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

The golden retriever lay quietly beside Gao Hai, remaining motionless. The husky, on the other hand, seemed a little excited, pacing back and forth around Gao Hai several times before finally mimicking the golden retriever and lying down beside him. However, its movements looked rather strange, like a dog learning how to lie down on its first day… Hmm, that's a strange analogy, but it was the only one Gao Hai could think of.

Tap—tap tap—tap!

Heavy footsteps soon began to sound.

Gao Hai could sense the extremely rapid pace of the thing after it rushed out of the kennel.

boom!

Gunshots rang out immediately, followed by the heavy thud of something falling to the ground.

Judging from the sound, the rescue team member must have grabbed the tall, strange creature and pushed it off the second-floor platform, crashing it into the lobby on the first floor. He then jumped down after it, firing his gun continuously throughout the process.

The sounds outside the door quickly became noisy.

The cries of puppies and the roars of some inhuman monster mingled together, along with the sounds of flowing liquid and muffled explosions, and intense gunfire was also mixed in, showing no signs of abating.

Click!

Gao Hai heard a sound of something breaking, as if a door had been destroyed.

The chaotic noises gradually faded into the distance, sounding as if they had entered the auditorium, and the distance between them continued to increase.

In that case, this side is slightly safer.

Gao Hai slowly breathed a sigh of relief, looked down at the obedient golden retriever beside him, reached out and patted its head and back, and then looked at Shinomiya Kaguya lying on his other side.

Kaguya Shinomiya also turned her head at that moment and looked at Takami, who was staring straight at her.

"The Four Palaces".

Gao Hai spoke calmly.

"Hmm...wait? I've turned back?"

Kaguya, who thought she would continue to make whimpering noises, opened her mouth and then realized the changes that had occurred to her.

"Yes, you've changed back, but your equipment has been removed."

Gao Hai turned his head with a calm expression, his voice devoid of any emotion.

"The equipment... was cleaned?"

The girl didn't immediately understand Gao Hai's implication.

But after regaining her human senses, she quickly noticed something was wrong with her body. She felt a chill and seemed unusually insecure.

So she lowered her head, looked at herself, and then she understood.

Kaguya: ?!

Hearing the girl's gasps as if she were suffocating, and the scream she forced back from her throat, Gao Hai couldn't help but admire her. A wise young lady was indeed different; even in this situation, she could maintain basic rationality.

And, well, how should I put it? Although her upper body is somewhat pathetic, well, like Maki, her backside is quite perky!

Chapter Twenty: A Young Girl's Shame and Two-Person Actions with a Dog

Kaguya did not scream.

Even though the girl's sense of shame had completely exploded, and even though her entire face was flushed red at this moment, she still didn't make a sound. She just continued to lie on the ground, trembling all over, trying her best to cover her body.

She knew that a terrifying monster was active outside, and judging from the sounds she could hear, the doors that were considered "indestructible" for players were ineffective against that monster. In other words, if the sounds she made attracted the monster's attention, it could very well break through the door. Therefore, no matter how ashamed or unwilling she was, she had to stay put.

So, Gao Jun... could you look away for a moment, or just close your eyes?

Feeling the unbridled gaze of Takahashi beside her, Kaguya, who was almost losing her ability to think, had tears welling up in her eyes. Like a pitiful little puppy that had been bullied, she lay on the ground and turned to look at Takahashi, only to find that he had already closed his eyes.

The one who is still staring at her even now is the little golden retriever lying next to Gao Hai.

Hmm, am I imagining things?

That makes sense. Although Gao Jun sometimes seems frivolous and does things that leave people helpless, he always remains serious and reliable in crucial moments and crises, and wouldn't take advantage of such situations to do anything to you.

Kaguya's mood eased slightly at this moment.

Is that really the case? Of course not!

Gao Hai kept his eyes glued to Kaguya until she looked at him, never once looking away. With the heightened senses honed from three dungeon runs, Gao Hai multitasked: his ears listened to the sounds outside, carefully pinpointing the location of the monster currently battling his summoned rescue team, while his eyes were fixed on Kaguya's fair skin, imprinting her image into his DNA. He also constantly monitored the direction of Kaguya's gaze, immediately closing his eyes the moment he sensed her glancing at him.

Her skin is about as white as Maki's. Hmm, her breasts seem to be a little smaller than Maki's. Maybe it's because Maki has shown signs of growing a little with my help? But they are indeed very perky. They are the type that can be delivered naturally. I feel like they would feel very nice to touch. And they are quite similar to Maki's.

It's no wonder Maki and Kaguya are related; they share so many physical similarities. However, their personalities are quite different. Neither Kaguya nor Maki is truly honest about their feelings, preferring to hide their true selves. Of course, Maki has largely overcome this flaw now, leaving only Kaguya in her original, unadjusted state.

A few random thoughts will not affect Gao Hai's current state.

Rather, this approach actually helps him adjust his mindset, since that's just who he is.

After about fifteen minutes, Gao Hai could no longer hear the strange noise, but through the senses from the rescue team badge, he could confirm that the police officer, formed from Hirano Sosuke's lingering obsession, was still entangled with the other party, but had gradually fallen into a disadvantageous position and was beginning to give out.

