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

Is this tactic really being used in this kind of situation?!

Kaguya, who had not expected Maki to make such a choice, was startled. Although she was unharmed thanks to her designated immunity, she still couldn't help but exclaim in her mental link.

[Whatever it is, it has already destroyed at least one of our shelters, causing numerous casualties. We absolutely cannot let it escape. The battle situation is still unclear, and this thing, which clearly poses a threat to Haijun's plans, must be dealt with at all costs. We must keep it contained!]

Before the smoke of battle had even cleared, Maki had already rushed forward, while simultaneously replying to Kaguya through their mental link.

Golden light emerged, intercepting the collapsing building debris and ensuring that Princess Zhenfei's actions would not be interfered with by external forces.

The spatial disorder had been restored by Maki's decisive explosion, and Gao Hai's support was now far stronger than it had been in the dungeon and the edge space. Maki used this power to quickly approach the aura that had finally been leaked, getting close to the monster that had the potential to destroy the entire shelter.

zizi...

A sound like something being disturbed was heard.

Amidst the swirling dust, Maki saw the other's form: a slender, dark body entwined with twisted, vein-like structures. A head resembling a television screen connected to these densely packed, fleshy tubes coiled around the monster's body; the screen itself was completely black, reflecting not a single ray of light.

Is this... a psychologist?

Even Maki was taken aback when she first saw this strange creature.

Then, the twisted monster turned around, and with a blurry image flashing across the television screen, it vanished completely without a trace.

"So we still couldn't keep them?"

Zhenfei's eyes widened in disbelief. She hadn't expected that even after going to such lengths, the other party could still slip away so quickly.

No, you succeeded, I've locked onto it.

Then came Gao Hai's calm voice, which immediately calmed Maki's mind.

Chapter Sixty-Two: A Chaotic Situation, Uncertain Dangers, and a Young Girl's Choice.

We can now sense the other party's location.

Although that thing escaped at a very fast speed, it could be said that it moved away the instant it appeared.

But as the bomb was released, Gao Hai's aura had already clung to it. From that moment on, Gao Hai had pinpointed the location of this thing, able to firmly grasp its spatial position and not lose track of it no matter how it moved.

Wow, you're pretty fast!

The unknown monster, which has already escaped the real world, is still moving at high speed.

Gao Hai could tell that this thing was moving by using some Dark Night-level instances controlled by the [Hospital], and occasionally it would enter the edge space of the [Hospital] that extended towards the real world, clearly trying its best to get rid of the tracking.

But all these actions were meaningless under the watchful eye of Gao Hai, who was in a higher position. From the moment his power "touched" that thing, even if it immediately returned to the space where the [hospital] was located, it would still be captured by Gao Hai's gaze, with no possibility of escape whatsoever.

An invisible force continues to extend.

As the monster continued its escape and Gao Hai continued his pursuit, his own power gradually spread outwards, creating tiny, currently insignificant cracks in the areas belonging to the [Hospital].

He had already guessed where this thing might be headed.

hum-

With a spatial tremor imperceptible to humans, the monster's location suddenly became blurred.

Even though Gao Hai could still clearly sense the other party's presence and know their approximate location, his original precise positioning ability failed at this moment, and he could no longer use the means of directly observing them with his naked eyes.

It is that infinitely overlapping edge space.

Cat Brother's exploratory efforts successfully confirmed the area's characteristics after expending an aerial bomb, but before he could gather further intelligence, Gao Hai had to temporarily halt his investigation due to Cat Brother's unconsciousness. After all, aside from Cat Brother, all other survivors in the area had lost contact; even Sun Dajun, who was later found, had disappeared again during Cat Brother's bomb detonation.

【…】

Gao Hai silently sensed the aura of the monster that had entered the overlapping space, while also keeping an eye on the situation on Maki Kaguya's side.

At this moment, the two girls had emerged from the collapsed ruins. Since the aerial bombs had completely destroyed the entire shelter, Maki and Kaguya had lost their reason to continue investigating it. Therefore, they returned to the ground, waiting for news from Takami while discussing and analyzing the possible scenarios.

