauty.

Fragments of the Crimson Realm formed a network throughout Tokyo, transforming into countless lines in Gao Hai's mental world, creating a spiderweb-like structure.

In the realm of consciousness, Gao Hai sat on his throne, right in the center of the spiderweb. Alice lay on one side of the web, deliberately letting the threads entwine her body, making it appear as if her hands and feet were bound and she was at someone's mercy. She struggled slightly while watching Gao Hai and laughing.

Is it just my imagination? I have this feeling that this guy is becoming more and more unscrupulous, showing no respect for me as his de facto master, and completely losing his sense of hierarchy.

After such a long confrontation, I have a general idea of ​​their tactics. They may have some precautions against the "Hospital" in the Red Moon-level dungeon, but they won't send top-tier combatants like "Doctors" into the dungeon. So as long as this team's combat strength can be guaranteed, the plan has a high chance of success.

Although he was a little annoyed by Alice's pretentious attitude, Gao Hai was not someone who couldn't distinguish between important and trivial matters, and he calmly explained.

[Oh, teacher, are you so sure? Maybe all three "doctors" are waiting for your elite squad in the dungeon. Are you really that certain?]

Alice rolled around in the spider web, her light, airy voice continuing to echo beside Gao Hai.

This possibility is nonexistent. The "hospital's" target is definitely my girlfriends, who are my current anchors as "Gao Hai." It will certainly use the "doctor" to capture and kill my girlfriends; in that kind of thing's eyes, that's what truly matters.

Just as Zhenfei said, that thing is very arrogant. It looks down on Red Moon level players, on humans, and on any existence other than itself.

At this point, Gao Hai closed his eyes again, conveying the message he wanted to convey through these lines.

Jingle Bell--

In a dark street, Xiong Mi stopped under a awning and looked at her phone, which was emitting a blood-red glow.

Jingle Bell--

Inside a burning skyscraper, Kenta Hayashibe, a member of the Red Society, covered in dust, was talking to his teammates when he heard his phone vibrate. He picked it up, turned on the screen, and saw the message displayed.

Jingle Bell--

In the residential corridor teeming with insects, Xiaoheshu seemed to sense something and turned his head. Several insects then flew into his hand, carrying an old-fashioned flip phone in their beaks.

Jingle Bell--

Tangyuan, a historian, was engaged in fierce combat with the enemy in a front-line area. After casually slapping a hearse carrying a coffin away, he did not rush to finish it off. Instead, he first took out his phone from his waist bag and frowned as he looked at the content displayed on it.

Under the pitch-black night sky, the torrential rain continued to fall relentlessly.

Gao Hai had already sent out the specially encrypted message, which was only sent to a very small number of players. He had also prepared all the equipment to arm these players.

Now, it's up to everyone to take action.

Chapter 5: The team's division of labor and the first explorer.

"A vanguard squad? So that's the plan."

After carefully reading the information several times, Xiong Mi let out a soft sigh.

"It feels like an all-in plan. Is it really okay? If something goes wrong, won't the players end up being the ones being hunted? It doesn't seem very secure."

Cat Brother also picked up a phone and started looking at it. After a while, he shook his head and sighed.

"But it's worth a try. The power of the Blood Domain fragments has given us the ability to forcibly purify the monsters. We are no longer as passive as we used to be when dealing with monsters. As long as we can find the core obsession, we can eliminate any monster, no matter how powerful it is. Furthermore, every monster that is eliminated will enhance Mr. Gao Hai's power. So as long as we manage our actions well, our power will continue to increase as we purify more monsters."

The lawyer, who was sitting on a street lamp reading a book, gave a completely different opinion. After hearing his words, Xiong Mi nodded slightly. It was clear that this big sister was also more inclined to take the initiative to delve into the dungeon.

"I support Sister Xiong Mi's decision."

Jianbing raised his hand and stated his position simply and directly.

"..."

Having donned his cloak once more, concealing his figure once more, Shao Ye simply stood quietly against the wall, motionless.

"Alright, it seems everyone has made a decision. But honestly, this kind of risky behavior isn't like you. Are you really that confident, Xiong Mi?"

After discerning everyone's opinions and thoughts from their reactions, Cat Brother, realizing there was no other possibility, sighed, shrugged helplessly, touched his nose, and gave a wry smile. After a standard reaction, he looked at Xiong Mi with some confusion and asked.