Five minutes later, bringing the total time to 20 minutes, Gao Hai lost the officer's coordinates and noticed that the third summoner in his badge was entering its cooldown phase. Clearly, the strange creature deep within the kennel had ultimately destroyed the officer, but for a mere remnant to hold off the enemy for a full 20 minutes was a pleasant surprise for Gao Hai, worthy of serious attention.

As for him and Kaguya, as early as the 8th minute, after the strange creature had already created a considerable distance between them, he opened the door and returned to the corridor.

Kaguya, following behind, was draped in a bed sheet, wrapping herself up in a manner similar to a bath towel. Although it still felt awkward, she had no better choice at the moment, so this was the only option.

Gao Hai didn't try to open the wardrobe to look for clothes. He even picked up a stool from the room before leaving and wedged the stool legs into the wardrobe handle to prevent it from being opened.

After confirming the number of bullets and finally breaking through the eerie force that blocked his perception, he was able to confirm that anything in any corner—under the bed, in the closet, outside the window, anywhere that might be hiding in a horror story—could potentially contain something dark. Furthermore, this darkness might possess some kind of retrospective power, causing players who encounter it to have their memories erased and be reverted to the initial stage of the game.

The "dark creature" that infiltrates the player's cognition and memories as a "friend," and the "dark creature" that hides in dark corners, erasing the player's memories and causing them to restart—these are two distinctly different key strange objects sharing the same name. Gao Hai has only roughly figured out part of their classification and mechanics; there's still a considerable amount he doesn't understand. He vaguely senses that there might be more than just these two types of "dark creatures," such as the one in the dog kennel, which might also be a variant of a "dark creature."

Could the “dark” thing be some kind of monster imagined by a child?

Upon closer inspection, this strange thing is different from the usual strange things; it seems to be some kind of derivative strange thing.

Why does such a bizarre thing exist at Hayatei Elementary School, and why does it present itself in such a fragmented yet pieced-back state? It's like the chaotic place in the Red Nut Gray Hole, but it seems even more twisted than the chaotic places I've seen before.

Gao Hai had no way of getting an answer, so he could only guess and speculate about the possibilities in his mind.

To be honest, the "darkness" aspect is practically the basic mechanic of the Early Elementary School dungeon. It's quite frustrating to encounter a key figure at the start of a dungeon without any obvious clues, forcing you to deduce the rules step by step. Gao Hai suspects that his acquired "identity" might conflict with the rules he's searching for; in comparison, Kaguya's "identity" in this dungeon might be more advantageous.

"Your identity is that of a student, right? Although it sounds strange, since you were able to hear the voices of those children in the auditorium and see the notes they left behind, you are very likely a student and have been identified as a member of the [Elementary School Students] at Hayate Elementary School. In that case, you should be able to become key to figuring out the [Dark] rules."

After sending a second rescue team member to the kennel to investigate the room deep inside, Gao Hai and Kaguya entered the corridor area and then returned to the small living room that Gao Hai had lingered in many times. During the walk, Gao Hai asked Kaguya a question.

"Elementary school student... Do I have that kind of identity in this instance? Well, it's certainly possible. When I heard those voices in the auditorium before, I actually had a strange feeling that I was similar to them. How about this, if I hear or feel anything strange again, I'll remind Gao Jun, and then we'll decide together whether to explore it or not."

After draping herself in a sheet, Kaguya, having regained some composure, pondered for a moment before making a suggestion to Takahashi. However, upon hearing the identity of "elementary school student," Kaguya felt a subtle unease, sensing a certain malice lurking within her.

"Okay, let's do it this way. I'm about to open the door, so please keep an eye on your surroundings."

As Gao Hai spoke, he arrived at the last door in the small living room that he had not yet investigated and slowly opened it.

At the same time, the firefighters, who had already gone deep into the kennel and released all the puppies, arrived at the door at the deepest part of the kennel and reached out to grab the doorknob.

squeak-

Gao Hai opened the door in front of him.

Behind the door was a small office with three desks piled high with various documents. Some chairs were haphazardly placed, while others were neatly tucked under the desks. Besides the entrance door, there were three other doors within the office, making it appear to be a complex network of interconnected passageways.

The half-grown golden retriever cautiously peeked out from beside Takami and Kaguya's feet, glanced into the house, and then shrank back next to Kaguya. It seemed quite frightened by the place; one wondered what it had experienced there.

Upon reaching this point, neither the things that had lured Kaguya into the dog kennel nor the "friends" that Takami had chased away several times showed any trace of them. It was unclear whether they had simply vanished or gone somewhere else. Takami and Kaguya had exchanged information about this, and had been on guard for quite some time, but ultimately, neither of them saw any "friends" or "dark figures."

There were quite a few stray puppies running around everywhere. I don't know how they got into every room and every corridor when the doors were closed in many places.

"The office?"

Gao Hai frowned deeply, hesitant about whether to investigate the clues.

