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

Where did the two missing people go?

Walking up to a student's desk, Gao Hai tapped on it and asked in a cold tone.

"Hey hey hey, I, I, I, I..."

Perhaps because the sheep's head mask had become more and more integrated with him, and because the students who remained in the classroom had not spent much time with Gao Hai, the girls in the entire class suddenly felt a strong sense of fear upon coming into contact with him, and they couldn't even speak coherently.

It didn't take long for Gao Hai to figure out the situation of the two missing girls. One of the girls tried to climb out of the window to another classroom to escape, but after sticking her head out of the window, something in the darkness grabbed her head and dragged her down. The other girl tried to break out after realizing that the students in the corridor wouldn't attack her, and she actually passed through the human wall formed by the strange students. Then, she was grabbed by something without making a sound after walking a short distance. When this girl disappeared, the other students only heard a low laugh.

It was precisely because of the lessons learned from these two students that the remaining people were able to stay put and behave themselves.

"Even in this state, there are still people who are courting death. What can I say? Anyway, Sanada, right? Go back to class and rest. You can't be of any help in this condition. And... Ichino, pick out two more reliable people."

Having no feelings for the two girls who were courting death, but instead feeling that their deaths confirmed some information, Takahashi turned around and spoke to Ichino Rika, who was helping Sanada Kazumi into the room.

"Uh, do I still have to choose...?"

When Rihanna Ito heard Takami tell Sanada to go back and rest, she was somewhat happy, but when she heard that she was asked to choose two more people, her expression turned bitter again.

I'm about to become the villain completely...

When she was asked to choose Sanada Go before, Sanada Go already harbored some resentment towards her. Now that she's being asked to choose again, it's certain that no matter who she chooses, she'll be hated by that person, especially after she goes outside and learns about what's going on in that terrifying school. It's certain that the number of people who resent her will only increase.

But that's all we can do.

The girl thought that Gao Hai probably thought she, as the vice class monitor, knew more about the class, which was why he asked her to choose the people to accompany him on the exploration. Sanada's reaction clearly dissatisfied Gao Hai, hence his emphasis on "reliability." So, if the person he chose this time was like Sanada, unable to help him and instead hindering him, forcing him to send them back, he might start to see everyone in the class as a burden and abandon them.

From Ichino Rika's perspective, this thought was understandable. Although, in reality, Takami had always considered these people a burden, even if, apart from Miko, he couldn't find anyone else who could help and they were all useless, he would at most just leave them in the classroom to maintain the status quo. However, Ichino Rika couldn't have predicted this, so she could only help Sanada Kazumi back to his seat in the classroom, then take a deep breath and look at each of her classmates.

Just like the first selection, everyone's faces were pleading; no one wanted to be chosen. Especially after seeing Sanada's breakdown and noticing that one person hadn't returned, everyone was filled with fear and didn't want to be the one chosen.

"No, don't choose me..."

"Ichino-kun, we're friends, right? Don't choose me, don't choose me..."

"You...you mustn't look at me, please...please don't..."

The pleading voices and fearful expressions of the girls put considerable pressure on Rika Ichino. But with Takami watching from behind, she had no choice but to bite the bullet and play the villain, quickly selecting one of the girls.

"Ichino-kun, why...aren't we friends?"

The girl who was chosen had a face full of despair.

"Kinoshita-kun, please. You have a very stable personality, and you are the most suitable person I can think of."

Rihanna gritted her teeth, staring intently at the girl as she spoke.

"You...you bastard..."

A girl named Kinoshita Yuka stared at Ichino Rika with venomous eyes. Unable to hate Takami, she vented all her negative emotions on Ichino Rika, her best friend who went to and from school with her every day. Ichino Rika could only lower her head and silently endure it. Then she prepared to go find a second person.

"Excuse me, is it possible to sign up voluntarily?"

At this moment, a girl raised her hand and spoke up.

Gao Hai didn't speak, but gestured to Ichino Rika with his eyes.

The vice class monitor then approached the girl and recognized her as Kobayashi Chiharu, the leader of the school's "Ghost Club." She was usually a quiet, introverted girl, but extremely curious about all sorts of paranormal events. Kobayashi Chiharu was among the first students to attempt the "Alice Game" ritual circulating at Yotsuya Miko School.

"Kobayashi, are you sure?"

When someone volunteered, Ichino Rika was somewhat pleased, but after thinking about it, she still politely inquired about the other person's identity.

"Well, anyway, staying here is just like being a prisoner. If we go out, at least we'll know what kind of hellish place we're in."

Chiharu Kobayashi nodded, clearly having made up her mind.

Sanada, who had already suffered a mental breakdown, remained in the class, while Kobayashi Chiharu and Kinoshita Yuka became the new members.

So far, nearly an hour has passed since the start of the second playthrough. Of the 24 students, 3 have been lost and 1 is disabled. Apart from the 4 active teammates, there are 16 cannon fodder left to replace them, or, to put it more politely, new teammates.

"I only have one requirement: obey me. If you obey, I will do my best to protect you within my power. If you don't obey, then whether you can come back here alive will depend on your own fate."

Gao Hai spoke coldly to the two newly joined girls.

"I, I know..."

"I understand, I will behave well."

Kinoshita Yuuka and Kobayashi Chiharu, one with a long face and the other, though very nervous, were still able to communicate properly. Regardless, both seemed to understand their current situation and probably wouldn't do anything silly.

