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

That's the sealed-off area where Goto Ichiri and Fujiwara Chika are trapped. After Yotsuya Miko and Kita Ikuyo went to help, there are now a total of four girls trapped in that dungeon containing the [Internal Medicine Doctor] and the [Psychiatrist].

At some point, the spatial structure of that closed instance underwent a major change. Some kind of force emanated from that instance, dragging many instance areas that had no connection with the [Hospital] over and forcibly connecting them to the closed instance, making the spatial structure of that area increasingly bloated.

This is how the same thing?

Gao Hai was slightly taken aback when he saw this scene, and then his eyes widened quickly.

The ability to unleash such power requires immense strength and occult knowledge; few individuals possess this power, and currently, only a handful within that sealed-off area can achieve it. As for occult knowledge, it's difficult for ordinary people to grasp; perhaps only those within the [hospital] possess some understanding. However, there is a special case—a special case that can bypass much occult knowledge to forcibly achieve the desired effect.

In that situation, Gao Hai happened to know someone who could do it.

Oh, so you were afraid I'd see this.

Then Gao Hai understood.

Then, a golden-red light burst forth and fell towards the dungeon space that had been drawn in.

hum-

The violent tremors continued.

At this moment, both the survivors in Tokyo and the players in the instance area felt a strong tremor that seemed to originate from their very souls.

Whether they were unaware or fully aware, they realized that the situation was changing, and the contest between Gao Hai and the hospital had reached a critical juncture.

Beyond these people, in some more secluded places, yet still connected to the real world and the [hospital], the resonant sound of the soul penetrated numerous obstacles and successfully reached the lives within.

My hazy consciousness gradually returned.

The body gradually regained its flexibility from sluggishness, and the mind became active again.

open one's eyes.

It took a little while for Akira Toyama to confirm that he was lying in what looked like a hospital room, on a dirty bed that smelled of dust and mold.

"Where...am I?"

I can't remember why I came here.

One moment he was struggling to confirm the core object of his obsession, and the next he found himself in a completely unfamiliar area. This left Toyama Akira somewhat confused and unsure of his current situation. However, he didn't hesitate and immediately tried to contact Takahiro, only to find that their communication was blocked by some unknown force. Despite this, the connection remained; Toyama Akira could still vaguely sense Takahiro's presence and hadn't completely lost touch with him.

This situation isn't entirely unprecedented. If I remember correctly, the Ms. Yotsuya mentioned in Mr. Gao's records encountered a similar situation before. At that time, the [Hospital] used the power of the edge space to seal off a spatial area, causing communication to be interrupted and preventing messages from being transmitted. The problem was eventually solved by cracking the spatial nodes and destroying the edge space.

So now, have I been put into a similar enclosed area?

Thinking this, Akira Toyama took out his phone, turned on the screen, and a blood-red light immediately shone on Akira Toyama's face.

The crimson domain, composed of fragments of Gao Hai's blessing, provides ordinary players with a degree of protection against the invisibility of strange creatures and offers both physical and mental defense, making it an extremely crucial survival tool. For lower- to mid-level players, the protection provided by this domain is also very important. However, in battles at the Red Moon level, these domain fragments become largely useless. After all, at this level, the intensity of the combat is extraordinary, and a shattered blessing is naturally difficult to utilize effectively.

Even so, the Crimson Domain still holds significant importance for Red Moon-level players, primarily due to its communication capabilities. The case of Yotsuya Miko demonstrates that even in spaces isolated by the power of the [Hospital], the Crimson Domain can still receive external messages to a certain extent, and with proper manipulation, can even temporarily amplify the signal to forcibly contact Takami.

What Akira Toyama is doing now is to check the information from the Crimson Domain to see if there is any important information there that can help him.

Soon enough, a line of text appeared on Akira Toyama's phone.

[High-risk supernatural power confirmed: Memory Curse]

[Danger Level: Extremely High]

[Transmission route: Not fully confirmed; suspected contact transmission, but also possible remote transmission through unknown means]

[Note: No asymptomatic carriers have been found yet. Those infected with this curse will inevitably experience symptoms, resulting in an unknown dark area appearing in their minds. Contacts who do not develop these symptoms are considered immune to the curse.]

[Rule Level: Unknown, presumed to be Abyss Domain Level]

[Confirmed rules of the curse infection:]

[1. The subject has previously suffered from memory loss and is aware of this loss.]

