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

The Twilight-level obsessions revived almost instantly, transforming into a series of twisted and bizarre creatures.

They blocked the old man's figure here. Although they should not have chosen the old man as their target, the ground beneath his feet had been chosen by Goto Ichiri's obsession and turned into a place that would temporarily "bear misfortune." Therefore, the old man standing here was also affected and blocked by these strange creatures.

During this brief delay, Gao Hai and his two companions completely vanished without a trace.

"Unfortunately, it's not that easy to retain players of the same level."

The old man sighed, a hint of regret on his face, but he made no attempt to chase after him.

"Just let them go?"

The moldy figure reappeared, asking in a hoarse voice. At this moment, the other two figures behind him also removed their hoods, revealing blank faces without eyes, noses, or mouths. Their bald heads were covered in scars, suggesting they had undergone multiple surgeries.

"It's alright, the other brothers are already over there."

The old man shook his head, calmly turned around, found a large rock, and sat down.

"But they don't have our unwavering faith. They believe in God, yet they yearn to overthrow God and become God themselves. That's why they're so fixated on a particular cave. They can't understand that everything is God's will, and their greed might lead to their downfall."

The man with the moldy face was still somewhat restless, unwilling to let the three escaped people go so easily.

"Don't be impatient. We are just shepherds guarding the sheepfold. What is rightfully ours will naturally be ours."

The old man was still muttering, while all the strange creatures that had come to move around had stopped and were frozen in place by some unknown force.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Gao Hai had used a measuring tape to move a considerable distance and quickly approached Maki and Chika, who had already entered the wooded area.

Do you know who those guys were?

After creating some distance and making sure no one was chasing him, Gao Hai slowed down and looked at Goto Ichiri beside him, asking a question.

“I haven’t seen them before, but I’ve heard of this organization.”

Goto Ichiri, who was being stared at by Takami, shrank back and began to speak in a low voice.

"It seems to be from the Americas, there's a player organization that appeared soon after the Sacrifice Game came out. They initially called themselves 'Shepherds,' then 'Cultists,' and later they also called themselves 'Seekers.' In short, their names weren't very consistent, they just dressed similarly."

"Very few players have come into contact with them, well, it should be said that very few players who have come into contact with them have survived. They seem to believe that the sacrificial game is the will of the gods, and that they are chosen messengers of the gods. Players other than them are objects to be taken from and enslaved by them. Ordinary people who do not know about the sacrificial game are not even human animals."

"This group of players is very mysterious. They don't seem particularly united internally, and there have been infighting incidents, but they are united against outsiders and seem to have done many terrible things. Some players who survive encountering them post information on the forum, but those survivors often disappear quickly. It is said that the team that organizes the player forum once tried to track them down, but things went wrong and several people died..."

As Goto Ichiri spoke, she recalled Aoyama Nanami, who had told her these stories.

To be honest, Pochi isn't someone who would be interested in this kind of thing. If Aoyama Nanami hadn't forced her to learn about the various information and news about the player community and made her remember these things, Goto Ichiri might not have been able to remember who those players were when she met them today.

However, now Nanami-nee is no longer replying to her messages.

Even though the communication wasn't interrupted, no matter how many mental messages she sent, she never replied, as if she couldn't hear her own voice.

This feeling made Goto Ichiri feel extremely uncomfortable and uneasy.

"Huff... huff... Hai, cough cough, we're here."

Maki and Chika ran up breathlessly, carrying the last piece of homework paper that Xiongmi had left behind.

Since the 10 minutes were not yet over, Miko still maintained her somewhat frightening appearance. However, she was now able to move slightly, and seemed to be gradually adapting to the power of the blessing.

The few who are now unable to return to the campus have finally reunited here.

But Gao Hai didn't smile.

meow~

He seemed to hear the cat meowing again, coming from a great distance.

Turning his head, he saw a figure standing in the distance.

The feedback coming from my senses... is not human.

But it had a human-like appearance, wearing an orange-red suit, a top hat, and a hideous clown mask. It was bowing slightly to me, as if preparing for some performance.

A strong sense of crisis enveloped my entire body in an instant.

Without the slightest hesitation, Gao Hai activated Alice's blessing at that moment, pulling Maki Chika, Goto, and Miko all inside, before closing the door.

Was that thing...some kind of supernatural creature from a ghost story?

What is it that makes me feel this way?

"call……"

Gao Hai let out a long sigh of relief.

However, once inside Alice's room, there was no need to worry about such things. After all, in this place, he wouldn't be affected by any external forces.

Thinking this, Gao Hai paused for a moment before turning to look at his companions.

Chapter 40: Analysis, Reflections, and Speculations Regarding the Core Figure [Eriko Asamoto]

"Phew... So this is a Crimson Moon-level dungeon... It really is a terrifying place in every sense of the word."

In the small room, Fujiwara Chika spoke softly as she took a small sip of hot water from her cup.

