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

The lawyer's voice came from outside the door. Knowing exactly what was going to happen, the other party did not choose to open the door, but instead began to explain the situation to Cat Brother at an extremely fast pace.

However, before the other party could finish speaking, the voice abruptly stopped, and the lawyer's presence outside the door, which Cat Brother had been able to sense, also vanished without a trace.

What's going on? I'm the first one to be attacked, and I'm the only one who was separated from the group? What does this mean? Do they think I'm easy to bully and that I look like the weakest one? That can't be right.

Cat Bro wanted to say something, but as a chilling aura approached, he stopped all his movements.

Something is coming.

There was no way to locate the other person; they could only barely sense their presence.

It seems to be here, yet it seems not to be here; a hazy and indistinct feeling keeps spreading through the senses, inevitably plunging one into a state of confusion and bewilderment.

zizi——

The lights are flashing.

Cat, holding a deck of cards, slowly turned around and paced around the gradually dimming locker room, observing his surroundings.

Bang!

A cabinet suddenly opened, revealing its interior, which was filled with miscellaneous items and clothes.

Clang—Clang—Clang—

One locker after another opened and closed, making constant noises and vibrating, as if an unseen, mischievous child was fiddling with these things.

The temperature inside the room continued to drop, and Cat Brother's breath began to condense into white mist in the air.

He still couldn't pinpoint the source of that aura, nor could he confirm the exact location of the strange creature lurking there.

The other party seems to be hiding in another space, in a world that cannot be easily reached.

It is observing itself.

From a place he could not find, it was silently watching him.

Snapped!

Lights went out.

Pure darkness descended upon the locker room.

Cat stood motionless, feeling the chill enveloping his entire body. Slowly, he turned his gaze to one side of the changing room, towards the door leading to the doctors' lounge.

【call……】

A faint breath came from there.

It was like an auditory hallucination, like hysteria, yet it seemed to be real—a faint, almost inaudible breathing sound.

So Cat took a step forward.

Then, the dark locker room lights came on again in an instant, illuminating a dim, blood-red glow.

The wardrobe is rotting.

The ground was stained with blood.

The walls were covered with dense bloodstains.

The entire room seemed to have become a den of demons at that moment, with faint sobs and wails lingering in the air, and even the feet seemed to sink into the floor as if being dragged down by something.

That thing finally appeared in front of Cat Brother.

From the front of his vision, it emerged in a blurry form, like a thin, black figure with elongated limbs.

It seemed to be emitting some kind of shrieking sound.

Catman couldn't glean any useful information from the cry, but he could vaguely sense a twisted emotion within it. Pain, loneliness, disorientation... these elements seemed to be fused together, emanating from the black thing.

Nourishes—

The lights went out again.

Amidst the pungent smell of blood, disordered footsteps echoed around Cat Brother.

zizi——

The lights came on again, and in the dim red light, the black monster was almost face-to-face with Cat Brother.

The biting cold reached its peak in an instant.

In the dim, blood-red light, Cat Brother looked at the inhuman creature and saw, through the writhing, dark light, reflected images of festering human faces. Their mouths were wide open, they screamed, their voices distorted, reduced to a cacophony of noise, a twisted agony and madness.

Nourishes—

The lights went out again, and everything was plunged into endless darkness.

And that terrifying, dark creature finally reached out its hand, toward its prey.

boom! ! ! ! !

The next second, a tearing gale instantly swept up all the wardrobes, shredding the floor, walls, and ceiling, destroying the entire room in the blink of an eye, and tearing everything apart in a violent sonic boom.

The black monster was sent flying backward, crashing through the wall and landing on the wall of the doctors' lounge behind the changing room. It then smashed through that wall and disappeared into the dark area outside the hospital.

Cat, who had delivered the blow, simply dusted off his clothes and continued investigating the surroundings in the women's changing room, which, despite being mostly restored, was still riddled with cracks and debris, once the lights were back on.

"There are quite a few flashy special effects."

Cat Brother's assessment of the abilities displayed by that dark, eerie creature was quite direct.

I still can't sense the presence of other people.

That black, eerie creature is probably just some kind of derivative; the real monster hasn't shown itself yet, and we don't know where it's hiding.

However, it seems that the locker room has undergone some changes.

Cat walked to one side of the locker room, came to one of the open lockers, and looked at a document placed on the locker.

This thing wasn't originally supposed to be here. It seems that the room changed after he knocked the strange creature away, which is why this note appeared.

The note contained very simple information; it appeared to be a memo used by a doctor or nurse to remind themselves of important information.

[Today's Memo]

[Patient D-1992 needs to be checked on every half hour; we can't let this old woman find another opportunity to make baseless complaints.]

[Patient D-2029 just had surgery yesterday; we need to keep an eye on them today.]

[Patient D-2008 needs more attention. This little brat is too restless. How can we make his parents realize that this is a hospital, not their home? He lets himself run around the whole building every day without any sense of reason!]

