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

"Alright, they're already getting close, so stop staring here. It's really impolite to be caught. Don't forget we need their help right now. If we leave a bad impression and they don't help us, we're doomed. Hey, you fatso, you won't listen to me, will you?"

Another player standing to the side waved and hit the person with the binoculars. After arguing for a while, it was only after Toyama Akira, who was sitting in the back, coughed lightly that the two finally quieted down.

The little river tree, watching this scene from the side, remained silent, while the expression on the face of the green mountain Nanami beside it was quite complicated.

The Red Guild, one of the most powerful Red Moon-level player groups in Japan, now only has these three members left.

Well, to be precise, there were actually only two people left, and they were on the verge of becoming a mere shell of their former selves. The two surviving players were prepared to go their separate ways, but unexpectedly, Akira Toyama, who was thought to be dead, returned alive.

It's said that the Red Guild originally planned to collect Obsession Items to recover after being severely damaged by the Wisteria Middle School dungeon. However, they encountered a fixed dungeon difficulty, which instantly increased to Red Moon level. The Red Guild players, already not at full strength, struggled to survive before discovering it was a 3-core Obsession dungeon. Just when they finally found an escape route, they discovered a hidden fourth core, resulting in almost an instant wipeout; only two players managed to escape.

It seems to be a village instance. It's said that before instances were fixed, you could find Entangling Items almost everywhere in that instance. Although many of those Entangling Items had flaws and were practically only usable as disposable items, they still attracted many player teams to explore. Unexpectedly, that place was eventually fixed as a 4-core Red Moon-level instance.

The Red Guild was simply the most famous of the player groups that perished there. In fact, judging from the messages on player forums and the accounts that were deleted during this period, at least twenty or thirty players, all of whom were veterans at least at the Dark Night level, fell in that dungeon.

Sigh, really, who could have predicted something like this?

But what can you do if you didn't expect it?

As players, this fate is simply a natural progression.

Thinking this, Aoyama Nanami turned her gaze to Goto Ichiri, who appeared calm but was actually in a state of extreme anxiety.

She knew that regardless of whether Gao Hai, who had come downstairs and was coming up, could be persuaded to participate in the next operation, the pink-haired girl she had taken care of for so long would definitely take action, and might even do something irrational.

After all, like these three Red Guild players, she had also lost important friends, and she had endured this for a very, very long time. Now that there was truly hope to salvage everything, she would definitely not give up.

If things develop to that point, what should I do...?

"They're coming up."

Little River Tree turned its head, looked towards the doorway, and spoke softly.

At that moment, everyone in the house heard footsteps in the hallway outside the door, and heard Gao Hai approaching.

Interlude 3-22: The Moment of the Meeting and the Proposal of the Player Alliance Team

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As the conference room door, which had been in disrepair for years, or rather, had never been inspected since the building was constructed, was opened, Gao Hai, dressed casually, and Shijo Maki, dressed in a youthful and beautiful style, stepped into the room.

They were greeted by a room full of serious-looking people, the atmosphere so solemn it was as if they had arrived at an international conference.

Why make it so serious?

Moreover, there are so many unfamiliar faces. Could it be that there are player factions here that don't belong to the "market"? Could it be that my action to recall the coveted items has actually caused trouble for some of the buyers? But Xiaoheshu said it was fine before, could she have misled me?

Gao Hai, who had initially thought there wouldn't be any major problems, is now somewhat uneasy.

"Welcome, Mr. Gao, Ms. Shijo."

The first to stand up was Kawaki, the organizer of the meeting. He nodded and greeted Takami and Shijo Maki, and his tone and demeanor seemed normal, with nothing unusual about him.

"Well, so, what exactly is the wording? I'm not very good at opening remarks, so let's just get started."

As he said this, Gao Hai pulled out a seat and sat down directly.

He noticed Aoyama Nanami watching him from the edge of the conference room, and Goto Ichiri, who was standing next to Aoyama Nanami. In the past, Goto would shrink back and pretend he didn't exist, but this time he was carefully observing him, as if he wanted to say something to him.

Ah, the moment our eyes met, I looked away. I'm still so socially awkward.

In addition, two other people's gazes were noticeably unusual. One was a somewhat overweight man who appeared to be somewhere between youth and middle age, and the other was a young woman with light blue hair who, for some reason, resembled a "punk" or "emo" style. These two had been observing Gao Hai ever since he entered, their expressions clearly showing a mixture of awe, curiosity, and trepidation.

