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

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Shijou Maki's Action Timeline and the Title of Chosen One.

dark.

It was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, a darkness that was difficult to penetrate even with extraordinary senses.

The supernatural power originating from the instance is constantly accumulating and piling up, almost turning this place in the real world into another instance. And this change is only just beginning; it is far from reaching its limit and is still evolving further.

I never expected the enemy to resort to such tactics. No… I should say I should have anticipated this. After all, the hospital has tried to attack the domain many times. Without finding a faster way to break through, and without planning to send any doctors, the hospital would naturally try to find other ways to counter the domain. Therefore, I should have noticed this from the beginning and been constantly vigilant against any new methods the enemy might employ.

Perhaps they were so overwhelmed by the onslaught of the dense monsters that they didn't notice these subtle movements? Such negligence must never be repeated; it must be taken seriously to prevent the same mistake from happening again.

As Zhenfei moved forward in the darkness, she silently reflected on herself.

tread--

With clear footsteps, the girl had already stepped into the bloody realm constructed by the [hospital].

A pungent stench assaulted from all directions, and in the darkness, twisted bodies rapidly closed in, launching an attack on Zhenfei driven by their murderous instincts.

boom! ! !

What greeted them was the golden light released by Zhenfei in an instant, accompanied by scorching heat and extremely strong suppressive force, which easily overturned these things and firmly suppressed them, making them unable to move.

Unlike Miko and Kita, who are currently out of contact, and unlike Ichiri and Chika, who are in an area with strong interference, Maki and Kaguya maintain the most complete and clear connection with Takami due to the domain they have created. Therefore, without Takami actively exerting power, Maki and Kaguya can borrow and use power from Takami at any time. It can be said that these two girls are currently Takami's strongest relay station.

In a sense, the hospital's reluctance to send a doctor to directly crush the domain created by the two girls stems from this apprehension. After all, if something were to happen, Gao Hai could indeed unleash his divine power directly on Maki and Kaguya. The hospital is somewhat aware of the extent of Gao Hai's strength, given his current descent into godhood, and it won't easily allow a doctor to appear before him.

And because of this, Zhenfei could be said to be rampaging through the area, with no monsters able to put up any resistance to the power she released, easily crushing everyone on the field.

"call……"

Taking a deep breath, the girl stopped as she passed through an area of ​​ruins, then quickly turned and changed direction.

The power of blessing has already provided guidance.

Originating from the combined blessings of [Mystic Resonance] and [Deep Perception], Maki is able to easily track down the core of the domain, without having to worry about any deception from the enemy.

In her perception, the power of the strange and supernatural beings seemed like clear lines extending in all directions. Whether it was the black voids connecting the dungeon to the real world, or the flesh and souls gathered by the beings, nothing was concealed, nor could it be concealed; they could be found with ease. Even when the beings tried to hinder Maki, they were completely unable to withstand the power released by the girl, and any sneak attacks were immediately detected.

Without even needing to use the Berserk Blessing, Maki arrived at the first altar in less than a minute. She then unleashed Takahashi's power to completely burn it, sending the souls of the innocent to Takahashi for safekeeping until they were resurrected after everything was over.

The most troublesome part is probably collecting the victims' souls and carefully crafting a cage-like space to preserve them. After all, Gao Hai's power is currently far too great; if the souls of these ordinary people were sent there directly, they would likely be obliterated within minutes. Therefore, Maki must create small, isolated spaces in advance to store these souls before sending them to Gao Hai.

Learning to create such miniature spaces was quite challenging for Maki, but fortunately, the blessing she received greatly aided her understanding and use of supernatural powers. Furthermore, her blessing specifically strengthened the bond between her and Takami. With these multiple blessings, the girl was able to learn this ability and save as many victims as possible after the fifth playthrough began. As for Takami, he currently cannot create such small spaces. Firstly, he has too many responsibilities and simply doesn't have the time. Secondly, his current power is too great; even creating a small space by hand would shatter the soul of an ordinary person. Therefore, Maki is the one who must do this.

"In that case, this side is settled."