Nothing new appeared and attacked the two girls.

Although Maki did hear her parents' voices and experience some hallucinations while exploring the shelter, the monster that looked like a "psychologist" didn't harm her at all, nor did it pose any real threat. It was essentially just a brief appearance; it accomplished nothing and simply ran away, its actions utterly meaningless.

Of course, considering that Maki immediately chose to release an aerial bomb—a drastic measure—after noticing the anomaly, it could also be interpreted as the opponent's plans being disrupted by Maki, leading to their escape. However, Gao Hai felt that things couldn't be that simple. The [Hospital's] methods couldn't be so crude, so easily interrupted. Their previous tactics, such as trapping Miko's residential area beforehand and luring Ichiri Chika and the others into the dungeon, were enough to demonstrate the [Hospital's] cunning and treacherous nature. Moreover, the aerial bomb tactic had already been used in the overlapping space; the [Hospital] couldn't have been unaware of this capability, so they should have taken the threat of the aerial bomb into account.

So, what exactly is this thing planning to do?

Even with his eyes closed, Gao Hai could still clearly sense the coordinates on the monster's body. At this moment, if he wanted, he could recklessly unleash his power, using these coordinates to forcibly release his strength into that edge of space. Previously, because he was connected to Cat Brother, an ally, Gao Hai naturally wouldn't use such methods that would harm his own teammate. But now, the connection was with a pure enemy, and there was no question of life or death; therefore, taking direct action was the correct choice.

Anyway, all the players and survivors trapped in the overlapping space are marked. As long as they're careful not to accidentally injure anyone when releasing their power, the situation shouldn't be too bad. This overlapping space hides so many failed attempts at creating a "doctor." If we let this thing develop unchecked, who knows what kind of big surprises it might bring later. We absolutely cannot ignore it.

[Haijun, something's wrong. My auditory hallucinations haven't gone away; they've started again.]

The mental link from Maki entered Gao Hai's mind at this moment, temporarily interrupting his thoughts.

[I've connected with Maki through the "chain of existence" blessing, and now I can hear voices too. Before, I only heard voices that "sounded like Maki's parents," but now I'm hearing voices that are "unidentifiable." The information we receive is undergoing further changes, and the unknown changes in Maki may be continuing to develop. I'm worried this could escalate into a dangerous situation.]

Kaguya's communication followed shortly after, and the information she brought undoubtedly plunged Takahashi into even deeper contemplation.

The power of the blessing originates from the crimson flower, stemming from a divine incarnation of extremely high rank. The power of the [Hospital] cannot interfere with such a blessing, therefore Kaguya and Maki's minds are inevitably linked. Under these circumstances, the influence of external forces should manifest the same changes in both of them. However, they are hearing different voices, indicating that Maki's own senses may have undergone some abnormal change, suggesting an internal issue existing only in Maki's own perception, completely unrelated to Kaguya's self-perception.

What exactly happened...?

While he was thinking, the "Slacking Off Gang" sent another message, requesting Gao Hai's assistance.

Following closely behind, the market team uploaded new data, the contents of which seemed to be related to the new environment that the Red Alliance was exploring. Moreover, the four members of the Red Alliance were about to reunite and were in a stage where they needed guidance.

In the real world, distress calls kept pouring in. The disappearance of the two shelters significantly hampered rescue efforts, forcing many rescuers and players to detour to more distant shelters, increasing their chances of encountering various dangers along the way. Alice, who was assisting Gao Hai with the city-wide deployment, didn't even have time to tease him; she had to focus all her energy on calculating problems in each area and marking the deployment zones.

This feeling of being overwhelmed and flustered, almost like tearing yourself into pieces to think but still unable to make a decision, is truly unbearable.

Ironically, under these circumstances, a strange anomaly has arisen on Zhenfei's side, one that is difficult to resolve quickly, and even understanding what is wrong is impossible. Even if I wanted to dedicate all my efforts to solving it, I couldn't. After all, besides Zhenfei's side, the sealed area of ​​the dungeon at Yili Qianhua's location could also undergo new changes at any time, requiring me to be there constantly monitoring the situation to respond immediately.