"...This is all the information Miss Xiongmi gave us."

On the other side of the room, Maki handed the blood-stained notebook to Takahashi, shared some of what she knew and her speculations, then sat down, sighed, and said nothing more.

"...Um, water."

Goto Ichiri, who became more reserved due to the increase in strangers, handed Maki a cup of hot water, which she quickly accepted and thanked him sincerely.

"..."

Jianzi has recovered by now, but she is not in good condition. The ten minutes of excruciating pain have left her somewhat dazed, and she may need a while to recover.

Considering that Miko has now established a connection with the watch, even if Takami rewinds time, she won't forget the pain she endured. For a high school girl, this must be a truly horrible and terrifying memory, though Takami does feel a slight sense of sympathy. After all, on the other hand, from now on, perhaps he won't have to suffer the torment of various bizarre deaths alone anymore.

Uh, no, let's forget about that. There's no need for Jianzi to share this burden with me. Let's focus on how to finish this instance quickly and solve the problem first.

Thinking this, Gao Hai lowered his head and looked once again at the object of Xiong Mi's obsession.

At this very moment, this piece of paper also records some of the things Xiong Mi saw and heard in her final moments, as well as her analysis and reflections on them.

First and foremost, it's certain that the central courtyard area of ​​the main teaching building of Yelu Mountain Middle School is where the corpses of the victims in this instance are stored. The vast majority of those who died in this instance were placed in the central courtyard of the main teaching building and buried alive. Some of the victims buried there were likely still alive; for example, Asamoto Eriko, the core figure of this obsession, was buried alive while fully conscious.

The participants in the live burial were primarily students, and the entire school was largely aware of it. Such a horrific act repeatedly occurring within this school is clearly highly abnormal. Therefore, Xiong Mi speculates that some kind of supernatural phenomenon directly affecting the students' condition led to this, causing the surviving students before Yeluoshan Middle School was replicated to become so insane and terrifying, and in a state where no problems were normally apparent.

Secondly, through Xiong Mi's own psychic vision, it was confirmed that the "Ghost Stories Club" itself was a form of ghost story. Among the students still alive at the time, the Ghost Stories Club simply did not exist. The students regarded this club as a kind of ghost story, and judging from the reasons for their persecution of Eriko Asamoto, the club itself seemed to represent something extremely terrifying. So much so that one of the key reasons for Eriko Asamoto's persecution was that she "found a recruitment poster for the Ghost Stories Club."

Could this ghost story club be some way in which [Takamagahara] manifests its power at Yoruyama Middle School? By using this non-existent club with ghost story elements, the scum who weren't purged back then can harm more and more innocent people, turn the entire school into a hellish slaughterhouse, and allow the school to continue operating peacefully without being discovered despite so many horrific incidents, until a student creates a massive bomb.

Regardless, at least the location of the corpse of one of her core obsessions has been confirmed. Furthermore, the location of the "teacher" she has been waiting for, who is closely related to this core obsession's wish, can also be roughly deduced.

After all, Xiong Mi clearly heard the rule described by the students, which included the rule that "if a teacher who is friendly to Eriko cannot be driven away, he/she should be buried in the mud behind the old school building."

Could it be the place we investigated before?

Gao Hai recalled the abandoned school building that he and Miko Goto had explored before, where there were no strange creatures, and wondered if there was a muddy area behind the school building.

No, wait, it might not be that school building.

The current Nightfall Mountain Middle School instance exhibits significant temporal inconsistencies. The exchange of old and new school buildings is one issue, while the static nature of the school buildings is another. However, it's unclear whether the open space behind the school buildings is included in the overall situation. After all, only within the school buildings of the main campus would the female ghost who jumped off the building roam, and only there would be the rule of "absolutely not going to the rooftop."

It's impossible to confirm which scenario it will be at this point.

After all, there are no longer any people on the main campus who can coordinate with Gao Hai's side.

Kaguya and Hayasaka probably can't recall their memories as clearly as Maki Chika. They might sense something's wrong, but realizing the problem while their memories are blocked is incredibly difficult. Besides, even if they could sense something's wrong, it wouldn't be of much use, as their strength is still too weak. Remember, Maki Chika and Hayasaka only survived because of Kuma's intervention. Hmm… although their danger stemmed from rescuing Takami, strictly speaking, the root of the problem lies with his own actions in investigating the school building in the middle of the night.

Thinking about it this way, it feels like it's all my fault... But actually, that's not entirely wrong. After getting the black watch and the ability to start over, I became significantly bolder and more reckless during my first playthrough of the dungeon. This, in turn, led to others taking on more risks with me, so... no, thinking about that now is pointless. I should focus on what to do next.

Gao Hai closed his eyes, sat down against the wall, and slowly exhaled.

