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

Seeing that Consort Zhen was somewhat stubborn, Gao Hai thought for a moment and then earnestly tried to persuade her a few more times.

I know, but I still can't stop. If I stop for too long, I'll start to feel uneasy, I'll lose my composure...

Then, the words that came out of Maki's mouth left Gao Hai speechless.

[I know something happened to my parents. When I was escorting these students and teachers into the shelter, I checked the situation of shelters in the surrounding area. I saw that the shelter they went into was listed as a danger zone, and the information about the strange hollow cave first spread from there. So, I already know roughly what happened.]

【I know you're in a difficult position, Haijun, and you don't want me to get involved. My parents disappeared in the mixed space of that Red Moon-level dungeon. Right now, several Red Moon-level player teams are conducting a crucial raid there, and if I, as an extremely conspicuous target, enter, it will definitely attract the attention of the [Hospital], and everyone's operation will be ruined, resulting in countless deaths.】

"...I don't mean to blame Haijun, I know. If I were in that situation, I think I would feel just as troubled as Haijun, right? There are just so many things involved. I understand Haijun's difficulties, and I won't act recklessly. It's just that I need to do something to distract myself and prevent my mindset from going wrong. So Haijun, tell me what else I can do next. Please, don't let me calm down."

The girl's voice was very low.

Even though she tried her best to suppress her emotions, Gao Hai could still feel the exhaustion and pain deep in Zhen Fei's consciousness through the mental link.

From the first playthrough to the fifth, she has been trying her best to save her family, but each attempt has been unsuccessful, constantly encountering various problems. If she could comfort herself at the beginning by saying it was just bad luck, then the situation in the fifth playthrough clearly shows that from the very beginning, her family was used as a weak point by the [Hospital]. No matter how hard she tries, her parents and relatives will inevitably be manipulated by the [Hospital] and fall into danger, becoming pawns used by them.

The problem was discovered far too late; there's no way to change it at its root now. Even if they rewind to the sixth playthrough, even if Gao Hai goes to great lengths to help, it's difficult to break the trap the [Hospital] set up for Maki's family. Not to mention, the current opponents won't reset with a rewind. The fifth playthrough was already a relatively balanced phase in the power struggle between the two sides. If they were to start over, Gao Hai honestly couldn't guarantee whether they could still gain the upper hand.

Faced with the safety of her family and the very survival of human civilization at stake, Maki, after careful consideration, ultimately chose a rational answer. However, this did not mean she was heartless; Gao Hai could clearly feel the pain she endured for this.

"Your family will definitely be rescued, I promise you."

In the end, Gao Hai could only utter such a pale and powerless promise.

"Yes, I believe in Hai-jun. I will always believe in Hai-jun. Don't worry about me. I'm not some crybaby. I'll be fine. Hai-jun, let's continue. Let's continue our unfinished mission and completely annihilate the [Hospital]. That's what we really need to do now."

Empress Zhenfei smiled again and once again uttered her firm words.

Faced with the girl's attitude, Gao Hai could only sigh inwardly before extending his senses to reconfirm the surrounding situation.

[The nearby nodes have been cleared, but there's a situation with Kaguya. She went to an office building emanating a strong, eerie energy, but sensed no survivors. It's very likely that the building has been sacrificed by a strange entity and is transforming into a new node. Unlike the previous nodes, she found the aura of this node to be very strange, so she didn't take any rash action.]

I originally planned to send a Red Moon-level player team to help, but they all have their own missions now. So, right now, the only one nearby who can go and provide support is you, Maki. Please go and help your aunt resolve the trouble in that area.

As he spoke, Gao Hai shared the situation that Kaguya had observed with Maki, and Maki, having confirmed the mission, stretched and quickly stood up.

"Looks like it really can't do without my help. Hmph, the Shinomiya main family's level is just so-so."

The girl grinned, revealing two sharp canine teeth, and her expression was somewhat arrogant.

