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

Looking at the girl sleeping peacefully on his chest, Takahashi couldn't help but recall the moment he first met her. Back then, Kaguya was incredibly charismatic, and her cool demeanor was quite striking. And now, well, actually, she hadn't changed much. When Takahashi first saw Kaguya wearing a headband, he thought she was about to unleash her goofy side from the original work, but after spending time with her, nothing seemed amiss. It made Takahashi wonder if she was up to some kind of scam.

Now, in Takami's team, Shijou Maki and Fujiwara Chika are by his side. Although the relationship between him and Yotsuya Miko is still somewhat ambiguous, Takami can predict how it will develop. Only Shinomiya Kaguya remains somewhat detached from the team, always maintaining a subtle distance from Takami and the others.

Gao Hai knew the reason very well: it was the distorted personality that her family of origin had instilled in Kaguya. She found it difficult to truly trust others, to make friends, or to entrust her heart to anyone. She always confined herself to a small space where only she existed. Even under the pressure of the sacrificial game, where she had to cooperate with others to build a team and overcome the difficulties of the dungeons, her inherent nature in this aspect could not be changed quickly.

And now, this girl is sleeping on me so unguardedly... Is it because I give her a sense of security? Or is it that, for Kaguya who can no longer rely on Hayasaka Ai, she can only cling to the only person she can rely on now?

After waking up from the daze of just opening his eyes and roughly understanding the reasons why Kaguya Shinomiya would do such a thing, Takami's slight feeling of subtlety from physical contact with Kaguya quickly faded, leaving only a sense of helplessness.

She's a complete problem child. Hayasaka Ai is nowhere to be found, and Kaguya... well, at least she can still participate in the operation normally for now.

Although he knew that Kaguya's current mindset was not good, Takahashi, who really had no experience in educating children, could only put the matter aside for the time being and deal with the issues related to this instance first.

In short, it's about time to process the intelligence.

With his eyes closed, Gao Hai let the soundly sleeping Kaguya continue to lie on top of him, and began to recall the information he had gathered during his previous explorations.

First, let's compare the two rule tables we've collected so far.

The "Daytime Management Regulations" and the "Nap Room Rules" are the only two rule sheets found so far, and both rule sheets can be confirmed as rule sheets from when Zaoli Elementary School was still in operation. In other words, they were written by living people before the copies were made, and were intended for living people to see.

Both of these rule tables have obviously very deliberate and strange aspects.

Firstly, both sets of rules share a common emphasis: students must always be under the teacher's sight and are absolutely not allowed to stray out of the teacher's observation range. If any student does not leave the teacher's sight, efforts must be made to find them, even stopping the class altogether, and students in the nap room will be restricted from leaving. This emphasis gave Gao Hai a strange feeling, as if the rules themselves implied that "straying out of the teacher's sight will lead to danger."

Secondly, the second common point between these two sets of rules is that they both emphasize that it is not allowed to spread any ghost stories or supernatural rumors. The daytime management regulations prohibit the spread of any rumors, while the nap room regulations specifically emphasize that rumors about the nap room should not be spread.

The more it's emphasized, the more it seems like an attempt to cover up the truth. Logically, these two sets of rules were used while Hayate Elementary School was still operating. Therefore, could we consider these rules themselves to be deliberately misleading?

What's the defining characteristic of children? Isn't it rebellion?

The more you forbid me from doing something, the more you forbid me from doing it, and at Zaoli Elementary School, it even means that I'm not allowed to even think about it. So, will the children who see and hear such rules really obey them obediently?

Gao Hai vaguely sensed that the two sets of rules were actually working together to mislead students into believing that "people who are out of the teacher's sight will encounter incredible things" and that "some strange rumors in Hayate Elementary School may be true."

Then, the third common point between these two sets of rules is the emphasis on **punishment**. Teachers can use corporal punishment on disobedient children. Gao Hai believes that the effectiveness of corporal punishment varies greatly depending on the degree of its application. Overly harsh and cruel corporal punishment can nearly shatter a child's personality, while too lenient punishment will generally not achieve effective results and may even have the opposite effect. So, how will the teachers at Zaoli Elementary School, as the implementers, carry out this so-called corporal punishment?

Considering how despicable the teachers at Fujika Junior High School, who are played by researchers, are, Gao Hai felt it was best not to imagine that Hayate Elementary School was any better.

Next, after discussing the commonalities, it's time to talk about the differences.

Or rather, the two completely unrelated rules are, in Gao Hai's view, the most sinister part.

The last rule of the "Daytime Management Regulations" requires children to identify their parents' eyes, nose, and mouth in turn before they can go home with them. Then, it inexplicably mentions a strange requirement that children who cry or fuss need to wait for 10 minutes. The "Nap Room Rules" state that if it is past 13:50 PM, teachers who have not left the nap room must remain inside, and in this case, the school must find another teacher to replace them.

