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

No.

The one who fell was a pink-haired figure who had just appeared and was standing next to Miko.

At the crucial moment, Goto Ichiri created a clone and inserted it into the past a few seconds earlier, blocking a fatal attack for the unsuspecting Miko.

But then, the three figures standing opposite them vanished without a trace.

Ran away?

No, this feeling... are they still around? Is it the power of some kind of obsession?

“You must kill the inhabitants of the city with the sword, and kill all the animals in the city with the sword.”

Pain arose along with the chanting. Gao Hai looked down and found that cuts from the blade were slowly appearing on his hands and all over his body.

Even with the double defense of the Berserk Blessing and the Crimson Domain, he still inevitably suffered injuries. It seemed to be some kind of cursed power, a curse that would stick to him once touched, and could never be completely removed.

“You shall pile up all the spoils you have taken from that city in the marketplace, and burn the city and all the spoils in it before the Lord with fire. The city shall be a ruin forever, and shall not be rebuilt.”

The chanting continued, and so did the intense pain.

Without warning, black burn marks appeared on Gao Hai's skin and quickly spread all over his body.

Goto Ichiri let out a suppressed cry of pain. Although she immediately used the power of some kind of obsessive object to resist, she was still inevitably injured.

As for Miko... Gao Hai could no longer hear her voice.

The second sound was followed by an attack targeting all three people present. Even though Goto Ichiri created a new clone, it was unable to successfully share the damage with Miko.

However, this does not mean that Miko is dead. After all, the girl also possesses Hirano Sosuke's blessing of immortality, and she can recover immediately after enduring 10 minutes of pain.

Gao Hai believed she could definitely do it. So now he only needed to do one thing: kill all these inexplicably appearing enemy players within 10 minutes.

"That which is to be destroyed, not even a speck may touch your hand. You must obey—"

The third voice has already sounded.

The moment the attack began, the three people who were standing not far away had vanished without a trace, leaving only the chanting that seemed to come from nowhere.

Unable to locate the enemy is indeed a very troublesome matter. The cost of passive defense is simply too high when facing various obsessive entities with unknown power.

Fortunately, Gao Hai didn't necessarily need to know where they were.

"After all, the so-called obsession is just a strange manifestation of something else."

The pistol switched modes at that moment.

Without a doubt, Gao Hai, who is now affected by the cursed power, is being manipulated by a strange force.

And, equally immediately, it can be confirmed that the source of this strange power must be a heinous and insane villain.

Such a twisted and evil curse could not even compare to the core obsession of Chiyo Hachiya, who was driven mad by torment. Therefore, the restraints have been broken, and even though the enemy is not visible, their location has already been locked.

boom!

The gunshot rang out, interrupting the unfinished chanting.

Gao Hai heard a piercing shriek.

The bullet seemed to have shattered the speaker's mouth, rendering him unable to make a normal sound.

Boom!

Then two more suppressive rounds were fired, completely silencing the speaker.

The crimson domain expanded rapidly at that moment, and blood began to bloom from Gao Hai's wounds. He silently spread his blood throughout the domain, causing it to float within the domain, searching for any possible objects of obsession and staining them.

To be honest, Gao Hai hadn't anticipated this move at all, since he wasn't very skilled at using his domain. If he hadn't been injured, Gao Hai really wouldn't have known that he could combine his own blood with his domain to pull off such a trick.

Unfortunately, he couldn't sense whether he could stick to anything, since he couldn't perceive every drop of blood flowing from his body. However, he was already certain that his attempt would be successful. Because he had already seen a black-clad figure appear within his domain, capable of countering that domain.

"It truly is a blessing of the Crimson Moon level... So powerful, so terrifying. Although it still falls short when confronting the messengers of God, if such a blessing were used on humans, even the most esteemed recipients might perish."

The man in black took off his hat, revealing the face of a kind-looking old man who appeared to be at least sixty or seventy years old.

Gao Hai's second blessing served as another warning, letting Gao Hai know that this guy was not a "sane" person either.

But a messenger of God? Could this guy be... mistaking strange tales and supernatural phenomena for messengers of God?

With no intention of further communication, Gao Hai activated his domain at full power, intending to kill the man on the spot. Goto Ichiri also quickened the pace of her playing, and her shadow began to change, clearly indicating that she was about to use a coveted object targeting living players.

meow~

A meow, accompanied by some indescribable eerie force, disrupted the movements of Takami and Goto Ichiri.

Then, the old man stretched out his hand, pointed directly at Gao Hai, and said with certainty.

"The new promised land is within you."

Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Fanatical and Twisted Believer and His Companion

"what?"

What Promised Land?

Gao Hai, who had initially thought the other party was about to do something, was taken aback.

"Indeed, you are the land that flows with milk and honey."

The old man grinned, and the way he looked at Gao Hai was like looking at a work of art, making people feel very uncomfortable.

"The strange tales descend upon the world, and the sacrificial game selects us time and again. It is God performing miracles among us. Those who fail the test become lambs offered to God, while we who are chosen will eventually find the promised land and return to our paradise on earth. There is no mistake, it must be you. Such power can only be a blessing, only a Red Moon level blessing. As the first player to obtain a Red Moon level blessing, you are something God has bestowed upon us."

The seemingly kind old man's voice grew increasingly deep.

As for Gao Hai, well... how should I put it, he feels like he's about to dig a one-bedroom apartment out of the ground with his toes.

