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

[I saw it! Finally, someone's going to be in trouble! Great!]

The teacher had been waiting there with the tap running for a long time, hoping someone would come. Now that these three students are dead, the teacher should be able to calm down for a while, right?

[Hey, is that a student? He's dressed almost like a teacher.]

No, it's fake! A fake teacher! Some students saw it; he's a fake! He's a student too, not a teacher!

That's something that's happened many times in this corridor.

There was a teacher, a teacher who enjoyed tormenting students, who would come to the dormitory every now and then, deliberately turn on the tap, and then wait for a student to come and turn it off. Then he would torment that student for violating the "Student Code of Conduct".

The teacher could have tormented whoever he wanted, but this teacher insisted on focusing on the faucet. As a result, almost all the students in the dormitory knew the teacher's style. Every time they went to the toilet, one person would go in first, and then the rest of the students would call out a few times outside. If they didn't get a response or the response didn't seem right, they would run away.

The teacher, of course, noticed the students' attempts to survive, and joined in with great interest, having the students he had captured deceive the students outside. The students and the teacher ended up engaging in a battle of wits several times, each countering the other's moves, but ultimately the students always lost.

Later, these students came up with a more reliable idea: to have students whose gender was the opposite of the toilet enter the restroom. For example, girls would go into the men's restroom to investigate, and boys would go into the women's restroom to investigate. Then, people outside would ask if the restroom was men's or women's. If the investigators gave the wrong answer, it meant there was a problem with the restroom. If the investigators gave the correct answer, then the restroom was safe to enter.

As for why this method worked, and why the teacher didn't counter the students' approach, Jianzi didn't see anything related to that. But she seemed to be able to guess the reason: the method the students summarized had a certain "rule-based" structure, so the teacher's personal will had to give way to a greater benefit. Or perhaps, the teacher did such a cruel thing precisely for this greater benefit?

In less than a second, in the instant that Jianzi's eyes met those of someone inside a dormitory room that was slightly ajar, she witnessed what had happened.

It was at this moment that Gao Hai sent out a rescue team to investigate the restroom. When Yotsuya Miko looked up, she vaguely saw a girl and the rescue team member step into the restroom together.

"...Mr. Gao."

Then, the girl reached out and gently tugged at Gao Hai's sleeve, looked up and looked him in the eye, speaking earnestly.

"To break this situation, a woman must enter the restroom and, when asked by a man outside, answer, 'This is the men's restroom,' then things will return to normal inside."

She spent a little time explaining to Gao Hai what she had seen.

When Xiong Mi witnessed Yotsuya Miko's outrageous perception for the first time, he was quite shocked, while Gao Hai only frowned and thought for a moment, already used to the girl's abilities.

"Are you sure this will work? Should I try giving you a 'cannot be harmed' order first, using my [Teacher] identity?"

Gao Hai put forward his own ideas.

“No, this won’t work. Those students… in their eyes, Mr. Gao, you are still a student. I’m not sure why, but they seem to think you’re a fake teacher, so orders won’t work.”

Yotsuya Miko shook her head slightly as she spoke, then strode forward.

She couldn't explain why she took the initiative.

She was actually terrified, and she didn't want to make contact with these monsters at all. She would have preferred Mr. Gao to protect her.

However, a faint sense of guilt lingered in my heart.

It's as if I've seen Mr. Gao covered in wounds and exhausted countless times, seeing him struggling with all his might even when he's on the verge of death.

Muster your courage!

Seeing this, he silently encouraged himself.

Muster your courage, show some guts and take responsibility!

Even if I don't have the ability to fight, I will do my best in everything I can and do my best to share Mr. Gao's burdens!

She saw the right way.

So there won't be any problems. As long as you don't make any mistakes, there definitely won't be any issues.

At this moment, the girl's steps became more and more determined. She encouraged herself in her heart as she walked straight into the dark restroom.

Then I saw the one with one foot on the flushing pedal, his head pierced through the eye by a water pipe, which ran horizontally through his entire head, and his whole body was covered in water pipes piercing through his body.

Jianzi's little face puffed up in an instant.

I didn't call out.

She managed to stay calm.