As she murmured to herself, Maki looked at the spherical space she had woven before her, and the few small, grayish-white clumps floating within it.

Unlike Kita Ikuyo, who repeatedly drifted away from Takami, ordinary people's souls rarely materialize. They usually only appear as a white, aggregated energy structure. This is because ordinary people's souls are too weak, and once separated from their bodies, they lose most of their functions due to the lack of a physical structure, resulting in a near-sleepwalking state where they cannot regain their sanity. Therefore, when Maki gathers and protects these souls, she cannot see their human form, much less any naked men, women, or children.

After resolving the first node, Maki did not hesitate and immediately headed to the second node.

The third... the fourth... the fifth...

Once the operation began, Maki realized just how many nodes the hospital had created and how many people had been killed in the process. It was hard to believe that they had done all this right under her nose, and she only realized something was wrong when Takahashi came to observe the situation.

During the operation, Zhenfei noticed that the number of monsters blocking her way was not large, far less than the total number of monsters that had attacked her domains before. Then she spread her senses around and discovered that these monsters had begun to disperse throughout the city, building nodes and creating domains in various parts of the city, aiming to spread them everywhere, making those domains built from flesh and soul materials ubiquitous.

If this continues, my aunt and I won't have time to return to our own territory; we'll have to go and dismantle those nodes.

It's disgusting. Why does Haijun always encounter such scoundrels who have no sense of martial ethics?

Maki, who was already starting to tire from using her strength continuously, stopped and rested for a moment. After wiping the sweat from her forehead, she continued her work.

Through the mental link, she could confirm that Kaguya on the other side had also cleared four nodes and was now heading towards the last few. At the current pace, it was safe to say that in just a few more minutes, the two girls would clear all the nodes near the domain.

Don't overwork yourself. Balance work and rest, maintain your energy levels, and don't forget that you yourself are also part of the "hospital's" goal.

Gao Hai's voice appeared in Zhen Fei's mind, giving a very serious warning.

"Yes, I know. Don't worry, Haijun. I'm not the kind of silly girl who needs to be taken care of."

Maki simply chuckled at Gao Hai's concern and worries, and then continued with her actions.

Now is far from the time to stop and rest.

Everyone is still fighting.

Regardless of the other girls who were close to Haijun.

These are teammates who fought side by side in other instances, and players who actively participated and joined this dangerous operation.

They were still unwilling to be merely protected ordinary people who participated in this dangerous operation with their own flesh and blood.

In this war where everyone's life and death are intertwined, as a strong individual with greater power, there is no reason for me to stop and rest for too long at such a crucial moment. I must work harder, fight even harder, and continue to fight to protect more people.

This is not only for myself, but also for Haijun who is currently suffering. I must do my best to share the burden with him.

As she pondered, the girl's pace quickened.

While the golden domain, which had already covered three or four buildings, was being maintained in a stable state by an unknown entity, Maki left the area near the domain and began to move towards the nearest domain node, which was built by the strange creatures of the [Hospital], and quickly destroyed it upon arrival.

Next, having returned to an area where players and survivors were active, Maki continued forward, quickly destroying another node and soon noticing an elementary school near the node. She confirmed that the monsters in the vicinity were gathering towards the school, intending to capture the living people inside to build new nodes.

"Has this area not been evacuated yet? The progress is a bit slow."

Maki sighed, muttered something under her breath with some dissatisfaction, and then quickly moved toward the school.

hum-

A local Tokyo police officer who came to evacuate the school looked up and saw a golden flash flying from afar.

"What...what is this? Could it be some kind of monster?"

The startled police officer trembled and backed away, quickly asking a player next to him.

"That aura... it can't possibly be a strange creature. It must be an extremely powerful player who has come to help. And that light... it might be a Chosen One, someone truly capable of bearing divine power, coming to aid us. If that's the case, then we have hope!"

Unlike the police officers who were instinctively fearful, the player became excited almost the instant he saw Maki and felt the golden light emanating from the girl. He went from being cautious to full of confidence.

"The Chosen One?"

