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

No, it's my misunderstanding of the words that's lacking.

If you find yourself in a hallway where the windows are not sealed, you are not actually in the hallway.

Gao Hai suddenly realized the details of the rules that he hadn't thought through carefully before.

He whirled around, making sure he wouldn't see Hayasaka Ai, whom he was holding, and crashed through the glass, landing among the headless figures.

It was not attacked.

Despite being surrounded by headless, blood-soaked monsters, Gao Hai was not attacked.

This is to be expected, since these things have basically lost all their senses, so as long as you don't touch them, they won't be able to "discover" Gao Hai.

"Playing word games is really annoying. I prefer rules that clearly explain everything."

With a sigh, Gao Hai quickly passed by the headless men and started running forward.

There is no ground here, and no sky.

While in the corridor, Gao Hai hadn't noticed the specific situation around the headless men, but after coming out, he discovered that the place where these headless men stood was only a white light, a faint white light emanating from above, below, and all around, mixed with rough pixel stains that looked like texture errors.

It's like when you get stuck in a bug in a game and clip through the texture, ending up in an area outside the texture.

Moreover, after passing the headless men and truly venturing into the area, Gao Hai discovered various blurry shapes appearing in the distance. Some were tall walls, others were half-roofs, and still others were student desks, chairs, beds, bookshelves, and all sorts of other things.

These things all appeared broken, like disassembled building blocks with only a few recognizable parts remaining, randomly scattered throughout this strange space.

Sometimes, Gao Hai could even see moving figures. For example, in one spot, three children were jumping rope. However, those three children had no eyes, mouths, or noses; their only facial feature was their ears. Upon hearing Gao Hai's voice, they all rushed towards him, forcing Gao Hai to run away quickly.

Those distorted black crayon figures also exist in this place, and their appearances vary greatly. Some are almost people painted black, some look like mist, and some have almost lost their human shape and are just haphazardly piled-up paint.

Later, Gao Hai even saw various buildings such as castles, cemeteries and shrines, and these areas were often more severely damaged, almost losing their original appearance.

Did I trigger some kind of bug?

No, according to the rules of the ghost stories, the survivors should be able to enter and exit this place multiple times, proving that this extremely twisted place is still the "normal" content of the [Early Rift Elementary School] instance, so everything I see is still reasonable.

So... a dream? An imagination?

Does this place represent a concrete area built up by the "imagination" of the test subjects at Hayate Elementary School?

Gao Hai vaguely realized that he might have entered a place that was deeper into the roots of Zaoli Elementary School. This distorted and chaotic area probably pointed to some kind of original characteristic of this instance.

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to explore the place properly, because there were more and more things following him, and the distance was constantly closing.

He finally found his target: a door tilted in mid-air.

Gao Hai leaped into the air, grabbed the doorknob, inserted the blood key into the door, and opened it.

Almost the instant he opened the door, Gao Hai immediately closed it and spun the Blood Key again. He did this because, just before approaching the door, he had spun a 20-sided die in his palm and gotten a result of [4]. Knowing that he would most likely open the wrong door next, Gao Hai used the instantaneous opening and closing of the door to refresh the already inevitable mistake, and then opened the door a second time.

A headless figure burst out of the door in the next moment.

boom!

In the critical moment, Gao Hai's eyes turned blood red, and he used the recoil from firing the pistol to stun himself, grabbing the doorknob and swinging in the air to dodge the thing's attack.

Immediately afterward, a human head rolled out from inside the door. Realizing something was wrong, Gao Hai summoned the firefighters, who rushed towards the head to block the firefighters' view. He then pulled out the key and rushed inside, before turning around and closing the door behind him.

At the last moment, Gao Hai heard a shrill scream coming from the human head. The head with the appearance of Kaguya Shinomiya seemed to have seen the body of Kaguya with the black and red smiling face chasing after it, and thus triggered some kind of special reaction.

Gao Hai had no idea what that reaction meant, nor did he have the energy to care. Because after he closed the door and returned to the lounge on the second floor of the cafeteria, he immediately felt the doorknob being pulled, and something was trying to push the door open and come out from inside.

He remembered that the door had been blocked when it was first discovered.

Whatever is inside the door, the survivors who made it through this instance certainly don't want it to come out, especially since they had to break the seal on the door to avoid the headless monster. In other words, what's inside the door is no longer restrained and is about to emerge.

Don't they even have time to catch their breath?

Footsteps could be heard downstairs.

Gao Hai knew that those were the things that had entered the cafeteria on the first floor earlier, and they started to go upstairs after hearing the noise.

Without time to hesitate, he sped up again and rushed straight up the stairs to the third floor.

squeak-

Hehehehehehehehe...

The sound of the door opening rang out, along with the laughter of many children.

Disordered footsteps followed Gao Hai.

Suddenly, a large number of handprints and footprints appeared on the floor and walls.

A sharp chill was creeping closer from behind.

Whatever that thing is, one thing is certain: once it catches up with you, nothing good will happen.

tread--

Gao Hai arrived at the third floor in the next moment.

Compared to the first and second floors, the area on the third floor, accessible via the stairs, was far more chaotic. A haphazard jumble of tables, chairs, cabinets, books, and other items created a near-maze-like mess. All the cabinets were tightly bound with tape, and even fragile items like stacks of books were wrapped in thick layers of tape.

Every door in sight had its locks clearly damaged and could no longer be opened.

The dense footsteps and laughter behind them were getting closer and closer.

This is a place for playing hide-and-seek.

Gao Hai quickly understood the purpose of this area. He slid into the back of a large cabinet, then crouched down and carried Hayasaka on his back. He moved quickly through several obstacles, crawling in and out of low holes made of tables and beds, and then quietly hid behind a low wall made of tables and chairs.

