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

"You...why...this is impossible..."

Unable to believe that things had turned out this way, the man held onto Takahashi and Kaguya tightly, muttering to himself.

"Directly modifying the object of one's own obsession? That's quite a terrifying thing. But at least learn to conceal your malice. Our companions wouldn't harbor such strong malice towards us."

Gao Hai frowned and spoke with great displeasure. Then, a card flew out from the man's body and disappeared into the night.

Is that... a hotel room key?

Because the thing appeared and disappeared so quickly, Gao Hai could only barely catch a glimpse of its traces.

"No! How could this be?! Damn it, is it a trap?!"

The man's eyes widened in anger as he cursed. He was able to use the ability to "modify his own existence, transforming himself into 'Takami and Kaguya's companion'" thanks to the power of that mysterious object of obsession. But to his disbelief, the object vanished on its own after just a brief setback.

That important person who promised to help me actually took it back like that! Damn it, how could they do this...?

The intense physical pain was still stimulating his nerves.

As the man exhaled and got up from the ground, Kaguya and Takami were already standing in front of him.

"So there are players hiding in the Shinomiya family after all. Well then, would you mind telling us about your situation? Maybe if we're happy to hear it, we won't do anything to you."

Gao Hai looked at the man and smiled slightly.

"..."

The man said nothing.

He simply covered his bleeding mouth, raised his head, glanced at Takahashi standing to his side, and then at Kaguya standing on the other side.

Then, after a brief silence, the man suddenly stood up, bursting forth like a venomous snake, and thrust out a sharp dagger, aiming directly at Kaguya Shinomiya's eyes.

Interlude 2-16: Goodbye, my brother, and my cowardice.

The player hiding in the Shinomiya family is a veteran player who has participated in 8 missions and cleared the Dark Night level dungeon 2 times and the Twilight level dungeon 6 times.

Among all players in the Tokyo area, being able to clear the Dark Night level dungeon twice is already extremely rare. Above him, fewer than five players have cleared the Dark Night level dungeon more times. Moreover, he didn't enter the Dark Night level dungeon out of necessity, but rather actively went to clear it before the game's limits were reached. Besides him, there are at most three other players in the Tokyo area who have achieved this.

This is why the man harbored a certain arrogance, always believing his skill level was quite good among players, placing him among the core group second only to the top tier. However, despite this, he remained cautious in his actions, as no one knew which newcomer might be lucky enough to obtain an exceptionally powerful artifact.

The man rarely clashed with other players. He had been lying low within the Shinomiya family, indulging in a life of extravagance and debauchery, living a life of hedonistic indulgence every month. It was only the fact that Kaguya and Maki had become players that made him feel a little threatened, which forced him to take action.

Even so, the man didn't actually want things to come to a point of mutual slaughter. Even after the powerful figure in the shadows gave him that strange room key that could directly alter identity information, he only intended to change Kaguya and Takami's thinking, ensuring that the two would never pose a threat to him. In his view, there was nothing wrong with what he was doing; he was simply ensuring that the Shinomiya family, which had effectively become his backyard, wouldn't be taken away, and was merely protecting his property. But these two damned brats didn't seem to have any intention of communicating with him properly.

Since that's the case, there's no need to continue the discussion.

chap——

The sharp dagger thrust straight out.

Suddenly bursting forth with superhuman speed that surpassed human limits, the man swung his sword, ready to pierce Kaguya's eyeball.

when!

The next moment, amidst a loud bang, the girl swung her hand and blocked the man's attack with a sharp scalpel, deflecting the direction of the scalpel's swing with equal force.

At the same time, the man suddenly retreated, nimbly backing away more than ten meters like a monkey, and looked at the other party with a somewhat regretful expression.

Instead of dodging, they used their obsession to fight back. What a pity.

Thinking this, the man looked down at the unassuming little dagger in his hand.

Of course, this is an object of obsession, and it's the object that a man will always prioritize using whenever he needs to fight against other players.

