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

On its face, in that bottomless black void, as Xiong Mi focused his gaze, he felt that the hole seemed to writhe and rotate, expanding and contracting like breathing within the creature's flesh and blood.

Something is trying to crawl out of there.

In that pitch blackness, in the shadows beyond the reach of sight, something seemed to be slowly crawling out.

Even though he couldn't see it, Xiong Mi felt he could almost imagine the scene. He imagined something reaching out from the abyss, extending its delicate, baby-like hand, but flowing with thick, black blood that couldn't be wiped away, drop by drop, seeping from the void, gradually accumulating in the darkness, waiting for the moment of its true eruption.

"Don't look at that hole!"

The next moment, Xiong Mi reacted with a loud shout, while the lawyer also took a deep breath and shifted his gaze away from the huge hole in the monster's face.

Pollution always spreads unintentionally. Once the game reaches the Red Moon level, the effect of mental fragments is greatly reduced. They are basically unable to help players actively break free from mental control and pollution, and can only be used to resist pollution damage.

Xiong Mi reacted quickly enough, so she only felt slightly dizzy. But there wasn't much time for her to recover. The doctor had already stepped into the corridor, and behind him, in the darkness outside the door, there was clearly something else lurking, which could enter the hospital at any moment.

Ta da da - da da da -

The first to take action were the rescue team members, who were also monsters and therefore completely unaffected by mental pollution.

It pulled the trigger and fired repeatedly at the doctor, rushing forward as it fired, intending to ram the thing with its body and try to knock it back into the dark area outside the door.

Bang!

Then it flew back at an even faster speed, first crashing violently into the ceiling, then falling heavily to the ground, and finally rolling more than ten times before finally coming to a stop.

As for combat power, it's really not reliable. However, having this thing to launch a preemptive strike can be used to probe the opponent's attack methods.

I...I can still fight...fight...fight...

Perhaps due to a broken spine, despite shouting a lot while lying on the ground, Lao Guo was unable to stand up immediately. Of course, even with an injury that would cause lifelong paralysis for a normal person, the rescue team only needed a little time to recover; he would be back to normal in a minute or two. However, no one had time to wait for him to get up. Both Xiong Mi and the lawyer had already quickly taken action and launched an attack on the strange doctor in front of them.

hum-

A faint glint flashed in his bronze eyes, but he was unable to catch his target.

The heavy books bound by chains slammed down, but passed right through the doctor's body without touching anything.

No physical entity?

The unharmed doctor has taken another step forward.

The void that filled the entire face seemed to grow even deeper at this moment, as if one could see, hear, and feel the countless twisted and disordered limbs and the wailing of restless souls hidden within it.

That hole connects to somewhere.

Although it's not yet possible to truly see it, and something is still missing, Xiong Mi can sense that the hole does indeed lead to some unknown place.

"We have to be hit by it first before our attack can reach it; it doesn't completely exist in the space we're in. I'll go in, you cover me."

The lawyer sprinted forward decisively and quickly took out a small wooden puppet and hung it around his neck.

In less than the blink of an eye, he was in front of the doctor. He reached out and touched the doctor's collar, and one arm of the little wooden puppet hanging on the lawyer's chest split open, as if some unseen force had twisted off the puppet's arm.

The doctor's movements stopped abruptly, frozen in the gaze of Xiong Mi's bronze eyes.

She stepped forward, slammed a guide cane on the ground, and the surrounding space shifted. Then, the lawyer pushed the doctor backward, and the doctor, who had already walked quite a distance out the door, instantly reappeared at the doorway, only to be pushed back and plunged back into the chaotic, dark space outside.

"At least five more will come in from here, so it's not time to relax yet."

As Xiong Mi got closer to the door, he sensed the presence of even more strange creatures, and his expression grew increasingly serious.

"Have we been discovered? Why are so many of them appearing at this particular time?"

The lawyer also sensed something was wrong, but with the die already cast, he couldn't worry about anything else and could only try to find a way to drive these things away with Xiong Mi.

What the two people on this side didn't know was that in the real world on the other side, someone else was also having a headache.

"Wait, why are you back so soon?"

Cat Brother's lips twitched slightly as he looked at the strange doctor who had just been thrown back but had returned.

They went through a lot of trouble to throw the monster back into the instance, so it shouldn't have returned to the real world so quickly, right? Could there be enemies guarding it, throwing out another one as soon as they throw one back? It can't be that bad, can it?

"More strange creatures are crossing the spatial rift, everyone be careful!"

Kenpachi noticed more unusual auras and quickly shouted a warning. Hayashibe Kenta and Nanakawa Ren immediately began to deal with it, and the four of them were once again entangled with the strange creatures that they had just banished.

Purify all heresy!!!

The rescue team members, who had just recovered, roared and charged forward once again.

"Stop, stop, stop, calm down. The door is already closed. There's no need to purge heretics for now."

Having finally managed to seal the door, Xiongmi quickly grabbed the rescue team member to prevent him from impulsively running out of the building. The rescue team member, who had been pulled back, stopped in a daze, stood there for a second or two, and then quickly changed his mode of action, switching back into guide mode.

Investigators, I am your friend.

The rescue team member spoke with such fervor, as if he were a general being inspected.

"The timing of these things' appearance is very suspicious."

The lawyer still had some doubts, feeling that something was amiss. However, dealing with those strange creatures had already taken up a considerable amount of time, and it seemed that the once deathly quiet hospital was beginning to change because of their appearance. Realizing that time might be running out, the two could only focus their attention on investigating clues.

The door to the pediatric examination room is damaged and jammed, and cannot be opened normally.