"Also, strictly speaking according to seniority, she should be called my great-aunt, not my aunt. Kaguya is my grandmother, so please don't get it wrong, Kai-kun. She's my great-aunt, my great-aunt."

Then, Zhenfei shook her finger with a serious expression, correcting Gao Hai's earlier use of the term of address.

So I really don't understand this mentality. They are clearly two girls of similar age, so why do they always want to use the term "great-aunt" to insult each other? The key is that when they don't see each other, they just call each other "auntie" and that's fine. Why do they sometimes have such a strong competitive mentality for no reason?

Gao Hai wanted to say something, but seeing that Zhen Fei had perked up again, and thinking about her parents who were still missing, Gao Hai didn't know what to say. At most, he could only advise her to be careful and not to do anything reckless.

Meanwhile, some thoughts were also forming in Gao Hai's mind. Gao Hai, who was not exactly a person with a great love for the world, couldn't help but have some selfish thoughts after seeing Zhenfei's suffering.

We need to find another team to see if we can find Zhenfei's parents.

We need to see the person alive or dead; this ambiguity is not a solution.

But... under the current circumstances, who else could take on such a dangerous task and possibly accomplish this?

Here are the pictures, which can be viewed after the updated version.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Kaguya Shinomiya's Office Building Investigation and the Movement of the Black Hole.

Kaguya Shinomiya yawned and looked at the gloomy road ahead.

She felt exhausted. Even compared to the dangerous dungeons she had participated in before, this operation made Kaguya feel more tired and exhausted than ever before.

Upon careful reflection, the reason was probably that in the past, she had either been easily crushed in a major disadvantageous situation or quickly solved key dungeons in a major advantage. Ultimately, because she had always fought alongside Gao Hai, she rarely encountered enemies of the same or weaker level. Therefore, while she might perform quite well against strong opponents, she clearly lacked experience in dealing with mobs and the numerous, weaker monsters, which left her quite exhausted.

step-step-

The girl yawned again earnestly, her body slowly moving forward. In the chilly atmosphere, she listened to the strange, faint sounds around her, and her tired spirit gradually rallied under the force of her will.

The only building in the vicinity that wasn't cleared out in time was an old office building that looked quite old.

That building was at the end of the park path, which was the direction Kaguya was heading, her destination.

"Hmm, no?"

The situation may be worse than anticipated.

At this distance, Kaguya's perception was sufficient to confirm whether there were any living people inside the building, and even to pinpoint their locations with relative precision.

But she felt nothing. The building, which the intelligence indicated had failed to evacuate, was now completely silent, with no sign of any living person.

Not only that, but Kaguya could also vaguely sense an extremely ominous aura, seemingly emanating from the activity of a strange creature, but it was a level stronger than the aura a normal strange creature should have.

This led Kaguya to suspect that the office building had most likely been sacrificed, with all the living people inside killed by the monsters, their flesh and spirit becoming the foundation pillars of the domain node. However, perhaps because she arrived relatively early, the node hadn't truly formed yet, and she couldn't sense its true aura. Of course, another possibility existed: this place was actually a trap, a demonic abyss deliberately designed to lure her in.

Regardless of the reason, Kaguya will inevitably continue to move forward and will not shrink back because of a few auras.

【Gao Jun, there might be some issues on my end. Although it's just speculation right now, I think it's best to explain it to you first…】

Of course, although she had taken a rather risky action, Kaguya wasn't stupid and wouldn't just blindly rush into a dangerous place. Therefore, she first gave a brief explanation to Takami, who had been keeping an eye on her situation. After receiving a reply from Takami that he would try to find backup, Kaguya then observed the office building for a while and searched the surrounding area. Only after confirming that there were no ambushes did she enter the building to investigate.

According to intelligence from the rescue team that evacuated the building some time ago, there were approximately one hundred employees of a certain company in the office building at the time, all working overtime under the leadership of a mid-level manager. After the incident, the employees initially tried to escape the building, but the manager and his supporters blocked the first-floor entrance, trapping everyone inside. Although it was later proven that the manager's actions precisely complied with Gao Hai's rules, buying the employees more time to survive, they also caused considerable trouble for the subsequent rescue teams.

