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

Did it just disappear after the lights were turned off?

Considering that he hadn't heard any unusual noises, Gao Hai couldn't help but begin to suspect that these strange students would dissipate and shatter after the lights were turned off, leaving no trace, only to reappear the next day when the lights were turned on.

Hmm... my eyelids are a little heavy, I think I'm getting sleepy...

Gao Hai couldn't help but yawn.

Come to think of it, it's already very late, the lights are all out, why bother thinking about all that nonsense? Wouldn't it be better to get some sleep and get up early the next day?

My vision is getting blurry.

My body seems to be getting heavier and heavier.

I don't want to think anymore.

I……

I should go to sleep now...

I……

Click!

I heard a shattering sound coming from my own mind.

One of the mental fragments existing in one's own mind just disappeared.

My confused thoughts cleared up in an instant, and my blurred vision became clear again.

Gao Hai saw a figure, like a woman's figure, suddenly flash past the window, seemingly falling from above towards the ground.

It sounded like something had fallen to the ground with a dull thud.

But... I can't hear clearly...

An even stronger drowsiness than before swept over my mind at this moment, interrupting all my thinking ability.

Gao Hai collapsed onto the hard bed in the dormitory.

The next moment, he opened his eyes and looked around.

He saw bare concrete walls and white lights protected by barbed wire.

He touched the cold ground and the heavy shackles on his hands and feet.

Where am I?

Struggling, Gao Hai sat up, turned his head, and saw the iron fence behind him. The iron posts, each about the thickness of a fingernail, were spaced about the length of an adult's forearm, forming a large net.

Outside the cage, Gao Hai saw a bottomless, dark cavern, and on the other side of the cavern, a concrete cage that was almost identical to his own.

At this very moment, in the cell opposite, sat a man. A white-haired, emaciated old man who looked as if he might die at any moment.

And he was staring at him, grinning at him. The smile was silent, yet it sent a chill down his spine.

"...Who are you? Where am I?"

Gao Hai didn't want to speak, but he couldn't help asking the other person.

Don't you know where you are? You clearly know where you are, right?

The old man's grin widened, and when he spoke, his voice seemed to be behind Gao Hai, right next to his ear, and even his breath seemed to reach Gao Hai's cheek.

But that doesn't matter.

Compared to the sounds Gao Hai heard, neither the eerie old man nor the strange cage mattered.

The old man said:

We are currently in the Bythos.

Chapter 18: The Abyss I Stepped into in a Daze and the Horror Upon Awakening

Where are you now?

The dull sound kept echoing in my mind.

What is your name?

It was as if someone was asking this question, or as if it were all just my own illusion.

Can you hear my voice?

Baydos...

The voice was calling out repeatedly in a low voice.

Baydos... Baydos...

The voices kept calling out, overlapping each other, calling out again and again.

It was like seeing a bottomless, completely dark prison where the people inside had no form and could see nothing. Only the voices emanating from their mouths were so clear, so real, so profound.

Please step into Baidos...

Get out of Baidos quickly...

Let's get a little closer... and a little further away...

Can you understand... exactly where you are...?

……

Gao Hai's breathing gradually became heavy.

The sounds never stopped.

The voices that echoed in his mind still resonate to this day.

He knelt on the ground, covered his forehead with his hand, feeling the crisp sound of his mental fragments dissipating, and the persistent, clear pain in his head.

Then, he slowly raised his head and looked ahead.

Did you hear that?

The old man asked in a low voice.

Is that an old man standing in the cage opposite?

They're inside your head, aren't they?

The old man chuckled sinisterly.

The cage opposite was empty; there was no one standing there.

Can you really hear what they're saying?

The voice was right beside him, in front of him, behind him, to his left and right, resonating within his body.

The cage does not exist.

I was just sitting in a narrow open space.

There is nothing that speaks to itself.

At this moment, I am all alone, with nothing to keep me company.

The abyss is real.

Even now, he can still see what it looks like.

He has come to understand where he is.

I have come to understand the fact that I am now standing in the Abyss of Bydos.

zizi——

Welcome to the Sacrifice Game

Other voices began to resonate in his mind.

It sounded like a man reading a script in a serious and deep voice, with a hint of suppressed urge to burst into laughter.

[Player Gao Hai, this is your third game, game level: Dark Night]

Your condition for clearing the level is: Return the lost items from the Abyss.

It was as he had heard before, but there seemed to be something different in the details.

The time limit for this game is: Unlimited.

[A game tip is now being sent to you. Please make good use of it.]

[Hint 1: The line between reality and imagination is not indistinguishable]

[Hint 2: Those who delve into the affairs of the gods will inevitably bring misfortune upon themselves.]

[Hint 3: You have arrived at the true origin of everything]

[Tip 4: Those consumed by desire will eventually return to the abyss]

[This concludes the tutorial. We wish you success in this game and hope you can approach the throne that will witness the end.]

The sound rang out without any change in tone, eventually fading into silence, leaving only a piercing buzzing sound.

At this moment, Gao Hai regained his strength, panting and swaying, and looked around at himself once again.

He saw the cage that imprisoned him, and the cold cement walls.

An old toilet in the corner emitted an unpleasant odor, and the bed next to me was covered in mold.

The old man in the opposite cell was still watching him, chuckling softly.

The light from the old incandescent bulbs overhead flickered slightly, then seemed to brighten.

Where is this place?

As he pondered, it was as if countless voices echoed in his mind, shouting out what he was thinking.

This is Baydos.

Then he heard a reply, not from anyone else, but from himself replying to himself.

Yes, this is Baidos.