Although she really wanted to scream when that strange thing stared at her with its remaining bulging eyeball, the girl forcibly swallowed the fear that was overflowing in her throat and turned away, pretending not to see it.

Gao Hai, who was stopped by Xiong Mi in the corridor but did not stop Jian Zi's actions, frowned. Seeing that Zi had already entered, he immediately asked.

Is that the men's or women's restroom inside?

The moment the sound came, the blood-soaked monster was almost pressed against Miko's back, making indistinct noises.

"It's the men's restroom."

Seeing that she was trying to remain calm, she answered Gao Hai outside the restroom.

The darkness vanished in an instant, the eerie creature disappeared without a trace, and the sound of rushing water stopped.

The girl breathed a sigh of relief, her wildly beating heart calming down a little, and then she felt a surge of joy from a faint sense of excitement.

So she turned her head and saw Alice standing on the ceiling, her long golden hair hanging down, staring at her intently.

You're very brave, well done!

Amidst the smiles, the girl was clapping and cheering for Jianzi.

"you……"

For a fleeting moment, I saw a fragmented image.

I saw a dirty and chaotic camp, and I saw emaciated people being forced to work, collapsing and dying.

I saw swarms of lice crawling all over people's bodies, and I saw corpses beaten to a bloody pulp by sticks.

I saw a petite little girl with long golden hair clutching a rag doll, I saw her strapped to a metal bed frame, I saw a sharp needle pointed at her eyeball…

"See you!"

Gao Hai's figure had already blocked Jianzi and Alice's path.

At that moment, the strange student controlled by Xiong Mi stood in front of Alice, raised his head and looked at her.

At that moment, some extremely sinister and eerie force descended, causing the smiling Alice to freeze completely, as still as a statue.

[I've already moved up to the 7th floor, it's past the event's time limit. I'll do my best to come down and meet you all. And Yotsuya, I'm sorry for using you as bait. I'll apologize to you again when I come down.]

As Xiong Mi was saying this, the personality template implanted in this strange student shattered prematurely due to the use of strange power.

Gao Hai swung his cleaver, severing the head and torso of the strange student, and then quickly retreated away from the place with Jianzi.

When Miko took the risk earlier, Takami originally intended to stop her. However, Kumami offered a different opinion. Having witnessed Miko's unique qualities firsthand and understanding that she was likely Alice's target, this veteran player suggested a baiting strategy. She was certain that Alice would be unable to resist showing herself once she saw Miko alone, especially given Miko's attention-grabbing behavior. Therefore, she grabbed Takami and launched a surprise attack at the crucial moment, successfully immobilizing Alice with a single blow.

As for whether this is an illusion or something, there's absolutely no need to worry about that. Because the object of Xiong Mi's remote ability, that bronze eye, is a Crimson Moon-level object on par with Fujika Middle School, and it has the ability to dispel illusions, Alice cannot hide herself when that eyeball activates its ability.

However, although the opponent was successfully immobilized, this could only be maintained for 3 minutes.

"Thanks for your hard work."

Gao Hai patted Jianzi on the shoulder, suppressing the faint pain in his head.

Just now, he used the watch's special ability to share the mental pollution and shock that Miko experienced when she directly faced Alice.

It's really unsettling. This girl's heightened senses mean she's under immense pressure when faced with mental pollution. Judging from this incident, if we were both facing something with mental pollution properties, I would suffer 100 damage, while she would suffer at least 1200—more than ten times that. This characteristic makes her extremely vulnerable to the most dangerous and terrifying things she encounters; it's truly a dangerous talent.

Moreover, he had already roughly figured out some of the things.

As Gao Hai and Jianzi hurried down the corridor, Gao Hai reached out and removed the hood that was almost fused to his face, then put it into his watch.

"Hey, Mr. Gao, why did you take off your hood again?"

Not quite understanding what Gao Hai was doing, Jianzi asked in confusion.

"Again? So you really saw me take off the hood once? This thing keeps pulling one trick after another."

Gao Hai chuckled, shook his head somewhat helplessly, and said that he had gained a deeper understanding of the "rules" of Teng Hua Middle School.

He had realized what Alice, who had been following him and Miko, had done.

It cast a hallucination on him when he entered the dormitory to protect Jianzi, creating the illusion that Gao Hai took off his hood and then put it back on.