The main reason was that the office building's main door was an unusual old-style security door, making it virtually impossible to pry open from the outside once closed. Furthermore, none of the rescue personnel who came to evacuate the area were physically strong enough. As a result, after discovering the security door was damaged and couldn't be opened, the rescuers could only evacuate the surrounding survivors. The employees inside the building, however, were left waiting for the rescuers to arrive because the main door couldn't be opened, the back door was blocked by a monster, and the windows below the fifth floor were sealed with iron bars.

On the bright side, the next rescuer these people will receive is Kaguya Shinomiya. With this girl, who has now grown to the level of a top player, taking action, it's impossible for any monster to take these survivors away in front of her.

Well… to put it bluntly, she might have arrived a little too late, and most of these survivors might have already been killed. Of course, even so, Kaguya could use Takami's power to try and save their souls, giving them a chance to be resurrected. However, for ordinary people, restoring from a soul state is not an easy task. Many people's souls are too fragile at the time of death and shatter directly, returning to the planet's life source. Such unlucky souls cannot be saved.

Hopefully, we can save more than a few.

While she was thinking, the girl had already sprinted up the wall, easily reaching the sixth floor of the office building with an almost gravity-defying posture. She then smashed the window and entered the room. She then activated the power of the blessing [Words of Disturbance], and with a single word of "Repair," she repaired the broken window behind her, restoring the building to its sealed state.

Then, she began to truly unleash her senses, conducting another thorough reconnaissance of the situation inside the building.

"what?"

Strangely, there was still no way to find out any specific information; the interior space of the building seemed to be in disarray.

Kaguya was in a small room that looked abandoned for some time and was filled with various odds and ends.

open the door.

The door led not to the expected corridor, but to a strange place that was completely indistinguishable from other places, like a collection of rooms mixed together.

Even more strangely, when Kaguya stepped out of the room and into the strange area ahead, she found that her location had changed without her moving at all. She seemed to have silently arrived at an extremely twisted corridor.

"The spatial disorder is very serious; no wonder I can't sense anything. If this continues... well, it will probably become extremely difficult to locate the target. We can't waste time; we have to finish this quickly and not get bogged down here."

Upon realizing that the area had fallen into a state of severe spatial disorder, Kaguya immediately understood that the enemy might be using this disorder to hide the real node, and thus accelerated.

However, as the surrounding scenery changed time and again, Kaguya quickly realized that she had no way of finding the connection between these chaotic spaces. This distortion did not seem to be entirely achieved under the manipulation of the monster, but rather that some other force was involved, so the experience from the previous dungeons was completely useless in finding a solution.

[Gao Jun, I need backup.]

Without hesitation, Kaguya immediately chose to ask for help again. Although the girl had a strong sense of pride and didn't like asking for help, the bigger picture was at stake right now, and Kaguya had already suppressed all her usual temper, making helping Takami defeat the [Hospital] the best option.

[Assistance? Now? Spatial disorder is indeed a bit troublesome...]

Gao Hai responded to the girl's call immediately.

However, before Maki had even reached the vicinity of the office building, Kaguya was already somewhat trapped in this strange and chaotic space.

Without hesitation, Gao Hai began searching for people who could provide remote support and quickly contacted Fujiwara Chika, who was currently active elsewhere, and transferred her resources to him.

[Kaguya-san, it seems things aren't going well over there. Well then, it's time for me, the love detective Fujiwara Chika, to make my appearance!]

Next, I will use the power of [Detective Vision] through the communication channel maintained by Ahai to probe the situation here. If all goes well, we should be able to find a way to escape and go deeper soon.

Of course, there's also the possibility of things not going smoothly. After all, my blessing power is quite conspicuous here, and it might attract something as soon as it's released... Alright, alright, Kaguya-san, we can get ready to begin.

