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

The crimson domain continues to operate silently.

Suddenly regaining his senses, Gao Hai turned around and looked at the empty space beside him, the floor piled with opened student files, and the shattered mirror not far away.

This is not where I was standing just now.

This is... wait a minute?

Suddenly realizing something, Gao Hai darted to one of the student files, squatted down, picked it up, and opened it.

This time, he saw perfectly normal text that could be understood and interpreted.

[Student Profile: Eriko Asamoto]

[Enrollment Date: April 1, 1942]

Chapter 56: Increasingly Confused Clues and Dramatic Changes on the Other Side

[Student Profile: Eriko Asamoto]

[Enrollment Date: April 1, 1957]

[Class: Grade 11, Class 5]

[Student Personal Information...]

A student file fell to the ground and got mixed up with the other student files.

[Student Profile: Eriko Asamoto]

[Enrollment Date: April 1, 1962...]

Another student file was left on the ground.

[Student Profile: Eriko Asamoto...]

One student file after another was picked up and put down, gradually piling up.

Then, the act of flipping through the pages suddenly stopped.

Gao Hai tossed the student file he was holding into the pile of files on the ground. He didn't reach for any more files, but let out a long sigh, then slowly squatted down and finally sat on the ground.

All the student records have the exact same name.

No matter how many different files he picked up and flipped through, regardless of the student's year or class, the only name recorded was the same: [Eriko Asamoto]. Besides her, Takami found no other student's name, not even one other person.

Why does only her name exist in all the student records?

Gao Hai sat on the ground, his brows furrowed in thought.

Eriko Asamoto, who was the core of the obsession, died after the war, but the earliest files about this girl can be traced back to the wartime period, possibly to the time when Yoruyama Middle School had just started operating.

Based on the information gathered during the first playthrough from the abandoned dormitory building, we know that Eriko Asamoto, the central figure of our obsession, spent some time at Yoruyama Junior High School. During her time there, she suffered severe bullying and was ultimately buried alive by her classmates. However, before that, there was a teacher at the school who genuinely cared for her, and her greatest obsession is related to that teacher.

It can be said that the investigation on the first playthrough alone has made decisive progress on Eriko Asamoto's personal information, and has come close to finding out the source of Eriko Asamoto's obsession and breaking it.

But what Gao Hai discovered in his second investigation left him somewhat bewildered.

Why is it that this expired Japanese JK (high school girl) who has nothing special about her except playing guitar and seemingly having a congenital mental illness, and at least there's nothing particularly unusual about her, has suddenly become "everywhere"?

Could it be, as he speculated, that because they themselves became ghost stories, all the Eriko Asamoto could move along the timeline, thus projecting their existence into the past? But that doesn't make sense either. It's not just being projected into the past; judging from these student files, there really are a whole bunch of Eriko Asamoto living in different eras.

Or is she truly schizophrenic? No, that's unlikely. I've sensed her presence and her mind; she might have depression, but it's improbable that she's schizophrenic. That's probably an attribute imposed on her after she became a ghost story, something unrelated to her original self, like an "innocent monster."

There was no mental fluctuation from Miko Yotsuya yet. Although Takahashi seemed to have fallen into a depth that even Miko herself had not reached due to receiving too much information, he was still able to confirm through the mental link that the girl was sleeping soundly in the archives room and had not been harmed in any way.

That blow should put her to sleep for a while, so there's no need to rush to find her right now.

{Shijo Maki: Kai-kun, something's happened! Miss Nanakawa tried to enter the [courtyard] using a remotely controlled gadget, and then her head exploded. Although it didn't kill Miss Nanakawa, the lights in the classroom suddenly went out, and the students and teachers froze like robots without power. And it seems like something is approaching outside the classroom. My aunt and I have been saved by Miss Aoyama using a gadget.}

At that moment, Maki's voice suddenly rang out, bringing news that was of great concern to everyone.