This thing looks like just a small dagger, and it seems no different from a normal dagger when used normally. But as soon as it is used to attack humans, it will reveal its abnormal side.

As soon as the opponent tries to dodge the attack, the man can immediately hit the spot he wants to hit.

The man can immediately sever the opponent's joints if they attempt to resist the attack.

The only countermeasure is to use the power of the object of obsession to counteract the abnormal power of the dagger itself. However, firstly, the players' strengths vary greatly, and they may not possess an object of obsession capable of countering the man's dagger. Secondly, in the initial encounter, the two players are often in a state of mutual probing and will not launch a fierce attack immediately. In this situation, the man's dagger can exert a considerable advantage and easily eliminate the enemy.

However, this time, his opponent happened to choose the only effective means of countermeasure.

Coincidence?

The man frowned, secretly pulled out his second object of obsession from his waist and held it in his hand.

whoosh-

The moment the wind whistled, Kaguya Shinomiya was already standing in front of the man.

The dagger and the scalpel collided repeatedly within seconds.

In the blink of an eye, the man was horrified to discover that his speed and skill were no match for his opponent's, and he was easily suppressed in less than a few rounds.

Not far away, Gao Hai had already sat down on the ground next to Shi Gong Huang Guang to watch the show.

Kaguya's speed increased once again. Her dark red eyes were as terrifying as a predator in the darkness. She swung her blade, easily breaking through the man's stance and cutting a wound on his arm.

"Ugh! Damn it..."

The furious man retreated, struggling to fend off Kaguya's attacks while anxiously looking around as if searching for a way to escape.

Are you looking for this?

Gao Hai's voice rang out from not far away at that moment.

The man's expression suddenly froze, and he turned to look at Gao Hai and the black toy marble that Gao Hai was holding in his hand.

Why would this guy...?

Before the man could even voice his question, a crimson light flashed across his wrist.

By the time he realized what had happened, Kaguya had already grabbed his severed hand and put the object of his obsession, which he had painstakingly brought out from a Dark Night-level dungeon, into her pocket.

"You...uhhhhh, why are you all..."

Amidst the gushing blood, the man, clutching his severed hand and drenched in sweat, retreated, unable to comprehend why his teleportation artifact was in the other party's possession.

This object of obsession is a pair of children's marbles. Throwing one of them causes it to move on its own, gradually moving away from the other. If the timeframe is controlled within one minute, the man holding the other marble can teleport to the moving marble at any time—a very practical teleportation device. However, if the two marbles are not reunited within one minute of being thrown, the object will immediately go out of control, summoning eerie creatures to hunt down the person holding the marbles, thus posing a considerable danger.

But that's not the key issue right now.

The question the man couldn't understand at that moment was why Gao Hai would take the marble that he had secretly thrown away, which, in a way, shouldn't have been discovered—the marble that he had mixed with blood and dropped on the ground.

As for why Gao Hai noticed, it had nothing to do with any keen observation skills. The man's feint was quite convincing; Gao Hai didn't see when he dropped the marble on the ground, he only knew that the other man would drop marbles.

Because there was Fujiwara Chika, a girl who experienced the month that Takami was unable to return to the real world, and who witnessed Kaguya Maki's battle with this man.

So, Chika has already spoiled all of this for Takami and Kaguya, including what this man looks like, what his abilities are, and what obsessions he possesses.

In the loop that Fujiwara Chika experienced, the man used a dagger and marbles to inflict considerable damage on Kaguya and Maki, forcing the two girls to cautiously probe and confirm the abilities of their opponent's obsession. That battle was fraught with danger, and casualties could have occurred at any moment. Although they ultimately won, they all paid a price. Therefore, the girl remembered it vividly and couldn't possibly keep it from her teammates.

Having received this spoiler, Kaguya and Takami were now fully aware of what methods this guy would use. Therefore, when the enemy launched a sudden attack, she didn't hesitate to retaliate with her scalpel. Even though she didn't find anything unusual, Takami, believing the opponent had already started using the marble-shaped object, immediately began a thorough search and quickly found what she was looking for.