Perhaps because she had been acting alone for quite some time, Chika sounded very interested. Even though Kaguya didn't really respond to what she said, the pink-haired girl still muttered to herself for a long time, as if she really was there to visit.

When Chika truly released the power of the blessing, and Takami then transmitted this power to Kaguya, Kaguya, who had previously only vaguely perceived many things, began to see some things clearly, and started to see many paths and rooms that she couldn't see before.

The taste of blood was finally becoming clear.

An area that was originally just a wall was exposed by the blessing of Chika, revealing the office building corridor behind it.

It was only after Chika found her in this area that Kaguya finally noticed the bloody and foul smell that was so familiar to her, the kind that only people who had been tortured to death possessed, and realized the truth hidden beneath the chaotic space.

Then, Kaguya's brows gradually relaxed from being tightly furrowed, but then quickly furrowed again, and her expression became even more unpleasant than before.

Deep within the corridor where the corpses lay, something else had been laid out—a more concealed and difficult-to-detect chaotic spatial flow, the origin of which was unknown, and its approximate location difficult to determine.

Are those flat, black holes moving on their own? Why are they sometimes clear and sometimes blurry in my vision?

"Hmm, the interference is getting stronger. It should be fine for a while, Kaguya-san. You've probably seen those things already. I have other tasks to do, so I need to look away for now. I'll have to rely on Akai for now. I'll try my best..."

It was at this time that the spatial disorder within the office building intensified significantly, to the point that Qianhua's spirit gradually could not withstand the pressure, and even with Gao Hai's protection, she could only temporarily sever the mental link.

The source of the disorder seems to be connected to those black voids that move across the walls and the ground.

It's that thing that popped up in that Red Moon-level mixed dungeon again.

How many times has this happened? It's always this thing trying to make its presence known. If only we could find the source of the void and take it out in one go, that would be great. Unfortunately, the Red Moon level players who are deep in the dungeon haven't made any new progress yet, so I can only think about it here.

[Thank you for your hard work, Qianhua. Your mental strength can't support continuing to provide cross-space support. Go and finish your mission there first. Please be careful to protect yourself while you're on your mission.]

Kaguya needed to be vigilant about her surroundings, so Takami said a few words to the pink-haired girl before Chika left.

【Understood, don't worry, Ahai, I'll be fine on my end. Kaguya and Maki, you two should also do your best alongside Ahai. I have a few new ideas on my end right now, and I'll let you know as soon as there are any changes.】

After leaving a few words, Chika temporarily left the chat channel to continue her own activities.

It was at this moment that Maki finally arrived at the office building area. Similar to Kaguya, Maki chose to jump directly to the sixth floor, break a window, and burst in. However, unlike Kaguya, Maki didn't possess the blessing "Words of Disturbance," so she couldn't quickly repair the broken window. But Maki wasn't without a solution; since the room's enclosure had been broken, she simply removed the lock after leaving the room.

"Grandma, I'm here. You seem to be completely dependent on me."

When the two met, there was no sign of anything unusual on Zhenfei's face; she looked almost the same as usual.

"Are you going to call me that again? Oh well, as long as someone's there to help, that's fine."

When Kaguya saw that Maki brought up that title again, she muttered a helpless complaint under her breath before quickly shifting the focus back to the current operation.

Hmm, it seems like Shijou's mental state isn't very stable.

Are you sure there's no problem? I'm not quite sure what Gao-kun and Shijo talked about, but given Gao-kun's style, he must have reassured Shijo properly. Never mind, I'd better not bring it up here; it might cause problems if I do.

Kaguya Shinomiya could tell that Maki was hiding her emotions. She guessed that not long ago, her relative and junior of the same age was probably in a very bad state, and Takahashi had been trying to comfort her. She didn't know how long it took for the comfort to work.

However, given the situation of the four students, what kind of thing could have caused her to react so strongly?

"Let's go this way. There's a corridor here; it should be very important."