Why does this sound more and more like a pie chart?

Regardless, Gao Hai was now certain that the issue of the object of obsession was probably not the key point of this meeting; these people who had gathered here were likely there for some other reason.

Who cares what these people think or what their motives are? The problem he came here to solve won't change.

“It was indeed wrong of me to recall the items I had sold. But at that time, the mission at Hayate Elementary School had reached a critical point, and even a little more support was extremely important, so I had no choice but to do it that way. If this has caused any trouble for the ‘market’, I can only apologize. If you wish to receive any compensation, you can bring it up now.”

Gao Hai didn't say anything like "I'll return the recalled items to you" or "I'll return the items I bought to you," because he knew that from the moment he revealed his ability to recall items, the market would no longer trust him in this matter.

Therefore, it would be more appropriate to directly ask what methods of compensation are available.

"This is indeed a very serious problem. The kind of power you used, Mr. Gao, is simply unacceptable to the 'market.' We still haven't been able to find out how those obsessions disappeared. Of course, we can also understand why Mr. Gao needed to rely on every available power when cracking the Red Moon-level dungeon, and why he had to act even if it meant violating the contract. After all, it was a Red Moon-level dungeon."

Little River Tree nodded gently, his expression revealing nothing unusual, if the insects burrowing under his skin couldn't be considered his way of expressing emotion.

"Regarding future communication and cooperation, we need to confirm a few things with you. Perhaps this might seem offensive to you, or a disclosure of the power you possess, but we must ask. If you encounter any questions that you feel you cannot answer, or questions that concern your safety, you may choose to skip them. Is that acceptable to you?"

In a calm voice, Xiaoheshu took out a small balance scale and placed it on the table. The scale quickly tilted towards Gaohai.

I can feel the power of the object of my obsession spreading throughout the room. Is this feeling... the object of my obsession that determines whether it is true or false?

"Okay, you can ask."

Gao Hai nodded, looked at the scales, and spoke.

"So, the first question we need to determine is whether the object of your obsession that you can recall has only been in contact with you personally? To be more specific, can you use this ability through other people, or can you use this ability without any contact?"

Xiaoheshu's expression turned serious, and the "market" players behind him also looked nervously at the scales.

They were probably worried that if Gao Hai could snatch the object of their obsession remotely, they wouldn't be able to take the scales back.

Gao Hai didn't see anything to hide about this, so he nodded and replied:

"This is a power that belongs only to me. No one else can obtain it, and indeed only things that I have come into contact with can have this effect."

As for whether it was physical contact, blood contact, or watch storage, Gao Hai didn't intend to answer in detail; this was enough.

The scale tilted slightly to one side, and after carefully observing the scale's reaction, many of the "market" people breathed a sigh of relief, but others looked at Gao Hai with even greater apprehension.

"...Thank you for your cooperation. Let's leave this matter at that for now. Now, it's time to move on to the next step."

Among the market personnel, the only one who didn't check the scales' reaction, Koga, watched Gao Hai for a while before nodding slightly and saying softly, it seemed she didn't intend to pursue the matter any further.

Is it over that easily?

Gao Hai was somewhat surprised; he had thought Xiao Heshu would ask a few more questions.

"Hey, Xiaohe, we haven't asked him how that ability works yet. Is it an object of obsession or a blessing? And what about the time frame for its effect?"

There seemed to be some people in the market who were also surprised. One player approached Xiaoheshu and whispered to him with great dissatisfaction.

Considering that players' hearing is enhanced and is on a completely different level from that of ordinary people, to be honest, there is no difference between the player's supposedly lowered voice and the loud shout.

"..."

The little tree didn't speak, but gave the man a meaningful look.

The player, sensing something was wrong, shuddered and quickly lowered his head, not daring to utter another word.

"This transaction involving obsession items will be treated as if it never happened. We will not accept the obsession items already delivered to Mr. Gao, nor will we accept the obsession items recalled by Mr. Gao. They will all be given to Mr. Gao. However, this matter does violate the market's trading principles and has put many of our members in a difficult position. Therefore, if possible, we hope that Mr. Gao can grant us a request and do us a favor. Would you be willing to accept?"

This little incident didn't make Xiaoheshu pause for long. He quickly stood up again, bowed slightly to Gao Hai, and then spoke in a serious tone.

"This help... is for entering the Red Moon level dungeon, right?"

Gao Hai narrowed his eyes; he already had a premonition of what might happen next.

