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

A golden-red light roared as Takahashi, Ichiri, Kita, and the others once again suppressed the "Surgeon's" actions, blasting him dozens of meters underground.

Meanwhile, Miko, who had remained standing still the entire time, continued to grit her teeth and exert her strength despite the constant bleeding from her ears, eyes, and nose.

[Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!]

The monster roared and tried to break free of its restraints once again, only to be blocked by the mirror once more.

Who are you going to kill?

Whom must be killed to save everyone and rescue them from suffering?

Then I heard a voice asking questions.

The painful sound that cannot be eliminated no matter what.

Whose voice is that? Why can't I find it? Is it someone who needs to be saved? Is it someone I need to kill?

If so, where is it? Where exactly is it? I must go and kill it, I absolutely must go and kill it!

【I'm here】

Then I saw the mirror again, and again the distorted thing in the mirror.

So ugly, so painful, so twisted.

It's like waiting for death to come on a hospital bed, like becoming uglier day by day under the torment of an incurable disease, like sitting desperately on the edge of a rooftop contemplating jumping, like losing the love of your life, like facing the destruction of your family...

Therefore, we must kill them!

We must save them! We must kill! We must keep killing! We must keep killing!

Until there is nothing left alive in this world.

Until everyone is truly liberated.

until……

Huh?

It seems... I can't feel it...

[This is a do-or-die situation, everyone held on!]

As Gao Hai roared, he did his best to maintain the enclosed space that covered the "surgeon".

There is no longer anything alive in the other person's perception.

At this moment, in the surgeon's perception, there was no longer any object that needed to be saved in this closed space that existed only in itself.

【…】

It could be sensed that the other party's actions were beginning to stagnate, just like in the enclosed space where the [Internal Medicine Doctor] had been eliminated. When the [Surgeon] could no longer perceive its target, it would fall into a state of inertia rather than self-destruction. This loophole had been considered by the [Hospital] from the very beginning. In other words, even if the [Surgeon] were to one day wipe out all life in the world, it would not be able to obtain the liberation it craved. From start to finish, the [Hospital] had never given this tormented obsession any possibility of rest.

However, things are not so certain now.

Please save me, I need your help.

Miko Yotsuya's voice pierced through the enclosed space and reached the ears of the [surgeon].

There are targets that need to be saved.

I have to kill him, I must kill him.

But... I can't feel anything.

I am here, I need your salvation. Please help me relieve my pain, please save me.

But the sound was still there, so I needed to move around.

To kill it, you have to kill the thing that made the sound. You have to kill the other party yourself.

Where... I can't feel it... There's nothing here...

Right here, I'm right here. You can see me if you look up. You can see me, please save me!

The cry to kill them still echoes.

All I can see is myself in the mirror.

It's just me.

【…】

It's just me.

【…】

So, I'm the only one left here now.

[...kill...kill]

There's only one target left to kill; it turns out there's only one target left to die here.

All you need to do is die. Once you're dead, you'll never have to suffer again. Death brings true peace and a blissful slumber.

The only thing that causes me pain now is myself, because I am alive.

[Save...save...]

The monster was whimpering in pain.

The crimson power belonging to the [Hospital] had somehow gathered in the sky and converged on this shattered battlefield.

He had sensed a terrifying possibility.

At this moment, having lost the sense of the [Surgeon's] presence and realizing what Gao Hai and the others might do, this thing panicked and finally shifted its attention away from the outer battlefield, which it had been unable to breach, and began to gather strength to strike the inner battlefield.

in time.

It should still be in time now.

He was well aware of the immense power of the "doctor" He created, as well as the unavoidable flaws that existed within him.

As for the most powerful creation, the Surgeon, the Hospital acknowledges that if the right method is found, it is indeed possible for it to be destroyed, but as long as He intervenes personally, that possibility does not exist.

Hey, you're only remembering now?

Then, Gao Hai grinned and revealed a smile.

hum-

The core obsession has been resolved.

