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

Gao Hai drew a portrait of Eriko Asamoto, the only core member of Yoruyama Middle School he has contacted so far. As for the focus of the drawing...

On the table, you can already see the face of a thin girl, and the somewhat dirty school uniform she is wearing.

She reached out her hand, as if trying to grab someone.

But in the end, she gently hooked her fingers together with another person's little finger and gently shook them.

Yes, that was an agreement.

This girl, who suffers from a severe mental illness, seems to have made a promise with someone during a moment of lucidity, a promise for a future they did not yet know.

Could that promise... be the promise Eriko and that blurry-looking teacher made to meet again?

Gao Hai closed his eyes.

He felt a strong sense of suffocation again.

It was like being buried in a mound of earth.

I felt the layers of soil falling on me, burying me, pressing down on my body until I couldn't breathe anymore, until my nostrils and throat were filled with dust and mud.

Laughter could be heard from all around.

Are those students laughing? They are wearing school uniforms, gathered in twos and threes, their faces showing no fear or reluctance, taking everything for granted.

The distorted emotions are spreading rapidly.

The extreme pain of the moment of death, and the intense emotions that tore apart at that moment, felt as if Gao Hai's brain tissue was being completely shredded.

Anger that has driven one to utter madness, threatening to devour everything; fear that has plunged one into despair, only subsiding after one stops breathing; a bewilderment that remains unclear until the very end, unable to comprehend what has happened; and... no, no, that's not right.

At this moment, Gao Hai felt something even more profound.

Players who investigated Yoruyama Middle School believe that Eriko Asamoto is a person with dissociative identity disorder, having split into five different personalities.

But that's not right, it's not like that at all.

The girl he saw in his perception did not show any signs of split personality. She did suffer from some kind of mental illness, but it was not a split personality. From beginning to end, there was only one person, [Eriko Asamoto], and there was no second will in that body.

She does indeed hear voices, and she may suddenly experience emotions she can't control, even potentially falling into a hysterical state. It seems not impossible that she would be suspected, or even falsely accused of having a split personality or similar disorder.

So that's how it is...

Gao Hai realized that it was likely the original information that the "writer" had hidden.

In other words, the personal information of the core obsession, Eriko Asamoto, in the original version of the Yoruyama Middle School area had been completely distorted due to the ghost story of this girl. What the players investigated was just the various things that later people added to the story of this girl, and the girl's true information was almost impossible to find out at that time.

After all, the so-called "ghost stories" are things that were forcibly added by later generations and have nothing to do with the original people, right?

"That's quite a vicious move. If you were still here, I probably wouldn't have figured it out even if I died several times over."

As he spoke, Gao Hai looked down at the black watch he was wearing, his gaze seemingly able to see through the watch to the blood-red city and the figure burning within it, unable to escape no matter how much it wailed.

The actual location of Eriko Asamoto's death has been confirmed, as has the cause of death.

After a simple line drawing of a girl drawn in blood was left on the table, Gao Hai took a deep breath, and his mind slowly recovered from the distorted and chaotic hallucination.

How this girl ultimately became a ghost story, how she transformed into the guitarist with a split personality, remains to be confirmed. However, Gao Hai has already confirmed her regrets, the last wish she had before becoming a ghost.

Now, he has found the right answer to freeing himself from this obsession.

Gao Hai breathed a sigh of relief after putting away his small pencil.

What the three people inside the house didn't see was that not far from the abandoned school building, in a patch of grass, a thin kitten silently scurried past. Then, a figure emerged from the woods, looking up in the direction of the school building.

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Invisible and Inaudible Atmosphere and the Destroyer

"..."

Silence filled the air.

There seemed to be something strange flowing in the air.

Something unseen, intangible, and odorless has spread throughout this place.

Once you step inside, once you're in this place, you can clearly feel this strong presence that is indescribable.

This suffocating feeling, where no matter what you try to say, seems to encounter a strong resistance, as if your whole body is wrapped in something and forced to wriggle forward inside something, so crowded that it feels like every bone in your body is about to be crushed.

"call……"

Without realizing it, even my breathing became heavy.

Shijo Maki turned her head and looked around.

All the students sat obediently in the classroom. Although no teacher entered, not a single one came out. This was because, after receiving orders from Xiongmi, Jianbing managed to hack into the school building's broadcast system and impersonated the principal, issuing an order that all students must remain in their classrooms. However, although none of the students left the classroom, when Zhenfei and the others passed by outside, every student immediately turned around and stared at them expressionlessly.

Something's starting to go wrong with this school building.

Princess Maki could already strongly sense that intangible and intangible "atmosphere".

Even though nothing has appeared in front of them to attack yet, and even though all the strange creatures are still silent, Maki has already realized that all three of them who are still walking outside have been marked by these things.

Regardless of the investigation's outcome, the three of them will likely have to leave the school building, or even the entire Yelu Mountain Middle School campus. These students, who are actually monsters, probably already consider them completely hostile and will attack at the first opportunity for normal activity. In other words, Zhenfei, Qianhua, and Xiongmi can no longer move around the campus normally like other players.