【Nightfall Mountain Middle School】This instance is different from the ones he has experienced before. Gao Hai did not feel an extremely strong sense of pressure from the beginning. He rarely had to run around frantically and often had plenty of time to rest. On the contrary, apart from the strange tales that would confront him head-on, the information isolation mechanism of the instance itself gradually compressed the things he could do, putting him in an increasingly passive situation.

It's definitely impossible to return to the campus during the day. In the current situation, going back during the day would be practically suicide.

Returning to campus at night... might be feasible, but the main teaching building's atrium is an area absolutely to be avoided according to the rules; the dangers of entering there are likely far greater than imagined. The open space behind the school buildings might also harbor some deadly dangers; after all, nighttime is when those ghost stories are most active.

Perhaps we could try returning to the campus during the students' lunch break? No, that won't work. Although there is a lunch break, not all students take a nap. And our group is currently in such a precarious situation that we could be in trouble if those weird students saw us. So that option is also not an option.

Sigh, this is quite a troublesome situation. However, at least we're starting to figure out how to win over Eriko Asamoto.

Considering that she couldn't fulfill her promise to the "teacher," Gao Hai guessed that if he could find the teacher's body and bring it to Eriko Asamoto's body, or even bring Eriko Asamoto's body to the teacher's body, perhaps this core obsession could be resolved.

However, this is only a preliminary guess. After all, Gao Hai had considered that he might have taken over the identity of that mysterious teacher when he entered the instance. In this situation, Goto Ichiri repeatedly used the object of obsession in front of him without any reaction, which means that his line of thinking might not be correct. But in any case, the failure to keep the "promise" must have played an extremely important role in the growth of this obsession, and this point cannot be bypassed in order to break this obsession.

However, there is one question that Gao Hai has not yet been able to answer.

Why is Eriko Asamoto the core obsession?

Looking back at the previous instances, Li Zhaodi is the root of the tragedy in Shirakawa Apartment; Andres and Hedar are respectively the source and ultimate gravedigger of the tragedy in Red Nut Gray Hole; Hirano Sosuke is the gravedigger of Fujika Middle School; and Hachiya Chiyo is the final product and gravedigger of Hayate Elementary School. In other words, the core obsession can be the source or the final result that leads to the formation of the instance; it is the executioner who jumps out at the end of the story and kills everything, inevitably occupying one or both ends of the cause and effect in the instance's causal relationship.

By the same token, Morihara Koji, who destroyed the school and served as the executioner in the Yoruyama Middle School replica, can be considered a result of the "reality" of this replica area. Meanwhile, the ghost story, considered to have no origin, representing the ultimate outcome of the "tales coming true," signifies the result of the "theory" of this replica area. In other words, both of these core obsessions have corresponding locations and their central positions can be explained.

However, Eriko Asamoto does not seem to have offered this interpretation.

Her mysterious death likely occurred after the war, and theoretically, she wasn't the first ghost story discovered by Takamagahara at Yoruyama Middle School. There was also Morihara Koji after her, so she couldn't possibly be the final result. Her death didn't change the school; Yoruyama Middle School continued operating normally after her death, and those classmates who killed her seemed to be unaffected. Like many other ghost stories circulating in the school, the existence of Eriko Asamoto seemed no different from the others.

However, she has been identified by the player teams who have explored this instance as one of the core obsessions of the instance, and Goto Ichiri has indeed taken away her core obsession item, the guitar.

why?

What makes this girl so special?

Her entire life, from enrollment to death, was not particularly special; it was not much different from all the tragedies that happened at Yelu Mountain Middle School. She did not play any important role in the timeline of the story... Wait, time?

Gao Hai suddenly remembered that the most terrifying function of the guitar that Goto Ichiri possessed was not to create clones, but to place clones directly into the past and directly change history by manipulating these clones.

Although this ability has many limitations—it cannot significantly alter history, and Goto Ichiri would be unable to withstand an excessively long time span—it is undeniably an ability to influence time, far surpassing any obsession Takami has ever encountered, and truly deserving to be called a miracle.

In my previous investigation of the "Campus Ghost Stories" section, there was information mentioning that Nightfall Mountain Middle School was the only school that successfully produced lethal results during the war. However, this achievement was questioned by researchers from other schools, and considering the subsequent historical developments, the outcome of the war did not change, meaning that this so-called achievement was actually quite limited and did not truly change anything.

Could it be... that the result is [Eriko Asamoto]?

Her ghost stories took shape after the war, but because of the characteristics of her ghost stories, the people of Takamagahara were able to use her to influence the past, making her the earliest ghost story or something else that occupied the major causal relationship formed in the story?

Thinking of this, Gao Hai broke out in a cold sweat.

He had initially thought that through Xiong Mi's sacrifice, he had managed to crack one of the three core obsessions of Yeluoshan Middle School. However, after carefully analyzing the clues at hand, he found even greater doubts and more uncertainties.

What should we do if things continue like this?