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

This is a supernatural power activated by the power of memory and emotion. Maki has not yet touched the truly crucial memory node, so she cannot sense the enemy, and I am also unable to truly reach the point of anomaly in this world of memories.

"I think we might need to consider changing our battle plan."

After passing through several more areas, Gao Hai turned to look at the petite junior high school student, Maki, beside him and made a serious suggestion, and couldn't help but pick her up again.

"What do you think?"

After several unsuccessful attempts to resist, Maki, now resigned to Gao Hai's antics, allowed him to pick her up. She then squinted slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable as Gao Hai pressed his breath against her neck, and asked, enduring the ticklish sensation on her neck.

"As we've come this far, we've only encountered some very ordinary points in your memories, Maki. Your memories of these points aren't very deep; you often have to be in these places for a while before you can recall where you are. Sometimes you even have to confirm your posture in your memories to deduce the timeline. These situations indicate that we haven't been able to truly delve into the key points in your memories, Maki. And that curse that we haven't been able to truly ascertain yet is definitely closely related to memories and emotions in terms of its activation conditions. Therefore, we need to make a change and can't continue along the current path."

Gao Hai casually analyzed, and then picked up Zhenfei and let the girl sit directly on him, with her legs hanging down from her shoulders and her lower abdomen pressed against the back of Gao Hai's head.

"So next, I need to recall the most profound memories of my life, try to remember those emotions that are intense enough for me, and try to pinpoint the curse that is targeting me in this way, is that what you mean?"

Maki wasn't used to sitting like a child. While continuing her conversation with Takahashi, she tried to resist him again, but he grabbed her calves and she couldn't break free. In the end, she had no choice but to give up again.

"Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin, carrying his two jade-like legs on his shoulders."

Gao Hai nodded seriously in response.

"what?"

Although she could understand Chinese, Jin-bi, who clearly didn't understand some of the vulgar jokes, was stunned and didn't know what Gao Hai was talking about.

“I think that simply recalling deep and intense memories may not be enough; perhaps a little extra stimulation is needed to achieve better results.”

Having just come up with a new idea, Gao Hai looked up and gazed at Zhen Fei's somewhat bewildered expression before speaking slowly.

He suddenly remembered that there was a common point between the two players who were affected, Yuanshan Ming and Xiong Mi: their memories had been deleted. Yuanshan Ming disappeared from Gao Hai's sight after the attack because his deleted memories contained something that was likely extremely important. Although Xiong Mi is also experiencing some problems now, she can still control herself. One possible reason for this is that Xiong Mi herself does not care about the memories she has forgotten, and she has no motivation to look back on the past.

And this commonality can, in a sense, also be reflected in the girls around you.

After all, he had already rewound many times over the past few months. Although as his connection with the girls deepened, all the girls he was close to now had the ability to retain their rewound memories, in reality, the memories of each of these girls who had established close relationships with Gao Hai were incomplete, and many of their experiences from multiple playthroughs had been permanently forgotten.

Of course, from a timeline perspective, none of the girls have any memory issues. After all, the current reality dictates that only the cycle in which Gao Hai successfully completed the game is real; everything before that is nonexistent, deleted, and never happened. But for the girls who had close relationships with him, after understanding this fact and knowing that they have lost memories of a certain experience, will they feel at ease letting go of these things, treating them as if they never existed and ignoring them?

The hospital has never concealed its arrogance towards ordinary people.

Gao Hai knew very well that even though he had seen through this, the [Hospital] still had no intention of changing its ways. In the eyes of the mastermind hidden within the instance, controlling everything, all humans except Gao Hai and the girls around him were beneath his notice. He disdained to specifically target these people, believing that he could easily eliminate them with his own power. Therefore, the true target of this unknown cursed power was definitely not the players under Gao Hai's command.

Before this, Gao Hai had never understood the key to the effectiveness of this unknown curse, or how the [Hospital] intended to use this power against the girl beside him. But now, as he and Maki delved into her subconscious memories, he slowly realized the crux of the [Hospital]'s plan, and found it somewhat amusing, almost bursting out laughing in front of Maki.

"Extra stimulation? What are you talking about? Wait, you don't actually want to... No, no way, this body can't do that kind of thing, can it?"

Zhenfei clearly had no idea what Gao Hai was thinking. Sitting on Gao Hai's lap, she listened to what he was saying and almost immediately started thinking about other things. Her face flushed red in an instant, and her voice became flustered and anxious.

"Yes, you've always been concerned about your experiences at Shirakawa Apartment, about what happened before our first rewind, right? I think, since this is your subconscious world, I should be able to guide that memory in so you can see clearly what happened back then."

