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

No crying, no fussing, no paralyzing in fear – that's already quite good for a newcomer. Although, given the current situation, if it really is that so-called "Alice Game," then no matter how outstanding a newcomer is, it's meaningless.

"Don't panic, don't be afraid, listen to me, can you do that?"

As Gao Hai spoke, he grabbed Jianzi's shoulder and pulled her slowly backward, away from the door.

Gao Hai has no idea what rules govern the strange phenomena that appear in the real world.

The only thing that's certain is that this thing hasn't triggered the killing rules yet, otherwise that girl wouldn't have just been out for a fashion show.

We need to find a way to leave this house.

Gao Hai's gaze quickly shifted to the window on one side of the room.

The window had security bars installed, but Gao Hai was perfectly capable of breaking them open to the street outside.

He could see the streets outside in the setting sun.

I saw pedestrians coming and going on the street.

I saw a row of boys and girls in school uniforms standing motionless on the street, their backs to the window.

If you try to go out from here, you will undoubtedly run into those "people" standing outside the window with their backs to you.

The intense malice and inhumanity made Gao Hai immediately dismiss the idea.

{Haijun, how's the situation on your end?}

Zhenfei's voice was still echoing in Gao Hai's mind.

{This is bad. There's a bunch of those things standing outside the window with their backs to me, and at least one of them has come inside. Did you receive my call just now? I've already crushed my phone; I can't call anyone anymore.}

While cautiously observing the surrounding situation, Gao Hai continued to communicate with Zhen Fei.

{They not only called, but called many times, and I didn't answer. I've already contacted your aunt and Fujiwara, and they know your situation and won't answer your calls.}

As a reliable partner, Maki would naturally not make mistakes on such matters. After Takami abruptly asked her if she had received the text message, she had already realized the problem and quickly contacted Kaguya and Chika to explain the situation. After that, she would not read or answer any of Takami's calls or text messages, and only believed the messages transmitted through the mental link.

{Good. Now try to contact Xiaoheshu and Qingshan Nanami and tell them I was attacked by the strange creatures at Fujika Middle School in the [School Ghost Stories] instance. Those two might have some solutions. Be extremely careful on the way there. If you encounter any students standing motionless with their backs to you, immediately use the power of your blessing to check their situation. If it's a ghost, quickly evacuate that area.}

Gao Hai quickly communicated with Zhen Fei through the mental link, and at that moment, the surrounding environment also changed.

pat-

The television, which was originally off, turned on automatically for some unknown reason.

Amidst the noise, the television screen displayed live footage of a reporter conducting an interview at a school. At this moment, the screen showed the reporter standing in a classroom, smiling at the screen. Behind the reporter, the pale-faced students also opened their mouths, smiling happily at the screen.

Their smiles were a silent, subtle smile directed at Takami and Miko, who were standing to the side of the television.

Interlude 2-32: A strange thing has quietly followed us.

I stepped on a cat! I stepped on a cat!

Did I step on the napping kitten?

The sound of children singing came from the television.

The sound of people jumping and dancing came from the television speakers.

There is no video.

Because after the footage of the reporter interviewing the school appeared, Gao Hai immediately threw the coffee table onto the TV, smashing the screen on the spot.

As it turned out, this method, while useful, was not very effective. Even without the picture, the broken TV's speakers continued to emit strange sounds, constantly emitting unsettling and eerie noises.

The cat ran away! The cat ran away!

A cheerful singing voice rang out from the broken television set, accompanied by almost incoherent, sharp noises.

The temperature in the living room is dropping, and it has already dropped to the point where it's starting to feel cold.

Outside the window behind me, a row of those things were already standing.

The hallway outside the living room door was shrouded in eerie shadows.

Communication has been completely cut off; only the mental link with Maki remains functional.

At this moment, Gao Hai and Jian Zi stood on one side of the living room, unsure of what to do, and could only remain still.

Now how to do?

Gao Hai's gaze kept shifting between the doorway, the window, and the smashed television set.

Jianzi, standing beside him, was so frightened that she didn't know what to do. She instinctively reached out and tightly grabbed Gao Hai's clothes. It seemed that she couldn't come up with any ideas for the time being.

What should I do?

Gao Hai asked himself this question in his heart.

A deadly threat is looming ahead.

How can we break out of this current situation?

There is no doubt that he is now entangled by a strange force.

However, it was not attacked.

Despite the unusual phenomena that have begun to appear around me, I have not yet been subjected to any strange direct attacks.

So, according to the principle that "the bizarre must follow certain rules" in its actions, does this mean that I have not yet violated the bizarre rules of this attack and am still in a temporarily safe phase?

No matter how their bizarre forms and abilities change, their rule-following characteristic remains unchanged. To this day, no matter how high-level, difficult, or terrifying the dungeons players encounter, the bizarre creatures within have never altered this code of conduct.