These two rules each point in a certain direction towards the identities of "parents" and "teachers," respectively. Although Gao Hai couldn't pinpoint exactly which direction they were pointing to because he hadn't gathered enough clues yet, he was certain they weren't good ones.

It was pitch black...

What role do those dark things that the children talk about play in these two sets of rules?

A monster that snatches away children who break the rules? A wizard that turns people into puppies? Or something else entirely? The graffiti depicting "darkness" consists of human figures made up of chaotic black lines. I've seen children in the nap room turn into similar dark things before. This monster... this strange thing that was likely created by researchers at Hayate Elementary School, what exactly is it?

And most importantly, why does the Early Elementary School instance have such an extremely frequent reset and rewind mechanism? Players can almost always be rewound with the slightest carelessness, and once rewound, they immediately lose their previous memories. If they cannot immediately recall the lost memories, then when those memories are restored, psychological damage is inevitable.

This mechanism is incredibly frustrating for players, and Gao Hai can't think of any good way to deal with it. Currently, the only self-checking method he can use is checking his pistol ammunition. After all, Hirano Sosuke's pistol ammunition is limited, and by checking the number of bullets, he can confirm whether he's been rewound, which is very effective.

But what exactly is the connection between this mechanism and Zaoli Elementary School?

How could a school where a group of elementary school students live come up with such a bizarre thing? Are the researchers at Hayate Elementary School also conducting experiments on memory function? Where exactly is the connection?

Gao Hai pondered deeply.

Gao Hai was unable to reach a conclusion.

Regardless, we still haven't obtained enough information.

On the first day of exploring the dungeon, most of the time was wasted on repetitive and meaningless exploration. Even though he didn't embarrass himself like Kaguya by getting stuck in an endless loop, he had only actually explored a few rooms.

Further investigation is still needed. Tsk... With the retrospective mechanism in place, it's really too difficult to avoid pointless actions that waste time.

Currently, Gao Hai can only confirm that in Ji Gang's small bedroom where he initially woke up, both hiding under the bed and checking the wardrobe would trigger a time-travel event, and the time-travel from these two actions would have a certain degree of lag. In Kaguya's bedroom, the actions of hiding under the bed and opening the window would trigger a time-travel event, with the former having a delay and the latter taking effect immediately.

Gao Hai isn't entirely sure about the mechanisms in other areas yet, but he's certain that simply passing through a room or conducting a superficial investigation generally won't trigger a backtracking event. However, if you investigate a room thoroughly, you might violate a hidden rule, leading to a backtracking event and the failure of your entire exploration.

So, what should we do?

"Well……"

As Gao Hai was deep in thought, the girl lying on top of him let out a soft groan and slowly opened her eyes.

Those crimson eyes met Gao Hai's gaze.

Silence lasted for a moment, then those ruby-like eyes moved slightly, roughly assessing the current situation.

"Hey, did you sleep well?"

At this moment, Gao Hai waved his hand and asked with a smile.

"Ugh... Ugh, oh my gosh?!"

Then, Kaguya's mournful cry as she finally regained full consciousness echoed throughout the small room.

Chapter Thirteen: Kaguya Shinomiya's Idiot Mode and Self-Checking Methods

Kaguya looked embarrassed.

At this moment, she could hardly even make eye contact with Gao Hai; she would become restless if his gaze fell on her even slightly.

How could I have done something so shameless?

Whenever Kaguya recalls opening her eyes a few minutes earlier and finding herself lying on Takami's chest, she feels as if her brain has turned into mush, and she can barely maintain even basic thinking ability.

She had only wanted to lean against him at first, but how did she end up lying on top of him after waking up?

This kind of thing... this kind of thing... throwing myself into his arms like that makes me seem like a shameless, lewd woman. Gao Jun won't think of me as some kind of frivolous girl, will he? I... I don't think so, right?

Kaguya Shinomiya is a little flustered.

Even though Gao Hai hasn't expressed any opinion and seems indifferent to the matter, Kaguya herself can't calm down and look at what just happened with her usual calm and indifferent attitude.

In her view, love is essentially no different from war. Therefore, one should not act rashly without a solid grasp of the situation; if one decides to act, one must make the other person fall for one; and if one wants the other person to fall for one, one cannot allow oneself to fall for one first.

Because of this awkward idea, although Kaguya had planned to get involved in Takami's love life and deepen her connection with him a long time ago, she did almost nothing in terms of action. She only made plans with the help of Hayasaka Ai (which resulted in Hayasaka Ai working 2 hours more every day), and then overturned all of these plans (Hayasaka Ai's blood pressure increased by 1). She remained in the prelude to action.

Kaguya believed the ideal scenario would be for Takami to become infatuated with her, completely succumbing to her charm (Hayasaka Ai's blood pressure +2), but her maid, Hayasaka Ai, had repeatedly dissuaded her from this idea, and now Kaguya had almost given up on that possibility. Therefore, as a second thought, it should be that both she and Takami were mutually attracted, but she had to fall later (Hayasaka Ai's blood pressure +3). In any case, it couldn't be a situation where Takami remained unmoved while she herself was completely captivated.