What might have been a slightly suspenseful battle became a foregone conclusion after one side copied the strategy beforehand.

"If you honestly reveal who is behind you, you might still have a chance to live."

Seeing the man sitting on the ground, pale-faced and clutching his severed arm, Gao Hai stood up and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"...It was Little River Tree, it was Little River Tree who instructed me to attack you."

The man, who was starting to feel dizzy from blood loss, took a few more steps back and hurriedly spoke.

Do you think we look easy to fool? Or are you just itching to die?

Kaguya's voice was chillingly cold.

"It really is Kawaki; he and Aoyama Nanami were plotting this behind the scenes..."

The man's forehead was beaded with sweat, but he still stubbornly insisted on speaking.

"Since we're asking, we must have a way to verify whether what you're saying is true or false. Are you sure this is what you're going to say in the end?"

Somewhat impatiently, Gao Hai waved his hand casually, while Kaguya had already gripped the scalpel and lunged forward.

Damn it, do they actually have a way to detect lies or are they just talking nonsense?

Knowing his condition was getting worse, the man took a deep breath and finally decided to reveal what he knew about that important figure.

Even if you know that speaking out might mean the end of your life, at the very least, you need to get through this period before thinking about the future.

The man, who was thinking this, found that his body seemed to be out of control, as if it were being manipulated, and he took out his third obsession from his waist: a dirty notebook stained with blood and mud.

This was another of the man's obsessive possessions, enabling him to make others believe in his writings by having them read what he had written in his notebook. It was this obsessive possession that allowed him to hide in the Shinomiya residence for more than half a year without being discovered.

This thing is basically unusable in battle because it requires at least 100 words to be written and the reader must read the entire note from beginning to end for it to take effect. Therefore, there is no need for the man to take it out in battle.

Why...why is my body...

Could it be...? How is this possible...?

boom!

The doubts that had just arisen in the man's heart were ended forever.

In front of him, Kaguya Shinomiya lowered her pistol, frowned as she looked at the man she had shot in the head, reached out and grabbed the notebook in his hand, pulling it into her own.

The man's action of pulling out a notebook just now didn't happen in the previous timeline when she talked to Chika Takami. Therefore, this was a variable, and without knowing the safety risks of this variable, Kaguya decisively abandoned the interrogation and shot him in the head.

Security is more important than intelligence.

Kaguya took another marble from the corpse, along with a dagger and a notebook, and threw them to Takahime, who then suppressed them all into the watch's storage space.

Then, after straightening her clothes and dusting herself off, Kaguya slowly approached the now silent Shinomiya Hikari.

"Are you still truly a member of the Shinomiya family?"

Huang Guang, his face ashen, seemed to have lost all will to resist. He simply looked at Kaguya and asked slowly, as if trying to confirm something.

"What do you think is the reason you're still alive?"

Kaguya did not answer Huang Guang's question directly, but gave a cold reply, her expression somewhat complicated.

"...I understand. From today onwards, the Shinomiya clan will be the servants of Shinomiya Kaguya. From now on, no matter what your request is, we will do our utmost to fulfill it for you, esteemed... Head of the family."

He bent down deeply and pressed his head against the ground.

Hikari Shinomiya, who was in the dilapidated villa, performed a very standard dogeza (a traditional Chinese kowtow) bow to Kaguya.

Kaguya stood still, accepting her brother's bow with a blank expression. He remained kneeling and kowtowing for about half a minute before finally saying, "You may get up now." From Kaguya's expression and actions, it was clear that she no longer considered her brother family, but merely a servant she could dismiss or even kill at any time.

Gao Hai had already reached the player's corpse. As expected, Koga Itsuki, the manager of the Tokyo player market, appeared. After politely greeting Gao Hai, she disappeared with the player's corpse.