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

When Jianzi saw what Gao Hai was holding, she was slightly taken aback. Then, through her senses, she saw what had happened in the past, and her expression darkened.

"Hey—what are you two spacing out for! Come here right now!!!"

Xiong Mi's voice rang out from afar. Gao Hai and Jian Zi turned around and saw each other standing in the ruins at the only intact spot: the gate of Fujika Middle School.

A sinister aura began to gather again amidst the surrounding ruins. Although Hirano Sosuke's final shot nearly destroyed [Alice] and blasted away all the remaining monsters in the dungeon, these monsters were, after all, immortal. Furthermore, with the dungeon's destruction now in its final countdown, they were regenerating at an extreme frenzy and would soon be completely restored.

Looking down, the skeleton he had just carried out had vanished without a trace.

Gao Hai then turned to look at Jian Zi, and the girl quickly understood what Gao Hai meant. Without any hesitation, she stepped forward, put her arms around Gao Hai's neck, and jumped into his arms.

This feeling of perfect understanding between us is really quite nice.

"Okay, I'm going to start accelerating!"

Filthy black blood gushed from the ruins.

Gao Hai had already swooped forward, and his clothes were not even touched by the hands reaching out from the filthy blood.

I'm experiencing some writer's block; that should be it for today.

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Chapter 91: One-fifth of the End and a Fleeting Illusory Pain

Rumble--Rumble--

The ruins in the darkness collapsed even more violently at this moment.

The restless monsters emitted shrill screams as they moved at high speed toward the few remaining survivors in this shattered land, forming a vast procession that followed Gao Hai and Jian Zi. The scene abruptly changed, resembling a zombie apocalypse.

Gao Hai himself was extremely familiar with this change, since previous dungeons all ended up in this way. Moreover, compared to climbing ladders in Shirakawa Apartment and jumping puzzles in Red Nut Gray Hole, this time the ruins were completely flat, which was a huge difference.

whoosh-

Amidst the fierce wind, Gao Hai's eyes gleamed with a blood-red light.

At this moment, he increased his speed, leaving those strange creatures far behind, and quickly approached the location where Xiong Mi was.

A twisted figure lunged at them from the side, only to be frozen in place by Xiong Mi's bronze eyes, stiffening before being thrown back into the ruins. Several more figures then surrounded them from all sides, attempting to completely block Gao Hai's path. However, "Goto Number One" was already standing beside Xiong Mi, so Gao Hai took a deep breath, abruptly flung Miko, whom he was carrying, forward. Using the aura of Maki and Chika emanating from the puppet created by Goto Ichiri, he activated spatial teleportation and moved there.

Then, Xiong Mi, who was standing in front of the gate, aimed his bronze eyes at Jian Zi, causing Jian Zi, who was falling at high speed, to be fixed in mid-air by an invisible force. The force of the fall, which was originally impossible for her ordinary physical condition to withstand, was also eliminated. Then Gao Hai rushed up to catch her and brought her to the gate of Fujika Middle School.

"This instance is about to be destroyed. You can get out by going through this school gate."

After confirming that everyone was there, Xiong Mi breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said to Gao Hai and Jian Zi.

The gates of Fujika Middle School are the place that all the students trapped inside dream of leaving, and therefore, in this area's instance, this is the location of the "path to survival." However, under normal circumstances, this gate is impassable because none of the students were able to truly escape through it during their lives. So, this place can only become a path to escape when the instance enters a state of collapse.

"Miss Xiong Mi, and Jian Zi, you can go ahead, I need to stay for a while."

After putting down Jianzi, Gao Hai spoke, his tone quite calm.

"Stay a while? Are you crazy? Didn't you see those things coming over?"

Xiong Mi was shocked, and Jian Zi followed suit, saying, "I want to go with my senior." She looked at Gao Hai with a worried expression, clearly not understanding why he would deliberately stay at such a critical moment.

"I have to stay here alone for a while, please."

But Gao Hai just kept insisting on saying that.

"...Because of a curse? You can't let others see it, right?"

Xiong Mi frowned, immediately understanding what Gao Hai meant from his reaction.

Seeing Gao Hai nod, Xiong Mi simply grabbed Jian Zi's shoulder and forcibly led the girl around towards the door. Meanwhile, in "Goto No. 1," after Maki said "Don't do anything rash" to Gao Hai through a mental link, the puppet created by this obsession object quickly turned to ashes and disappeared due to the collapse of the instance itself.

tread--

Facing the countless strange creatures sweeping towards him, Gao Hai slowly raised the hand wearing the black watch.

An unusual feeling spread at that moment.

Gao Hai felt as if he was no longer himself.

Just like his thoughts, his personality, and his cognition, everything was changed at this moment, turning him into some kind of abnormal being.

He spoke:

[Unforgivable sinners, only endless fire can burn away the filth tainted by your evil deeds!]

This verdict made no mention of the innocent victims, clearly because those obsessions found peace after the trial concluded.

The black watch developed a crack.

All the teachers, researchers, politicians, and other strange entities trapped in this soon-to-be-destroyed replica were completely sucked into the watch at this moment and pulled into the location of that blood-red city.

Click click click——

The watch's markings spun rapidly, returning directly to the 0 mark, instantly restoring it to its full size. Gao Hai even noticed the hands subtly shifting towards the 11 mark, as if absorbing too much power and about to overflow.