The disordered footsteps did not catch up with Gao Hai immediately.

Just as he predicted, those creatures would lose their way in this area. Or rather, as long as they weren't directly exposed to their line of sight, as long as there was a certain distance between them, they would lose their target, leaving him with room to maneuver instead of being immediately caught and killed.

Are those things characterized by these features because of children's imagination?

No matter what, we must find a way to escape from here as soon as possible.

Gao Hai first checked on Hayasaka Ai's condition, confirming that the girl was still "sound asleep" and breathing steadily. He then took off his rescue team badge and put it back on. Next, he checked on the firefighters he had summoned earlier, only to find that they had already sacrificed themselves and entered a cooldown period. Feeling somewhat helpless, he looked around and then carefully began to move with Hayasaka.

Discerning the direction of the footsteps, Gao Hai moved very cautiously, always ensuring that he and all the footsteps remained at a considerable distance.

But after surveying his surroundings, he discovered that every door in the hall had been completely destroyed, making it impossible for him to leave using the Blood Key. Furthermore, he couldn't return to the staircase he had initially come up from. Several things were standing there; if Gao Hai hadn't cautiously observed the space under a cabinet and noticed several legs standing there, he would most likely have been discovered and killed.

Is there no outlet?

No, if this place was indeed set up by the survivors, then there must be a way out. Even if that path doesn't guarantee survival now, it should at least provide a place to relocate and avoid being hunted by these monsters.

Thinking this, Gao Hai suddenly noticed that the footsteps were gradually decreasing. He then realized that the strange creatures might have begun to try to hide somewhere in the maze. After a brief hesitation, he took out the toy box and pulled out a doll from it.

【Giggle--】

The loud crowing of the rooster instantly resounded throughout the entire venue.

The rooster doll that Gao Hai had pulled out fell to the ground and started running around the room while crowing.

A multitude of footsteps echoed from all directions, chasing after the rooster doll.

Gao Hai took the opportunity to move to a different location and quickly discovered writing in crayon on a wall.

Are you a student? Students should eat in the cafeteria and not wander around.

Are you a teacher? Teachers must take good care of their students and cannot leave their posts without permission.

Are you the commander? There are no commanders here anymore; they're all dead.

Are you nobody? Then you should pay attention to the red wardrobe, be very careful!

These words...

Gao Hai narrowed his eyes slightly.

My identity should be that of a teacher... no, that's not how it's understood here. Student, teacher, and superior all refer to people who have lived in the Zao Li Elementary School instance. This rule is for the survivors. The fourth rule is what I should follow. The red wardrobe... where is the red wardrobe?

Turning around, Gao Hai carefully observed his surroundings and quickly spotted the red wardrobe. It was against the wall, next to a door. Because the doors to the third-floor hall had been damaged, Gao Hai hadn't been near it before.

The rooster doll had already been caught, but it was still crowing loudly.

The strange creature that had grabbed the doll seemed unsure of what to do with it. For a moment, its footsteps were disorderly, but it remained in place, gathering around the doll without making any further moves.

Gao Hai quietly approached the wardrobe and discovered a small, inconspicuous passage behind the pile of books next to it, which looked like a dog hole.

It was only then that Gao Hai noticed that although this was an indoor scene, the walls here were unpainted brick walls, making it look like an outdoor exterior wall.

Carefully move the stack of books aside.

Then they climbed into the cave.

On the other side of the cave, Gao Hai discovered a familiar-looking indoor corridor. One side of the corridor was completely blocked by cabinets, tables, chairs, and other miscellaneous items, making it impossible to pass through. On the other side, there was a half-open door, and it seemed that sounds could be faintly heard coming from inside.

Takami turned around, intending to drag Hayasaka Ai in, only to find that she had already woken up and opened her eyes, then crawled into the hole, backwards, to move the pile of books back to cover the entrance. This meant that Takami, turning around, could directly see the girl's thighs and the buttocks faintly visible under her shirt. He had to admit they were quite white and well-shaped, the kind that would result in a smooth delivery.

Well... of course, Gao Hai only glanced at it and didn't look any further. He wouldn't pay too much attention to this situation at a time like this.

She must have woken up long ago to be able to act at this time, but she didn't move because she couldn't assess the situation and didn't know what to do.

Takahashi waited until Hayasaka carefully retreated into the corridor before gesturing for silence to her. Then, he gestured to the half-open door next to him, stood up, and went over first.

The blonde girl followed Gao Hai silently, keeping her footsteps as quiet as possible.

The two people slowly approached the door and stood to one side of it.

In silence, Gao Hai, who was prepared to summon the last remaining team member from his badge at any time, stepped forward and peered through the crack in the door. He saw a light on inside, suggesting it was a small storage room or something similar.

Feeling no danger, Gao Hai placed his hand on the door and slowly pushed it open.

slam-la-

Amidst the continuous sound of rain, Gao Hai spotted the source of the noise.

It was Kaguya Shinomiya, sitting quietly asleep in an old man's rocking chair by the window that was blocked by wooden strips.

crunch - crunch -

The chair rocked back and forth, making a soft, rhythmic sound, casting a blurry shadow in the dimly lit room.

Kaguya, who was sitting in the chair, seemed to sense something at that moment. She slowly opened her eyes and turned to look at Takami and Hayasaka, who were standing at the door.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Arrival at the Unmanned Shelter and the Voice from the Radio Station

It seems I had a nightmare.

I can't remember what happened in the dream, but I vaguely felt something chasing me closely from behind, and I seemed to be running away desperately, while searching for a certain place.