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

Or will they all hide where she can't see them, just like they did during the day, and then suddenly reveal themselves when she's not paying attention?

No… I can’t keep thinking about this. Calm down, calm down. I need to shift my focus away from this. These thoughts are pointless. That’s right, scaring myself and putting pressure on myself is pointless. What I need to do now is rest and prepare for tomorrow’s exploration.

The girl muttered to herself, trying to hypnotize herself in this way.

But clearly, this method wasn't working. Jianzi had been lying in bed for at least half an hour, but still wasn't sleepy at all; on the contrary, she felt more and more energetic.

Ugh, I can't sleep at all...

The girl, who looked somewhat distressed, turned over in bed and then suddenly shuddered.

I want to go to the bathroom.

I had deliberately reduced my water intake to avoid getting up to pee in the middle of the night, so why do I suddenly feel the urge to pee now?

The breathing sounds coming from the other three beds were still calm and even, indicating that the three players were already fast asleep.

So, should I wake one of them up and have them accompany me to the toilet?

Or are you going to the restroom by yourself?

Seeing that Zi frowned, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided not to go to the toilet, he just lay on the bed.

Waking others up to talk or act together during lights-out time violates the basic rule that "nothing unrelated to falling asleep is allowed after lights out." As for going to the toilet alone, not to mention whether the thing she encountered in the teaching building toilet before would follow her, the fact that she would have to pass through the washroom alone and possibly face the thing mentioned in the survival rules that fell from the window alone was enough to make Miko hesitate.

If all else fails, Miss Xiongmi brought diapers through a spatial artifact. Although it's embarrassing, it's not a bad idea to use them in a crisis.

Thinking this through, Miko made up her mind that she would never move even a centimeter closer to the toilet.

tread--

I heard footsteps in the distance.

The girl paused for a moment, turned her head to look towards the doorway, and tried to listen more carefully.

tread--

The footsteps became clearer, confirming that someone was moving forward in the hallway outside the door.

Judging from the loudness of the sound, the other party should still be quite a distance away from my dormitory. But what is certain is that the other party is moving towards my direction. If that thing's target is a player... well, then it will first pass through room 503, the dormitory room where Ms. Shijou and Ms. Shinomiya live, and then go to my room 508, and then even further away, to room 511 where Ms. Fujiwara and that Nanakawa Ren live.

My hearing didn't provide any more detailed feedback or trigger any unusual effects, which means that what's walking outside might not be a strange creature, but a human?

Seeing Zi carefully considering and judging, her heart pounding with nervousness, she couldn't make up her mind and didn't know what the best thing to do was.

The breathing on the other three beds remained even, undisturbed by the footsteps in the hallway outside.

What should I do now?

Seeing that Zi had to admit he was somewhat anxious.

With her most reliable mentor, Gao Hai, absent, her two trusted veteran players fast asleep, and her fellow newbie showing no signs of waking, the girl was left alone to face a threat whose exact nature was unclear. She possessed only a communication artifact from Xiong Mi that could guarantee her survival from a fatal wound and provide a safety net should a monster suddenly appear, and a Dark Night-grade artifact provided by the "Market" for self-preservation. The girl grew increasingly panicked and helpless.

Stay calm, you need to stay calm.

Seeing this, he encouraged himself in his heart.

The danger hasn't actually appeared yet, so panicking now is pointless and will only reduce your chances of survival.

I need to think, I really need to think about my current situation. Since I can't rely on anyone else, what should I do now?

tread--

The footsteps were getting closer and closer.

Seeing that her hearing wasn't particularly outstanding, she couldn't clearly determine which dormitory the footsteps belonged to, nor could she mentally calculate the specific spatial coordinates.

However, immediately afterward, the girl heard a dull knocking sound, a "knock knock knock" sound, as if someone was knocking on a dormitory door.

Is that thing knocking on the door?

The sound is coming from near or far... Could it be someone knocking on the door of apartment 503?

The girl, now lying face down on the bed, frowned as she thought, ready to spring up at any moment.

But then, it became quiet outside the door.

