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

Are we lost?

Xiong Mi looked at the subway platform that had appeared in front of her for the third time, the one where she had recently met up with her companions, and said while cautiously glancing around.

“I’m more inclined to believe that space itself brought us back to this place, that something doesn’t want us to leave, is waiting for us to find it, or is already coming toward us.”

The lawyer calmly refuted Xiong Mi's words while continuously flipping through the thick book in his hands.

Although it appears to be an extremely thick book that even a strong adult man would find difficult to lift, the lawyer himself did not actually carry it the whole time. In fact, the book was suspended a distance in front of him and could even move with him at the same speed and frequency, ensuring that he could read the text as he walked.

"Didn't that book reveal any clues?"

Xiong Mi was already used to his teammate possessing this obsessive item, so he directly asked about it.

"Not yet. The logic here is extremely chaotic, and I haven't been able to sort out anything of value yet. The only thing I'm certain of right now is that we're still in a very 'shallow' area. If we stay trapped here, we'll never be able to access any of the core obsessions."

The lawyer shook his head again. He flipped through the book a little faster, but he kept frowning. Clearly, the information in the book did not satisfy him.

"There is information here."

Not far away, Shao Ye spoke again. Her voice was very hoarse, accompanied by a writhing sound, as if she had some kind of serious lung disease. But Shao Ye herself remained standing upright, her aura showing no sign of illness. She was standing in a corner of the platform, pointing to a notice hanging on the wall for her two companions.

"A rule table? In this situation, will a rule table still have any effect?"

Xiong Mi was somewhat suspicious, but she quickly stepped forward anyway. She knew that this taciturn companion was a straightforward person. Although she didn't talk much these days because of the curse, she always had a reason for speaking, so it was best to see what was going on.

Hearing this, the lawyer closed his book and stepped forward. However, he didn't get too close, but stood a little distance away from Shao Ye. This wasn't because the lawyer himself had any bad feelings towards Shao Ye, but simply because Shao Ye's height of 188cm made the lawyer, who was only 176cm tall, feel intimidated, and he personally didn't like standing next to people who were much taller than him.

At this moment, what appeared in front of the three players was indeed a rule sheet, a rule sheet whose contents were severely disordered and very difficult to identify.

[Rules and Regulations for Passengers Taking the Bus from Kisaragi Shigemori Hospital Station (Office Building/Floor)]

Welcome to Kisaragi Station. This station has a long history and is one of the earliest stations built in Japan. You will become a proud employee, contributing to the company's future. All passengers traveling to this station must read these passenger instructions and abide by the relevant rules and regulations. This is a prerequisite for mutual respect. Our hospital only accepts appointments and does not accept walk-in patients. We do not have an emergency room. We do not have an emergency room.

[1 (1) This station operates from 23:00 to 4:00 the next day. Please do not work in this station. Employees should work. The swimming pool is not full. A full pool is not a swimming pool. Please have the pool manager clear the tourists and close the pool in time. You will not be punished. The 3rd floor of the hospital is a special patient area. Please check the vehicle license plate before boarding. When the license plate is not obscured and the numbers are clear, the vehicle can be safely boarded. When the vehicle is not in operation, the boss can fire the employee, but cannot confirm the name of the fired employee.]

【2222222, Our hospital's treatment methods are top secret. It's perfectly normal for staff not to be at their posts. Please don't ask questions. You are the swimming pool manager; you are the manager.】

Thirdly, Lao Mazi's clinic does not have a back door. It's just a small clinic; there's no such thing as a back door. Don't ask the doctors and nurses about this. They've been plagued by all sorts of rumors for a very, very long time.

Every passenger has their own secrets, and you should have understood that from the moment you boarded this vehicle. Focus on yourself, don't look at others, or your surgery will fail. There's plenty of skin here, but not enough. If you want to keep your own skin, go to the hotel reception on the 44th floor to check out.

【5研究所已经决定对外封闭不论这里发生了什么都绝不会泄露5诊所不会给你开药开药的不是医生5只有乘过一次车的人才可以离开车站不要以为其他人会帮助你5游泳馆的二楼是不对外开放的这里很悲伤别去擦拭眼泪5急诊是存在的患者在急诊等待着医生到来5这家公司早就废弃了我们的事业正在蒸蒸日上5药房在旅店的一楼吃一颗药就可以去负一楼旅店没有负一楼】

【6.】

【7%, H&E*#Lp*? ? Me%,%,Ca! N! &T&…#Go)00-#＋】

We will heal you.