The feeling of being restricted and constrained is becoming increasingly intense.

Gao Hai suddenly realized that even if the hospital didn't have any further schemes, he was already in deep trouble. More and more problems required his attention, and more and more troubles needed to be faced. Under the grim situation and immense pressure, even though nothing worse had happened yet, Gao Hai himself had become indecisive and unable to make a decision easily.

New information has emerged, this time about the "Slacking Off Gang," which is Gao Hai's most trusted and powerful player organization so far, aside from the girls around him.

This time they brought bad news.

Regarding the situation with Akira Toyama that I previously posted on the Mental Link Network, I seem to be experiencing a similar reaction. It wasn't very obvious before, but now I'm gradually feeling strange things appearing in my memories. I'm becoming increasingly aware of the many gaps and gaps in my memory, and I can even roughly predict when these gaps appeared and the corresponding dungeon quests. I know I've used the power of blessings to erase my own memories many times, and I suspect that these memories are the problem, causing my current abnormalities. However, so far, these abnormalities haven't shown any signs of developing further; I can only sense that "there's something very profound in the memories I've lost due to amnesia."

The message came from Xiong Mi. She appeared relatively calm while delivering the information, but Gao Hai could sense her significant emotional fluctuations. Considering Xiong Mi had been an Alice doll for a long time and endured such torment, Gao Hai knew that if she were to regain those memories, she might collapse and lose consciousness on the spot. Furthermore, the blessing power that could have helped Xiong Mi recover might be ineffective under this unknown curse. In that case, even if the leaderless Moyu Gang could continue fighting, their combat strength would undoubtedly decline considerably.

What should I do now?

The first person to run into trouble was Akira Toyama, and the reason for his problems has yet to be found.

Next is Zhenfei. The root cause of Zhenfei's problem may be that she came into contact with the strange creature from the overlapping space. Then why doesn't Cat Brother have this problem? He is still in the overlapping space until now. And Sun Dajun doesn't have this problem either. As a Twilight-level player, his mental strength is not even up to the human limit. If it is because of the overlapping space, how could he not be affected?

Now that Xiongmi is having problems, it's even more inexplicable. If you had to pinpoint a source, it might be that she and Yuanshan Ming had contact in the instance, but that doesn't make sense for Maki. Since Maki has been in the real world, she hasn't had any close contact with the Red Moon-level players after the Tokyo lockdown, so there's no reason for her to have problems as well.

The more I think about it, the more I feel waves of headaches.

Gao Hai was well aware that the [Hospital] was targeting him. While he was sending Red Moon-level players to search for the core artifact and organizing rescue teams to protect the citizens, the [Hospital], as his enemy, was also actively working against him, trying every means to weaken his power and find his weaknesses to attack.

Now that he knows the other party is hostile and has found some clues, he still can't determine the root of the problem and doesn't know where to start to solve it. This feeling of being in a passive position undoubtedly makes Gao Hai grit his teeth and become irritable. He can't wait to find the person behind the [hospital] and punch him a few times.

【…】

Gao Hai fell into a brief silence. He still felt nothing. He was also in a chain of interconnected links, but he couldn't detect any sound at all, unlike Kaguya, who could at least hear some noise.

【Haijun, I have a new idea】

Suddenly, Zhenfei's voice rang out.

What came to mind?

Maki's sudden words made Gao Hai subconsciously tense up, worried that she might have started to show more serious symptoms, or that she might suddenly disappear from his senses like Toyama Akira.

Then, as Zhenfei analyzed the situation word by word, Gao Hai's brows furrowed even deeper.

I also heard the communication from Miss Xiongmi's side. Although we can't be completely certain about Mr. Yuanshan and his sister's situation because we haven't met them in person, since they are family and he made special arrangements for them, I think their relationship must be very good.

