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

Then, Xiong Mi stopped in her tracks.

Bangdang—— Bangdang——

The sound of the train running was particularly noticeable in the quiet carriage.

Through the reflection on the transparent glass door in front of her, Xiong Mi could clearly see that all the passengers in the carriage had stood up and were looking in her direction, their mouths agape as if they were laughing, standing motionless and staring at her.

The chill became noticeable in an instant.

At that moment, Xiong Mi clearly realized that he had been locked on and would be attacked in the next second.

It wasn't the strange creatures behind him that had locked onto him.

Although it may seem like they are the ones causing trouble, Xiongmi is certain that the source of the danger is not them, but something else entirely.

So she looked ahead again.

I looked at the glass door that reflected the shape of the train carriage behind me.

She looked at the mirror that reflected the carriage behind her, and also reflected herself.

Click!

In the instant of the sound of shattering glass, Xiong Mi's figure in the mirror broke apart, and her body standing in front of the mirror also shattered.

Blood gushed from the darkness behind the mirror in an instant, mingled with the cries of a woman and the shrill screams of a baby. Twisted arms emerged from the blood-soaked wounds, attempting to grab the lawyer and Shao Ye behind Xiong Mi. The lights went out at that moment, and the passengers who had heard the commotion began to stagger toward the players in front.

The next second, flames burst forth and engulfed the entire carriage in an instant.

boom! ! !

The black cloak covering Shao Ye glowed with a fiery red light, instantly unleashing a violent explosion.

The train, which had been running smoothly, was violently shaken by the unreasonable and violent impact. All the windows inside the carriages shattered instantly, and the passengers heading towards the players were thrown about. Amidst the flames, what was revealed behind the broken glass wasn't another carriage, but a hospital room—a large room with six beds. Each bed held a patient, and each patient was headless, with only bloody cuts at the neck. These headless patients stretched out their hands, cradling a pair of bloody eyeballs that appeared to have just been gouged out.

The lawyer held a silver compass, bit his finger and smeared it with blood. The compass needle then swayed rapidly, pointing in a certain direction in the darkness.

Thus the darkness was dispelled, and existence was locked in.

That's outside the car window.

Instead of the scene one would expect in a subway tunnel, it was writhing flesh and blood, with eyes emerging from it, staring at the players in what should have been a pitch-black world.

Unbeknownst to them, the subway train was now traveling through an enormous, blood-red cavern, gradually plunging deeper into the crimson world.

This train... is about to enter its final station... the final destination... buzzing... almost there...

Passengers, please prepare to disembark... We... We have arrived...

Here you will... receive... healing... and be free from... pain...

The noisy broadcast started again.

Even though the carriage was charred black and the passengers were completely unable to get up and move in the chaos, the loudspeaker continued to blare, accompanied by a strange sense of relief.

"Shao Ye, find a way to stop the car."

Xiong Mi's voice rang out from the darkness, from the broken glass.

Blood continued to flow from the shards of the mirror, and within those shards, Xiong Mi, who should have been torn apart, continued to move, yet had not yet died.

bass--

Without uttering a single word, Shao Ye raised the sword high and slammed it down, piercing the floor of the carriage. The immense force even caused the bottom of the carriage to collapse slightly, and the sword then embedded itself in the tracks beneath the train, thus initiating a forced braking maneuver.

This train... is about to enter its final destination...

Once again, the broadcast will start again.

Bang!

But before the speaker could finish speaking, the lawyer casually tossed his heavy book aside, smashing the radio and silencing the other person.

[This train is still a long way from its final destination. Passengers, please return to your seats and get back to your seats. It's not your turn to fly yet.]

Xiong Mi's voice rang out immediately afterward. She returned to the train, now bearing several bloody wounds, clutching a writhing shard of mirror in her hand, seemingly still trying to resist. Holding a microphone, she walked to the side of the carriage, looking at the bloody eyeballs the compass needle was pointing to, and pulled out her phone, turning on the screen to let the light from the blood-red domain fragment shine on them.

boom--

The next second, there was a fleeting flash of blood, followed by an even more violent explosion.

The already dilapidated carriage broke in half, tumbling and crashing into the tunnel before finally coming to a stop amidst the burning flames.

The players who had not suffered any damage had left the carriage and were standing in the tunnel.

"Although I knew it wouldn't be that simple, this welcome was really warm."

With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Xiong Mi dusted himself off, then turned to look at the half-open ward door on one side of the tunnel, with its light on, and the figures moving inside.

Chapter 8: Kaguya and Maki's Team Up and the Discovery of the Slacking-Off Gang.

Splash—splash—

In the city, the continuous downpour spread through the darkness, with no indication of when it would stop.

