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

Doesn't this mean I'm very possessive of this girl?

Gao Hai fell into deep thought.

The girl standing opposite him had already changed her clothes and then disappeared right in front of Gao Hai.

After that, he was no longer able to see the other party's actions and could only understand the general situation based on the information sent back by Maki.

"call……"

Gao Hai let out a long sigh of relief, sat down against the wall, and sent a message to Maki through the link to let her know that Chika had gone to her side. Then he began to wait silently.

Will things go smoothly?

Gao Hai had to admit that he was a little uneasy.

Although Chika has been a very reliable teammate all along, Gao Hai is extremely worried because she has to act alone for a period of time, and in the dangerous place where he died in his first playthrough. He can't calm down at all.

One minute, two minutes...

Gao Hai sat silently in place, tapping his fingers lightly on the floor, his eyes closed and his breathing calm.

Five minutes, six minutes...

As the frequency of his tapping increased slightly, Gao Hai's brows furrowed.

Sixteen minutes, seventeen minutes...

Gao Hai opened his eyes and looked at the empty guard post where he was all alone. A sense of anxiety gradually rose in his heart.

However, in the 19th minute, he finally received a message from Maki.

My aunt and I have met up with Fujiwara. We're currently in a small room in the staff break room. We'll be changing into our security uniforms together in about two minutes. Kai-kun, how's things going on your end?

Princess Zhenfei's voice was no different from usual; it remained calm and decisive.

{I understand. I'm all ready. Just let me know when you're all dressed. We'll try to be synchronized and enter together.}

Gao Hai immediately replied, stood up, summoned the rescue team members again, and instructed them to quickly put on their security uniforms. He himself then began to put on the security uniform that had been prepared in advance.

Based on the experience from the first playthrough and Susan and Lixer's words, it can be confirmed that no matter where you put on the security guard uniform, you will be teleported to the guard post location, specifically to the guard post in the timeline where the security guard is stationed at the large slide.

So now, it all comes down to this moment.

{I'm mostly dressed, only the zipper on my clothes isn't zipped up yet. Haijun, 3-second countdown.}

News of Princess Zhenfei has arrived once again.

Gao Hai and his partner had already prepared for the countdown, and at this moment, they completed the final three-second countdown.

3,2,1--

Everything around us changed in an instant.

The guard post looked brand new in an instant. Maki, Kaguya, and Chika, the three girls, stood beside Takami, while the rescue team member stood in front of him, staring at the dilapidated corpse in a security guard uniform sitting on the guard post bed.

Although the security guard was so deformed and horribly disfigured that his face was practically nonexistent, at this moment, with five security guards suddenly appearing at the guard post and crowding the small space, he still felt that the creature seemed slightly bewildered for a moment.

Chapter 50: Love-struck Girls and the Time When Dreams End

"Haijun, why do you have so many injuries? Are you really alright?"

Zhenfei's gaze was fixed on Gao Hai, and she asked in a low voice with a worried tone.

"So I'm really fine. Okay, okay, now's not the time to worry about this. Let's get out of here and talk about this."

Gao Hai simply waved his hand and spoke casually, then continued walking forward.

Kaguya silently watched the interaction between Takami and Maki, then turned to look ahead and continued walking.

As for Fujiwara Chika, she stood beside Takami, flanking him on either side of Maki. Although she didn't say anything, the girl's gaze kept sweeping back and forth between Takami and Maki, seemingly making a silent assessment.

It's clear that these two people have a very good relationship.

That kind of heartfelt care and concern is immediately apparent. This girl named Shijo Maki genuinely likes Takami, and Takami responds to her in a very skillful and natural way. It's clear that he likes her too.

I just started to feel the spark of love, and then I got dumped.

Sure enough, it will be very uncomfortable.

Fujiwara Chika couldn't help but have this thought in her heart, and felt a slight sense of emotion.

What she didn't notice was that although Shijou Maki seemed to be talking and chatting with Takami, her attention was actually always on her side, watching Fujiwara Chika's every move. It could be said that she was paying 1000% attention to her.

Long pink hair.

A slightly fleshy face is a very attractive feature to men.

His facial expression had a slightly naive feel to it, and he followed along step by step like a small animal. No matter how you looked at it, Haijun had no resistance to this guy.

And her butt is quite big, well, but her breasts aren't that different from mine, just slightly bigger. Looking at it this way, at least in terms of body shape, there isn't a huge difference, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

As Zhenfei pondered, she unconsciously clenched her small hand into a fist, and then slowly released it.