"Red Moon? Hai Jun just came out of the Red Moon-level dungeon, and you're already planning to let him go back in?"

Princess Zhenfei, who had been keeping quiet, immediately frowned.

"In this matter, the market is only one of the parties involved, so let him communicate with you, Mr. Gao. I'm sure you know something about him."

Xiaoheshu spoke calmly, then pulled a laptop out from under the table, fiddled with it for a bit, and turned the screen towards Gao Hai. A video link was displayed on the screen, and after two or three seconds, the video link was successful. Gao Hai then saw a man lying on a hospital bed.

The distant mountains are bright.

Gao Hai recognized the somewhat listless man at a glance.

"It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Gao... Although I would love to visit you in person to express my gratitude, my current health condition does not allow it, please understand."

In the video, Akira Toyama, pale-faced, forced a smile, his exhaustion impossible to conceal.

Compared to Xiongmi, who could return to full strength after recovering from being detached from the doll, Yuanshan Ming's strength was obviously much weaker. Therefore, even after more than a day had passed, he was still unable to get out of bed and walk, and his mental damage had not even fully recovered.

However, Gao Hai already knew what he wanted to do. Or rather, ever since he confirmed with the "Faceless One" that the black watch would bring him [misfortune], he had been thinking that since he had destroyed two campuses in the [Campus Ghost Stories] instance, he would soon be entering the remaining two campuses. After all, merely destroying half of the instance doesn't count as a proper completion, and there's no reason to leave the rest unattended.

Now it seems that this is the right place to find the reason.

"You want me to enter the [Campus Ghost Stories] instance, find those companions trapped inside who may still be alive, and rescue them all, right? Did your [Red Alliance] suffer heavy losses in there?"

Gao Hai gestured for Zhenfei to calm down while looking at the computer screen and asking a question.

"There were five in total. Including the team leader, apart from Brother Yuanshan, five other teammates disappeared during the exploration of the [Wisteria Middle School] dungeon. Apart from one teammate who died at the hands of [Principal Elephant], whose execution was observed, the whereabouts of the other four are unknown."

This time, it wasn't Akira Toyama on the computer screen who spoke, but the young woman with a rather unique appearance.

"Her name is Nanakawa Ren, and sitting next to her is Hayashibe Kenta. The two of them are the only remaining members of the Red Society. After suffering huge losses in the Campus Ghost Stories, we encountered even greater losses, and now the entire team is on the verge of collapse. And you, Mr. Gao, no matter how you did it, you actually saved me from a situation where I should not have survived. So for us, you are our greatest hope."

Yuanshan Ming introduced the two members of the Red Society, and then said to Gao Hai somewhat apologetically.

The fact that a team of Red Moon-level players was wiped out to the point of having only two members is quite chilling when you think about it. Gao Hai found it hard to imagine what kind of situation would lead to such a large-scale wipeout of a player team of this level, to the point that the team was practically dead.

However, we can discuss this gossip later.

"So, the market and the [Red Knot Society] have reached a cooperation agreement, wanting me to enter the [Campus Ghost Stories] instance to rescue potential survivors, right?"

Gao Hai tapped the table lightly with his hand, then spoke in a calm tone.

"To be precise, it's a joint effort led by the Market, with members from the Red Knot Society, the Fishing Gang, and others from the Market themselves forming a player team to assist you, Mr. Gao, in entering the instance to search for and rescue the missing persons. In return, regardless of whether you successfully rescue anyone, the Market will provide you with three Dark Night-level Obsession Items, while the Red Knot Society, as a participating party, will pay you one Red Moon-level Obsession Item. This is a joint operation, and your successful destruction of the two instance areas of [Campus Ghost Stories] is the most crucial element we need to achieve this mission."

The little river tree spoke up at this moment.

His voice became noticeably more respectful, and as he spoke, he glanced at Goto Ichiri, who was sitting in the corner and was clearly very uneasy.

Normally, the "market" wouldn't be very involved in joint operations by Red Moon-level players, at most only showing up for logistical matters. But this time, if possible, he felt he should try to get it done.

He could no longer hope to be reunited with his lost companions, so let's at least give the little guy who still has a chance to witness such a miracle a chance.

"The Lazybones Gang?"

Gao Hai's focus, however, was not on any joint operation.

He looked around the people in the conference room and, to be honest, couldn't tell who looked Chinese.

But at that moment, footsteps echoed down the corridor again, accompanied by the breath of a familiar person.

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