[2. The subject has a desire to explore its lost memories, or the lost memories contain content that the subject considers extremely important and should not be forgotten.]

[3. The subject has not lost any memories, but there is a cursed infected person who has a close relationship with the subject.]

[Confirmed manifestations of the curse:]

[Phase 1: Hallucination Stage]

[1. Infected individuals may experience auditory hallucinations or mistake other people's voices for their own.]

[2. Infected individuals are more prone to experiencing mental fatigue]

[3. Infected individuals will gradually become aware that their abnormalities are related to their lost memories, and will involuntarily try to recall the memories they have lost.]

[4. If the infected person has not lost their memory, they will be clearly aware of who the voice they are hallucinating is and will feel a strong sense of unease about that person.]

[Phase Two: Imprisonment]

[1. Infected individuals will disappear from the real world. The area where they arrive after disappearing is not yet determined, but it is presumed to be a duplicate area or a peripheral space. This area must have extremely strong spatial isolation characteristics, making it difficult to contact the outside world.]

[2. The memories lost by the infected will gradually recover, and they will slowly recall the memories they have forgotten.]

[3. During this stage, infected individuals may encounter someone extremely important from their memories. This person may be a fake entity simulated by the power of the supernatural, or it may be a real individual who was also infected and transported to the same area.]

[Phase Three: The Forgetting Stage]

[1. If an infected person completely accepts the loss of memories or the objects they saw during this stage and chooses to remain in place, they will be completely cut off from contact. At this point, the infected person is presumed dead, and there is no way to save them.]

[2. If an infected person chooses to find a way out during this stage and refuses to stay in place, then ■■■■＆*％■■？ ？ ■＃*■……（Subsequent text is unrecognizable）]

Akira Toyama blinked.

He continued scrolling down the document, but couldn't find any more legible text. Starting with the second item in the third stage, apart from the initial small amount of text, the rest was all gibberish, and Toyama Akira couldn't read it no matter how many times he refreshed the page.

Unfortunately, the most important part is the one that's causing the problem...

Is it because the hospital has a stronger influence here that Mr. Gao's power is suppressed, resulting in the loss of important information?

"At least I know why I came here."

Toyama Akira muttered this to himself as he got out of bed and began to carefully observe his surroundings.

On the surface, it looks like a hospital ward, and a single room at that, giving the impression of a luxury ward.

However, some details don't look like a typical hospital ward, especially considering the various furnishings and decorations inside. They look like things left by someone who has lived there for a long time, the kind of traces of someone who has settled there for months or even years.

"Well……"

As he pondered, Toyama Akira narrowed his eyes slightly. He could feel a dull ache in his head and clearly sensed the revival of some memories.

Well, the biggest problem lies in the modifications to some pipes and wiring; it's clearly a private alteration. In a normal hospital ward, such modifications shouldn't be allowed unless there's a specific reason.

As for why Akira Toyama was able to see that the problem was here, the reason is quite simple: he himself is actually an electrical engineer.

Before becoming a gamer, Akira Toyama was just an ordinary person. He grew up in an era when Japan was gradually declining, watching the previous generation lament the past prosperity. The only realistic choice left for him was to follow in his father's footsteps, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to make a living. So he gave up his hobbies of painting and hiking from his student days, chose the same path as his father, and successfully became an engineer, taking over his father's job as an ordinary employee in the company where his father had worked for decades.

It's impossible not to feel regret. Who doesn't dream of doing what they love and living a free and leisurely life when they're young? But life doesn't offer many choices, and only a minority can live a life they truly desire. As for Akira Toyama, at least before he became a player, he didn't have that privilege.

"...It's a forced memory? What a disgusting curse."

As he muttered to himself, Akira Toyama reached out and pressed his hand to his head, letting out a soft sigh.

The memory that flashed through his mind just now wasn't a conscious choice by Toyama Akira; it was a sudden, unexpected recollection that caught him off guard. Although these memories didn't affect Toyama Akira's actions or forcibly control his body, he couldn't stop recalling them. In this situation, he either had to multitask or stop and wait for the memory to fade before resuming his actions—a rather troublesome predicament.

If this situation occurs when encountering an enemy, it would be extremely dangerous, especially if it involves a strange creature capable of attacking the mental realm.

Yuanshan Ming pondered silently, breaking out in a cold sweat from the uncontrollable thoughts he had just had. After waiting in place for a while and making sure that the situation would not recur in the short term, he cautiously continued to investigate the room, slowly approaching the door.

