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

[Day 9?]

I can't remember how many times my watch has gone round; maybe today is the 9th day? Or the 10th?

Food is running low, everyone is starving, but the research team leader doesn't seem to have any problems. I noticed that Qiuyuan, Houjing, and the others look strange; everyone seems off. I... I don't know what will happen next.

[16rd record]

The research team leader died. Someone cut flesh from his leg. I...

[28rd record]

Mr. Nakajima and Ms. Sawada have been chosen. I can't reveal that I left food behind, and I can't let others know that there was also regular food left.

I had no choice.

[33rd record]

It doesn't seem so disgusting anymore.

[Page 52 (The diary owner no longer records the number of entries)]

The people responsible for sorting the grain looked much better than most of us; they must have eaten more than us. Could they be hiding food?

Matsumoto committed suicide, which reduces our food shortage. There aren't many people left. The people in charge of selection are giving me strange looks. Could they be trying to pick me? No, this can't go on. I have to make my move tomorrow.

Page 54

I didn't do anything wrong; I did the right thing.

Page 60

I shouldn't have given so much to others. I need to find a way to hide some more. I've worked so hard to select the food; shouldn't I get some compensation?

I'm so hungry! I haven't had a full meal in ages!

Page 67

Another person committed suicide today. How wonderful.

Page 69

The food protests today are fierce. What an idiot! Can't he at least have some empathy for others?

Page 73

I'm so hungry. That Tanaka kid talked back to me, I'll vote for him tomorrow.

Page 89

We have only 8 people left. It's quite a lot for a research institute with 60 or 70 people to have so few people left.

I have absolutely no idea how many days have passed.

The water, electricity, and gas were cut off more than ten days ago, and I'm almost out of the last bit of paper I used for fuel, but I still can't bear to burn this diary, so I'll leave it like this in the end.

Looking back at the diary entries I've written over the years, it seems I've gradually transformed from a human being into a monster. I used to think all the students we studied were idiots, but now it seems I'm no better than them.

But it's time to end this. I understand we've been abandoned. No one will come into this research institute anymore. This is our graveyard, the execution ground where we deserve our fate.

I can no longer run away.

Since this is the inevitable fate for all of us, then I will make the choice for the others.

Tomorrow, it will all be over. I've already packed my weapons. Whether others want to live or die, I won't be alive after tomorrow.

[To hell with all of that! I'm an elite person with higher education, why do I have to end up with such a bastard's fate...?]

The diary itself doesn't contain much, but it's enough for Gao Hai to draw up what happened in this research institute back then.

Will nearly a hundred researchers meet their end in infighting and self-destruction? Ha, if it's these guys, he feels no sympathy whatsoever. However, in such an extremely twisted scenario, something bizarre should be born. All he's encountered along the way have been simple corpses; in that case, the "last victim" is probably a being that embodies the resentment of everyone in this research area.

As Gao Hai pondered this in his heart, he turned to look at Jianzi beside him, whose expression seemed quite dejected.

"Is everything alright? Did you sense anything?"

Gao Hai asked in a calm tone.

"...No, Mr. Gao, um, Miss Xiong Mi, she..."

The girl first gently shook her head, then hesitated, her face showing a hint of worry and sadness.

"Let bygones be bygones. She didn't choose to stand up for us so that we would feel sorry for ourselves."

With that, Gao Hai turned around and continued walking deeper into the area.

After cautiously advancing for a while, the two arrived at a large hall. The structure, resembling a research area in the basement of a teaching building, was still vaguely discernible, but it had clearly been extensively altered. Research equipment was haphazardly piled in the corners, and many emptied tables bore black grime and knife marks, suggesting what had once happened there.

Continuing forward, deeper into the research institute, what was next discovered were some machines that were quite unsettling to look at.

A chair covered in spikes, with barbs on the spikes.

The bed was covered with saw blades and electric needles, as well as small knives and sharp shovels for skinning.

The underground research institute located in the dormitory building appears to be a place specifically designed to study how to torture people and how to completely destroy a person, both physically and mentally.

There are even some dedicated execution chambers reserved for researchers. It seems that anyone deemed a "traitor" would suffer extremely horrific torture in these chambers.

In one of the open execution chambers, Gao Hai found a document—an execution list. The list recorded the executions of over a dozen researchers, teachers, and middle-level managers, roughly two or three per year. The reasons for execution were largely the same: disrespect for superiors, suspected treason, or suspected of "sympathizing with students."

The people on the list seemed to have all been executed, but when Gao Hai flipped to the very bottom of the list, he saw that one person was in the "awaiting execution" stage.

The person's name was crossed out with a black pen and could no longer be identified.

The reason for his execution was "attempting to protect three bad students," and the method of execution was left blank, suggesting that this person was about to be sent to this research institute to receive punishment. Gao Hai couldn't help but wonder if this person was the one the school had decided to execute around the time Alice broke free and massacred the entire school.