For Gao Hai himself, it was impossible for him to take off his hood casually. However, for Jian Zi and the other strange creatures in the dormitory at the same time, she and they "saw" Gao Hai taking off his hood.

As a result, the eerie atmosphere of the entire dormitory building no longer recognized Gao Hai's identity as a "teacher." In the eyes of these beings, Gao Hai had become a "fake teacher," and his authority to command the students had thus vanished.

Fujika Middle School is a place of strange tales deliberately created by people.

Therefore, in this place, a person's identity can be changed without necessarily relying on a certain prop to achieve a perfect transformation.

Such a confusing trick actually rendered Gao Hai's sheep head mask useless.

But why didn't the Alice in the teaching building do this before? Was it because the Alice in the dormitory was more powerful? Or... ah, could it be because the Alice in the teaching building didn't see my face when I appeared wearing the hood, while the Alice in the dormitory did?

Does that mean this guy was already following me from the start of the game?

At this moment, Gao Hai couldn't help but recall the strange sensations he had felt at the beginning of the night in the dormitory. At the time, he didn't quite understand what it was, thinking it was something like an opening CG, but now it seemed… during the opening, [Alice] was sleeping on top of him, and then the eerie thing disappeared as soon as he woke up?!

He thought this thing would chase after Miko, but it actually came after him. Was it because he took out the doll that he was more eye-catching than Miko in this time loop? This weird thing actually took advantage of him. His chest was for Maki and Chika to lie on, not for an old woman like you who is at least seventy or eighty years past her prime.

While internally complaining, Gao Hai led Jianzi on a run to another staircase on the second floor, preparing to head towards the first floor.

At that moment, a flashlight beam appeared at the stairwell, and a figure wearing a bull's head mask slowly appeared in the stairwell.

Chapter 48: The "Fox Borrowing the Tiger's Power" Scheme and the Changing Thoughts of a Young Girl

Grandpa Cow, or simply Grandpa Cow, is a bizarre humanoid figure wearing a rotten, smelly cow head mask and a teacher's uniform covered in dust and rips.

No, it seems the abbreviation is reversed.

The thing appeared quite suddenly. One second there was nothing unusual in the corridor, and the next second it seemed to have appeared out of thin air, suddenly appearing right in front of him. However, Gao Hai was already quite adept at this. He said, "Grandpa Niu, you've worked hard," then stepped forward and slashed with his sword, instantly decapitating the thing. Then, with a few more swings, he dismembered the thing on the spot.

Looking at the grotesque creature that had been cut into pieces but was still writhing and struggling on the ground, Yotsuya Miko behind her turned even paler.

As for Gao Hai himself, after trying to search the thing to confirm that there was nothing on it, he simply picked up the bull's head hood, dug out the rotten flesh inside the hood with a knife, and then tied it around his waist.

"Um, why did you bring this along?"

Jianzi was very puzzled by this. She felt trembling all over just looking at this strange thing and couldn't understand the point of Gao Hai carrying it.

"Alice has cracked my identity as a [teacher], so I can't use the difference in identity to solve problems when we encounter danger. Therefore, dismembering a [teacher] to the point that they can't produce any strange properties for the time being might be something we can use to our advantage."

As Gao Hai spoke, carrying a machete in one hand and a bull's head hanging from his waist, he led Jianzi down to the first floor.

I always feel like I could cosplay a certain old father like this, but... well, I'd have to replace the knife with an axe, the bull's head with a human head, and maybe even wear platform shoes or something. It all seems like such a hassle...

Despite the current situation still being shrouded in mystery and with many things yet to be clarified, Gao Hai finally began to feel relaxed after obtaining a powerful item that could solve most of the problems he encountered, and with the appearance of veteran players who could help with the issues. In his mind, he began to indulge in his habitual, divergent thoughts and make sarcastic remarks.

Of course, he wouldn't actually lose focus and ignore his surroundings; it was just a small strategy he used to adjust his state of mind.

The first floor of the dormitory building is not a living area, but a shower area. Just like the teaching building, the second floor is a canteen and the first floor is a conference room and auditorium, which are mixed structures. The dormitory building of Teng Hua Middle School is also a mixed structure in terms of structure and use.