All sounds disappeared—no footsteps, no knocking. Everything was quiet, leaving only my own breathing and heartbeat.

The girl lay nervously on the bed, propping her head up and listening intently for a while, but she didn't hear any more sounds.

What's going on here?

Completely confused, Miko was somewhat bewildered.

She still dared not make any rash moves, so she only turned her head slightly to look at the other three beds, which were slightly outlined under the moonlight, and the blurry figures on the beds.

You could hear the three of them breathing evenly.

Seeing that the tension in her heart had subsided once again.

Then she suddenly froze.

moonlight?

She turned her head to look at the source of the light.

The door that was originally closed, leading from the dormitory to the washroom, is now open.

Moonlight pierced through the thin curtains, illuminating the dormitory room and slightly brightening what was originally pitch black, allowing Jianzi to barely see her surroundings.

When was that door opened?

The girl felt intense confusion and unease, and then her gaze swept over the other three beds in the dormitory room once again.

The breathing sounded as evenly as before.

The eyes peeking out from under the covers were also watching intently.

However, they didn't seem to be her roommates. Even though the light was blurry and she couldn't see their faces clearly, when she met their gazes and saw them staring at her pale face, she realized that they were probably not the teammates she knew.

The breathing sounds inside the dormitory remained steady, without any fluctuations, and the intervals between each breath were exactly the same.

But that wasn't her roommate.

I don't know when it happened, but the other people in this small dormitory room have become so unfamiliar.

Seeing that her body was trembling slightly.

She slowly, little by little, lay back down on the bed.

Then, a face slowly emerged from beside her pillow.

【Hello? 】

Chapter Twenty: The Broken and Strange Objects Called at Midnight and Those Deep in the Nightmare Who Remain Unawakened

Yotsuya Miko lay motionless on the bed, expressionless, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The breathing around her remained even, as if her roommates on the other three beds were all asleep.

But she knew that wasn't actually the case.

"..."

They didn't dare make a sound.

Because that gaze, as sharp as a dagger piercing to the bone, was still fixed on him.

They were right beside her, right there, watching her, spying on her, waiting for her to reveal a weakness, waiting for the moment of harvest to arrive.

What on earth is going on?

Jianzi could feel her heart beating faster and faster, and cold sweat was seeping out of her body.

Neither of the two rule lists in the dormitory building that I know of mentions this situation. Why did my roommate suddenly turn into those things, and why are those things appearing on the bed I'm lying on now? What should I do? Could it be that the rule lists I know so far are incomplete, or have some omissions?

what to do? what do I do?

The girl's small hands, hidden under the covers, had unconsciously clenched into fists.

【Hello? 】

Laughter rang out beside her.

Something was lying on the same bed as her, slowly wriggling, talking to her, and whispering.

The chilling feeling made Miko's breath almost stop, but in this terrifying situation, she remained motionless, lying quietly on the bed, as if she really hadn't seen, heard, or felt anything, maintaining a state of silence.

Don't panic.

She said this to herself in her heart.

The attack did not occur.

I am still alive.

Jianzi still remembered what Gao Hai had told her: the so-called strange creatures were inhuman, mindless dead things that acted rigidly like machines and programs, following fixed behavioral patterns.

Therefore, if one has violated a fatal rule, then one must have already been attacked and is dead on the spot.

So the situation hasn't reached its worst point yet.

[Yotsuya-kun?]

Something peeked out from the headboard and whispered her name.

The thing's face was deathly pale, and when it opened its mouth, its voice seemed to ring directly in Miko's ear.

Something crawled out of a bed not far away.

Seeing that Zi didn't turn her head to look at the other party, she could only see out of the corner of her eye that the thing was somewhat hunched over and its hands and feet were obviously not the length of a normal person.

It slowly climbed off the bed.

With a hoarse, labored breathing sound, accompanied by gasps and groans, it began to slowly approach the girl's location.

[Seeing Zi-tong?]

The voice calling her name came from her chest, from the blankets.

For some reason, the voice sounded somewhat familiar.

It sounded like... the same sound I heard in the main teaching building's restroom during the day.