Regardless of how much blood pressure and fatigue these childish and unrealistic plans increased for Hayasaka Ai, Kaguya's own thoughts were quite clear: she didn't want to be in a passive and weak position in the relationship. In a sense, this is why, after deciding to deepen her relationship with Takami, she did absolutely nothing after so much time had passed, remaining almost entirely an outsider watching the show.

But now, having suddenly lost her most trusted maid, Hayasaka Ai, and with her exhaustion and fear reaching their peak, the girl, driven by instinct, unconsciously made an intimate gesture towards Takami, the only person she could rely on now.

She leaned against him, accidentally knocking Gao Hai to the ground, and then pressed herself against him, shrinking into his arms.

Such a thing must be an accident. That's right, I'm not the kind of person who would do something like that when I'm not thinking clearly!

"that……"

Gao Hai's voice reached Kaguya's ears at that moment, temporarily freeing her from her chaotic thoughts.

She turned her head to look at Gao Hai, whose expression remained unchanged. Her lips trembled slightly, and after a brief pause, Kaguya... couldn't say anything.

What should I say now?

Why did Gao Jun suddenly call my name?

Was he saying something before that I didn't notice?

Wait, have I been spacing out for this long? Wait, no, I have no idea how long I've been daydreaming.

Could it be that Gao Jun was staring at me the whole time, watching me make such an embarrassing appearance?

No, no, what am I thinking?

"...Ahem, are you awake, Kaguya? It's about time to discuss our next move. This safe house will last for about 40 minutes. After that, we'll return to the instance, going directly back to the living room where we were trapped. We need to confirm our plan before we go back."

Gao Hai's voice rang out again at this moment, pulling Kaguya out of her reverie once more.

"Ah? I, I know. Well, it would be best to use something that we can immediately detect, something completely different from our state when we entered the instance, right? That way, even if we are reverted, we can realize that something is wrong with us, and that we may not be in the same state as when we first entered the instance."

Seeing Gao Hai's gradually serious expression, Kaguya coughed lightly at that moment, finally becoming serious as well, and not letting herself continue to fall into an idiotic state.

Speaking of which, Kaguya's state just now felt exactly like the silly antics from the original work. Hmm... I suddenly wonder what she was thinking in that state, but now isn't a good time. Let's focus on more important matters.

Gao Hai, who felt a little regretful, had to admit that watching Kaguya's continuous changes of expression was actually quite enjoyable. He had never realized that this cold-faced beauty could make so many funny and cute expressions before; it was as if she had switched operating systems.

"As for me, I would remind myself with [pistol bullets] that this is the most suitable thing for me."

As Gao Hai spoke, he summoned Hirano Sosuke's obsession pistol and ejected the magazine from it.

At this moment, the magazine is full with 10 bullets.

Because Gao Hai fired his first shot before entering the instance, and more than 24 hours have passed since then, his gun is now fully loaded. Therefore, Gao Hai only needs to check his pistol to realize that he has been inside the instance for more than a day.

Furthermore, to remind himself to check the bullets, Gao Hai specifically wrote the words "Check the bullets and rewrite them every time" on his hand. He was certain that after seeing this line, he would understand the problem, realize that this was his previous hint at the time-travel mechanism within the instance, and remember to rewrite this line on his hand every time he retraced, so as not to forget to check it because the writing would disappear due to multiple time-travels.

However, although she could confirm the problem herself, Kaguya did not have such a convenient blessing mechanism to remind her, so she had to use another method.

"Perhaps I could remind myself by writing on my hand, but I need to carefully consider what I write."

After listening to Takami's self-examination method, Kaguya nodded gently and began to think about it.

This will not be an easy task.

After a moment's thought, Kaguya realized one of the biggest differences between herself and Takami: Kaguya was very suspicious.

After her own perception was given a "normal" thought by the strange power of Hayate Elementary School, even if she saw the message on her hand and found that it was her own handwriting, given Kaguya's personality, she might not immediately believe it. Instead, she would likely suspect that some kind of strange power was trying to mislead her.

Although I will eventually be able to understand what the handwriting is suggesting, the time it takes will definitely be much longer than Gao Hai's.

You need to leave a deep impression, a record that allows you to react immediately to the stimulus and thus quickly determine the true situation.

So, what kind of record can bring you a particularly deep stimulation?

How about writing the sentence, "This isn't the first time I've woken up like this"?

Kaguya first thought of a very basic way of recording.

The record is simple and straightforward, but she would definitely suspect that it was influenced by some strange force, and most likely she wouldn't rewrite the sentence after each rewind, so she could only deny it.

[Rewrite this sentence every time you wake up] What about this one?

Kaguya then thought of a second sentence.

This record… no, such a record would only make her more suspicious, and the possibility of her following it was practically nonexistent. Thinking about this, Kaguya had to admit that this was the first time she had felt helpless towards herself, a sense of exhaustion.

So, how about the record of "I like Gao Hai"?