{Fujiwara Chika: Huh? Is that so? But nothing unusual has happened here, the teacher is still teaching normally.}

Then, Chika's questioning voice made Gao Hai immediately realize that the exploration of the [Ceiling] had caused a change in the [depth] of the players, including Kaguya Maki. They had probably reached a spatial layer that the surface players could neither see nor perceive. He wondered if they could reunite with Miko in this state.

{Takami: Maki, ask Aoyama if she can remember Miko. If she can remember Miko's existence and is no longer being shielded from this information, have her protect you and bring you to the affiliated teaching building. If she can't remember... Hmm? Maki? Maki?}

The communication was lost.

Before he could finish speaking, Gao Hai suddenly realized that the mental link between himself and Shijo Maki had been severed.

The permanent mental link provided by the black watch cannot be severed by the power of the supernatural tales, so there are only two possibilities for why this link is broken: either Maki has lost consciousness and fallen into a coma, or Maki has already "fallen asleep".

"..."

Andres's teleportation blessing was activated at that moment, and Gao Hai vaguely sensed the location of Zhen Fei.

Thankfully, she's only unconscious; she's still alive. It seems Aoyama Nanami's condition isn't optimistic right now, but given the density of strange creatures in the main teaching building, the fact that Maki is still alive while unconscious proves that the situation here isn't completely out of control.

Don't panic.

Don't panic.

Using the teleportation blessing, which can only be used once a day, at this point would be unwise. I need to know what happened to the group of players exploring the [Celestial Courtyard], so Maki must stay there. Whether I teleport her to my side or teleport myself, considering the information blockade and the strength of the monsters, it will only bring huge trouble and offer virtually no benefit.

{Fujiwara Chika: The communication just now… um, wait, Kai, I heard the announcement on the loudspeaker, listing the names of students who had violated the rules, and you were the first one called!}

However, it turns out that when bad things start to happen, they often don't manifest themselves in a single event.

Sizzle... sizzle...

Even though he was already in what was probably an extremely deep depth, Gao Hai still heard the broadcast.

However, what he heard was different from what Qianhua had described as "a student who violated the rules".

[The following is a presentation of the newly selected list of offerings and the corresponding measures to be taken.]

[List of sacrificial offerings 1: Gao Hai, Class: Grade 11 (05)]

[Depth: 4]

[Procedure: This is a highly sensitive case, involving a sacrificial offering from the lowest level. The brain needs to be removed while still alive, without any damage.]

[List of offerings 2: Yotsuya Miko, Class: Grade 11 (05)]

[Depth: 3]

[Procedure: For exceptional sacrificial offerings, whose senses are extraordinary, their ears, eyes, nose, and tongue must be completely removed within 10 minutes, and their brain must also be completely extracted to ensure sufficient freshness.]

[List of sacrificial offerings, Part 3: Shijou Maki, Class: Grade 11 (08)]

[Depth: 3]

[Handling Recommendation: The offerings that revealed the location of an important ceremony and information she shouldn't have known need to be dealt with as soon as possible to prevent her from digging any deeper.]

[List of offerings, Part Four...]

Amidst the cacophony and ear-piercing noise, Gao Hai could only roughly discern that it was an adult male speaking on a radio.

She and Miko seemed to be seen as excellent sacrifices, while the four people in the same group—Mahime, Kaguya, Nanami Aoyama, and Ren Nanakawa—were seen as a threat that had to be eliminated as soon as possible.

The important ritual site... the live burial in the courtyard, was it not simply for cruelty, but did the act itself carry some important meaning?

We can't dig too deep... Does this mean we can't get much information from the abstract level, or is it that we can't dig up the ground in the courtyard area to explore what secrets lie beneath?

Gao Hai stood up. He couldn't get any more clues in this archive room. Now it was time to find a way to return to where he was, or to find a way to pull Jianzi to his current depth, and to confirm the situation at the main teaching building.

{Chika Fujiwara: Kai, something's not right here...}

However, before he could take any action, the pained cries coming from Chika made Takahashi realize that something terrible had probably already happened before he could act.