[By offering the head of the false god named Gao Hai, you will be redeemed.]

【■■■■■■■■■ (Unintelligible gibberish)】

After eliminating the mental pollution caused by the last few paragraphs of the rule sheet, the three of them silently lingered on the seriously disordered rule sheet for a long time. Finally, Xiong Mi was the first to look away, took a breath, and slowly spoke.

"Kisaragi Station, Maosheng Hospital, an office building with an unknown name, a swimming pool, Old Ma's Clinic, a hotel, and a research institute."

"If we exclude the possibility that this rule itself is deliberately misleading, then we can already summarize exactly what elements this composite copy incorporates."

As Xiong Mi spoke, her gaze lingered on the word "[Flourishing Hospital]" on the rule list. She had a premonition that, as a [hospital] instance, this place would likely be the most dangerous and difficult to deal with among the seven instances.

"There is a situation."

The lawyer then spoke in a low voice and turned to look behind him.

beep--

Then, accompanied by a loud whistle, Xiong Mi turned around and saw a train heading towards the subway platform, along with its rusty license plate, the numbers of which were no longer legible.

Chapter Seven: The initial investigation time for the new team and the welcome method for the instance.

Bangdang—— Bangdang——

The train slowly began to move amidst a roar.

Under the cold white light, three figures were already standing in the carriage.

The carriage was completely empty, spotless and clean under the cool lighting, without a speck of dust.

It gives one a strange feeling that this place is supposed to be this way, and that the person who intruded into this place shouldn't exist.

"It seems there is no immediate danger."

Xiong Mi lit a cigarette, frowned, looked around, and then spoke in a low voice.

"We haven't sensed any obvious strange creatures yet. Perhaps we'll have to go deeper into these carriages before something comes out."

The lawyer beside him had already closed the thick book in his hands, re-secured the metal rams on both sides of the book, and was holding the black chain attached to the book, ready to use it to crack open the head of any enemy who came to invade.

Without a word, Shao Ye took out a longsword, a European-style one-handed sword about 1.5 meters long with a slender blade. Of course, considering the length of the blade, it could hardly be considered a one-handed sword anymore, but Shao Ye held it almost as if it were one-handed, completely unaware of the weight that a metal blade should have.

Upon entering the instance and knowing nothing about the situation, the three members of the "Slacking Off Gang" decisively chose to take the risk and step into this subway that clearly looked suspicious.

Perhaps such behavior was irrational and overly risky. But the three of them weren't here to play a game of making friends. Their purpose in coming here was to lure out dangerous creatures or even core obsessions. Therefore, they weren't afraid of any potentially dangerous actions and just went for it.

step-step-

The sound of footsteps echoed clearly in the empty carriage.

Walk through the deserted corridor.

Open the door to the next carriage.

Xiong Mi, who was the first to step inside, silently observed the carriage for a while. After confirming that this carriage was no different from the one she had been in before, she continued to move forward and headed towards the carriages further ahead.

Shao Ye followed behind Xiong Mi. The tall player concealed himself within his cloak, remaining silent and making no defensive moves whatsoever. He strolled alongside Xiong Mi as if taking a leisurely walk, which seemed somewhat unlike the behavior expected of a Red Moon-level player. However, neither Xiong Mi nor the lawyer responsible for guarding the rear saw anything wrong with this. The three formed a long, single-file line and continued forward.

[Buzz... Attention passengers... Buzz... Please be aware...]

The loudspeaker blared.

As Xiong Mi approached the door of the second carriage, a faint broadcast suddenly sounded, seemingly due to strong electromagnetic interference.

Xiong Mi immediately stopped and frowned as she looked towards the location of the loudspeaker in the carriage. She knew very well what kind of changes such a seemingly ordinary thing as a broadcast could bring in a dungeon world, so she immediately went on alert, ready to take action if things went wrong.

[Next stop... next stop... the next stop is ■■■... Passengers who wish to disembark, please... prepare yourselves...]

