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

Xiong Mi also failed to enter the courtyard area. She, Jianbing, and Linbu Kenta tried nine different lock-picking methods, none of which successfully opened the courtyard door on the first floor. Even so, Xiong Mi carefully surveyed the courtyard through the window, determining its general layout and noting the location and type of various flowers, plants, and shrubs. However, Gao Hai felt that Xiong Mi's half-hour of work was essentially a waste of time.

Although there are no definitive clues yet, the current situation has made Gao Hai realize that his group is unlikely to find anything during the day. This bizarre instance hides all the strange things in the shadows, making it difficult for the players to find any clues no matter how hard they search. In addition, both survival rules emphasize the "non-open hours," so Gao Hai believes that they will likely only be able to encounter those dangerous monsters at night.

In other words, is waiting all we can do now?

In the silence, Gao Hai raised his head and looked at the teacher on the podium, whose voice rose and fell in intonation, feeling a bit irritated.

Aside from this current class, I still have five more torturous classes to endure. This garbage dungeon that forces players to attend classes is making me want to skip school altogether. I'm in my twenties, and being dragged back into a high school classroom, and a foreign one at that! What kind of nonsense is this?

Gao Hai mentally grumbled several times, then, out of boredom, started twirling his pen. He then began observing the students around him, especially the female students wearing skirts that showed off their legs. He soon discovered, to his dismay, that these female students who were actually monsters all had bowlegs. Compared to his own Maki's beautiful legs and Chika's chubby little legs, they were completely unappealing. In Sensei's words, they were simply not worth licking.

Of course, despite the boredom, Gao Hai still experienced situations where a note would suddenly be thrown at him from behind. By now, he roughly knew how players could see the hidden rules. The method was simple: trigger the content mentioned in the hidden rule list. For example, he found the strange creature under his bed in the dormitory and chatted with it outside his line of sight during the second class. These two actions gave him the ability to see the survival rules. As for Jianzi, that was an extrasensory perception, so we won't compare it.

What Gao Hai is concerned about is the prerequisite for players to obtain hidden rules, which means that when players see the rule list, they have already triggered at least one of the rules. For example, tonight, to avoid being haunted by the ghostly face under his bed, Gao Hai has to sleep somewhere else. However, the school building rules don't mention any consequences of talking to the ghost, so all Gao Hai can do now is wait for the anomaly to find him again.

ding dong -- ding dong --

The bell rang again, and another class was successfully completed.

Gao Hai yawned. Staying on alert for so long had taken a toll on his energy, but he wasn't about to just collapse and fall asleep.

A small hand then reached out from beside him and gently tapped his table.

Gao Hai looked up with some alertness and found that Fujiwara Chika was standing next to him, with Yotsuya Miko, whose face was a little flushed, following behind her.

"We were about to go to the restroom, and she couldn't hold it in any longer."

Chika lowered her head and whispered to Takami, subtly pointing to Yotsuya Miko behind her.

Instinctively, Gao Hai wanted to say something like, "Don't go to the toilet, it might be dangerous." But then he realized that this instance was likely to last an extremely long time, and players couldn't avoid taking care of eating and relieving themselves, so going to the toilet was something he couldn't tolerate.

"Be very careful, there are still many mysteries surrounding this instance."

As he said this, Takami stood up and gestured for Hayasaka Ai, who was not far away, to follow him.

The four of them left the classroom and went to the vicinity of the restroom. Takami himself didn't go into the restroom, but just stood in the passageway outside. Chika and the other two went into the restroom. Chika and Miko did indeed need to use the restroom, while Hayasaka only followed in to check the situation to make sure there was no danger.

"Phew, before... cough cough, we said before that we can only talk to each other when we can see each other. So when we go into the bathroom later, we must keep quiet the whole time. We must not say a word and not respond to anyone. Remember that."

With a serious expression, Fujiwara Chika patted Miko on the shoulder as she spoke, then opened a toilet stall door and went inside.

"Ok, I know……"

Seeing that she herself quickly stepped into the stall, sat down on the toilet, and then let out a long sigh.

I have this feeling that I've been busy all morning but haven't achieved anything.

The girl thought to herself, feeling depressed.

I thought I'd see something terrifying that would help my senior quickly find the key points, but so far I haven't found any trace of them. Where are those monsters hiding? Why can't I see them? And that poster my senior brought back—everyone except me seems to have missed it. What could it say? Are there any clues in it?

While thinking, the girl had finished cleaning up her body, quickly tidied herself up, put on her school uniform, pressed the flush button, and then prepared to leave the toilet stall.

[Seeing Zi]

A call rang out behind her.

Chapter Twelve: Yotsuya Miko's First Encounter with the Unknown

For a moment, Yotsuya Miko almost stopped breathing.

[Seeing Zi]

The call vanished in an instant, and Jianzi didn't even have time to tell whether it was a man or a woman, an adult, a child, or an elderly person.

But she is now able to clearly understand what kind of situation she is in.

tick-

Outside the cubicle door, a faint dripping sound could be heard.

In the dark and cramped toilet stall, the girl, her finger still pressed on the toilet flush button, stared wide-eyed, her body trembling uncontrollably.

clam down.

