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

Unfortunately, Gao Hai is unable to support Kaguya Maki right now. He can only try his best to handle things on his own side and prevent this cycle from ending too soon.

Gao Hai's mood grew heavier.

"Oh, you're here. Ha, you really do it."

Immediately following him as he stepped into the dark swimming pool, Xiong Mi's voice rang out from the side, along with Jian Zi's sigh of relief.

Turning his head, Gao Hai saw a man with a cigarette in his mouth, fiddling with tools such as pliers, needles, small drills, and other items whose specific uses were hard to pinpoint, as well as a black-clad player who was hanging up and whose means of resistance were clearly sealed by the power of the object of his obsession.

Chapter 65: The Mental Health Issues and "Interrogation" Methods of the Player Community

"Woo..."

With a suppressed sob, the long-haired girl threw herself into Gao Hai's arms.

Fujiwara Chika, standing to the side, narrowed her eyes slightly and instinctively exclaimed "Wow!" Goto Ichiri, on the other hand, froze for a moment, her expression quickly turning awkward. She stood there helplessly, unsure what to do. Judging from her distressed expression, this girl was probably starting to wonder if her presence as a peculiar acquaintance was interfering with the couple's sweet moments, and was beginning to seriously question her own existence.

As for Gao Hai himself, he simply reached out and hugged the girl in his arms, gently patting her shoulder. After letting Miko hold him for about a minute, he gently pushed away Miko, who still wouldn't let go, and smiled as he stroked her hair.

"Don't worry, don't worry, look at me, I'm back completely unharmed, without missing any limbs."

As Gao Hai said this, he deliberately struck a pose that showed off his muscles, which made the girl, whose eyes still had a little tear in them, laugh out loud.

"I'm sorry, it's just... we suddenly parted ways, and I heard from you that your situation is so dangerous, I couldn't help but worry."

After taking a while to calm herself down, Yotsuya Miko spoke while rubbing her eyes.

Despite being the only teammate who can retain memories and rewind time with Takami without paying any extra price, Miko knows very well that even if Takami did meet with misfortune in the elevator earlier, everything can still start over. However, after truly experiencing the pain of struggling against death during her first playthrough at Yoruyama Middle School, the girl's fear of "rewinding" has become even stronger, and she is even more afraid that Takami will encounter a situation where he has to rewind time.

Gao Hai could understand this idea, after all, during the Red Nut Gray Hole mission, he had been squeezed to death by Hidal and was terrified of that kind of pain, so he refused to commit suicide in that way when he was trapped in the cave later. Of course, it turned out he was overthinking it; even if he had called for Hidal immediately, he still wouldn't have died, but that's not the point right now.

Perhaps after experiencing death a few more times and feeling it more deeply, I won't feel such aversion and fear anymore.

Gao Hai subconsciously had this thought, then he was stunned to find himself imagining what kind of tragic death Yotsuya Miko would experience. This mindset, these thoughts, seemed somewhat different from his past self?

"Alright, alright, now's not the time for romance. That's enough, let's get down to business."

Xiong Mi's voice rang out from nearby. Gao Hai, Jian Zi, and Qian Hua turned their heads simultaneously to look at Xiong Mi, who was leaning against the corner smoking. Xiong Mi's face was full of embarrassment; she seemed to dislike being the center of attention for others' displays of affection.

"Have you interrogated that person?"

However, Gao Hai himself is always thick-skinned, so he changed the subject without changing his expression. He walked up to Xiong Mi with a serious expression as if the hug had never happened, and also put the [Hirano Sosuke] badge that had been guarding the surroundings on the side of the house back into his brooch.

"Not yet. I planted some curse-type obsession items on him first to weaken his willpower beforehand. Speaking of which, this guy is strange. Judging from his physical strength and the strange aura he's tainted with, he's clearly a Red Moon level player, but when I searched his back just now, I found that only this black robe is an obsession item. Do you know how that works?"

As Xiong Mi spoke, she walked towards the man in the corner, whose hands were chained and hanging in mid-air, and who was already half-dead.

"His teammates took it. Those people have a very sophisticated method for stealing their teammates' obsession items. After the police officers I summoned took down the player, the rest of them found a way to transfer the obsession items from his body."

By retrieving information from the police officers, Gao Hai roughly explained what had happened.

"Is this even possible...?"

