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

The last man, looking deranged, grabbed the man's hand holding the chainsaw, talking to him, laughing loudly, and even looking up at Jianzi, revealing an ugly smile to her.

What is this?

The girl was completely baffled by this person. Wait, was he even human? He seemed somewhat like one… but those three things on his back… they weren't human, were they? What was going on? What had happened to this person? Why hadn't she seen him before when she was with Mr. Gao?

Yotsuya Miko was somewhat confused, but she didn't dare stop to try to find out what was going on. Instead, she turned around without hesitation and continued forward.

She could sense that the hospital was gradually suppressing the three entities on the man, trying to expel them completely. After all, this was the home turf of the strange creatures within the hospital; no matter how powerful an outsider was, it would eventually fall behind.

It took some time for Jianzi to reach the middle of the corridor, the connection between the male and female wards.

The gate was sealed shut, and Miko, who couldn't unlock it, couldn't get through to the other side. However, the medical staff's duty room was open, so the girl carefully entered. Finding nothing inside, she cautiously picked up a document from the table. Then she opened the other door of the duty room and entered the male patients' area.

Which ward will Mr. Gao be in?

Jianzi glanced at the ward area map and found that there were 12 single rooms and 3 multi-person rooms. It would probably not be an easy task to find Gao Hai's location in there.

However, he'll probably take this opportunity to do something, right? Given Mr. Gao's personality, if something this big happens, he definitely won't stand idly by, and... maybe this was even a scheme he designed and created in the first place.

Hmm, if only he had told me his room number beforehand. But after all, Mr. Gao's request was to stay put, and it was her own fault for not following his advice. But now she's realized something's wrong, and she really can't stay put any longer... Ugh, why think so much? She's already out here, so she shouldn't hesitate anymore. She should find him now!

Sorting through her somewhat chaotic thoughts, Jianzi carefully moved forward until she reached a ward that wasn't shrouded in darkness. She peered through the peephole in the door to observe the situation inside.

In the ward, most of the area was completely shrouded in darkness.

A sob rose from the darkness, a sound filled with desperate pain.

This is definitely not the ward where Mr. Gao is.

The girl glanced at it briefly before looking away and backing away, but she still heard faint murmurs coming from the ward.

Alice...don't leave us, Alice...don't go...

Are those the patients in the ward talking?

The voice that called for Alice sounded as if... Alice was already dead.

Jianzi's footsteps had already passed the second ward.

Unforgivable... My Alice... Why...?

In the hospital room, Miko could also hear the murmuring sounds coming from inside.

Is the patient hating someone?

What happened to cause such deep-seated hatred?

Miko continued on her way, passing through ward after ward, listening to the whispers of the patients inside. It seemed to be the words left behind by these patients before they turned into monsters, or perhaps the words they uttered before they died.

Alice... take me with you...

My dearest love... my only love... Alice...

Please... stay by my side... Alice... Alice...

[Bastard...why...you criminal, you villain, you deserving-to-die scoundrel...Alice...my Alice...]

[I'll kill you... I'll kill you... I'll kill you... How dare you do this to my Alice... My Alice... Alice... Alice...]

All the voices had become like those of a madman.

Their resentment and despair seemed to have solidified into a tangible existence, causing Miko, who was walking among them, to feel an indescribable heavy pressure.

She clearly realized that these patients actually knew very well that Alice was dead.

Yes, Alice is dead here.

After Mr. Gao destroyed the facade of Fujika Middle School and reached its true essence, the "Alice" in this place was recognized and loved by everyone, and was also known to everyone to be dead.

However, I clearly saw a promotional poster in the activity room earlier, saying that Alice would be coming to the hospital tomorrow to perform for the patients.

Could there be two different timelines here?

Ugh... These kinds of strange things are really hard to understand. Can Mr. Gao analyze these things?

While I was thinking, I saw that Zi had already passed many wards.

She noticed that the completely dark areas in the corridor were receding.

The crimson color in the courtyard had almost completely disappeared.

The hospital will soon be back to normal.

The desperate cries from the wards she passed through gradually began to turn back into joyful laughter.

Time is running out.

Where exactly is Mr. Gao?

