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

As they continued their conversation, Gao Hai put down yet another meaningless document with jumbled text, stood up, and looked around.

The layout of the entire student archives room is actually very simple: a few rows of long cabinets with files, a desk and chair near the entrance, and nothing else.

There wasn't even a rulebook here. Apart from a mirror in the corner that caught my eye, there was nothing particularly special about it. In a sense, this place could even be described as overly rudimentary, completely unlike what one would expect from an attached teaching building with elevators, a library, multimedia classrooms, and other facilities.

Of course, even with that mirror that seemed suspicious, Gao Hai had Miko carefully examine it, but they found nothing wrong with it.

If even the girl's overly powerful senses couldn't detect anything wrong, Gao Hai really couldn't imagine what else could be in this place.

Okay, let's see if we can find anything useful on that desk. When we first came in, we focused on the student files, so we didn't search that desk and chair that looked like it was for the staff on duty very thoroughly. We might have missed something.

Regardless, this is a place where you need an identity card to enter, and Gao Hai refused to believe that there wasn't a single clue to be found here.

{Gao Hai: I'm going to investigate that desk again to see if I missed anything. Grab my hand.}

As he said this, Gao Hai reached out his hand, and the obedient Miko followed suit. The two of them then moved hand in hand toward the desk by the door.

The reason Gao Hai acted this way while investigating clues was certainly not for any romantic reason. Rather, it was because he was summarizing previous clues and worried that if one of them suddenly came into contact with a large amount of dangerous information, it could cause abnormal changes in the space they were in, leading to the replacement of those around them.

During the time that Zhenfei hadn't sent any news, Gao Haizai carefully searched the desk, leaving no corner unchecked.

Finally, after he lifted the desk, Gao Hai saw a receipt hidden under the cabinet. The text on this receipt wasn't the illegible gibberish found in the student files, but rather legible text.

This is... a repair request?

Gao Hai took the receipt in his hand.

[Standard Elevator Repair Request Form]

Damaged area: External display screen on the 2nd floor

[Specific damage details: The floor number display is incorrect. When the floor number is displayed as "B", the lower half of the display is missing, causing the floor number to change to "P".]

[Additional Repair Request: Besides this display issue, there's another problem. I asked around elsewhere, and the basement floor display should have letters first, followed by numbers. That is, it shouldn't be something like 1B2B, it should be B1B2. You've got it backwards.]

There isn't much text on this receipt; you can read it at a glance.

After a cursory glance, Gao Hai did not immediately notice anything wrong with the description above.

However, he quickly recalled something he had seen before.

"Is it possible..."

An unexpected possibility caused Gao Hai to subconsciously turn around and look at the door of the archives room. His gaze seemed to pass through the door and look at the corridor outside, at the elevator that he and Jianzi had passed by before, which neither of them had paid attention to.

At that time, the elevator display showed the floor as "4P," a strange number with no clear meaning.

But if we combine this with the current repair order, the floor number shown is actually... could it actually be [4B]?

Ding-dong-

As Gao Hai was thinking this, he heard the crisp sound of the elevator doors opening.

Chapter 55: Echoes and Understandings from a Long Time Ago

Ding-dong-

The sound of the elevator doors slowly opening could be heard.

Then came the sound of footsteps.

It was the sound of someone walking slowly down the corridor, getting closer and closer, and finally stopping in front of the door.

That thing is right outside the door.

If you open the door, you can see the other person directly.

No matter what secrets it holds, no matter what mysteries it hides, they will all be revealed as the object appears, or at least some clues will be uncovered.

This realization surfaced in Gao Hai's mind and firmly occupied his thoughts.

Once you open the door, you can figure out many questions that you couldn't answer before.

Simply opening the door is enough.

All you need to do is actually see that thing, all you need to do is...

No, that's not the case.

This kind of thinking is wrong; this way of thinking is very wrong. I've been influenced by some force, and I must stay clear-headed. I need to keep my mind clear. Calm down, focus, and don't let this force lead my thoughts astray.

Gao Hai took a deep breath, and his consciousness quickly returned to normal after a brief period of confusion.

He seemed to be getting more and more adept at it. After dealing with the power of these strange creatures that corrupted his mind time and time again, he was breaking free from their control at an increasingly faster pace.

Please don't open the door for me!

Kita Ikuyo's voice came from outside the door.

With a swift and easy strike, Takahashi knocked Miko unconscious, who was reaching out to open the door. Although Takahashi was able to ensure that Miko wouldn't be driven insane by the mental erosion she had just suffered, thanks to the blessing of Chiyo Hachiya's shared willpower, she was still inevitably affected. To ensure she wouldn't be completely destroyed on the spot, Takahashi had no choice but to knock her unconscious again and carefully place her on the ground.