Just a second before the [Hospital] was about to unleash its power and pull the [Surgeon] out of the enclosed space, He sensed the disappearance of His core obsession.

The last two core obsessions, those in the deepest part of the distorted space, which had gradually lost contact with the real world as the space collapsed, were now reduced to just one of the last two Red Moon-level core obsessions controlled by the [Hospital].

How can this be……

hum-

The next second, the last core obsession vanished without a trace.

It was only at this moment that the [Hospital] noticed that several players had appeared in the depths of the distorted space, which should have been empty. These players were so weak that they were not worth mentioning and did not deserve its attention.

There were three players standing in the instance space, two men and one woman... well, now only two are left, one of them just passed away. The two who are still alive are also in very bad condition. The woman has a broken leg and can only be supported by the man, while the man has lost an eye and suffered severe internal organ damage. Both of them also have multiple injuries and massive bleeding, and if left unattended, they will die within a few hours at most.

Without a doubt, that was the Minghui Squad, who had proactively ventured into the distorted space.

A small group that was never taken seriously by the hospital from the beginning, so weak in its eyes that it was insignificant and had no chance of changing the war.

[You might think that since you've already condescended to attack a Red Moon-level player, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. But I have to say, you're still ridiculously arrogant. It's precisely because you hold this kind of thinking that you're destined to lose, you idiot.]

Gao Hai laughed again.

Sensing the undisguised shock and rage emanating from the hospital, he could no longer contain himself and burst into laughter.

[Hahahahahahaha——]

Amidst the laughter, the crimson aura within the small, enclosed space controlled by Gao Hai began to dissipate.

The only one still alive and in need of saving is oneself.

The only one who needs to die now, the only target who needs to be killed, is himself.

Facing the mirrors reflecting my image, I listened to a voice that seemed to come from nowhere, like the voice of my own heart.

The surgeon finally reached a conclusion.

A conclusion that should have been reached long ago, and that I have longed for.

Now, he can finally rest in peace.

I want...I want...to save you!!!

With a roar, the distorted blood mist suddenly contracted, transforming into sharp spikes that pierced the monster itself.

Flesh and blood were tearing apart, and the body was breaking apart.

The repair phenomenon that usually occurs every time did not appear this time.

There is no need for him to come back to life.

After all, he himself was now the real source of suffering, the one who needed to be saved, the one who needed to die.

I want to give you... happiness... happiness...

I watched myself gradually disappear in the mirror.

The monster murmured one last time, with a hint of satisfaction in its voice.

Then, it ceased to exist. In the shattered, enclosed space, only a cloud of blood mist devoid of self-awareness remained, slowly crumbling away and returning to the unconscious cycle of souls on this planet.

The surgeon was thus declared completely dead.

Gao Hai, who had accomplished all of this, did not react much. He simply raised his head and looked up at the blood-red storm that continued to gather in mid-air.

It was clear that the hospital was in a state of helpless rage.

The last remaining active [Doctor] has been eliminated, all controlled Red Moon-level instances have been compromised, and the distorted space used as a cover has been destroyed. The [Hospital] has now lost all usable power and is irreversibly being detached from the real world. Furthermore, due to the reckless release of power, the [Hospital] itself has entered an irreversible state of self-destruction. Even if it manages to escape back to its own instance space, even if Gao Hai ignores it, it will most likely perish after a while.

But how could Gao Hai let the enemy escape alive?

"You still want to salvage the wreckage, huh? Have you forgotten who's here?"

Sensing the power that the [Hospital] was trying to project onto him again, Gao Hai couldn't help but laugh again, and then his avatar shattered and dissipated. The next second, the avatar that was completely under Gao Hai's control and had no self-awareness appeared in the edge of the void outside the real world, blocking the blurry avatar formed by the [Hospital].

In the darkness of nothingness, only Gao Hai and the hospital existed at this moment; there was no one else.