The junior police officer, who had never encountered an extraordinary being before today, was stunned by these words. He didn't quite understand why this player, who he considered incredibly strong and had just saved his life not long ago, would have such an expression.

"Yes, that's right. Mr. Gao Hai, the savior of humanity and a god of the new era, is the reason we players are able to fight against those monsters. And Mr. Gao Hai has several Chosen Ones under his command. They are the strongest beings who can truly withstand and use Mr. Gao Hai's power. If one of them helps us, we have absolutely nothing to worry about!"

The unknown player sensed the doubt in the officer's voice and immediately perked up, earnestly beginning to recount Gao Hai's story. Although most of this information was hearsay and he had no real knowledge of the facts.

Therefore, when Zhenfei actually arrived in front of these rescuers, the first thing she heard was the story of Gao Hai single-handedly fighting against the four Heavenly Kings of [Campus Ghost Stories], killing several Red Moon-level core obsessions with his own strength, and reversing the cause and effect of time to save countless lives.

To be honest, while the ending of the story seems to match up, doesn't the process feel a bit off? I had no idea that Haijun could summon lightning with his bare hands, or float in mid-air laughing while wielding a greatsword and fighting monsters? And where did these armored knight monsters wielding giant swords come from in a school dungeon? Why is Haijun facing a legion-level charge in a school dungeon? Who spread these nonsensical rumors?!

"Gao Hai is not a god; he is just a human being, just a player."

So when Princess Zhenfei came before these people, her first words were intended to change their wrong impressions.

"That's right, truly great gods will humbly deny themselves."

Upon hearing Maki say those words, the player immediately nodded solemnly and added.

“…That’s not what I meant. I meant…never mind, isn’t the evacuation here finished yet? Anyway, I’m here to help. I’ll take care of dealing with those monsters. You guys take these children to the nearest safe zone as soon as possible.”

Consort Zhen was speechless, not expecting such a remark. She couldn't think of a rebuttal for a while, so she could only change the subject.

Soon, as Zhenfei waved her hand and scattered golden light, which turned into beams of light like lightning and struck the attacking monsters, the players and survivors behind her, and even the evacuated children, began to call Zhenfei "the Chosen One".

I'm sorry, Haijun, but it's probably unrealistic to try and change these people's minds.

Consort Zhen could only sigh inwardly; at this point, she couldn't think of any other solution.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Problems with the Evacuation Operation and the Problems That Were Discovered

Evacuating a group of children whose average age is only a few years old is obviously not an easy task.

Even though Maki possesses combat power that would be considered invincible by ordinary people, she still finds it difficult to be perfect when dealing with certain problems. After all, she acts as a protector, not a destroyer who can act recklessly. And protectors, compared to destroyers, often face an extremely troublesome issue: the problem of their "comrades."

At first, when Maki was in charge of fighting off the attacking monsters, the problems weren't too obvious. After all, the evacuation was being carried out by other players and ordinary people who joined the rescue operation; Maki herself wasn't involved in that aspect and only needed to defeat the attacking monsters.

However, after clearing out the first wave of enemies and checking the evacuation progress, Maki discovered that the entire evacuation was less than halfway complete. She didn't know what was wrong with these people; in over ten minutes, they hadn't even managed to evacuate a school of two or three hundred people, and there was even considerable chaos during the process. This forced Maki to participate in the evacuation, guiding the students and teachers into the evacuation vehicles. Just in case, she even did a headcount, only to find that several students were missing.

More strange creatures could attack at any moment, but Maki couldn't just ignore it, so she had to go back to the school to look for the students. She found three disobedient elementary school students who had climbed out of a second-floor window, trying to run away and do some "adventure."

Then, before Zhenfei could chase after the unruly children, she noticed a child locked in a stall in the fifth-floor restroom of the school, and there were signs of strange activity in the restroom. She didn't know if it was bullying among the children or what.

But that wasn't all. Before Maki could confirm the situation of the missing children and prepare to begin the operation, the rescue team members left outside disobeyed orders and shone searchlights on an approaching monster. This monster happened to possess the ability to perceive danger, resulting in severe mental disorder among the twelve rescue team members who saw it. Some began to self-harm wildly, while others mistook the students and teachers they were supposed to protect for enemies and attacked them, creating utter chaos.

