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

Have the rules changed?

Goto Ichiri frowned slightly. She lowered her head and thought for a while. She quickly remembered the fleeting face she had seen under the bed and realized that she might have obtained information that others might not be able to obtain because she had come into contact with something.

Analyzing the rule table itself, this information might be opaque, and other players who haven't encountered the corresponding items might not know the information she's seeing.

The situation is a little complicated.

However, for Goto Ichiri, who had already spent a long time investigating and exploring the Dark Night and Red Moon dungeons, this level of start would not cause her any trouble.

She carefully considered the wording of the rules, trying to analyze them. If it were the usual Ichiri Goto, she probably would have found it difficult to concentrate like this, but at this moment, in this incredibly strange place, alone, her mind was very calm, and her thoughts became very active.

Firstly, this set of rules seems to have been created by a student club, meaning it fits the "Survivor's Code" type, at least superficially. While it could also be a "forged Survivor's Code" or a "contaminated and distorted Survivor's Code," in the early stages of a dungeon, following such readily available rules usually poses little danger, and even if it contains hidden, deceptive rules, it won't easily reveal itself.

Of course, this does not mean that this rule can be accepted and believed in whole. After all, even if this kind of "survivor rule" is real and not fake, it will still have some shortcomings because the survivor team in the instance will inevitably be wiped out.

A strange entity that steals names, preventing entry into the dormitory outside of designated times, checking under beds… It seems something is lurking in this dormitory, something that secretly observes players' actions and attempts to influence, kill, or even replace them by responding to their names? And, if you stay in the dormitory outside of designated times, will it trigger some rule that leads to a place like the "other world"? Or will you bump into something head-on?

The rules regarding the rooftop and the view outside the window... Does something jump off the rooftop, and if you see it or hear its noise, something bad will happen? But if that's the case, why don't the rules mention seeing someone jumping off the rooftop or being hit by it after leaving the building? Does it mean that you can only come into contact with that thing inside the dormitory building?

In addition, the key seems to be a very important item.

Thinking of this, Goto Ichiri reached into the pocket of his school uniform and quickly pulled out a small key.

She thought for a moment and quickly chose to put the key into her hair clip that could store items.

A student with an indistinct face passed by Goto Ichiri at that moment, carrying a small bag and seemingly on his way to class.

"Hi classmate! The weather looks really nice today. Let's strive hard for our youth!"

Goto Ichiri, who somehow produced a pair of five-pointed star glasses, waved at the student and calmly struck an extremely chuunibyou (delusional) pose.

【……■■■】

I think I heard a faint, indistinct response.

Goto Ichiri watched as the student stopped, waved in response, and then quickly left, heading towards the stairwell.

Hmm, great, I can still successfully greet people after all.

Seeing that he had successfully received a response, Goto Ichiri felt a little proud.

If a living person were standing in front of her, Goto Ichiri was certain that she would almost never take the initiative to greet them, and she probably wouldn't even be able to make eye contact.

But these things are not people.

No matter how much they resemble humans, even if their speech and actions mimic the logic of living people almost perfectly, these things are still not human. They are like a computer program, a piece of code whose behavior has been pre-programmed. As long as you don't perform any specific actions that activate this code, there is no need to worry in the slightest, there will be absolutely no danger, and there is absolutely no need to worry about things like social death.

So, although this might sound a bit odd, Goto Ichiri actually enjoys communicating with supernatural beings. Especially those supernatural beings that resemble humans, whose behavior patterns are closest to normal people, she enjoys interacting with them even more, even if a single wrong word could result in her being killed on the spot. Goto Ichiri even thinks that if one day she could chat and laugh with those supernatural beings that are like humans, she might be able to use that experience to communicate with humans, as a kind of acting training before actual combat.

Yes, that's right. She even thought that communicating with the monsters was a kind of training, a good way to practice communicating with living people. However, after participating in so many dungeon missions, she still hadn't learned how to interact with strangers. In fact, she became more withdrawn due to her long-term exposure to those dark and cruel games, and she didn't know how to communicate with normal people anymore.

The time is 7:13, which means I have 17 minutes left before I have to leave the dormitory building.

Considering her current explosive power and speed, as well as the issue of the shortcut downstairs that doesn't seem to be mentioned in the rules, Goto Ichiri decided to give herself 16 minutes to continue exploring the dormitory building and make sure she leaves the building immediately after 16 minutes.

As for the other players who had already gathered on the 5th floor...

The pink-haired girl closed her eyes and communicated with Aoyama Nanami through a memento that she and Aoyama Nanami each possessed, allowing them to communicate with each other. Then, she walked to a dormitory door and knocked on it without hesitation.

