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

But before she could think any further, Xingge behind her suddenly spoke up, urgently reminding Hongxia and Liang.

Splash—splash—

Although it was just a fleeting glance, something did appear to be floating in the churning water, somewhat like a person, but unlikely to actually be a person.

"Walk close to the wall, don't panic, and don't erratically move your steps."

Liang glanced down into the water twice and immediately realized what was happening. Without turning around, she called out and quickly adjusted her pace, moving to the side wall of the underground passage and continuing to run forward.

As the water splashed, Hongxia adjusted her pace, while Xingge behind her stumbled a few times but managed to maintain her footing and not lose her composure.

The chill seemed to have dissipated somewhat; at least it wasn't as noticeable as it had been at the beginning.

Hongxia tried her best to avoid looking at the corpses that floated past her, which looked somewhat similar to herself, and the floating objects that followed behind the corpses, which looked very similar to her classmates.

They seem to appear only in the very middle of the road, and although they move with the changes in the water flow, they never approach the walls on either side or any place that might be separated from the water flow.

【…】

The sound of chasing from behind had become indistinct, and its cacophony was almost inaudible.

Are we about to get rid of each other?

Such thoughts involuntarily entered the minds of Hongxia and Xingge, causing them to subconsciously slow down and stop.

Stop now, it's safe.

A cold voice came from behind them.

Oh, I see. We're safe now, and everything's alright.

So, finally we can...

"Don't stop! We haven't gotten rid of that thing yet!"

A sharp shout rang out from ahead, coming from the direction of Liang, who had been leading the race from beginning to end.

Hongxia's eyes widened suddenly as she realized that the voice she heard from behind couldn't possibly be Yamada Ryo himself. Her previously erratic steps quickly regained their normal rhythm. Behind her, Xingge, this time, didn't lose her footing. Although her face was a little pale, this adult had been wary from the beginning of what strange sounds the thing behind her might be using to lure her. Therefore, she became alert the moment [Ryo's voice] appeared, and even though she felt dizzy for a moment, she reacted quickly enough and didn't fall for it.

Why won't you listen to me? Why won't you stop?

A sighing voice came from behind, gradually changing from a cold voice to the voice of someone else.

The voice sounded older and more stern. Just by listening to it, Hongxia felt she could picture a stubborn old man who always liked to lecture others based on his seniority, and who would never back down when it came to her.

I am right, and only I can protect you.

Listen to my advice, and you won't suffer losses; only then can you truly achieve success.

If you refuse to listen to the wisdom of the elderly, you will surely encounter great setbacks in your future lives and die without a proper burial.

As if he had actually witnessed that scene unfold, the old man clicked his tongue, releasing his undisguised and intense malice.

no respond.

Liang, who was walking at the front, and Hongxia and Xingge, who were following behind, did not respond at all. They just continued to run forward, as if they could not hear the old man's voice and continued to walk in the seemingly endless underground passage.

The chill gradually dissipated, and along with the electrical noise, it was finally left behind and could no longer catch up.

No, that sound never existed in the first place.

They didn't escape that far along the road, and the things that appeared halfway through didn't all seem to be genuine, but rather some kind of chained abnormal effect, a situation akin to a hallucination.

"Are we... still in the same place?"

Hongxia blinked and realized she was still in the same spot, with her older sister Xingge beside her, and Yamada Ryo still standing in front of the screen. However, the screen itself wasn't lit; it remained completely dark. Nothing unusual had happened around them. It seemed they were experiencing some kind of mass hysteria, running around in a hallucination for a while, only to find they hadn't actually moved at all.

But now I understand why I didn't feel tired at all even though I ran such a long distance. It turns out I had actually been staying in one place the whole time.

As they pondered, the girl and her sister exchanged a glance, then looked in her friend's direction. Only then did she notice that Ryo still wore a serious expression and was staring intently at a shadowy area ahead.

Is there anything there?

Hongxia wanted to ask the other party.