"I don't have much confidence."

"I just think the person who posted this message is trustworthy, and I think you understand that too."

Xiong Mi simply gave a very calm answer. After a brief moment of frowning and thinking, Cat Brother quickly understood what she meant.

"That's a valid reason, and it's not entirely unacceptable, after all, it's Mr. Gao Hai..."

Even though the operation itself is indeed fraught with uncertainty and danger, Gao Hai, the proposer of the plan, is a man capable of creating miracles. Therefore, even if one has uneasy or worried thoughts about the plan itself, simply considering who proposed it will allow one to set aside all anxieties and wholeheartedly believe in its feasibility.

It sounds like a really unreliable thing, but since it's Mr. Gao Hai, it seems there's really nothing to question.

So Cat Bro had no objections, and the whole team reached a consensus.

Soon, Xiong Mi replied on her phone. Then, after waiting for a few seconds, Xiong Mi heard a crisp "ding" sound from her phone. When she opened her phone, she saw a new message appearing in the blood-red light.

Welcome, welcome! Welcome to the battle to defeat the various generals under the Demon King! Hero, are you ready? Alice is ready!

This was a voice message, so as soon as Xiong Mi opened it, Alice's voice came out.

"hiss--"

Even though Xiong Mi had lost all memories of being captured and turned into a living doll by Alice at Fujika Middle School due to the blessing of personality overwriting, her body still retained an almost instinctive reaction. This reaction resulted in Xiong Mi trembling upon hearing Alice's energetic voice; she almost immediately clenched her fists, ready to fight, cold sweat pouring down her face.

"This is... Alice's voice. Mr. Gao Hai... has rather unique interests."

Just as intensely reacting as Xiong Mi was Jian Bing, who had participated in the [Fujibana Middle School] area dungeon and was unable to save Xiong Mi at the time, only able to watch helplessly as his vice-captain was captured. Because he already knew beforehand that these two were not the same Alice, Jian Bing's reaction was barely controllable, but for a short time his heart still raced, his head spun, and he instinctively clenched his fists, entering a state of stress.

Clearly, even though Fujika Middle School has been destroyed, and even though the evil Alice who truly harmed them has received her due punishment, these victims will still need time to recover. As for why this new, albeit morally corrupted, Alice insisted on sending voice messages to the slacker gang, it was obviously intentional. Don't mistake this new individual for some embodiment of truth, goodness, and beauty; in terms of wicked humor, this Alice isn't much better than the evil version.

In fact, at the same time that Xiongmi and Jianbing were almost triggered by Alice's voice, the players of the Red Guild also received Alice's message. Toyama Akira, the vice-captain of the Red Guild who was rescued by Gao Hai at [Hayatei Elementary School], was almost sent to his death on the spot by Alice's shout without any warning.

Whether you're ready or not, listen to Alice's latest news!

Just as the players were getting annoyed by Alice's pranks, the girl's voice rang out from the smart device once again.

Based on the currently confirmed information, the plan for the Hero Squad is as follows:

[1. Maintain a small team of three or four people, keep the number of people to a minimum, and do not have all members participate in the operation to avoid being detected by the enemy.]

[2. All participants' devices will be upgraded to allow them to place their obsessions in a shared storage space, and the strength of the fragments will be uniformly enhanced.]

[3. Please keep your mission objective a secret. There are currently no clear clues about the extent of enemy infiltration. To avoid leaks, you must maintain the highest level of vigilance.]

[4. During your exploration, the lovely Alice will continuously monitor your actions, summarizing and sharing information as needed. Mr. Gao Hai will also be watching over you closely; if you need help, just call upon him sincerely enough, and he might just send down his power to assist you!]

[5. There's no fifth point yet; Alice forgot the rest. Anyway, good luck everyone!]

Without explanation, Cat Bro probably thought he'd stumbled into some cute, neon-style anime film set, and that the announcement was some classic second-generation game's female mascot mocking the protagonist by calling him a "noob."

As for Xiong Mi and Jian Bing, the most vivid feeling they could get from Alice's melodious tone was probably just "numbness".

"Alright, forget about this thing and get ready to move out."

Xiong Mi lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled the smoke, speaking in a low, languid tone.