Gao Hai spoke in a relaxed tone, and even nodded deliberately before speaking to make Zhen Fei misunderstand. So Zhen Fei first subconsciously gasped and actually began to seriously think about some disharmonious things. Then she was stunned by what Gao Hai said, and then instinctively fell into a state of thinking. Realizing that she had been tricked again, she showed her sharp little tiger teeth and was about to breathe on Gao Hai.

Well, but she gave up before she could even utter a sound. After all, Little Zhenfei is still a wealthy cat, and she won't really turn into Old Wu in front of Gao Hai.

"Do you think the key lies in memory, no... in the pursuit of lost memories? Is it this emotion and desire?"

In a very short time, Zhenfei understood Gao Hai's meaning and realized the key to the hospital's methods this time.

"That's right. Although it's just speculation at the moment, I think the hospital probably believes that the memory problems caused by the rollback are similar to the effects of erasing memories through various means. It probably thinks that those of you who were rolled back with me will have some kind of deficiency, and wants to use this curse to find out that. It's pretty presumptuous, but since that's the case, let's give it a chance and lure it out."

As Gao Hai spoke, he began to mobilize his spiritual power, causing the surrounding scenery to gradually change.

Princess Zhenfei did not speak, but quietly observed the surrounding scene, her body unconsciously tensing up slightly, clearly indicating that she was somewhat nervous.

Just as Gao Hai said, she was very concerned about what happened in the first playthrough where she and Gao Hai truly formed a bond. Even after the dungeon ended and Gao Hai revealed some details of what happened back then, she still felt uneasy about it. Now, by a twist of fate, she was actually able to see what happened in the past again, which made the girl quite concerned.

Of course, despite caring about these things, Maki knew very well what was truly important right now.

"coming."

Before the surrounding scenery had even truly changed, Zhenfei sensed the approach of some unusual aura and felt a chill creeping over her.

"They're really impatient; they must have been waiting for a long time."

Gao Hai sneered, continuing to release his mental energy while looking at the gradually blurring scene ahead, where a patch of pitch-black color had appeared out of nowhere.

Chapter Sixty-Five: Gao Hai's Confrontation with the Hospital and the Girl Trapped in a Memory Trap.

Humans are beings composed of memories and shaped by time.

For the entire material universe, time is merely a manifestation of the movement of matter and cannot truly represent anything. However, for humankind born into this world, the passage of time, and the memories accumulated with it, are the most real, the most profound, and absolutely irresistible force.

Therefore, when a person realizes that their memory is incomplete, that they have forgotten something, they will instinctively want to trace back that memory and retrieve it. Unless they know in advance whether the missing memory is good or bad, or the memory is altered by newly acquired memories during the process of tracing it back, or, in very rare cases, the personality formed by the remaining memories after the memory loss is able to maintain a self-satisfied state of mind, they are unlikely to give up the idea of ​​tracing back the memory.

But how many people can actually do that?

Humans pride themselves on being at the top of the food chain, believing themselves to be superior to everything. However, humans are still animals at their core, full of bestiality, shortsightedness, ignorance, and cruelty. Yet, they use various packaged concepts to disguise and deceive themselves.

But no matter how elegant or extraordinary one may appear, in the end, when faced with oneself and with instinct, one will still reveal one's true self, revealing one's ugly and repulsive true self.

Therefore, when faced with their forgotten past, everyone, regardless of their background, will inevitably show longing and want to reclaim it. This is especially true when they increasingly feel the importance of these lost memories and realize how much they care about these lost things.

This is especially true for players, a group already under immense pressure and constantly struggling for survival. They are always forced to give up many things and accumulate distortions and pain due to various injuries both inside and outside dungeons. For this group that has endured such torment and truly possesses power beyond that of ordinary people, there must be a strong desire deep within them for change and for reclaiming what they have lost.

And when this longing is amplified, when they are trapped in the emptiness within their hearts, unable to extricate themselves, then...

So what?

Gao Hai grinned and said casually.

So what if you consider yourself refined? So what if you willingly degenerate? Stop spouting those condescending remarks. Do you think that by placing yourself above humanity and offering a few comments, you can make yourself seem more noble than humans?

From initially refusing to show your face in front of me, to now resorting to all sorts of underhanded tricks, you keep looking down on this and that, but these despicable and low-class methods seem to be quite skillfully employed by you. You despise others, yet you still try to learn them yourself—how shameless are you?

"To be honest, a piece of trash like you should be torn to pieces right now. Of course, a coward like you wouldn't dare show your face in front of me. But that's okay. After I've dealt with the problems outside, I'll come find you. I'll slowly resolve our issues. Just you wait!"