To say something like that so naturally, is that what chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) is all about? While there's a saying that only things you can't do count as chuunibyou, and having superpowers doesn't, this dialogue is just too awkward, isn't it? Did this old man just step out of some chuunibyou anime?

Shouldn't this kind of thing usually only be played by elementary and middle school students? Most high school students wouldn't do this anymore!

However, although this guy who was playing the fool was a bit intimidating, Gao Hai had basically figured out what kind of people this group was.

Even now, Hedar's blessing continues to serve as a warning. And the old man's gaze clearly reveals that he sees Gao Hai merely as a tool to be used, and only wants to possess some kind of power he has.

Ha, robbery and murder is robbery and murder, why do they have to claim it's the will of God? Does that mean these guys are some kind of cult fanatics?

Isn't the cult villain trope a bit too old-fashioned?

meow~

It seemed like the sound of a cat meowing could be heard again.

Gao Hai tilted his head slightly, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound, but he couldn't find it no matter what he did.

He guessed that the source of the sound might be the second core obsession at Nightfall Mountain Middle School, that extremely rare living obsession. However, no trace of the cat was found within the domain, and its whereabouts remained unknown.

Just now, at the instant the cat's meow sounded, he felt as if his consciousness had been briefly disturbed.

Although the exact mechanism is uncertain, as a core obsession, it is by no means something to be ignored. The exact number of enemies is currently unknown, and the only enemy who has entered the domain possesses some strange means of countering it. Gao Hai feels that now is not the best time to confront the enemy.

“It’s time to act.”

Takahashi whispered to Goto Ichiri beside him.

The pink-haired girl nodded slightly. In fact, she had already roughly recognized what kind of force these people might be and had roughly guessed Gao Hai's current plans. Therefore, she reached out and gently grabbed the pendant she was wearing.

[Lucky Pendant]

As a Red Moon-level object of obsession, this unassuming little thing is quite low-key, just like the small pencil that Gao Hai got from Yuanshan Ming. On the surface, you can't tell what level it is.

However, this thing is extremely powerful. It irrationally increases the user's luck and simultaneously targets a nearby object to suffer misfortune.

Goto Ichiri obtained this mysterious artifact while investigating a Red Moon-level hospital instance. That instance was somewhat strange, and as one of the few artifacts obtained from it, this pendant was equally peculiar. Aside from its wondrous functions of increasing luck and pinning down misfortune, one thing alone was intriguing: from the moment Goto Ichiri acquired this artifact until now, no matter how she used it, it had never gone out of control.

As an object of obsession, this thing remained as stable as a blessing, never showing the slightest sign of going out of control. However, Goto Ichiri kept this a secret very well. Apart from Aoyama Nanami and the now-disappeared Kita Ikuyo, only Takami, who had seen all of her files, knew this secret.

tread--

He reached out and scooped up Yotsuya Miko, who was lying on the ground, covered in blood and lifeless.

Gao Hai could feel the body, which should have been dead, still trembling slightly. Clearly, Miko was using her blessing of immortality to fight against the pain of death. Unlike Gao Hai, who could continue to move even when shredded into pieces, Miko's willpower had not reached his terrifying level. Therefore, she could not move her already fatally wounded body for the time being and could only be carried by Gao Hai.

Ah, both hands fell off, one foot fell to the ground, and it looks like some internal organs are spilling out...

Although the person was indeed picked up, the parts left on the ground were rather embarrassing. Fortunately, after the 10 minutes of the Undying Blessing, Miko was able to fully recover in a way that was almost like reversing time, so losing a few parts wasn't a big deal, as long as the vast majority of her body was with Takahashi.

Hopefully, she can withstand the pain. Although this level of damage is nothing to Gao Hai, it would probably be difficult for Jianzi to endure. Gao Hai can only hope that she can hold on for these 10 minutes.

“Where are you going? You are our promised land, and wherever you go, you will surely belong to us.”

The old man spoke again, without making any movement, simply staring at Gao Hai and speaking calmly.

"I'll give you a horse!"

Gao Hai himself stepped forward without hesitation, and with a gentle pull of the measuring tape, the distance between them closed in an instant.

"Hey?"

Goto Ichiri's eyes widened slightly.

I'm clearly using a Crimson Moon-level artifact, but... I can't select this man as my target?

On the other side, Gao Hai frowned at this moment. He had originally intended to use the old man as his target, using the measuring tape to change the distance between them. However, when he actually used his object of obsession, he found that he couldn't select the old man and had to change his target to a blade of grass next to the old man in order to successfully move over.

This includes the power to oppose the domain. No wonder this old man dared to enter the domain so recklessly; is he currently in an "unselectable" state? Are all the forces that could affect him blocked by something?

The ability to block a Crimson Moon-level blessing and obsession must be something of the same level. In other words, this is the power of Morihara Koji's core obsession?!

whoosh-

The wind suddenly became fierce.

The moment he realized that his attack had no effect, Gao Hai immediately targeted the measuring tape at a tree within his line of sight that was approaching from the direction of Maki Chika and the other person.

Then, using the object of his obsession obtained from Akira Toyama, Takami, along with Miko and Ichiri Goto, vanished instantly and appeared directly next to the tree.

More cut marks began to appear on Gao Hai's body, which were then quickly healed by the rescue team badge.

The old man remained calm and simply turned around with a smile, but then his expression changed.

Several small creatures were left beside the old man.

A scalpel, a faceless human head, a blood puppet, scissors, and a pair of small marbles—these Twilight-level obsessions were thrown out by Gao Hai the instant he moved away, landing directly beside the old man.