"Why are you here?"

"Oh, this saves us a lot of trouble."

At that moment, a hand grabbed Miko's shoulder, lifted her up, and shoved her under the curtain of a handcart, hiding her inside.

Those two voices?!

Jianzi hurriedly looked up and saw Xiong Mi and Gao Hai dressed as caregivers. For some reason, the former wore the caregiver's clothes with a bit of a gangster boss vibe, while the latter smiled slightly at her, winked, and mouthed "Hide well and don't move." The next moment, the curtain of the trolley fell, and Jianzi could see nothing at all.

Although I can't see it, it feels like a weight has been lifted from my heart.

Chapter 67: The Gathering and Moment of the Player Squad

Gao Hai's tentative attempts to engage with his core convictions yielded less than ideal results.

All attempts at communication were unresponsive; the other person was like an empty shell devoid of a soul, unresponsive no matter how Gao Hai manipulated them. Even after Gao Hai directly tore off the restraints and lowered the person from the stretcher, there was still no response.

"No, this is not the real core obsession."

After observing for a while, Xiong Mi came to this conclusion.

"Not the real core obsession?"

Gao Hai turned to look at Xiong Mi, waiting for her to explain further.

"I have encountered this situation more than once while exploring dungeons and studying other players' investigation records. This man named Hirano Sosuke should have different forms and states, but apart from the true core form, the other forms he shows are not his true appearance and cannot be considered the real him."

"For example, there is a core obsession in a dungeon that can take three forms at the same time: a child, a middle-aged person, and an elderly person. However, no matter how you communicate or interact with the child and elderly forms, you cannot achieve any meaning. In the end, the players discovered that the core obsession is the biggest regret left in a person's life when they reach middle age. Therefore, only by contacting the core obsession in that form can you have a chance to break the obsession."

"We must find a way to access the true core obsession, to access the period when the regret is most intense, the emotions are most intense, and the obsession is most profound, in order to find the right way to break free from the obsession. As for this empty shell, it probably can't help us at all."

After giving a thorough explanation, Xiong Mi had also completed the search of Hirano Sosuke's hospital room.

Got nothing.

There was nothing in this ward that could be considered a clue.

The search of the stretcher and the empty-shell-like person also yielded no results. The ward was so clean that it didn't look like a patient had ever stayed there, and the patient had no personal belongings at all.

It was so clean it was almost inexplicable.

It's important to understand that scenes in dungeons are often reenactments of eerie memories or emotions. Therefore, the fact that this room is so empty can only mean two things. One is that in real history, this was indeed the state of things after Hirano Sousuke was imprisoned in this ward. The other is that at the point in real history corresponding to this ward, Hirano Sousuke had truly become a mere humanoid lump of flesh, devoid of even a sense of self.

Gao Hai felt that these two possibilities were probably not mutually exclusive, but rather a matter of either one being the other.

The rampage of the veteran player, Yuanshan Ming, had been gradually suppressed, but the current investigation had yielded no valuable clues. Considering that he would most likely have to undergo some unknown "treatment" once the hospital returned to normal, Gao Hai did not hesitate and chose to take the risky path.

“We must change our identities. We need to go from being patients to doctors. I saw a corrupt rulebook before; being a patient here would probably mean certain death. We have to change our identities no matter what. As for this person… take him with us!”

Without hesitation, Gao Hai pushed a trolley filled with various syringes and medicine bottles out of the corridor. He lifted the bed sheet from his own hospital room and covered the trolley with it. Then he lifted the bed sheet from Hirano Sousuke's room, wrapped him up, and placed him on the trolley. He then piled some other random things on the trolley as a cover.

As for the bottom of the cart, Gao Hai deliberately left a small space to ensure that a small girl could squeeze in. He certainly wouldn't forget his adorable little teammate, Yotsuya Miko. After all, if something happened to her, she might come and kill him and Xiong Mi. He really couldn't forget her even if he wanted to.