There is nothing unusual in the room at the moment.

There was no obvious presence of any eerie aura. Although there was a chilling feeling around, it was nothing special.

Well then, let's go outside and take a look. Hopefully, it's not some kind of chaotic environment.

While pondering, Akira Toyama walked to the door. First, he cautiously pressed his ear against the door to listen for any sounds outside. Then, he took out a small pendant that could detect whether there were any strange creatures or hostile entities around and fiddled with it for a while. After confirming that it was safe, he reached out and grabbed the doorknob, gently opening it.

Outside the door was a slightly dark corridor, exuding the same musty smell as the room.

The smell is familiar.

I should know where I smelled it before.

This feeling always lingers in a certain group of people, in a certain type of society. It makes one feel the passing of life, and that everything around seems to have become stagnant and lifeless, devoid of any vitality.

I remember now, I smelled that scent on my grandfather.

My grandfather, who died before graduating from high school, spent the last part of his life in the hospital.

Our family's financial situation wasn't good. My mother's health was poor, and she was constantly taking medication. My father, a veteran electrical engineer, earned around six to seven million Japanese yen annually, which, with some subsidies, was enough to make ends meet. However, even so, it was difficult to support my mother's health. My grandfather was well aware of this, which is why he refused to live with us, choosing instead to stay in his small house in the countryside. It wasn't until he was near death and could no longer be hidden that my father discovered his illness. He was finally taken to the hospital, but he only managed to survive for less than two days before passing away.

Until his last breath, Grandpa was still blaming Dad, saying he shouldn't have brought him to the hospital, feeling it was a waste of money. Dad didn't reply, just sat silently beside the bed. Then, Grandpa wanted to speak to everyone individually, so the family members came out of the room one by one. When it was my turn, Grandpa didn't say much, just asked about my studies and life, whether I was happy and got along well with others.

That's right, back then, I could smell that musty odor on my grandfather.

That heavy, decaying smell that can only be detected on the elderly—a smell of old age, weariness, and decay.

"Are you here again..."

Akira Toyama sighed softly. This memory had taken two and a half seconds. In a critical moment when facing a strange creature, such a long period of distraction would be fatal. But Akira Toyama had no way to deal with it now and could only rely on increasing his concentration to forcibly fight against this uncontrollable memory.

But is that really my memory?

Although it's still very blurry, are those figures I see in my memory my father, mother, and grandfather?

I can't remember their names.

I hadn't realized it before, but after successfully escaping the instance and recovering, all my memories of my family had vanished. These were the people closest to me, yet for so long, I never questioned it? Did I never deeply consider this matter?

Surely I'm not so indifferent to my own family? Besides, my teammates never reminded me of this. Putting aside the ridiculous situation where they were actually switched into puppets by the Ghost after leaving Fujika Middle School, the only possibility is that I completely severed ties with my family after the formation of the Red Society. Whether they were all dead or encountered some other situation, I was effectively acting alone at that time. Therefore, my teammates naturally assumed I was just a lone individual; they had no idea who my family was or what their situation was, so they wouldn't bring it up after I recovered.

If that's the case, then the situation at my home is probably very suspicious.

While pondering, Akira Toyama carefully observed his surroundings. He was now certain that the area he was in was either a small hospital or a nursing home converted from a hospital. After all, the strong, musty smell was unmistakable, and regardless of which possibility was true, it indicated that this was an area strongly associated with a hospital. Therefore, he had to be extra careful; if something went wrong, there was no one who could save him now.

tread--

Take a step forward.

A faint, veiled sound reached his ears, causing Akira Toyama to furrow his brow slightly.

There are other people here.

According to that ghost story record, the person I encountered at this time is very likely someone extremely important in my memories. This person could be a figment of the ghost story's imagination, or it could be a real person caught up in it all. So I need to be even more careful from now on; I absolutely cannot accept the current situation completely, or I'll be doomed.

Thinking this, Akira Toyama did not choose to avoid it, but instead slowly moved forward in the direction of the sound.

His thinking was simple: now that he was in this place, simply hiding was not an option. Putting aside everything else, what if the other person was a living, breathing person, someone important to him that he genuinely knew? If he accidentally caused the person's death while hiding from them, he would definitely regret it for the rest of his life.

We walked along the dimly lit corridor.