Zhenfei yawned, stood on the roof of a building and looked up into the distance until she confirmed that a red ribbon had flashed by in the distance. Then she jumped down from the skyscraper, which was tens of meters high, and landed steadily on the ground. She then approached the beautiful figure walking in front of her.

"...You were 9 seconds late for the scheduled rendezvous time. Did anything happen on the way?"

Through the rain, Kaguya carefully confirmed that the person opposite her was indeed Maki before slowly asking.

"It only took a little time to settle Mom and Dad in. But you, Great-Grandma, aren't you being a little too anxious?"

Maki greeted Kaguya, who had come before her, without any politeness.

"...Do you really have to emphasize our seniority at a time like this, Maki-kun?"

Kaguya sighed. By now, she knew that Maki would only call her "Grandma" to her face, and "Auntie" behind her back. Kaguya was somewhat helpless about this perverse sense of humor from her relative and companion. After all, how could a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl like being called "Grandma"? But no matter how many times she emphasized that she didn't like the title, Maki never changed her mind, to the point that Kaguya had gotten somewhat used to it.

"In short, where do we go next? Although we need to attract the enemy's attention, it's definitely not good to lure an enemy of the [Doctor] level directly to our door. We need to control the level of attention we attract."

"Personally, I think it's best to choose an uninhabited area where the evacuation is basically complete and there's no need to worry about accidentally harming survivors. Also, if possible, it's best to choose an area where it's easy to contact Gao Jun. That way, if the enemy is really drawn to us and decides to take action, causing some serious situation, at least we can rely on Gao Jun to cover for us, so we don't have to worry about any accidents."

Not focusing on the endless debate about the form of address for too long, Kaguya cleared her throat and began to explain her thoughts.

Compared to the player teams already inside the instance, Kaguya and Maki's task of drawing the enemy's attention was, in a sense, far more dangerous. After all, the [Hospital] looked down on ordinary people; even Red Moon-level players were nothing to them. But these two girls were genuine anchors of Takami's humanity, and any problems with them would severely damage her. Therefore, the [Hospital] would genuinely expend considerable effort to eliminate them.

Of course, everything in this world has two sides. Since the enemy might deploy their top combat power to deal with them, in other words, they might also be able to use their own strength to hold off the top combat power of the [Hospital], or at least make the enemy start to pay attention to their side, thereby relieving pressure on other places.

The situation with Miko Yotsuya and Ikuyo Kita is currently unclear, but based on Takami and the others' speculation, there's a high probability it will attract a "doctor." Meanwhile, Ichiri Goto's group, due to their high efficiency, is also likely to have attracted a "doctor." Therefore, what we need to do next is find a way to create a third flashpoint, ensuring the "hospital" can't ignore our situation, thereby trying to draw the attention of a third "doctor."

"In that case, how about we try operating in this area?"

As Maki spoke, she lightly pointed her finger, and the mist in the air condensed, transforming into a map of Tokyo. Then, Maki pointed to an area on the map that Kaguya knew. It was close to the area where the [Market] operated; it was an undeveloped, abandoned urban area filled with dilapidated, uninhabited buildings. Perhaps homeless people had stayed in these places before, but now that Tokyo had become the city of ghost stories, even if there had been people there before, they were all surely dead by now.

“We don’t need to worry about harming innocent people by operating here. The Market has already completely withdrawn from the area where they were operating, so the area within a few kilometers is a completely uninhabited zone. In addition, since no one was active in that area in the first place, the spatial disorder in that area is not serious, and the connection between Haijun and us will not be weakened at all. I think choosing this place is the most suitable.”

Maki rarely explained the reasons for such a choice seriously, while Kaguya silently looked at the location on the map, then looked up into the distance, roughly estimated the distance between that area and their current location, and frowned slightly after thinking for a moment.

“Indeed, choosing this place as the battlefield is very suitable. However, isn’t it a bit too obvious? The two of us appearing at the same time in an area where there is no human activity at all, deliberately attracting the enemy’s attention, would probably be easily seen as a trap, right? In this situation, the enemy might wonder what we’re up to, and might even discover the player squads that have been sent into the instance…”

Kaguya shook her head as she spoke. Always inclined to think of things in the worst possible light, she was now beginning to worry that their actions might backfire.

"There is absolutely no need to worry about this situation, because what we are about to do will not allow our opponents any room for wild speculation."

Upon hearing this, Maki smiled confidently. Then, her expression took on a complex meaning. She then extended her hand to Kaguya, opening her palm, and Kaguya saw a slender, white finger lying in Maki's palm.

I sensed a familiar presence.

From that finger, which was clearly broken but still exuded a vibrant life force, I sensed the presence of a familiar person.

"..."

There's no need to ask anything further.