The girl said to herself in her heart.

Calm down.

These strange creatures don't kill without warning; they're bound by the rules of supernatural tales, meaning they'll only act after certain conditions are met. Although her name has been called, according to the rules, as long as she doesn't respond, this thing can't harm her.

That's right, just don't respond.

Stay calm, don't panic, and don't lose your composure.

Think about how your senior guided you through the struggle for survival at Fujika Middle School, and what your attitude was when facing these things. Even if you can't be as calm and composed as him, you must at least not panic or be too timid in the face of these challenges.

"call……"

In the blink of an eye, Yotsuya Miko had returned to her expressionless state.

She slowly turned around.

What appeared before her was a toilet stall door with some stains, which looked like it had been abandoned for some time.

I didn't see anything strange or scary.

Although I heard a sound just now, the other person doesn't seem to be in this cubicle.

However, the sound I just heard definitely came from behind me.

Miko is now quite confident in her visual abilities. She's certain that if something calls her name from behind, she'll definitely see it when she turns around. Even if it's an intangible, ethereal thing, her eyes will still be able to detect it.

Therefore, the other person must be in this cubicle, somewhere out of sight that I haven't noticed, and may even be watching me.

Jianzi's fingers trembled slightly.

She wanted to open the toilet stall door and escape directly from the toilet.

She remembered the rules she had read before, which mentioned that the opening hours of the teaching building were safe, and as long as she did not violate a few basic rules, she would not encounter any danger.

Several hours have passed since the start of this instance, but every player is at a loss, unable to obtain any valuable clues. Even though he and his senior can see the unusual survival rules, they still can't find any trace of the [Life Club] and are stuck in the classroom attending classes.

But now, a strange creature has come looking for him.

If that thing is indeed in this place, then will I be able to find it?

If I can find it, if I can observe it, can I see things that others can't see, like I did at Fujika Middle School, and obtain clues that are difficult to obtain through normal means?

tick-

The sound of dripping water could be heard again outside the cubicle.

very quiet.

When she entered the restroom, there were more than one student using it, and Fujiwara Chika had come in with her. But now, Miko couldn't hear anyone's voice at all; the entire restroom was deathly silent, except for the occasional dripping sound, and only her own breathing and heartbeat.

Her fingers were trembling slightly.

Her body was also trembling involuntarily.

Jianzi clearly understood what she was planning to do.

For an ordinary girl living a routine life between school, a dessert shop, and home, these twisted and eerie creatures were the biggest nightmare of her life. She was so terrified of them that even though she could pretend not to see them each time, she could never hide the fear in her heart.

Actively engaging with these things was an incredibly difficult test for Miko.

However, our predecessors have done this countless times.

Even though he knew perfectly well that it was a monster that could bring annihilation with the slightest carelessness, his senior repeatedly took the initiative to contact it. Whether it was Fujihana Middle School or later Hayate Elementary School, he had vaguely witnessed its multiple deaths and understood the pain and torment it had endured.

If I die here, my senior can definitely use that blood-red city to start all over again, and I, resurrected, will surely remember what I saw and heard and relay it to my senior. No, the chances of me dying here are very small. It's the teaching building's [opening hours] now, and according to the rule list, as long as I haven't [communicated] with that thing, I definitely won't be harmed. So as long as that rule list isn't some intentionally set trap, I'm safe!

"call……"

After taking another deep breath, Jianzi had completely calmed down.

Slowly, slowly, she squatted down in the toilet stall.

Then, she moved her feet slightly, knelt on the ground, bent down, and lay down, focusing her gaze on the gap below the toilet stall door, looking out into the corridor.

She didn't see anything.

The corridor was completely empty, and there was no one in sight. The stall opposite this toilet stall was also empty.

Under the stark white light, the silent corridor reflected dizzying spots of light, so white that it reminded Miko of frozen corpses.

"..."

The girl did not get up immediately in silence.

She slowly turned her head and looked to her side.

In the toilet stall to her left, there was no sign of anyone. From this angle, unless someone was standing on the toilet, Miko should have been able to see a pair of feet. But she saw nothing; her gaze went straight through several stalls to the tiles on the wall at the far end of the toilet and a broom and mop placed against the wall.

She turned her head again, looking at the other side of herself.

If I remember correctly, the cubicle next to mine should be where Fujiwara Chika is.

Then Jianzi saw a pair of women's leather shoes.

Dark red, small leather boots, with the toes pointed together, facing directly at him, standing in the next cubicle.

Miko's breathing almost stopped at that moment.

These are definitely not Fujiwara Chika's shoes. Miko is absolutely certain that Chika herself, who came into the restroom with her, is not wearing these small red leather shoes.

Whose is this?

When did these feet begin to silently stand next to me? Where is Chika, who should have been here?

tick-

Another dripping sound came from the washbasin outside the corridor.

As she silently stared at the shoes, she gradually realized a possibility. So she slowly raised her head and looked up at the top of the toilet stall, which was at least two meters high.

Black hair.

This time, she saw black hair.

Half of a head protruded from the top of the cubicle, with black hair hanging down, one strand of which fell into the cubicle next to Miko's.

Is that... someone standing in the cubicle next to mine?