It's certain that if you see someone's name and related descriptions in a document, you'll suddenly have a new "friend" associated with them. This bizarre mechanism has a significant negative impact on intelligence gathering; it's downright disgusting, and the worst part is that there's no way to detect anything amiss until the "friend" shows any abnormalities.

"there."

However, before Takami could make a decision, Kaguya had already reached out and pointed in a certain direction.

“I heard children talking over there, and it seems like a lot of children have gathered together.”

Standing next to Takahashi, Kaguya pointed to a door on the side of the office and spoke in a soft but firm voice.

Chapter 21: Reflections on the Dog-Transforming Mechanism and the Discovery of Hidden Passages

Behind the slowly opening door, the first thing you see is the light that comes on—bright, even somewhat dazzling light.

Both Takami and Kaguya subconsciously squinted slightly at that moment, and it took them a second or two to adjust to the light and open their eyes.

What appeared before the two of them was an empty classroom.

Thirty tables and chairs were neatly arranged in the room. A ruler and chalk were placed on the podium, and the faint chalk dust marks on the blackboard could be seen from afar.

The textbooks on the table, the blackboard eraser lying on the wall, the backpack hanging on the chair... everything tells the story of what this classroom used to look like.

But now, there is no one here anymore; it's just an empty classroom.

Gao Hai was the first to step into the classroom. He held his pistol and carefully looked around for a while. Only after confirming that nothing would suddenly jump out and attack did he breathe a sigh of relief and turn around to signal Kaguya to follow him in.

“This place…yes, I can hear faint sounds coming from here, it feels like there are many students in this classroom.”

Grabbing the sheet draped over her, Kaguya spoke as she slowly walked into the classroom. The half-grown golden retriever followed beside her, moving cautiously to her side.

"Search carefully, check anything that seems suspicious, but don't immediately flip through anything with text on it, lest you gain a few more 'friends'."

As Gao Hai spoke, he slowly walked towards the podium. He glanced around and quickly spotted two doors on one side of the classroom. One was a security door, and it looked quite thick; he wasn't sure where it led. The other door… looked somewhat like the door to the nap room; he wondered if it connected to the nap room.

"I know, Gao Jun, you should be careful too."

Kaguya simply nodded in response to Takahashi's words, then slowly moved forward, dodging several small dogs that ran past her, and inspected the tables and chairs.

Several scruffy puppies were running around in the classroom, and both Takami and Kaguya had to dodge them from time to time as they walked. After leaving the kennel, the little creatures were extremely excited, completely ignoring what Takami or Kaguya were saying, and just running around wildly on their own. Some of the overly excited puppies even started defecating, urinating, and biting everywhere, causing a stench to spread throughout the classroom.

Gao Hai silently observed these little creatures for a while, harboring some tentative plans in his mind. However, he ultimately didn't act on these ideas. Frankly, even though his personal experience had given him a general understanding that these dogs were actually transformed humans, Gao Hai still couldn't see anything human-like about them. Compared to ordinary dogs, these mixed-breed dogs, while seemingly able to understand human language to some extent and much smarter than normal dogs, had rather limited intelligence and hadn't truly escaped the animal realm. Therefore, after hesitating for a while, he ultimately decided not to stoop to their level.

Miss Xiongmi mentioned that there's a time limit for rescuing people in this instance. The key issue is the time limit... perhaps these scruffy puppies have exceeded it, and therefore will never be able to revert to human form, resulting in a regression in their thinking. So even though they appear much smarter than ordinary dogs and can genuinely understand human language, that's all they can achieve; they won't regress further. After all, even if a dog were given human memories, its brain wouldn't allow it to truly become human.

Thinking about it this way, I voluntarily entered the cage and transformed into a dog. Even in this dog form, I maintained my rescue team badge, a symbol of my obsession. After being quickly rescued, I immediately reverted to my dog ​​form, without losing any of my clothes or equipment. Kaguya entered the cage earlier than me, and she was "reported and arrested." She had already been imprisoned for some time before I entered the kennel. After being released, she continued in dog form for a while, and upon transforming back into a human, she was completely naked. The time difference between these two states wasn't significant, but the resulting effects were drastically different.

And Hayasaka Ai, she still can't turn back into a human, perhaps because she was imprisoned for four whole days and was deeply altered by some strange power. I wonder if she could recover immediately if she left this instance?

Thinking this, Takahashi looked at the golden retriever following Kaguya. He had noticed the difference in intelligence and emotional expression between this little dog and other mixed-breed puppies when they were in the kennel, and considering the breed difference, he was about 80% certain that this golden retriever was Hayasaka Ai.

Kaguya must have realized this as well, which is why she had no objection to bringing the dog along, and even took some care of the little golden retriever.

In a sense, it could be said that Gao Hai and Kaguya had completed their most important mission in entering the dangerous place of Hayate Elementary School. The remaining key was how to leave this place. Well… or rather, how to break through this place. If it weren't for the black watch forcing Gao Hai to break through the dungeon, he and Kaguya would have already run away. Unfortunately, there are no "ifs," and of course, Gao Hai didn't crave that. After all, without this watch, he wouldn't have his current strength and opportunities.