That's good; students should be like that.

Students should listen to their teachers. What use are students who don't listen to their teachers? Only obedient students have the right to live.

Gao Hai's lips curled into a smile. The way he made that smile with the sheep's head mask was quite terrifying, startling both girls.

Hmm... Is the sheep's head effect starting to appear again? This strange sense of pleasure seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Even though I've pushed the power of the rescue team badge to its limit, can this thing still slowly erode my spirit?

Once again, Gao Hai noticed the change in his emotions.

He didn't say much, but led the girls back to the other side of the door, closed the door, removed the key, and then returned to the art classroom.

Alice was still standing there as she entered and exited the art classroom.

It seems this thing can remain stuck for a long time, but just in case, Gao Hai thinks it's best not to get close. So he walked directly to the wall on one side of the art classroom, turned sideways and slammed into it, smashing the wall with a "bang" and landing in the corridor.

"Let's go, it's time to move on."

Ignoring the exaggerated expressions and gaping mouths of the girls behind him, Gao Hai simply took the first step forward.

Miko Yotsuya, who was the first to catch up, walked beside Takami as always, seemingly used to this routine of following him.

Next in the middle of the group were Ichino Rika and Kobayashi Chiharu. The former was nervously observing her surroundings, while the latter was more curious, looking around as she followed the group.

Kinoshita Yuka, who was walking at the back, had a gloomy and fearful expression. She had put a little distance between herself and the group, but she didn't dare to really stray too far from them, so she ended up hanging at the very back.

The five figures quickly disappeared into the distance.

Alice remained frozen at the entrance to the art classroom, still motionless.

But suddenly, with a loud crash, the sound of something sticky and wriggling began to emerge. A female corpse, disemboweled, slowly crawled out of the half-open art classroom supply room and into the art classroom.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Emerging Dependence and the Shattered Barriers

Walk through the corridor outside the art classroom, and you'll pass an activity room.

The activity room was empty. Through the window, you could see many school uniforms piled up inside, each one dirty and even stained with blood.

Gao Hai found white chrysanthemums in the classroom again.

On a desk in front of the pile of school uniforms, there were white flowers, exuding a faint fragrance, as if they had been left there on purpose to commemorate them.

These white chrysanthemums are also objects of obsession.

There are 15 white chrysanthemums in total. Each one has the ability to suppress a strange creature. Based on my experience from the first playthrough, one flower can barely suppress a student who has turned into a strange creature. Moreover, it cannot completely suppress the strange student who has been adorned with white chrysanthemums. In fact, the strange student still has the ability to move, but his/her movements will become more sluggish, and his/her threat level will be reduced as a result.

However, if multiple white chrysanthemums are used together, even highly powerful monsters might be able to be suppressed.

I just don't know what the side effects of this stuff are.

"Dolls, machetes, hoods, candles, flowers... This is only a quarter of the map of Fujika Middle School, and I've only explored less than two floors of that quarter. This place is dangerous, but the benefits it brings are really high."

If a true Red Moon-level player team were to explore a Red Moon-level dungeon after prior preparation, bringing sufficient items and possessing top-tier buffs and blessings of Twilight and Dark Night levels, the rewards they would likely reap are quite astonishing.

Does greater danger necessarily lead to greater rewards?

With this thought in mind, Gao Hai put all fifteen white chrysanthemums into his black watch, then returned to the corridor and continued forward.

In another activity room further down the corridor, there was a large pile of shoes, both men's and women's, filling almost half of the room, just like the previous activity room.

Gao Hai didn't find any whole white chrysanthemums in the room; instead, he found torn pieces that had been thrown on the ground and trampled on several times. He didn't know who had done such a thing, but judging from the completely withered and dehydrated state of the flowers, it must have happened a long time ago.

Gao Hai picked up the fallen flowers from the ground, and vaguely, he felt as if he could see some kind of scene.

Those appeared to be two figures standing in the classroom.

They looked at each other, as if they were arguing about something.

The specific content of their conversation was unclear, and the two people's appearances could not be seen clearly; only a faint sense of their emotions could be perceived.

One of them was furious, an uncontrollable, intense fury, like magma erupting and bursting forth.

The other person was very sad, filled with negative and sorrowful emotions, as if they had sunk into a dark and dark sea, falling downwards helplessly.

Who are they?

Were they in this classroom to mourn the students who died?

Such intense emotions.

Moreover, this feeling is like... me...

The blurry image abruptly ended.

Gao Hai blinked, then immediately turned to look at Jianzi, who was standing beside him.

"Did you see anything?"

He gazed intently into the girl's golden eyes and asked earnestly.

"...I think I saw two figures?"

Similarly, Miko, who had also come back to her senses from a daze, frowned and paused for a moment before speaking softly.

"Is that all?"

"Hmm, oh? Mr. Gao, did you see anything else?"

An unexpected situation.

This time, I seem to have obtained more information than I did with my daughter.

Gao Hai observed Miko very carefully, and he was certain that the girl was not lying.

No, it seems that I'm not just observing carefully.

At that moment, he clearly felt that his perspective had shifted to that of one of the two people, and that he was experiencing the intense sadness along with that person.

What the hell does this happen?

"Just keep going."

Gao Hai thought for a while but couldn't come up with a solution, so he decided to put the problem aside for the time being and focus his attention on the current goal.

I'm getting closer and closer to my destination.