"Hello, I'm a student from room 604. May I come in and have a look around?"

She wanted to test it out, to determine the communication abilities of the strange creatures in this instance, and to ascertain how complex their behavioral logic was and how closely they resembled humans.

Perfect, this also allows her to verify how the rule requiring permission to enter other dormitories works. As for the potential dangers, the girl was well aware of them, but she would still do it anyway. Firstly, she possessed quite a few items that guaranteed her survival; secondly, this method of exploring and investigating dangerous areas alone had always been her style.

[Can I...? Enter...?]

Soon, Goto Ichiri received a reply from inside the door.

The reply was muffled, as if something was covering the mouth and nose, or as if some other sound had mixed in with the reply.

However, Goto Ichiri remained calm. She showed no fear or unease and watched with a detached expression as the dormitory door creaked open with a jarring sound. She then looked at the four blurry female figures dressed in sailor uniforms inside the dormitory.

Then, she stepped inside.

tread--

The crisp sound of footsteps echoed on the floor.

The narrow stairwell was dimly lit, and the shadows of the people walking by overlapped.

Aoyama Nanami tilted her head slightly, and after confirming some information, turned to look at the others who had already gathered, and bluntly said, "We don't need to wait for Goto. Let's go downstairs and meet up with the others, then leave the dormitory building to investigate other places."

"Shouldn't we wait for Ms. Goto?"

Unexpectedly, a solo action occurred right at the start of the event. Kaguya Shinomiya hesitated for a moment before asking the question.

"If it's that one, then let her go when she decides to act alone. Besides, she's not actually acting alone, since Miss Aoyama is keeping an eye on things here. Don't underestimate these two."

Xiong Mi smiled and turned to Shinomiya Kaguya, speaking casually, seemingly not seeing anything wrong with her solo journey. Aoyama Nanami also smiled at Shinomiya Kaguya, indicating that she had been diligently checking on Goto Ichiri's situation and there was no need to worry.

Such a reaction... Does this kind of thing happen often? In other words, does Aoyama Nanami have some kind of obsession that allows her to remotely monitor and assist Goto Ichiri, and given that Goto Ichiri herself has some special qualities, is it possible for her to act alone in an extremely difficult death dungeon like the Red Moon level?

Kaguya Shinomiya nodded slightly, gaining a new understanding of the Red Moon-level players, and obediently continued to follow the team forward.

There were eight female players in total, and they had already walked up to the third floor from the stairwell on one side of the dormitory building. Among them, Xiong Mi, as the vice-captain of the "Slacking Off Gang," was walking at the front as always, holding a guide cane-shaped object of her obsession. She would take a step and tap it on the floor in front of her, as if confirming something.

Aoyama Nanami walked at the very back of the group. Her steps were silent and seemingly light, yet they gave off an unexpectedly reassuring feeling.

Fujiwara Chika walked in second place. Despite only having a Berserk Blessing and a Twilight-level buff, the girl was very bold. She followed closely behind Xiong Mi and carefully observed the surrounding situation.

Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka followed behind Chika Fujiwara, followed by Miko Yotsuya in the middle, and then Ren Nanagawa and Maki Shijo behind Miko Yotsuya.

Through the mental link between Shijou Maki and Takami, and through the obsessions of some kind of remote communication held by Kumami and Nanakawa Ren, the eight players here already know that the three male players on the second floor have met up. Therefore, they now plan to gather together and leave this dormitory building first.

Princess Maki's gaze remained fixed on Miko.

Even now, she still believes that the rule sheet that Yotsuya Miko herself sees must be the same as everyone else's. Even though Taka-kun has told her in the mental link that Yotsuya Miko must see a different rule sheet, and told her to remind Miko to hide this and not reveal it, she still holds this belief in her heart.

Of course, Princess Zhenfei could also understand that this perception was wrong.

The mental link of the black watch allowed Maki to correctly discern the information Takami was conveying to her. Therefore, when Yotsuya Miko was still trying to tell others what she had seen, she quickly stepped forward to stop her and subtly reminded her that she could only tell Takami about this kind of information.

This feeling... is really strange...

Shijo Maki frowned deeply.

On the one hand, she firmly believed that Yotsuya Miko herself shared the same understanding of the rule sheet as she did. On the other hand, she was also clearly aware that her understanding was incorrect and that she had been influenced by some force within the instance.

However, these two obviously contradictory ideas existed quite naturally in Shijou Maki's mind at this moment. She even felt that both ideas were correct and without problems, and she could not deny one of them by her own willpower.

Ugh, what is going on...?

[Have you heard? Someone saw a "man under the bed" in the boys' dormitory on the third floor!]