Kaguya realized what might happen just from that aura alone.

"This is... a finger that Hayasaka-san voluntarily severed. Kai-kun used the power of the Crimson Domain fragment to transfer this finger over, and Hayasaka-san infused it with about half of her available blessing power. I admire her greatly for that; Hayasaka-san is truly amazing. And I think you, Great-Grandma, know what we can do with this finger. After all, we've already seen the effects of combining Hayasaka-san's blessing power with Kai-kun's power, haven't we?"

Maki's voice was very soft, as if she wanted to avoid upsetting Kaguya.

Of course, Kaguya herself was not stupid. Although Hayasaka's act of cutting off her finger caused her great distress, she knew very well that the time was critical and did not dwell on her grief for her friend. Instead, she quickly adjusted her mindset and refocused her energy on important matters.

"The power of blessing is, in a sense, a reflection of our own desires, and Hayasaka is no exception."

"Therefore, all three blessings she possesses are powers that can resonate with strong spiritual energy, thereby further enhancing it."

"The first blessing is the [Fictional Domain], which is the ability to adjust the distance between oneself and the real world and temporarily create another space. It is this ability that resonates with Gao Jun's mental power, so that the Crimson Domain fragment can still play a role even when it is disconnected from Gao Jun and is located in the instance space."

"The second blessing is the [Silent Domain], which is the ability to conceptually expel supernatural powers and unreal, illusory things. It is this ability that resonates with Gao Jun's spiritual power that gives the fragments of the Crimson Domain the ability to banish and release the strange creatures."

"The third blessing is the [Mind Domain], which is the ability to conceptually enhance all extraordinary powers recognized by Hayasaka himself. Unlike the [Fiction Domain] and [Silent Domain], this ability cannot be easily amplified. It can only be used in one place at a time. Therefore, even though it was also enhanced after resonating with Taka's mental power, it has never been truly used. So, is it time to use this ability this time?"

Kaguya calmly recited Hayasaka's various blessing powers, gradually understanding his meaning.

"That's right, so from the very beginning of this operation, we don't need to worry about being discovered by the enemy. Even if they suspect that our operation is a decoy, they will have to do everything in their power to deal with us. After all, if our operation can proceed smoothly, it's not certain which side is the decoy."

At this point, Maki's tone became slightly agitated, and Kaguya, who knew what Maki was planning and what Takami was planning, also felt her heart beat faster.

By fully utilizing the blessing power provided by Hayasaka Ai, coupled with the depletion of Takami's mental energy, it would be possible to open a vast spatial rift. This ability, combined with Kaguya's [Mental Purification] and [Disturbing Words], and Maki's [Mystic Resonance], would tear apart the barriers of space, releasing Takami's power, trapped in the enclosed underground space, exponentially. It's entirely possible to create an area within Tokyo completely controlled by Takami's power. If this area could expand and its power continuously increased, it might even be possible to overtake the enemy's territory and reclaim the city ahead of schedule.

So that's how it is. With this plan, there's absolutely no need to worry about the inside story being discovered. After all, this isn't using the two of them as bait; it's using them as a second main team. Whether it succeeds or fails, the hospital will definitely not sit idly by and watch them carry this out; they'll definitely fight tooth and nail to stop them, and they might even send a doctor right away.

"Well... let's go. Since that's the case, we can't waste any more time."

Taking a deep breath, Kaguya's expression hardened.

"Yes, that's right, let's go. This time, let's fight side by side, Grandma."

Maki nodded in agreement, and deliberately used the seniority tactic again, successfully making Kaguya's expression displeased once more.

slam-la-

Under the rainy night sky, the two girls began to walk briskly towards their next battle location.

Kaguya's expression was solemn at this moment. Thinking of the pain that Takami was currently enduring and Hayasaka's severed finger, she felt a heavy pressure and could not calm down.

As for Princess Zhenfei, who was walking alongside her, she would occasionally look back and couldn't help but show a worried expression.

Mom and Dad... are they really all right over there?

Recalling the events of a few minutes earlier—the shelter, its doors wide open and shrouded in darkness, suddenly lighting up after the survivors approached, and a rescuer running out—even though the rescuer assured her there were no problems, and the players guarding the shelter explained the reasons for opening the door and temporarily shutting off the power, and even though Maki herself had personally entered the shelter to confirm that everything was alright before leaving her parents inside, Maki still felt a vague unease. She felt she might have overlooked something, perhaps something important had been missed, but she couldn't quite recall what it was.

Never mind, now is not the time to think about such things. I must help Haijun, I must help everyone...

Suppressing the lingering shadow in her heart, the girl forced herself to focus on the present moment and temporarily stop thinking about things that might interfere with her actions.