So Xiong Mi and the lawyer simply tore the security door apart by hand and forced their way into the room.

This time, something different appeared before the two of them.

"Is it a doctor's diary? Or some kind of personal journal?"

I pulled the yellowed pages from the trash pile under my desk, and the slightly messy writing on them came into view.

This is the sixth child this week to claim to have seen a "faceless person".

[It's abnormal that all the children who developed fever gave the same description; we can't simply conclude it's a "hallucination" or similar explanation.]

Each child discovered the "faceless people" at a different time and place, and the children didn't know each other. It's unlikely to be pre-arranged, but how can this situation be explained? Mass hysteria? No, it doesn't seem like it either.

[It might be worth a try]

Recently, I haven't had any adults with colds or fevers coming to my clinic; it's all been children. If I try to have a fever and then go to the corresponding place at the time the children mentioned, is it possible that I'll see the so-called "faceless person"?

Yesterday, a hospitalized child said they saw a "faceless person" wearing a hospital gown in elevator number 4 around 4 pm.

I must find the answer to this question.

[It's decided. We'll test it out in the next couple of days. We need to find out exactly what those children saw.]

The information recorded on the paper was not much, but it was enough for the two players to piece together some clues, although it also brought up a bigger mystery.

"Faceless Man..."

Upon seeing this title, Xiong Mi immediately thought of the faceless doctor she had just expelled.

Could it be? Could the person who left this record be the strange doctor who just appeared?

hum-

I heard a piercing alarm.

Just as the investigation was making some progress, an alarm suddenly sounded in the hospital, reaching the ears of the two people present.

I walked out of the examination room.

Almost immediately, Xiong Mi saw several humanoid monsters with empty faces appearing in the direction of the lobby, swaying and queuing in front of an empty window, seemingly waiting for something. Behind these creatures, more figures slowly entered through the hospital's main entrance.

Could these... have been thrown in by someone?

As the number of strange creatures gradually increased, Xiong Mi suddenly had this idea.

Chapter Nineteen: The Meeting in the Dark Hospital and the New Rule Table.

What's going on? How did it reappear so quickly?

Seeing the faceless doctors and nurses reappear before them, the four players present felt a strong sense of confusion.

To send these things back to the instance world, Cat Bro and Kenmochi, along with Hayashibe Kenta and Nanakawa Ren, had already expended a considerable amount of energy. However, no matter how hard they tried to banish these things, they would always return at a remarkably fast speed. After several such back-and-forths, the group felt like they were being played.

"These things couldn't have come back on their own! Something must be sending them out continuously, and someone in the instance is fighting against us! No, we have to find a way to check the situation on the other side of the cave."

Cat Brother took a deep breath and spoke with certainty.

Monsters cannot perform such actions voluntarily, especially those that lack basic cognitive abilities and act solely on instinct. Once the players are out of sight and the monsters enter another dimension, they will cease searching for enemies due to the loss of contact and enter a wandering state.

The banishment method employed by players essentially throws these monsters back into their own instances. This raises another issue: monsters possess territoriality. When they are not in their own instances, they will wander aimlessly, making their behavior unpredictable. However, if they are within their own instances, regardless of the instance rules, one thing will never change: monsters will never voluntarily leave the instance or their own territory.

Unless something is driving them out, forcing them to leave the instance area.

In that case, nothing we do will work; we have to find a way to enter the instance and deal with that guy who litters.

"We need to go into the cave to find out why these strange objects are being thrown out repeatedly."

After a brief moment of thought, Cat Brother made a decision and began to move towards the direction of the void.

"Huh? Should we go in? Isn't that a bad idea? Once we're inside, it might not be easy to get out. We were supposed to stay outside as a precaution, right?"

Unlike Kenpachi, who quickly obeyed orders, Hayashibe Kenta and Nanakawa Ren from the Red Society had never fought alongside Neko-san before, so they hesitated for a moment.

"That's the normal approach under normal circumstances. But now that we've discovered the problem, we can't think about it that way anymore. With such a big incident, it's certain that our adversary was already observing this area. If we deliberately stay outside now, it will arouse suspicion. Besides, they've already made it so clear that it would be too cowardly of us not to retaliate. I'm not someone who only knows how to suffer losses!"

As he spoke, Cat Brother took a step forward and, after suppressing the emerging monsters once again, voluntarily stepped into the void.

Jianbing, carrying his laptop, followed closely behind without the slightest hesitation.

"...There really isn't a better way, so let's go for it."

Finally, Hayashibe Kenta and Nanakawa Ren exchanged a glance, and Nanakawa Ren made the decision. So the two of them followed Cat Brother and Jianbing and entered the dungeon world through the hole.

What awaits me on the other side?

It must be a rather powerful monster, right? After all, to be sent by the [Hospital] to attack and destroy a shelter, its strength must be far beyond that of an ordinary Red Moon-level monster. It might even be at the level of a core obsession, or even a legendary Abyss-level monster.

We must prepare for a fierce battle.

The four players looked serious, their vigilance at its highest level at this moment.

Beyond the darkness, beyond the distorted fog, beyond the drizzling rain, until we arrive at the truth.

In the distance, a piercing alarm seemed to be sounding, but the source of the sound could not be identified.

"call……"

Cat Brother, walking at the forefront, exhaled a breath of hot air, feeling the chilling aura coming from all directions. He closed his eyes, carefully trying to discern the hidden stable path within this chaotic space, searching for the door to the unknown place where those faceless monsters originated.

The power of blessing guided Cat Brother at this moment, helping him find the right path more quickly.