The mental link is fluctuating violently.

Fujiwara Chika's own will was clearly severely damaged in an instant. Even with the protection of the mental fragments given to her by Takami, she was still enduring immense pain. Or rather, if those mental fragments hadn't shattered beforehand as protection, Chika would have died the moment the anomaly occurred, and wouldn't have had the chance to speak with Takami.

{Fujiwara Chika: No… I have to… Miss Kumami? Ugh… I absolutely must… find a way… to… tell… her about all the strange things that happened afterward…}

"Teleport."

The next second, accompanied by a whisper, the power of the blessing was suddenly activated.

Interestingly, this is the first time Gao Hai has used the power of this blessing since he obtained it.

A figure appeared beside him in the next moment.

The pink-haired girl, her face contorted in pain, collapsed to the ground, clutching her head and breathing heavily.

Her figure was gradually blurring; she clearly shouldn't be here without sufficient information, and blood was gushing from her wrist. It was unclear how this girl had managed to sever her own carpal artery. Blood was gushing from her, and her face was rapidly turning pale; she looked on the verge of collapsing from blood loss.

"Oh, ah..."

The girl opened her eyes in a daze, and was stunned when she saw Gao Hai. She was about to speak when her mouth was covered.

After removing the rescue team badge and putting it on Qianhua, and watching her wounds heal to a certain extent, Gao Hai took out [Surging Blood] and gave her a small sip, restoring Qianhua's severely confused thinking to normal.

The entire rescue process took less than a minute. After seeing Gao Hai in person, Qian Hua, whose body had become ethereal and seemed about to leave this place, became clear again. It seemed that she would not be able to leave this depth.

Gao Hai: What happened over at the teaching building?

Unsure whether the attached teaching building would undergo any unusual changes after the broadcast, Gao Hai did not rush to communicate. Instead, he continued to ask questions through the mental link and kept checking his connection with Maki and Miko to ensure that he could communicate with them immediately after they woke up.

{Fujiwara Chika: It was the radio broadcast… After that broadcast, I felt like I wasn't myself anymore. It was like something was popping out of my head, like a stranger was replacing my consciousness, trying to turn me into someone else…}

Chika quickly understood Gao Hai's thoughts and responded to him using a mental link.

{Chika Fujiwara: At that time, I felt an extremely strong urge to hurt Kai. I naturally came to see Kai as someone who disrupted the atmosphere of school life, as a menace… This shift in consciousness was so intense that if it weren't for the fragments of my mind protecting my consciousness, I think I might have instantly become a different person. But even so, this could only temporarily delay the shift. I didn't have a way to continuously resist this shift, so at that time, I could only choose suicide…}

{Fujiwara Chika: I saw Kumagami-san before I was teleported here, but she was... she was attacked by Hayasaka-san. No, not attacked, Hayasaka-san used the power of her blessing to push Kumagami-san away. Hayasaka-san couldn't hold on for long either; she was probably using that method to remind Kumagami-san to tell the other person to leave quickly.}

{Fujiwara Chika: The others must have experienced this too. I feel… well, how should I put it, I feel like there's something inside all of our heads. Normally, we can't see or feel it; we can't even detect its existence. But after that broadcast, that hidden thing immediately appeared, and it was so powerful that there was no way to fight it. If I hadn't been brought to this place, and if it weren't for that blood vial you gave me, Umi, I'm afraid… um, Umi, do you know what that is?}

Chika tried her best to calmly recount what she knew, though her body was still trembling slightly.

"..."

Gao Hai remained silent, simply reaching out to gently pull her into his arms and patting Qianhua's head.

He felt the indentation on her head, a circular mark on the back of her head just like his, like a scar left by craniotomy.

Then, he sensed the restoration of a mental link.

It is Consort Zhen who has woken up.

{Shijo Maki: Kai-kun, I'm in the courtyard now. My aunt, Ms. Aoyama, and Ms. Nanakawa are all here. We're all alive, and I've discovered something.}