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

But there was no one there.

"Gao Jun, is that you?"

Kaguya's voice rang out again, but no footsteps followed.

crunch - crunch -

A wooden monkey toy emerged from the corner of the wall, waving its little hands as it staggered forward.

Kaguya took a step forward, walked up to the toy, squatted down, and reached out to grab the small toy.

In the empty and cluttered nap room, all sounds fell silent at this moment.

thump--

Then, a head rolled on the ground, rolling around on the dirty floor, until it reached the beds piled up to block a door, and finally rolled to Gao Hai, who was hiding under one of the beds.

"Ah, Taka-kun, Hayasaka, so you're here."

Kaguya looked at Takami and Hayasaka with surprise and said.

tread--!!!

The headless figure holding the monkey toy appeared swiftly in front of Gao Hai in the next instant. Crouching down, the creature reached forward and crawled directly under the bed where Gao Hai was hiding.

Chapter Thirty-Three: More Clues to the Rules and the Separated Head and Body

Even with thorough mental preparation, it's sometimes impossible to avoid being caught off guard by the so-called strange and eerie tales. Gao Hai has experienced this firsthand.

"Ah, I've found you! I've finally found you!"

The person on the ground let out a surprised shout.

The headless body had already crawled into the space under the bed and was about to reach out and grab Gao Hai.

Boom——

The next moment, with a roar, Gao Hai's body suddenly stood up, and large swathes of the piled-up beds flew up.

The enemy's sudden attack did not cause Gao Hai any panic. Before Hayasaka could even utter a cry of alarm, he grabbed the bed board and yanked over the piled-up area before the thing could get close to him.

Gunshots rang out, striking the headless monster in the chest and hindering its movements. The next moment, Gao Hai grabbed Hayasaka's arm and pulled him into his arms. With almost gravity-defying force, he leaped up and kicked a bed he had overturned in mid-air, sending it flying and crashing into the headless figure that had followed him up.

Bang!

With a loud crash, the headless figure was knocked to the ground, then scrambled to its feet and staggered toward Gao Hai.

But before that, taking advantage of the moment when all the beds blocking the door were overturned in mid-air, Gao Hai had already inserted the blood key into the lock, opened the door and rushed in, then quickly turned around to pull out the key and close the door, cutting off the distance between that thing and himself.

Crisis resolved.

Gao Hai's breathing calmed down, and he immediately began to observe his surroundings.

This time, he chose to go to the vicinity of Kaguya Shinomiya's location. Theoretically, if nothing goes wrong, he should be able to find his last missing teammate here.

Splash—splash—

Amidst the clear sound of rain, Gao Hai confirmed that he was in a corridor, with most of the windows on both sides boarded up. It's worth noting that these boards appeared to have been removed from the desks and chairs in the classroom, and many of them bore messages such as "Don't look out" and "Don't let anyone see you from outside."

Looking back at the door they had come from, Gao Hai could now see that it was actually a classroom door, almost identical to the door through which Gao Hai and the others had entered the classroom before the abnormal changes occurred in the instance space.

A faint light shone through the cracks in the wooden-boarded windows, making it seem like it was daytime. Or was the light itself misleading and not actually any useful information? However, after seeing the writing on the wooden boards, Gao Hai decided not to try to observe the outside world anytime soon. Therefore, he immediately turned his gaze towards the direction the corridor led, towards the gradually darkening road ahead.

"Well……"

Hayasaka, who finally came to her senses, shook her head. The dizziness caused by Takami's rough pulling had finally reached her brain.

However, having received professional training and with her physical abilities approaching the limits of human capability, Hayasaka Ai neither vomited nor had her movements affected after the dizziness. Moreover, she immediately regained her footing after being put down by Takahashi and maintained a stable mental state.

"Crouch down and move along the wall, making sure your body doesn't go beyond the windowsill, as there might be something watching from outside these windows."

Gao Hai, speaking in a low voice, had already crouched down and started moving around, taking advantage of the blind spot under the windowsill.

Without saying a word, Hayasaka Ai nodded and then lay down, carefully moving behind Takami.

Although she still seemed somewhat confused and didn't quite understand the current situation—for example, the strange creature with Kaguya's head, and why it stopped moving after the door was closed—Hayasaka knew she had to obey the orders of Takami, a seasoned veteran. Therefore, she suppressed her doubts and focused intently on following Takami's instructions.

This ability to understand the situation is quite impressive. Originally, Takami harbored some resentment towards Hayasaka because she often stalked and investigated him, and his rescue of her was primarily for Kaguya's sake. But now, well, that's not important anymore. He should focus on surviving with this little girl first.

While thinking, Gao Hai noticed the words written in crayon on the wall. Unsurprisingly, it was yet another new rule.

[Student Code of Conduct, Article 5]

All corridors with windows are sealed off. Do not try to observe the outside world through these windows, and do not expose yourself to light from these windows for too long. If you find yourself in a corridor with open windows, and you are not currently in the corridor, escape as quickly as possible and find a corridor with sealed windows. Under no circumstances should you reveal your location; ensure that you are not discovered by anyone, and that no one discovers you.

Was it deliberately written on the wall to ensure that anyone passing by would see it?

Gao Hai became increasingly certain that after the Zaoli Elementary School instance transitioned from the real world to the supernatural world, there must still be many survivors. The vast majority of these survivors were likely children, which explained why all the rules appeared to have been written by them. Perhaps one or a few adults were leading these children in their struggle for survival, organizing the remaining survivors. However… the fate of these people was certainly not going to be good.

After passing through the corridor area, Takami and Hayasaka arrived at a very ornately decorated hall.