If this continues, will I develop the strength to knock someone out no matter what, because of seeing the child?

A few random thoughts flashed through his mind, but Gao Hai quickly turned his attention back to what was in front of him, back to the thing outside the door.

The voice just now was undoubtedly Kita Ikuyo's.

Did she take the elevator to this floor and come to the door?

Gao Hai remembered clearly that Kita Ikuyo herself had been possessed by the power of the ghost story and was in a state of being half dead and half alive. Moreover, the ghost story that possessed her seemed to be the "Void Ghost Story" that was said to have no origin, the third core obsession of Yoruyama Middle School that has yet to be found to be broken.

Why did she suddenly appear at this time?

Or perhaps... it's not her outside the door, but because in my understanding, that ghost story is already linked to Kita Ikuyo, so I'm only hearing her voice now?

Gao Hai slowly turned his head and looked at the mirror placed by the door.

At this very moment, Gao Hai's image was being reflected in the mirror.

His face was slightly pale, and there were obvious bloodshot eyes—a physical reaction to the mental pollution and mind transformation. He felt terrible, but this was far from enough to defeat Gao Hai.

The mirror did not seem to reveal anything unusual.

Gao Hai remained silent for a moment, then suddenly released his crimson domain, completely obscuring his and Jianzi's figures, making it impossible for the mirror to reflect anyone's image.

Then, the crimson light spread outwards from the wall, extending beyond the archives.

I didn't sense anything outside the door.

The moment the crimson field pierced through the door, Gao Hai sensed an empty corridor through this field; there was nothing outside.

What exactly is that...

Then the sound started to ring out.

I've been thinking about this question for a very long time.

That's why we are so special.

It sounded like the voice of an adult male, deep and seemingly accompanied by a strong sense of doubt.

There is no doubt that we are filled with animalistic traits; our bestial nature has never been truly erased.

Horrifying acts of cruelty have never left human civilization, but if such things happened to animals, they wouldn't be considered so serious. We consider ourselves superior to animals, we consider ourselves advanced, but we have never truly escaped the ferocity inherent in our bones.

Gao Hai seemed to see a man.

He sat in a pitch-black, secret room.

He was muttering to himself, observing and thinking about something.

But we are still different from animals.

We have established so-called "morality" and "law" to constrain ourselves and others.

We establish and maintain an environment where large groups of people live in harmony through contracts, ultimately shaping human society and the civilization we have today.

This is really special, isn't it?

But why? Why are we so special? Is it fate? Or coincidence?

The voice grew increasingly puzzled and helpless, as if it had fallen into some kind of mental block.

I couldn't figure out the answer at first, and could only think that it might just be some kind of coincidence.

But things are different now. I have actually seen something beyond human comprehension, something that is neither human nor animalistic, something that can only be called "god".

If a so-called "God" truly exists in this world, no matter how terrifying, bizarre, or incomprehensible it may seem, it represents an answer in some sense. This answer may be hard to accept, but such a possibility certainly exists.

What I'm doing now is a form of verification.

Then, Gao Hai began to feel a growing distortion in that voice.

[Ha, Sato just wants to use this power to climb the ranks. The military is obsessed with weapons of mass destruction, but I don't think so.]

He started laughing.

After returning from that hell, after I brought out that miraculous thing alive, I was lost for a long time, and I was also misled by material enjoyment. But in the end, I realized that perhaps I could try to verify what God had done.

He began to think more deeply.

If we consider the bizarre and eerie tales as a phenomenon, their characteristics of being "emotionless," "selfless," and "acting only according to rules" can indeed be described as distorted and chaotic natural phenomena. However, on the other hand, they might also be understood as a life form that we do not understand or comprehend.

He tried to propose hypotheses, attempting to imagine and understand when he could not see the way forward.

The experiment at Fujika Middle School will not succeed. I can see that what such an experiment will ultimately create is nothing more than a monster disguised as a ghost story. In essence, it is nothing more than a madman captured by bestiality. That is not what I want.

The development of the lethal horror stories will continue. I don't intend to go against Sato's wishes. Although I think it's pointless, he is still my friend, and he has indeed worked hard on this for many years.

But that's not what I want.

I want to try and see if I can create something a little different.

If we understand ghost stories as another form of life, another form of civilization, perhaps I can modify them, perhaps I can create something entirely new. Like the god who created the universe in creationism, if this power can be interpreted and imitated, perhaps I can…

Finally, his voice fell silent as he pondered.

Who is that person?

Why would I hear his voice?

The identity card in my pocket seemed to be getting warm for some reason, as if it had made a connection with something.