The subsequent clothes-grabbing process was swift and smooth. Xiong Mi used her bronze eyeballs to immobilize the caregiver, Gao Hai stepped forward, dragged the caregiver away, stripped her of her clothes, gave her his own patient clothes to change into, and then changed into the caregiver's uniform himself. Next, they found a second caregiver, immobilized her again, and this time gave her Hirano Sosuke's clothes to change into, while Xiong Mi wore the caregiver's uniform. As for Hirano Sosuke himself, Gao Hai had wrapped him in a thick set of sheets and blankets, and even used restraints to bind him to prevent any mishaps, so there was no need to worry about anything inappropriate being revealed.

That said, this Ms. Xiong Mi seems to be quite familiar with this process.

It wasn't until after he had finished grabbing the clothes and changed that Gao Hai realized that Xiong Mi's cooperation with him during the process was absolutely perfect.

"Stealing the monster's clothes and changing into them is a routine thing for Red Moon level players. Every Red Moon level player knows this process by heart."

Xiong Mi's answer to Gao Hai's question was full of pride.

Is this something to be proud of?

In short, as the two changed their clothes and pushed the cart forward, Yotsuya Miko suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and the team members reunited, gathering together again just like in the third playthrough. At this point, it had been approximately two and a half hours since the start of the fourth playthrough. This was also the first time that Takahashi had survived for more than two hours in a single playthrough in the [Campus Ghost Stories] dungeon, which seemed to be downgraded to Dark Night level but was actually still a top-tier Red Moon level dungeon.

The suppression of Touyama Akira by the medical staff and patients was nearing its end. It had proven that while a crazed player carrying an uncontrollable artifact was dangerous, he couldn't cause any trouble under the might of the Red Moon-level dungeon. Through the window, Gao Hai could see the unconscious Touyama Akira strapped to a stretcher. The blood saw had disappeared, likely indicating he had been expelled from the dungeon. As for whether the other artifacts he carried were still there, Gao Hai couldn't confirm.

"Won't those things lead to brainwashing or some kind of transformation for that player? I have a feeling that it might cause big problems later."

Watching those things take Yuanshan Ming away, Gao Hai frowned and spoke.

"Most likely, but there's nothing we can do about it right now. Since we've unleashed this trouble and benefited from it, we should be prepared for the trouble that's to come. Alright, stop talking. There are two caregivers ahead. Whether our disguise works or not depends on this."

After whispering a few words to Gao Hai, Xiong Mi noticed the situation ahead and her expression immediately turned serious.

It's a pity that it wasn't a caregiver working alone, otherwise there would have been a chance to get a set for the little girl hiding under the stroller.

Seeing the two caregivers ahead, Gao Hai sighed inwardly, then straightened his face and imitated their expressionless demeanor as he and Xiong Mi pushed the cart toward them.

crunch--

The locked gate slowly opened.

The two caregivers didn't even turn to look at Gao Hai and Xiong Mi; they simply let them go without any expression.

Very good, it seems that the rule that clothing represents one's identity also applies here.

Although he could maintain a calm expression, Gao Hai was still somewhat nervous inside. Seeing that things were going smoothly, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Ahead of the gate was a long corridor, with glass windows on both sides offering views of the green shrubs and flowers planted within the hospital grounds, creating a surprisingly pleasant scene. However, as the two pushed their trolley to the end of the corridor, they found themselves in a new area, seemingly another section of the mental hospital.

It was in this place that the two confirmed the detailed map of the entire area in the corridor.

"The building at the very front should be the place responsible for receiving patients. The place we were in before was the living area for patients. However, the building on the edge of the back door is quite eye-catching. It seems to have all the problems written on its face."

After staring at the map for a while, Gao Hai made a quiet comment.

"Let's deal with the things we brought first. Hmm, it's on the third floor. It seems the third-floor lounge has been converted into a place to handle bedding and other toiletries."

Xiong Mi first looked at the different rooms in the corridor and their uses, then pushed the cart toward one of the doors.

Upon opening the door, one finds several old-fashioned washing machines and piles of bedding and sheets on the floor, some of which have begun to emit an unpleasant odor.

After confirming several times that there was nothing hidden in the room, and no surveillance cameras or similar devices, Xiong Mi locked the door from the inside. Then she lifted the curtain of the trolley to let Jianzi come out for some fresh air.