Although the place is now dilapidated and has lost its former glory, you can still feel its former splendor from the faded wallpaper, cracked wooden floors and collapsed crystal chandeliers.

Gao Hai didn't see Kaguya's figure, nor did he sense anything unusual, so it seemed that this was a safe zone for the time being.

"Don't worry, whatever was behind that door can't get in here. This key of mine looks like it only opens doors, but it actually opens doors to different spaces. As long as I know my destination, I can use this key to connect the two different spaces. Once I remove the key and close the door, the connection will be broken. Hmm, I'm not quite sure how far away we are from that thing right now, but it shouldn't be behind that door."

Noticing that Hayasaka was still occasionally looking back at the corridor they had come from, Takami explained to her the power of the Blood Key, an object of obsession.

Are there any more props like this?

Having already been taught some basic facts about the sacrificial game by Kaguya, Hayasaka, though somewhat incredulous at the existence of supernatural items like the Obsession Object, chose to believe Takami. She shifted her gaze away from the corridor behind her.

However, she still felt somewhat uneasy.

Although she couldn't explain why, Hayasaka still felt somewhat uncomfortable, and she couldn't say whether she was being overly sensitive or what.

"My chosen destination is near where Shinomiya is located. If we search around here, we should be able to find out where Shinomiya is hiding."

At this moment, Gao Hai continued to speak, and Hayasaka, upon hearing this, also perked up.

"Thank you, Mr. Gao. I'm sorry for my previous surveillance and investigation of you..."

Hayasaka Ai apologized softly, a complex emotion flickering in her blue eyes.

"Let's talk about that after we get out of here alive. For now, let's focus. There's no room for us to be distracted in this place."

Gao Hai simply replied casually, then started walking to explore the place.

Then he stopped walking.

Turning around, Gao Hai looked at the corridor he had walked down earlier.

That long, empty corridor, with all the windows boarded up.

That window, now clean and bright, with all its windows open and without any seals.

Kaguya Shinomiya was standing in that corridor.

Do not……

The thing that looked like Kaguya Shinomiya was standing motionless in the corridor, with its back to him and Hayasaka.

Then it turned around.

The body appeared to be Kaguya Shinomiya's own body; the build, clothing style, backpack, and equipment were all exactly what Kaguya herself wore when entering this instance. It was an instant match, making it hard not to consider certain possibilities.

And that head... if that thing can really be considered a head, then the twisted and disordered black and red lines that occupied the body's head, the huge thing that looked like a tumor, were now outlining a deformed smiling face.

tread--

With clear footsteps, Gao Hai could barely see any movement from the creature's body, yet it closed the distance considerably in less than a second.

A strong sense of crisis and a chilling aura assaulted his nerves, causing Gao Hai to instinctively take the most direct action: he picked up Hayasaka beside him, turned around, and ran, accelerating towards the depths of the dilapidated hall.

Hehehe... Hahahaha...

It seemed as if the sound of children's laughter could be heard coming from afar.

Gao Hai's footsteps had already quickly crossed the depths of the hall, turned into a passage on one side of the hall, and run into a brightly lit corridor.

A bright and spacious corridor where not a single window was sealed.

On both sides of the corridor stood headless figures, some dressed as researchers and others as teachers, standing silently.

Gao Hai, who was in this place, could not make eye contact with even a single gaze, yet he clearly felt that everything outside the window was watching him, staring at him.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Survivors Struggling Through a Series of Perils

When bad things start to happen, they usually don't end easily. Instead, various situations keep arising one after another, and Gao Hai is quite experienced in dealing with this kind of thing.

Therefore, upon noticing the abnormality of his surroundings, he acted without the slightest hesitation, immediately pinning the rescue team badge on Hayasaka and then slapping her ear, knocking her unconscious. Well… I'd say knocked her unconscious; her eardrums were definitely ruptured, and her eyes rolled back in her head as she lost consciousness. But with the rescue team badge protecting her, it was certain that Takami had controlled the force of his blow and wouldn't kill her.

Takahashi's reasoning was simple: the fifth rule among the discovered rules clearly states that one cannot be discovered by "anyone" in a corridor with unsealed windows. This rule doesn't specify whether companions are included, so by knocking Hayasaka unconscious, Takahashi avoided being discovered by Hayasaka. As for Takahashi himself, he could only choose not to look at the other person and pretend he hadn't seen anything as he accelerated forward.

[Hehehehe...]

The sound of children's laughter is rapidly approaching from afar.

The monster with Kaguya Shinomiya's body and a distorted face like a child's scribbles is speeding up from behind.

The headless figures outside the windows all around were also taking steps toward the windows.

Gao Hai bent down, his feet slamming into the ground with a loud crack, then accelerated forward, dashing to the end of the corridor in the blink of an eye...

No, I hadn't reached the end of the corridor.

The truth is, the moment I tried to sprint forward down the corridor, the entire corridor stretched out infinitely, and the door at the end, which seemed so close at hand, instantly became just a tiny dot, almost completely disappearing from view.

【■■■……■……】

A soft, rustling sound rang in my ears.

Those headless figures standing outside the window seemed to be whispering something.

The sound of footsteps behind him kept getting closer, and even though Gao Hai had accelerated to his limit, the distance between them continued to shrink.

There's no escaping this way.

Gao Hai understood this fact in an instant.

Once you enter the corridor, and especially once the windows aren't sealed off, attempting to escape is impossible. You'll inevitably be caught by what's behind you and will never reach the end of the corridor. This is the rule of this place, a strange and inescapable rule that no one here can defy.

If that's the case, then why would the rules I saw before have any record of this place? If no one could survive such a situation, then I shouldn't have seen any record of it, unless…