[The necklace lost by patient D-2003 was found last night. The security guard put it at the nurses' station on the second floor. I'll take it to him today. Speaking of which, the photo inside the necklace must be his daughter, right? She was such a lovely girl. It's a real shame.]

[5. That old hag is on duty as the supervisor of Zone D this month; I need to be careful.]

Judging from the notes, the nurse probably had quite a few complaints about her job.

Of course, this kind of thing is not something Cat Brother needs to worry about. For him, the most important thing right now is the record of [Patient D-2003] in the memo.

Patient D-2003, Ward K1, severe sensory hallucinations... Xiong Mi had already told Cat Brother this information, so he remembered it clearly. The treatment plan recorded in that medical record mentioned the point of "attracting him with the belongings of his daughter and wife".

So, should we try to get to the nurses' station on the second floor?

Cat Brother, who was thinking like this, turned around and saw a blurry shadow quickly pass by outside the door.

I didn't sense any strange presence, but this speed is beyond the capabilities of a living person. Hmm, judging from the height, it seems to be a child. I wonder if it could be patient D-2008 from the memo.

It appeared right after I finished reading the memo. Was it trying to lure me to find it?

Cat Bro folded the memo a few times, stuffed it into his pocket, and then walked out of the locker room and back into the corridor.

Only then did he notice that behind the electronic lock door leading to the first-floor work area, which had been opened, a thick brick wall had completely blocked the way, making it impossible to see the back hall they had come from.

No, we're no longer in that space; this is a new place now.

Cat Brother, not paying much attention to these changes, then turned to look for the shadow from before. He then noticed the elevator doors slowly opening not far away, and the flickering, pale white light inside.

Judging from the other party's attitude, the invitation seemed quite enthusiastic.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Personality Simulation, Exploring the Second Layer, and the Increasingly Complex Situation.

The lawyer opened his eyes and looked at the still-open locker room door, but couldn't see Cat Brother who should have been inside.

He knew that he had been isolated in another space and was no longer in the original place.

The spatial structure here was far more complex than he had anticipated. Even though he had tried his best to analyze the rules, he still couldn't grasp the key. He could only vaguely sense that this place could distinguish intruders like them in some special way, thus throwing them into different spaces.

Xiongmi and Jianbing will be assigned to the same group, Linbu Kenta and Nanakawa Ren will be assigned to another group, Cat Brother himself will be in a separate group, and I will be in the same place with the rescue team members and the strange creature sent by Mr. Gao Hai to support us.

So what is the reason?

The lawyer lowered his head, frowning as he pondered silently.

Xiong Mi and Jian Bing were old partners, and there are many reasons why they were assigned to the same place based on the rules. Qi Chuan Lian and Lin Bu Jian Tai were the only survivors after the Red Society was almost completely wiped out; they relied on each other for a long time and had a good relationship. Cat Brother's partners and followers didn't come to Tokyo because they were defending mainland China, so it's understandable that he, without any close relatives, was isolated alone. The question is, why was I assigned to the rescue team and classified as the same type as a strange creature?

It's really strange, I really can't figure out the reason.

However, even if the reason is unclear, the lawyer will not waste time overthinking it.

He could vaguely sense that Cat Brother's side would be attacked first because they were acting alone, and then his side would be attacked next. As for whether it would be Xiong Mi's side or the Red Society's side first, he wasn't sure.

Of course, this isn't important. It's just a mere monster attack. With all the players now fully enhanced, they're not without a fighting chance even against a Red Moon-level core. They can just punch back and be done with it; what's there to be afraid of?

The real issue that needs to be addressed right now is how to crack the rules of this bizarre place and find the true mastermind behind it all. That's the most important thing. We can't just stand here and wait for Gao Hai to realize something's wrong and use his power to help them escape. If it really comes to that, frankly, even a lawyer with his detached demeanor would feel incredibly humiliated.

“Rescue team member, I heard Xiong Mi say that your name is Lao Guo, so I will use that name to call you.”

While pondering, the lawyer, having already made his decision, turned to the rescue team members beside him and spoke.

For the glory of the Earth and the Lord of Humanity, I will protect humanity forever!

The rescue team members immediately stood up straight and answered the lawyer with firm and resolute words.

I still don't quite understand this thing. What is it saying? Are young people these days becoming incomprehensible? But this strange creature shouldn't be young either. After all, it's been dead for decades. It shouldn't be saying things that are beyond our comprehension, right?

Forget it, that's not something we need to think about right now.

"Release those survivors, not all of them, just make sure their heads are sticking out. Remember to release them one by one. I have a way to temporarily protect them. If you encounter any danger later and I can't take care of you, just release those survivors, and they'll know what to do."

The lawyer didn't dwell too much on those issues. He spoke to the rescue team, who then began to act. After a strange wriggling motion, Tajii Yu's head emerged from his chest.

"Huh? Where are we? Still in the hospital?"

The old man blinked, not quite understanding the situation.