So the fact that I and Miko are not dead means that the "rule of certain death" has not yet been broken.

The strange phenomenon began after Miko mentioned the "Alice Game." She was likely first entangled by this strange power, and then Miko obtained relevant information from her, thus creating a chain reaction of the strange power and causing her to be drawn into it.

Alice's Game... this strange entity existing within Fujika Junior High School, its rules and patterns of action often follow a set of "game rules." However, neither I nor Miko are currently in the "game venue" such as the school building or dormitory, nor do we possess any "game rules." From this perspective, neither I nor Miko meet the requirements for the "Alice's Game" to take effect, so the entity that might attack me is definitely not "Alice" herself.

Following this line of reasoning, the very evil Big Bad Wolf, a supernatural being emphasized by the rules, would certainly not attack him and Miko, because this supernatural being would only attack players who participated in the Alice Game and violated specific rules.

After eliminating these two, what other anomalies exist on the rule sheet that are not closely related to the game location in the game rules? What other anomalies might appear outside the game area, act according to certain rules, and potentially launch attacks?

Gao Hai took a step forward, walked to the broken television set, and then to the coffee table that he had thrown away, which was now lying askew on the ground.

Reposition the coffee table and place it on the floor.

Then, Gao Hai pulled a candle from the coffee table drawer, took out a lighter, lit the candle, and slowly stood up while holding the candle, still with his hand outstretched.

Standing next to Gao Hai, Jianzi blinked, not understanding what Gao Hai meant for a moment.

But soon, the girl, who had heard some kind of noise, turned her head slightly and saw something standing beside her.

【Shh——】

With a suppressed laugh, Gao Hai blew out the candle in his hand.

"Mr. Gao..."

At this moment, Jianzi almost collapsed to the ground.

"Test successful. Did you see that thing? Where was it just now?"

Gao Hai didn't react at all to the candle in his hand being blown out; he simply turned to look at Jian Zi and asked calmly.

He didn't see anything or hear any unusual sounds.

The candle going out was an abrupt event in Gao Hai's view; he hadn't noticed any warning signs before it happened.

But judging from Miko's terrified reaction, something must have just happened.

As the player, he saw nothing, but did Yotsuya Miko, who wasn't even a player, see it?

Could it be that her eyes can see more and more comprehensively than mine, the player?!

“It…it walked past me and blew out the candle you were holding.”

With a pale face, Miko tried her best to maintain a calm expression as she answered Takahashi's questions.

Are you sure it just walked right past you?

Gao Hai asked again to confirm.

"Um……"

The girl nodded heavily, then subconsciously looked away at the ground.

The "bad kids" are right here.

Furthermore, based on Miko's words, either the "bad kid" possesses the ability to teleport, or the "bad kid" has always existed in this place, always by their side, only becoming visible after Takami lit the candle due to certain rules, and even then, it's not a complete manifestation. Perhaps this is because Takami isn't currently participating in the "Alice Game," so the candle in his hand doesn't possess any special properties. However, if Miko can see the "bad kid" in this state, she might play a significant role in the future.

"Where is it now?"

Gao Hai looked around the living room, which seemed perfectly normal to him, and then looked at Jianzi and asked.

"..."

The girl did not answer Gao Hai's question, but still dared not look him in the eye.

Gao Hai understood what Jian Zi meant.

He looked around at himself, but saw nothing unusual.

But the girl beside him could see the foul-smelling blood dripping from Gao Hai's body.

If you just raise your head slightly, you can see Gao Hai's rotting, foul-smelling arm hanging down from his waist. The skin has been peeled off, and the flesh, covered with knife marks, is crawling with maggots.

Only half of the rib remained, looped around Gao Hai's left arm, with some tendons connecting it to the intestines that encircled Gao Hai's waist and legs. With each movement of Gao Hai, the drooping internal organs could be seen swaying slightly.

The head of that thing was on Gao Hai's shoulder.

Its jaw was torn off and stuck in Gao Hai's neck, the sharp broken bone piercing Gao Hai's throat, but Gao Hai himself felt nothing.

More than a dozen very thin steel needles pierced through the creature's temples and out of its eyeballs, almost pushing its eyes out of their sockets. However, fine blood vessels and fleshy threads were still attached to the eye sockets, like a spider web firmly gripping the eyeballs.

Half of the tongue was cut off and hung down, while the remaining arm, with only three fingers, was still gently raised, with the index finger, whose nails had been pulled out, held upright at the half-mouth.

【Shh——】

The voice was like a whisper in Miko's ear.

Can't say it.

Upon hearing that voice, Miko realized that she must not reveal what she had seen.

If I say it out loud, I will...