We can only hope that this operation will be effective. Whatever is in that class, as long as it can break the current situation, that will be enough.

step-step-

Clear footsteps echoed in the quiet corridor.

Xiong Mi, walking at the front, held a guide cane and stood ready. Zhen Fei and Qian Hua, walking side by side behind him, also remained silent and followed behind without saying a word.

The remaining players stayed in the classroom. With all the students sitting still, they dared not leave the classroom. Furthermore, given the now confirmed cognitive blocking mechanism, only the three players on Zhenfei's side could continue their actions.

tread--

The last footstep fell.

Upon arriving at her destination, Maki looked up at the classroom door number diagonally above her.

Grade 10 () class.

Yes, this is the place.

According to the information gathered by Haijun, this class is where the core obsession of [Eriko Asamoto] resides.

After Goto Ichiri brought the object of obsession belonging to this ghost story back to the instance, the previously dormant obsession should have been reactivated. However, during the first day of the investigation, the core obsession corresponding to the guitar of [Asamoto Eriko] remained undiscovered until Takami and the others finally located it after sneaking into the main teaching building at night.

But... the fact that the entire timeline of the instance has been altered sounds unbelievable. What exactly is this KP that Haijun mentioned? If these instances filled with strange creatures can be changed at will, then what will become of us players...? No, now is not the time to think about such questions. Haijun is still fighting, and everyone is still working hard. In any case, now is not the time to stop. We must keep moving forward!

The girl forcibly suppressed the slight unease and fear in her heart. She forced herself to focus her attention on the half-open classroom door in front of her and the faces of the students in the classroom who were coldly staring at her. She took a step and walked to the classroom door.

Chika, standing to the left and right of Maki, also cautiously walked up and stood on either side of the classroom door, looking down at a piece of workbook in their hands.

As for Xiong Mi, she had already stepped directly into the classroom.

【…】

For a moment, Xiong Mi felt as if all the sounds around him had completely disappeared.

Suddenly, she could hear no sound at all, not even breathing or heartbeats; everything fell into a deathly silence.

Thump—thump—

Then, when the sound entered my ears again, it was muffled, as if blocked by something, like a muffled sound filled with cotton.

I felt extremely nauseous, like I was about to vomit.

Even though nothing had happened yet, this intense discomfort swept over my entire body, almost tearing my senses apart in an instant.

"call……"

Xiong Mi let out a breath.

But the sound of her breathing seemed to be from a very, very far distance, so far that she could hardly tell if it was her own voice.

This feeling is really quite uncomfortable.

While thinking, Xiong Mi had already walked to the front of the podium and was facing the students below.

Meanwhile, Maki and Chika, who were outside the door, were both staring at the paper in their hands, glancing left and right from time to time to check the situation.

On that workbook sheet, blood-red writing was constantly appearing and disappearing.

This is one of the Dark Night-level Obsession Items that Xiong Mi brought into the instance: the "Tales of the Strange." It is used by dripping blood, and only one person's blood can be dripped at a time. Afterward, the paper must be removed from the person whose blood was dripped. Then, those nearby can directly see the thoughts and feelings of the person whose blood was dripped through the text displayed on the paper for a period of time.

This obsessive object would be a considerable burden for the person who dripped the blood, so Xiongmi did not hesitate to drip blood onto the paper herself and had Maki and Chika stand outside the classroom to obtain information from the contents of the paper at any time, and then have Maki send the information to Takami on the other side at any time.

This approach undoubtedly put Xiong Mi in a dangerous situation, but in her view, if Zhenfei or Qianhua were to come in, it would just be a waste of time and energy. So, at this point, she had no choice but to step in and take the blame herself.

"call……"

Xiong Mi took another heavy breath.

The atmosphere in the classroom was even more unbearable than she had anticipated.

If the invisible atmosphere spreading down the corridor was as disgusting as entering an open-air toilet in the countryside, then Xiong Mi, now entering the classroom, felt as if she had been forced into a cesspool, headfirst.

If those two little girls had come in, they would have experienced a chain reaction of sensory disturbances leading to brain dysfunction within a minute, followed by a series of reactions including mental breakdown, insanity, or sudden death. As for myself... with the overwriting of my memory and personality, I should be able to last for 3 minutes without any problem.

In that case, we need to hurry.

"Eriko Asamoto, is she here?"

Xiong Mi spoke slowly, her voice steady as she asked the students questions.

【…】

Got no answer.

Naturally, she received no answer.

After all, in this atmosphere, she, as an individual, was undoubtedly an outcast, a minority, and a natural target for bullying and humiliation. Therefore, they could not possibly give her the answer she desired.

A visual inspection... failed to find anyone who resembled Eriko Asamoto. Perhaps she wasn't here, perhaps finding her required some special means, or perhaps she couldn't possibly appear in the current atmosphere. In any case, it seemed impossible to gain anything here without resolving this incredibly strange atmosphere.

Well then, let's give it a try.

True gamers never lack a spirit of adventure and a willingness to risk death.

hum-

The smell of blood suddenly spread.