At least for now, Kai-kun doesn't seem to have any interest in this girl, while that guy is completely infatuated with him. It's incomprehensible; this guy is so lewd and perverted, how did he manage to win over a girl from Shuchiin Academy in such a short time? Kaguya clearly said that Fujiwara Chika is the daughter of a politician; shouldn't she be more cautious in matters of the heart? How can she be so easily captivated by a man?

Shijo Maki has completely forgotten how easily Takami took her place at the Shirakawa apartment. Of course, even if she recalled it, she would never admit that she was taken care of; that much is certain.

"To be honest, I still don't think we really need to choose this method. My friend Maki and I have found a lot of useful clues. If we continue to investigate, we should be able to gain more, achieve a perfect clear, take the core obsession item, or even break the obsession and destroy the dungeon. In my opinion, all of these are possibilities."

Kaguya wasn't bothered by these distracting thoughts. Instead, she frowned and looked at Takahashi, asking him a question.

Having successfully breached Shirakawa's apartment and gathered a wealth of intelligence while at the research base, Kaguya felt it was somewhat of a waste to abandon these things now.

"Yes, there is a chance, but how many times do you think we need to start over to find that chance? Don't forget that I'm the one who pays the price for any mistakes. Besides, the situation in this instance is far too complicated. Just figuring out the approximate timeline of how this instance was formed has taken us a lot of time and energy. Not to mention that there are two different core obsessions in this instance. You don't really think you can find a solution in one go, do you?"

But Gao Hai merely glanced at Kaguya before replying without any politeness.

"To obtain the core artifacts and to unlock the blessings from dungeons, these can all be achieved by completing the fixed Twilight-level dungeons. But the current dungeon is no longer something that can be cleared with a 'struggle'. I have a limited number of times I can try again. What should we do if we have to try five or six times, or even use up all our attempts, just for this one dungeon? Even if we manage to clear this dungeon, what about the next one?"

Despite possessing the powerful, almost cheat-like ability of the black watch, Gao Hai never felt he should suddenly become arrogant and domineering. He knew very well that while this strange watch gave him a second chance, it was also gradually dragging him towards the abyss of death. And most of the extraordinary powers the watch granted him required consuming one of his second chances.

We are far from being able to confidently conquer these high-difficulty dungeons that even veteran players dare not easily attempt.

The correct approach is to choose lower-difficulty, less complex, fixed-level dungeons, break through their core obsessions, continuously obtain powerful blessings with virtually no side effects, and absorb the obsession remnants to increase the watch's recovery value, thus absorbing more resources to create a virtuous cycle. Accumulate resources step by step, surviving for a while until you reach mastery, which is the best time to challenge higher levels.

Choosing the highest difficulty level recklessly because there are more opportunities to try and fail is a very irrational act. Ultimately, this watch is not the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow System and cannot directly turn Gao Hai into an invincible emperor. Therefore, after confirming the way to complete the game normally, Gao Hai abandoned the path of perfect completion without any hesitation.

"...That's true, I'm sorry I didn't consider that."

Kaguya Shinomiya obviously understood this as well, but she was still somewhat regretful about giving up the clues before. Therefore, after Takahashi explained, she quickly understood the current situation and readily bowed her head to apologize to him.

My vision is not far-sighted enough, and I am not calm and thoughtful enough when I do things.

Kaguya couldn't help but sigh to herself.

Then look at Shijou Maki. This child used to be a very intelligent person, but now she is only focused on Taka-kun.

Fujiwara seemed completely captivated by Takagi, but she was the type who longed for romance, though she'd say things like "romance is too early for me," she was actually incredibly enthusiastic about it. Kaguya remembered that she'd even acted as an advisor to one of Maki's friends, helping her get along with her boyfriend.

Now, both of them have fallen for the same guy.

This kind of thing, indeed... no, perhaps, we shouldn't use normal people's views on love to measure our current lives anymore.

As the group walked step by step through the brightly lit, yet slightly chilly, stone forest path, Kaguya Shinomiya suddenly realized something: the ordinary monogamous romantic relationship that is suitable for ordinary people might no longer be appropriate for the player community.

After all, these people are a high-risk group whose lives may only have one month left, and who may face death at the end of each month.

It's perfectly reasonable to unite and face danger at all costs, and someone like Takayuki, who possesses the power to "start over," is someone who absolutely needs to be united. Therefore, it's not impossible that she, Maki, and Fujiwara might all be with this guy. Only by building a close enough bond can everyone work together as one when facing something as terrifying as the ghost story game, better cooperate to confront danger, and share in the benefits of Takayuki's power.