If that's the case, then... is this person still alive? Did he die at school like everyone else? Or did he escape Fujika Junior High School alive?

Gao Hai couldn't draw a conclusion immediately.

Just then, Miko, who was standing beside him, seemed to notice something, reached out and gently tugged at Gao Hai's sleeve, pointing out into the corridor.

"Just now, I think I saw someone walk over there."

Seeing that Zi was very nervous, she spoke in a low voice.

Carefully returning to the corridor, I walked in the direction that Miko had pointed out earlier.

Gao Hai discovered that it was a headlamp hanging on a pipe, emitting a faint light, and there was no strange aura around it.

However, although they didn't find what Miko had just seen, they found these special pipes, which would naturally allow them to follow the pipes to find the special room where Alice's obsession was hidden.

"Well done. Be more careful from now on. We could be attacked at any time here."

Gao Hai said casually, quickening his pace and running in the darkness toward the direction the pipe extended. He quickly found a heavy door similar to the one in the basement of the teaching building.

He placed the magnetic card in the sensor area and watched the door slowly open. Doubting whether this underground research institute even had electricity, Gao Hai stepped inside and quickly found the platform in the very center of the hall, connected to countless pipes.

On that platform, Gao Hai found nothing.

It was an empty platform, devoid of anything.

tread--

The sound of Miko's footsteps behind him seemed to become clearer than before.

Gao Hai then calmly turned around, his face expressionless.

The girl who should have been carefully following beside him saw him turn around, blinked, and then smiled.

Chapter 57: Alice Reappears and Her Hidden Identity

The teacher already noticed, right?

A mocking smile appeared on Miko's face—a smile she herself would never normally show.

"Have you already forgotten your good friend Xiong Mi?"

Gao Hai spoke calmly, and his first words successfully stumped Alice, making her smile freeze.

[A teacher who says things like that is really unlovable. The teacher stole Alice's friend and then let her die. Doesn't the teacher feel even a little bit of remorse? Could it be that the teacher, like everyone else, just thinks it's okay since it's someone else who died, not them? Alice thought the teacher wasn't like that at all.]

Alice tilted her head and looked at Gao Hai, her tone slightly changed, as if there was a hint of embarrassment and annoyance in her voice.

"I have carefully calculated the time it took from when the illusion you created on the rooftop was forcibly terminated to when you reached this platform. It was almost exactly right. Even if you were targeted by the mechanism after you had already possessed the child, you could still use the method of possessing a living person to spend some time breaking free from the restraints. I have a clear understanding of this."

Gao Hai's tone remained calm.

In his second playthrough, he tried to use the friend rule to restrict her and briefly silenced Alice. It wasn't until he was restricted by the [Elephant Principal's] mechanism and sent to the underground area that she returned to her original talkative state.

Therefore, after Xiong Mi's self-sacrifice, Gao Hai has been waiting for Alice to return to normal so that the time will come for him to make his move.

As for Miko herself, it's truly regrettable that she was possessed after only being separated from Alice by her illusions for a short while on the rooftop. Takami could only say that he genuinely wanted to stop it, but was powerless to do so.

But that doesn't matter anymore.

In the third playthrough, he will take away Alice's last obsession and completely destroy the facade of Fujihana Middle School.

Then, regardless of whether he could ultimately destroy the instance in this playthrough, Gao Hai had already decided to commit suicide and start over for the fourth time.

Whether it's the reliable veteran Kumami or Yotsuya Miko, who has stumbled along with him all the way, he will save them all. As for the painful experiences these people who fought alongside him endured, let him remember them alone.

As for now, and Alice's actions, Gao Hai, who has fought this thing many times, is already on guard.

Therefore, when he came down from the rooftop, he had already ordered the rescue team on the 0th floor to discard the old player's doll, climb down the elevator shaft that was not yet closed, and sneak away while deliberately keeping a distance, to search for the place in this underground area where Alice's obsession object might really be hiding.

What he needs to do now is to delay the enemy's actions as much as possible before Alice realizes the diversionary tactic, thus buying more time for the rescue team.

zizi——

The heavy iron gate that led us here has now slowly closed.

Alice, who possessed the body of the child, smiled at Gao Hai. The next moment, Gao Hai suddenly jumped up and landed on the ceiling of the room. He reached out and grabbed the pipe hanging from the ceiling, maintaining his position hanging in mid-air. He then lowered his head expressionlessly and continued to stare at Alice.

[Hey, is the teacher doing some kind of acrobatic show?]

Alice looked very surprised.

"It's just to prevent you from slipping the answers to the riddles into my hands."

Gao Hai answered calmly.

[That makes sense. After all, Alice can't jump around like her teacher, so as long as the teacher keeps doing that, Alice can't become friends with her.]

Alice, who seemed unsurprised by Gao Hai's actions, laughed and joked, appearing completely unconcerned about his behavior.

But Gao Hai couldn't help but pay attention to what this thing was saying, and vaguely sensed that something was wrong.