However, it seems that the monsters in this instance are not the type that will be easy to defeat right from the start. After the three of them were on guard for a while, the broadcast only broadcast one sentence and then fell silent.

I thought something was going to happen, but nothing did. Does this mean they're going to wait and see?

Without hesitation, Xiong Mi continued forward, walking to the sliding door at the end of the carriage to open it. Then, she noticed a sticker on the semi-transparent glass door, and lines of fine neon handwriting on the sticker.

Pass through carriages marked with red stickers very, very quietly, and do not talk to others.

[The train carriage with green stickers: Don't breathe, or you'll die.]

The carriages with blue stickers are very dirty; you must wear a mask when passing through.

The carriages with yellow stickers are safe. It's fun and light here, come and play with us!

[The carriages with purple stickers are for resting, but please do not open the door for others.]

[The carriage without stickers is empty. Please move back.]

It seems to be a record left by survivors. Every instance is like this, there is always information left by predecessors. These pioneers always die without exception, and no one has ever survived to the time when the player arrives.

For a time, Xiong Mi also wondered about this, pondering the purpose of these early survivors. Were they perhaps destined to die in the [Sacrifice Game] to facilitate players' acquisition of clues? Of course, after experiencing several life-or-death crises, Xiong Mi stopped thinking about such meaningless things. At this moment, she calmly read the information on the sticker, confirmed its red color, and then looked ahead, towards the next carriage behind the glass door.

Chapter Three: The carriages are occupied.

Through the glass, Xiong Mi could clearly see several passengers sitting in the next carriage. These people were men and women, scattered in different seats, some dozing off, some looking at their phones, and some just sitting there in a daze.

The carriage doors themselves seemed to act as a kind of barrier, preventing Xiong Mi from sensing the passengers' presence. However, having come this far, why would he need to specifically sense what those passengers were? It was obvious what they were.

wow-

open the door.

Xiong Mi stepped into the carriage, his gaze silently sweeping over the passengers.

No one reacted to her appearance; the passengers simply sat indifferently in their seats, continuing to do what they had done at the beginning.

[Buzz... Attention passengers... Buzz... Attention... Please be aware...]

The broadcast started again, and you could hear an even more piercing noise mixed in with the sound. It was so piercing that it didn't sound like noise at all, but rather like some kind of scream or howl that had been altered and mixed into the broadcast.

[This train... is about to enter... enter... buzzing...]

[This is not a platform... This is not a platform... Please do not get off the train...]

Someone will take you for a check-up... Please do not get out of the car... Please... *sizzle*...

I felt a slight chill.

The origin of this feeling is unclear, but since they can sense it, it undoubtedly proves that the aura of the strange creature has begun to lock onto them.

Want to try breaking the rules here and luring out the enemy?

Xiong Mi pondered to herself, glancing back at the lawyer behind her, only to see him shake his head slightly. At the same time, she noticed that the passengers she had passed seemed to have made subtle turning motions before she turned around, as if they had been secretly watching her.

"..."

After a brief hesitation, Xiong Mi decided to follow the rules first. So she turned around and continued walking forward, quickly reaching a position near the end of the carriage.

It was at this moment that she noticed the poster next to the train door. This was originally a bulletin board reserved for advertisers, but now it displayed a poster promoting epidemic prevention information. Although the text and images on the poster were somewhat distorted, some information was still legible.

This train is a dedicated vehicle for entering and exiting the restricted area.

All patients will be transported to the isolation hospital via this train.

You will receive comprehensive protection and a complete cure.

Please wait patiently for the moment when we arrive at our final destination.

No one will hurt you.

What kind of weird poster is this? A special train for entering and exiting the quarantine area? So this subway is used to transport patients with some kind of disease, to send a specific group of people to a special quarantine area? Could this be the reason why this instance is a subway?

No, it can't be just that.

How many people can a mere subway train transport? A Red Moon-level dungeon requires at least tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of deaths to form, and dungeons of the Red Moon level are more or less related to some non-human things; a mere epidemic could not possibly meet the requirements.

However, I don't recall any subway line in Japan being used specifically for this kind of thing. Something's fishy, ​​I need to investigate.

Xiong Mi himself didn't say anything, but gestured to his companions behind him to let them see the poster as well. Then he walked to the door of the third carriage and prepared to open the door to the next carriage.