Some excited voices brushed past Zhenfei's ears.

She looked up and toward the source of the sound.

Then she saw two blurry-looking girls in school uniforms, one carrying a backpack and the other a small bag, walking past her chatting and laughing as they headed downstairs.

No, their faces... I can see their expressions now?

What were blurry faces, completely devoid of detail just over ten minutes ago, are now becoming clearer, and the expressions on the students' faces can be barely discerned. Furthermore, while initially these creatures made no sound, Maki is now certain she heard them communicating with each other.

"Hey everyone, how's it going?"

At that moment, Xiong Mi, who was at the front, had reached the top of the stairs on the second floor. Gao Hai, who was standing below, waved to the women coming down and smiled. Then he turned his gaze to the bottom of the stairs, towards the first floor.

The player exploration teams for this round have now basically all assembled.

The clock in the hallway was pointing to 7:17.

Chapter 5: A Peaceful Opening and Players' Division of Labor

Ding dong——ding dong——

The loud ringing of bells echoed along the sunlit, flower-lined road.

Gao Hai once again experienced the feeling of returning to the past, to his childhood, as if he had returned to his old school. Although he knew very well that this was just a cognitive illusion created by the instance itself, since his actual school was never a place like "Nightfall Mountain Middle School," at this moment, even though he understood the falsehood of this perception, he couldn't shake it off and could only constantly remind himself that it was an illusion.

At this moment, apart from Goto Ichiri himself, all 11 players participating in this mission had assembled. The group stood in the open space below the dormitory building, exchanging information and preparing for the upcoming operation.

"The study materials on my and my aunt's beds are marked with the class 08 of the second year of high school. Also, Ms. Aoyama and Nanakawa are in the same class as us."

Shijo Maki took a textbook out of her bag, showed it the class number, and said...

"I'm from Class 05 of the second year of high school. My classmates are Arimiko, Chika, and Hayasaka."

Gao Hai also took out his textbook from his backpack and showed it the class number marked on it.

During the presentation, he subconsciously glanced at the textbook he was holding. It was a Chinese language textbook, with the class number marked on the cover. Although Gao Hai had no recollection of it, the handwriting on it looked exactly like his own, as if reminding him of the "fact" that he had actually been studying at this school for a year.

Tsk, so if you think even slightly off-track, you'll be inexplicably subjected to cognitive interference?

Noticing the abnormality in his own thinking and cognition, Gao Hai frowned once again.

"I'm in the same class as Jianbing Guozi and Lin Bu, all in Class 09 of the second year of high school. It seems that I'll have to take care of the remaining two boys."

Xiong Mi spoke casually with his arms crossed, his movements seemingly relaxed, but in reality, he was constantly on guard about his surroundings.

At this moment, students would occasionally pass by, heading towards the teaching building.

The students' figures appeared like phantoms in the sunlight, leaving no shadows on the ground. But occasionally, Gao Hai noticed that a few students' figures were noticeably more solid, as if they were gradually transforming from an ethereal state into something real.

"This place really doesn't seem like a dungeon world."

Kaguya Shinomiya murmured a sigh at that moment.

Gao Hai knew what Kaguya wanted to express. If you ignored the blurry figures of the students, the school under the sun actually looked very nice. It was surrounded by lush green mountains, the air was very fresh, and the temperature was neither too hot nor too cold. It felt warm and cozy under the sun, like being in spring or autumn.

Compared to Shirakawa Apartments, Red Nut Gray Hole, Fujika Junior High School, and Hayate Elementary School, Yoruyama Junior High School seemed like a perfectly normal school, without any abnormalities. Of course, that's assuming you ignore the students; these walking mosaics are still quite conspicuous.

“I suggest we split up first. Although we do need to cooperate in the Red Moon-level dungeon, we already have too many people gathered together. If we are attacked by some kind of supernatural corrupting force in this situation, we could be wiped out without warning.”

At this moment, Jianbing, whom Xiong Mi called "Jianbing Guozi," spoke up with an extremely serious expression.

Both the man and Xiong Mi were clearly no longer young, yet they were both wearing school uniforms because they had acquired the [student] identity in the instance, which seemed quite strange in every way. However, Xiong Mi herself was completely indifferent, even seeming to enjoy it, while the man named Jianbing maintained a basically expressionless or serious face from beginning to end, to the point that Gao Hai couldn't find anything funny about it.

"Perfect, we can divide into three teams based on different classes, so let's split into three groups and act together."

Gao Hai nodded, and after thinking for a moment, Shijo Maki also came to the same conclusion. So the eleven people who had gathered together quickly began to divide up their actions.

There were no arguments, no hesitations, and no unnecessary banter.