Considering that this instance spans decades and involves a huge number of people, the quality and quantity of the eerie events it creates are terrifying. Gao Hai can only say that it's damn ruthless and damn satisfying. From now on, this watch will be the eternal home for you bastards. I hope you have a pleasant time in the fire.

Click——

The watch's markings eventually stopped at 0, returning it to the state it was in when Takami first acquired the watch at Shirakawa Apartment.

Despite the pain and torment of this Red Moon-level dungeon journey, the final result was undeniably joyful, giving one the feeling that their hard work had finally paid off.

However, it's not yet time to relax.

As his watch returned to normal and he was freed from the feeling of being controlled by something, Gao Hai looked around, but he still couldn't see any living creatures other than himself.

This place is now nothing but ruins, constantly collapsing and sinking into the abyss of darkness.

Yuanshan Ming... the second Red Moon level player he rescued from the dungeon. After they parted ways in the hospital, he couldn't find him at all. He didn't know if he was dead or alive, or where he had gone.

During the previous attack by the monsters in the underground stage, Akira Toyama, who should have been transformed into a monster, did not appear among the caregivers and doctors. In other words, he must have successfully broken free of control using some method, or... he was taken away by something else using some kind of power.

Could it be "Takamagahara"?

And then there's the dollhouse I only entered during my first playthrough, the room filled with countless living dolls—there must still be many players trapped there. After the dungeon collapsed, no matter how well hidden that room was originally, it shouldn't be invisible now.

But Gao Hai did not find the dollhouse or see a single doll along the way.

So the place Alice took him to in the first playthrough wasn't the Fujika Junior High School area; it was probably... part of Takamagahara, right?

After all that hard work, is it really just the tip of the iceberg?

Gao Hai had a premonition that he would return to this instance, and return to the world of "Campus Ghost Stories." Moreover, that day might not be too far away.

After all, Yoruyama Middle School has confirmed that Kita Ikuyo is wandering around in a half-dead state. Based on his experience of being tricked into the dungeon by Yotsuya Miko, Gao Hai estimated that he would most likely enter the dungeon again because of this red-haired girl. After all, she is a female protagonist in a two-dimensional world, and he definitely does not believe that she does not have her own exclusive storyline.

Please, please make the plot a bit more serene. Although the dungeon worlds are generally not serene, it's really hard for him to handle it if it's always this dark and increasingly intense...

Gao Hai sighed in the end, seeing that the edge of the collapsed ruins was only a dozen meters away from where he was.

And it was at this moment that Gao Hai saw something in the darkness.

Something faintly emerging in the distance.

One of them is a school, a very large and complex college, which looks like a high school.

The other was a large number of rooms piled up, a place that was hard to identify exactly, like a child haphazardly piecing together building blocks.

Another one was patrolled by soldiers, covered by barbed wire and high walls, and filled with people dressed in what looked like striped pajamas—a complex of buildings that seemed to have originally been a school.

Finally, there is another area of ​​buildings that is very difficult to see clearly and seems to be in a very, very far place.

That looks like a school?

Gao Hai found it strange that he had this feeling. He couldn't see what it was at all, but he subconsciously thought it was a school. It was as if this perception was directly written into his mind, forcing him to have this idea.

"What Four Heavenly Kings... No, I've already defeated the Four Heavenly Kings, including the Alice in Wonderland Heavenly King. Does that mean I have to defeat the remaining three Heavenly Kings, and the legendary fifth Heavenly King? I don't think I'll have to overcome them one by one. Honestly, it sounds exhausting."

With a casual remark, Gao Hai turned around, no longer looking at those illusory things, nor paying attention to the increasingly close, almost completely vanished ruins, and began to walk towards the gate of Fujika Middle School.

[Excuse me... can you be Alice's friend?]

A timid voice suddenly rang out at that moment.

Gao Hai turned his head and looked around, but saw nothing.

But he could vaguely sense that in this world on the verge of destruction, there was still a last, small lingering attachment that had not yet left.

"No, you shouldn't have asked that."

He chuckled, then spoke very seriously.

"You should ask, 'Can I be your friend?' That's the right way to do it; that's how someone who genuinely wants friends does it."

no respond.

Because the moment Gao Hai gave an answer that was not related to "violence" or "torture," that small obsession found peace and finally departed.

Having confirmed this, Gao Hai didn't stop. He stepped out of the school gate, into the darkness ahead, and into the sudden bright light, completely leaving this dungeon that was about to be destroyed.

hum-

I seemed to hear a jumble of noises.

It seemed that I could vaguely see something.

It was a person writing with their head down.

He was frowning, deep in thought, seemingly considering something.

What are you writing?

Alice, somewhat curious, stepped closer and looked at the person, asking a question.

[A story, well, a story that isn't fully conceived yet. I can only say that I have the basic idea, but I still need to think about the specific process carefully.]

The man sighed, but his tone carried a hint of excitement.

What kind of story is it?

Alice continued asking questions. Not far behind her, two researchers were dissecting a student's body, dark red blood flowing all over the ground.

I want to write about a hero who suffered horrific torment yet survived tragedy. He lived in a daze for many years, unable to escape the pain of the past, and repeatedly questioned himself about why he had survived. Finally, he rallied and, discovering that the events of that year were not over, decided to stand up and use his blood and life to stop the disaster. But when he finally ended it all, he found that things had returned to their original state. He hadn't changed anything; in fact, it was precisely because of his actions that things had reverted to their original state, making him the sinner.

The man spoke with great enthusiasm, his tone tinged with excitement.

Wow, wouldn't that be a tragic story?