Kaguya Shinomiya was somewhat uneasy.

This discovery was quite embarrassing for her to talk about, especially the thought of whether or not she should pursue the other person, which Kaguya found unbearable.

Confessing my feelings and dating... no, that kind of thing is definitely not for me. It's better to be comrades-in-arms, right?

But with comrades-in-arms, neither preserving memories and starting over together, nor establishing a spiritual bond like that of Zhenfei, is possible. And when faced with danger, when forced to abandon someone, Gao Jun might be more inclined to choose to abandon himself…

But if it were him confessing his feelings to me...

The girl's mind was a little confused.

Gao Hai, who was walking forward, was completely unaware that the three girls beside him were all preoccupied with his love life, as if they had been cursed by the god of love and turned into love-obsessed individuals.

However, there was a reason why they dared to be so distracted. After all, the power of the blessing could remind them of any approaching danger, and besides Gao Hai, the rescue team member summoned by the rescue team badge was following behind them, so their safety was currently quite assured.

Yes, Gao Hai did not allow the rescue team members to remain in the guard post.

Upon discovering that the security guard, whose body had been crushed, was right there in the guard post, Gao Hai had a sudden inspiration. He explained that everyone was changing shifts but had misremembered the time, so they had arrived too early and asked the guard to continue working. Then he left without any further trouble.

It has to be said that this kind of eerie person who can communicate is actually quite easy to deal with. As long as what you say makes sense within the rules, the other party will not suddenly attack you.

As for why the rescue team was brought out, firstly, regardless of their location, they could distract the core obsession guarding the entrance through language. Secondly, even though he had decided to leave the instance, Gao Hai still had some things he wanted to verify. Putting aside everything else, as one of the first players to clear the fixed stages of the Red Nut Gray Hole instance, the information he possessed was absolutely valuable; escape strategies for such an extremely dangerous, top-tier Dark Night instance would be snapped up by countless people no matter where they were posted.

Therefore, Gao Hai decided to have the rescue team member escort the group to the entrance and then return to the entrance of the "gentle slope". After shouting "I am human" to attract the eerie gatekeeper, he rushed directly into the gentle slope.

The eerie white dress only appeared during the research base era, and its true form resides in the very end of the timeline. This means that during the period before the attraction's operation, the accident cover-up, and the outbreak of the disaster, the [Gentle Slope] should have been free of this eeriness. However, more than one rule requires avoiding this place, which is highly suspicious. Could it be that this eeriness became a core obsession, directly altering the previous timeline and causing the [Gentle Slope] to become a dead zone from ancient times? If it's that powerful, then thank you very much. Gao Hai felt that this kind of setting, usually found in the later stages of fantasy novels, didn't make sense appear in a Dark Night-level dungeon boss.

"are you ready?"

Standing on the stairs at the entrance to the Red Nut Gray Hole, looking up at the top of the stairs, where a soft crescent moon and twinkling stars shone, Gao Hai turned to the three people beside him and asked seriously.

Then, after the girls gave an affirmative answer, Gao Hai gave the order to the rescue team. Immediately, the rescue team members, who were already eager to sacrifice themselves to save others' lives, took off running, rushing down the gentle slope, and halfway there they opened their mouths and let out a completely emotionless shout.

Ah, I am human.

Ah, I am human.

Ah, Japanese people, joyful people, human beings.

Accompanied by three sentences read aloud in a monotonous, robotic voice, a sinister atmosphere suddenly surged, and a figure in a white dress flashed past the rescue team member.

Even though the rescue team members, who were also shrouded in that aura, were enveloped by it, Gao Hai still felt an incredibly intense chill through the link in his badge.

"quick!"

Without hesitation, he immediately sprinted forward, running out of the area of ​​the Red Nut Gray Hole.

Kaguya, Maki, and Chika followed closely behind, and the four of them stepped into the ground area of ​​the Red Nut Gray Hole under the moonlight, truly leaving the area of ​​that dark cave and coming to the surface.

Congratulations on successfully clearing the Twilight-level dungeon: Red Nut Gray Hole!

A cold voice rang in Kaguya Shinomiya's ears, in Maki Shijou's ears, and in Chika Fujiwara's ears.

Their bodies began to become ethereal, and they began the process of being transported away from this strange place.

Except for the one person who was left.