But before that, a faint chill suddenly swept through the girl's heart. Then, the corridor was suddenly illuminated by a stark white light, casting the shadows of the three people into the narrow corridor.

Chapter 85 The Missionary in the White Corridor and the Reassuring Voice.

The situation seems even more problematic than anticipated.

Yamada Ryo thought she was fully prepared and confident she could resolve the current problem smoothly. However, once she actually started taking action, things kept going in unexpected directions, and now she was starting to have a lot of questions about what was going on.

The floodwaters have receded.

One second my calves were still in the water, and the next I was standing in a clean corridor, completely unaware of the sluggishness of the water flow.

The stark white light cast three shadows on the wall.

Apart from that sudden chill, there were no warning signs whatsoever. It was unclear whether it was spatial teleportation, an illusion, or something else. In any case, when they realized it, they found themselves in such a strange and eerie place.

"Has this...we been sent somewhere else?"

Hongxia stared blankly around, and it took her a few seconds to realize what had happened.

"Something feels off. Are we being watched by something powerful?"

Xingge, however, had already vaguely sensed something was wrong from this series of unusual events. Like Liang, she realized a certain possibility and understood that their current predicament could not be explained by something as simple as "bad luck".

"Perhaps at first, the monsters that chased us were an accident. After all, according to Mr. Gao, even if the hospital wanted to target his network, it wouldn't be able to know the target's identity directly, nor would it be able to bypass him to obtain our information. But as the monsters approached, and as we were forced into this underground area, I think something else has followed us, started to observe us in the dark, confirm our identities, and then make further arrangements against us."

Liang's voice was calm, and there was no sign of any turmoil in her eyes.

At this moment, in this white corridor, she softly stated her judgment while silently observing and surveying her surroundings, as if admiring the scenery. But in her perception, she had already begun to utilize her astral projection ability, using her spiritual perspective to observe her surroundings more closely, searching for any anomalies.

Whatever that thing observing in the shadows may be, judging from its current actions, it seems unlikely to want to kill the three of them outright. Instead, it intends to capture them alive or corrupt and transform them. This might explain why the flesh-and-blood monsters couldn't catch up with them. After all, those were pure monsters created by the [Hospital] because they couldn't afford to play games. If something completely tainted by cursed and corrupted power were to actually reach the three of them, let alone survive, it would be difficult to even leave them with intact corpses.

In a sense, they should thank the mastermind behind the scenes. After all, regardless of their motives, they were able to survive until now because the other party "showed mercy" instead of dying at the beginning.

"call……"

A faint golden light flowed from the girl's veins with each breath.

Unlike when she was at Dansu Company, Yamada Ryo now possesses a certain ability to fight back, a fact she is well aware of.

However, she couldn't fully control this power; her physical strength, as well as her soul and spirit, were insufficient. Given the limited time available to significantly enhance her, Gao Hai could only grant her very limited power. Even though this power could be replenished almost infinitely through the connection between her and Gao Hai, the existence of an output limit meant Liang had to be extremely cautious in mobilizing it. After all, she knew very well that against truly deadly and powerful enemies, this level of power might not be very effective.

Now is not the time to reveal the specific strength of this power; for now, let's act on the premise of not using it.

Thinking this, Yamada Ryo carefully observed her surroundings again. After confirming that nothing unusual was happening, she sighed softly with some disappointment and then turned her gaze to Nijika and Hoshika beside her.

"Staying in place isn't a solution, let's keep moving forward."

With that, the blue-haired girl took a step forward and started walking down the corridor.

"...Is this all we can do now? Sister, let's go."

Having already experienced the dungeon adventure, Hongxia sighed as well. She knew that staying put was no good idea, so she gestured for her sister, who was still standing there, to come along. It was at this moment that Hongxia noticed that Xingge was staring intently in a certain direction, cautiously searching for something.

Did your sister discover something?

Hongxia turned her head and looked in the direction Xingge was looking, but all she saw were the slightly old-fashioned advertising boards on the wall and a small television set hanging from the ceiling, which also looked quite old and had many thin wires hanging down.