My parents doted on me. They rarely interfered with my life and hobbies, only telling me to stay on the right path and not do anything wrong. We had a very good relationship, so I haven't been able to calm down since their accident. These feelings have been lingering in my heart, and now I can feel them overflowing uncontrollably.

Miss Xiongmi is now the third case, and what she's noticing is her memory loss, which may be related to the blessing that allows her to reset her personality. Whenever Miss Xiongmi is in danger and her emotions and personality undergo significant changes, that blessing can restore her to normal. Over time, those painful past experiences have been forgotten by Miss Xiongmi herself, but forgetting doesn't mean they never existed. And this unknown, almost curse-like power, perhaps its activation key lies in sufficiently profound and intense emotions, regardless of whether they are positive or negative.

Under the torrential rain, staring at the pitch-black sky, Maki and Takahashi analyzed the situation, taking deep breaths every now and then to adjust their state.

[What are you going to do? 】

Gao Hai asked the girl at that moment.

I wish Haijun would temporarily shut down my five senses.

Princess Zhenfei quickly gave a response that surprised Gao Hai.

Whether it's a curse, a disease, cognitive pollution, or some new force we haven't seen before, it's deeply connected to the victim's mind. Therefore, I need Haijun to sever all my means of perceiving the real world. I need to use this method to determine whether the key to this abnormal force lies externally or internally. If it's an internal problem, perhaps we can find a way to counter this attack.

Then, as the girl explained in more detail, Gao Hai began to seriously consider this plan.

Chapter Sixty-Three: The Elementary School Student Zhenfei is Amazing and Gao Hai's Way of Relieving Stress.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

Kaguya gazed at Maki before her, her words carrying a hint of seriousness.

"No problem, I'm ready."

Zhenfei nodded slightly. The girl, who was already prepared, sat down on the ground without hesitation, took a deep breath, straightened her chest and raised her head, and signaled to Gao Hai through the mental link that they could start the operation now.

At this moment, Kaguya and Maki had returned to the abandoned building near the [Market] headquarters, the location of Takami's domain. Having eliminated the [Hospital]'s countermeasures, Takami's domain had now expanded further in the real world, covering an area of ​​tens of kilometers in radius. Although the area covered by Takami's domain was insignificant compared to the nearly 22 million square kilometers of Tokyo itself, if it could continue to develop undisturbed, it was certain that it wouldn't be long before Takami could create a considerably large safe zone.

However, considering the unknown methods the [Hospital] has used to breach two shelters, the true extent of this domain's effectiveness remains questionable. After all, even after returning to the domain, Maki can still faintly sense the voices of her "parents," unable to truly escape the corrosive influence of the supernatural forces.

However, this also allowed Maki to completely confirm that this unknown power that directly affects the victim is the same as the "Little Cat Nyanna" that Takami encountered at Yoruyama Middle School. Once activated, it no longer needs a source of power to continue to act. The entire process of the ghost story power taking effect can be completed directly on the victim. It is a dangerous power with contagious characteristics.

Now, in order to truly understand the nature of this supernatural power, Maki, who has returned to the realm, decides to make an extremely dangerous attempt.

I'm ready, Kaijun. Close my senses.

The girl spoke earnestly in the mental link.

Since this bizarre and fantastical power can influence people from the depths of their minds, perhaps by directly shutting off all external senses and focusing one's consciousness on oneself to feel and understand this power, one can find a way to break it. Or even if one cannot break it directly, one can still analyze this power and find a way to counter it.

This isn't a new tactic; Gao Hai himself has repeatedly sought death after finding himself in perilous situations, using the process of dying to break the power rules of his enemies. However, using this method means completely exposing oneself to the power of the supernatural entities, and even with prior preparation, accidents can easily occur if danger arises. Therefore, Maki's decision was undoubtedly risking her life.

Okay, now close your eyes.

Gao Hai's voice resonated in the girl's heart.

Without persuasion or questioning, after confirming that Princess Zhenfei was prepared and seriously intended to use this method, Gao Hai decisively agreed and chose to cooperate with her.