Golden light intertwined with crimson—a new system constructed from the golden light of Gao Hai's transformed spiritual power after embarking on the path to godhood, and the crimson light derived from the domain power originating from Hachiya Chiyo. Although he wasn't yet fully proficient in its use, and had to restrain himself to avoid truly ascending to godhood, at this moment, the power that Gao Hai summoned solely through his own will easily tore through the darkness ahead, shattering the twisted curse originating from the [Hospital].

useless.

But that cold, genderless voice still echoed in Gao Hai's ears.

The origins of the sacrificial game lie in ghost stories, and the origins of ghost stories lie in the blood of the gods. This blood of the gods has long since permeated human civilization, becoming part of individuals and groups of humanity, through the opening of countless dungeons. Therefore, this curse targeting humanity cannot be lifted by external forces and will inevitably take effect.

By choosing to place your chosen one into their subconscious and actively revealing their forgotten memories, you have voluntarily activated the power of the curse.

Therefore, from the moment you made this choice, she could no longer escape this desire, and she was destined to be destroyed by the power of the curse.

The chosen one, you are the truly arrogant one who is unaware of your own arrogance. Your choice has ruined the people you care about.

【Yeah? 】

The writhing darkness shattered, only to coalesce once more.

This subconscious world has been completely altered, becoming unrecognizable. The buildings have crumbled and melted away, resembling pools of mingled, viscous liquid. The curse of the [Hospital] has transformed into a black, foul-smelling, putrid liquid, swirling around and attempting to spread further.

Gao Hai's power firmly blocked the power of the curse, preventing the hospital from directly harming Maki's memories and consciousness. However, he was currently unable to remove the curse that had already been applied to Maki.

Therefore, Maki, who was originally by Gao Hai's side, has now disappeared and has been separated by the power of the curse.

She will die because of you, because of your arrogance.

And this time, your power will not be able to bring her back to you through time.

Just like the four Chosen Ones who were trapped in the instance because of your stupidity, their lives will also be harvested by my [Doctor].

That cold voice rang out once again.

As if victory was already assured, they even had the leisure to comment on Gao Hai's previous mistakes.

[Oh, really?]

Gao Hai's only response was a slight smile.

He could still sense the presence of the true concubine.

With the close connection that the two had established to their very souls, even now, separated by the power of the curse, Gao Hai could still clearly feel the other's presence and know the situation the other was facing under the power of the curse.

So what if we can see it?

You cannot send a message in this situation, nor can you use your power to help her.

She will inevitably lose herself in past memories and emotions, unable to escape, and like everyone else, she will be trapped in pain and despair until destruction.

[I knew you talked so much nonsense. Are you feeling guilty?]

Gao Hai looked thoughtfully at the gathering darkness before him, a mocking smile gradually creeping onto his lips.

And, help?

Why do you think she needs my help to get through this?

You seem to be underestimating people.

As they spoke, the darkness began to ripple silently.

The source of this fluctuation does not lie in the hospital itself, but in Maki, and in the girl who is now in isolation, whom the hospital sees as doomed and already in their grasp.

The moment this fluctuation appeared, the [Hospital], which had been commenting on Gao Hai, fell silent. The dark vortex, which had calmed down somewhat, also released terrifying power, about to further interfere with the cursed Zhen Fei.

That's why I said you're low-class, be honest.

Then, Gao Hai easily shattered the power gathered by the [Hospital], preventing it from increasing its interference with Zhenfei.

hum-

The invisible fluctuations are intensifying further.

Realizing that its arrangements might have gone wrong, the hospital began to resist with all its might, completely unlike its initial condescending commentary. However, this was, after all, Takami's territory. Although the power of the curse had indeed taken effect on Maki due to the rules of ghost stories, if the hospital wanted to use other methods further, it would have to ask Takami for permission first.

[You've proactively invested so much effort; this is your choice.]

hum-

The black vortex was shattered.

The golden-red flames followed the source of the vortex and slammed into the main body of the [Hospital].

A sharp scream, mixed with the sounds of many voices, rang out.

Having completed this counterattack using the window opened by the [Hospital], Gao Hai shook his hand. Seeing that the other party had already slunk away and closed the spatial passage, he decided to temporarily ignore this enemy who he couldn't deal with for the time being.

But then again, the sensation I felt just now didn't seem quite right.

Gao Hai frowned.

Because the [hospital] had released its power directly, the power Gao Hai used to retaliate followed the trajectory of the opponent's power and struck the target directly. In other words, Gao Hai's attack just now directly hit the enemy's main boss's body.