"Sister, did you see something?"

Hongxia frowned, unable to see anything wrong with these things, and decided to ask Xingge directly.

"No, I didn't see anything, it's just... a feeling...? I'm not quite sure, I can't quite put my finger on what's going on."

Xingge, who had been on guard, paused for a second after hearing Hongxia's voice, then shook his head, his expression showing a hint of seriousness, while his voice carried a sense of uncertainty that even he himself could not be sure of.

Is there anything there?

Even though there was nothing unusual in sight, I instinctively had a strange feeling that "something is there." But when I tried to find it, I couldn't pinpoint its location. There was just a vague feeling that this direction forward was very abnormal. This feeling...

"time to go."

Liang reached out and placed his hands on Xingge and Hongxia's shoulders, then grabbed them and began to back away.

"You can sense it too?"

Feeling unwell from this strange sensation, Xingge turned slightly and asked Liang in a low voice.

"No, but I won't go near there."

Liang's voice was as cold as ever, but Hongxia, who knew her well, could tell that the girl was in a very tense state.

Don't refuse... only then can we save you... only then can we save you...

An aged voice reached the ears of the three people in the next moment.

Hongxia looked up and saw that the small television hanging on the ceiling had lit up. On the screen, a bald old man who looked to be in his seventies or eighties was sitting on a hospital bed, wearing a blue and white hospital gown, looking at them and slowly speaking.

Join us... follow our guidance...

Let us heal you... Let us completely heal you...

Only...we can...give you...true happiness...

The elderly man in the hospital gown stood up from the bed and, swaying slightly, walked step by step toward the screen.

His face was smiling, but it wasn't a smile that a human could show. It was as if something was pulling at his skin, forcibly ripping out a smile that made him look like a fake human, which made people feel uncomfortable.

I am... Yasuo Funato... I am the one who was saved...

I have grasped the true meaning of happiness... I am here to spread happiness to you...

I'm doing this for your own good... All the elders are doing this for you... for the good of you children... You should listen to me... You should listen to me...

He—no, it should be said—at this point, no one would still consider this thing human. Its face was now writhing in a fanatical smile, its already wrinkled face almost contorted into a ball, like a lump of dough being kneaded.

Its body was trembling, as if something was constantly shaking against its hospital gown, causing the gown itself to shake incessantly and gradually unravel. The chest and abdomen, stripped of flesh, were then revealed. The beating heart, the constantly writhing lungs, the stomach, the intestines—all these organs were displayed at this moment, trembling vividly, as if they could still maintain their state before death.

However, these scenes were not seen by the three people in the corridor.

In fact, the moment this thing appeared, Ryo realized something was wrong and pulled Hongxia and Xingge to turn and run. By this time, the three of them had run far away and could no longer see the strange thing on the TV screen.

Of course, when facing such an inhuman being, simply running away is often not enough to truly get rid of them, a fact Liang was well aware of. Therefore, during her escape, she would frequently look back to observe and carefully sense the situation behind her, lest she find herself in the unfortunate situation where the other party had already caught up without them noticing anything.

However, this time the enemy didn't seem to be the type to relentlessly pursue a target. Ryo had turned around to observe several times, but still couldn't find any trace of the enemy. Furthermore, they finally managed to pass through the corridor and arrive at a completely new hall. Like the places they had been before, this hall was deserted, although its excessive cleanliness under the white lights was unsettling. But compared to these obvious, non-threatening anomalies, Ryo was more concerned about the dangers that could easily lead to death.

Therefore, after carefully surveying her surroundings and confirming that there was no danger in the hall, she felt slightly relieved. Of course, even so, the three of them still maintained close proximity and did not completely relax.

"Where exactly are we now? Could we have entered a dungeon?"

Xingge spoke in a low voice, somewhat irritated. She tried to suppress the unease in her heart, but such a disguise could be seen through at a glance and was impossible to hide.