Maki was so busy dealing with these problems that even Takahashi, who had been keeping a close eye on her actions, wanted to intervene. However, at the same time, Kaguya also encountered problems. Meanwhile, the members of the "Slacker Gang," who were closest to her and could exit through a portal to a certain shelter, had already grasped a clue to the core obsession of the mixed hospital and research institute instance. They were too busy dealing with the three core obsessions whose clues they had found to come over, and even more surprisingly, information about the "Doctor" event had leaked from Cat Brother's side…

Fortunately, Maki eventually resolved these issues, successfully retrieving the four children and temporarily isolating the rescue team members suffering from cognitive impairment. However, because she was alone, five of the twelve ordinary people involved in the rescue died, and two of the recovered children were injured. Fortunately, Takahashi was very experienced in treating injuries and rescuing the souls of the deceased; the souls of all five deceased were ultimately preserved, and the two injured children also received treatment.

Of course, while helping the child, Gao Hai didn't forget to give the three brats a good beating on Zhenfei's bottom, and the people who bullied the children were also found and slapped one of them. While controlling the force, Gao Hai slapped all the kids' faces until they were swollen, and it was estimated that the swelling wouldn't go down for at least a week.

[You've worked so hard. Just watching you do this gives me a headache. I really want to kick those kids to death.]

Through a private mental link, Gao Hai spoke to Zhen Fei.

"I'm fine. This kind of thing is to be expected. Most people make all sorts of mistakes and have shortcomings when faced with an unprecedented threat. As individuals who gained power earlier, it's only natural for us to help these vulnerable newcomers. Well, of course, there are some hard-to-describe individuals, and punishing them isn't out of the question, but we can't consider everyone problematic just because of these problematic individuals. At least, that's how I see it."

Meanwhile, Maki, who had already escorted the survivors to the nearest shelter, was sitting on the roof of a tall building, resting while talking to Takahashi through a mental link.

The physical fatigue was quickly eliminated under Gao Hai's power.

However, the inner fatigue is hard to truly eliminate in a short time, and all Zhenfei can do is try her best to overcome it.

After all, if we're only discussing the intensity of the operation, she and Kaguya are even stronger than Goto Ichiri. Their strength is considerably weaker than Ichiri's, and the situation they face is clearly more dire. However, this will reverse in a few minutes, as the aura of the [Internal Medicine Doctor] has begun to approach Ichiri's direction.

"Let's rest for another 5 minutes, then we'll continue. Haijun, tell me the next mission."

After letting out a soft breath, Zhenfei patted her cheeks and spoke through the mental link.

[You can rest a little longer. All the nodes in this area have been cleared, and the monsters have been mostly suppressed. There shouldn't be any large-scale monster activity here for at least half an hour. Don't worry.]

Gao Hai was well aware of Zhenfei's current mental exhaustion. He earnestly tried to comfort her, but there were some unspeakable words in his heart.

Takahashi already knew about what had happened at the refuge where Maki's parents were, but he hadn't told Maki about it yet.

All survivors had vanished without a trace, and the shelter was filled with dark, empty caverns leading to the dungeon. The players from the "Slacking Off Gang" had even successfully discovered several survivors inside the dungeon. Gao Hai didn't want to think about the impact such news would have on the mentally exhausted Zhenfei, nor did he want to see it actually happen.

However, keeping it a secret from his good girl didn't seem like a good option. After all, she wasn't a clumsy little girl, and given time, the intelligent Consort Zhen might discover the problem herself. Gao Hai, on the other hand, couldn't keep it a secret indefinitely. But… when would be the best time to tell Consort Zhen? This question left Gao Hai uncertain, unable to make up his mind for the time being.

I'm fine. I need to get moving. I can't rest for too long.

Despite Gao Hai's attempts to appear normal, Zhenfei gently shook her head, her voice carrying a forced firmness.

"...Given your current mental state, continuing to push yourself too hard is not a good thing."