Xiong Mi, who was initially very carefree, quickly fell silent as Gao Hai spoke.

She looked down at the rescue team badge that Gao Hai was still wearing, hesitated for a long time, and finally just shrugged and sighed, unable to suppress the envy in her eyes.

"Although I knew about this obsession item that could summon strange creatures when we collaborated at Teng Hua Middle School, the fact that a dungeon drop at most at the Dark Night level could absorb the remnants of a Red Moon level core obsession is just too outrageous. Even if these few obsessions of peace do have something in common, the probability of that is extremely small. You, are you really not some kind of male protagonist from an online novel? How could you have such incredible luck to obtain such a revolutionary obsession item..."

"Sigh, anyway, don't let others figure out how to use this thing. Although this thing should be used in conjunction with the blessing you obtained to achieve its maximum effect, even with huge side effects, your special obsession item with great growth potential is enough to make people envious. Even a Red Moon level player with sufficient strength would find it hard to resist the temptation of this thing."

With a long sigh, Xiong Mi finally advised Gao Hai not to flaunt his wealth, then turned his gaze to the dazed player.

[Shepherds], [Cultists], [Seekers of the Way]... This mysterious group of players has many conflicting names. If it weren't for the immense survival pressure of the game itself, these fanatics would probably have torn each other apart. However, what they call themselves is unimportant. To other players with normal minds, they all refer to this group as "cultists."

In an extremely dangerous sacrificial game, where every dungeon run involves the threat of death and various maddening tales, it's quite normal for players to develop mental instability. In fact, among the Twilight and Dark Night level players, the number of those with mental problems is considerable. Even players who seem normal and easy to get along with generally have some degree of mental disorder, and may even be constantly cursed by some force, like a time bomb ready to explode at any moment.

Under the management of Xiaohe Shu and his [Market], the players in the Tokyo area haven't encountered any major problems so far. Even if some madmen appear, they are quickly suppressed. However, the absence of the [Red Society] has begun to negatively impact the overall player community environment in Japan. Without overwhelming top-level player management, lower- and mid-level players are very likely to do extremely terrible things. As far as Xiong Mi knows, two or three abandoned villages that went unnoticed by ordinary people have appeared in Japan in the past month, which are very likely the work of certain players.

Of course, while such insane behavior is difficult to completely prohibit, in the two years since the birth of the sacrificial game, no truly large-scale incidents have occurred. Those crazed players usually cause at most a dozen to a few dozen casualties before being stopped. This is partly due to the efforts of the powerful players who stood out from the beginning, and partly because these crazed players are often out of control. They struggle to form groups, lack a strong will, and are unsure whether they can even properly control their obsessions. Some players even collapse before they can cause damage and are killed by their own obsessions due to a breakdown in their will.

As for those players who aren't lacking in willpower but are inherently evil and malicious, they can only manage to stay at the Dark Night level for a short time. Once they reach the Red Moon level, they won't be able to survive. After all, players at that level can more or less sense the malice and goodwill of others, and the dangerous nature of the dungeons makes it impossible for those who are wary of and secretive about each other to successfully complete the dungeon together. Lone wolf players, apart from Gao Hai, a uniquely strong individual, have no known record of clearing Red Moon level dungeons, so they don't pose a threat.

Perhaps the superficial peace that has been maintained until now has a miraculous element of luck involved. But in any case, the majority of the players at the top are relatively normal; at least they can accept the current civilized order and won't do anything that could destroy the world.

But this group of cult members is an exception.

With their strong will, unwavering faith, and twisted selves that are completely contrary to the moral and cognitive standards of secular society, this group of madmen united together and became the "outliers" among the Red Moon-level player teams, and they were like a stubborn skin disease that was difficult to cure.

"I never thought I'd be able to arrest one of these guys and interrogate him."

Xiong Mi grinned, but her expression was somewhat twisted.

"Good boy, let's leave for now. What happens here later could be very bad."

Then, Xiongmi turned to look at the three girls inside the room. Upon seeing the twisted smile on Xiongmi's face, Goto Ichiri immediately turned pale, trembling as she clutched her guitar and went outside. Yotsuya Miko and Fujiwara Chika were still confused, but Takami had a general idea of ​​what was about to happen. He persuaded the two girls to leave, telling them to follow Goto Ichiri for their safety, and warned them never to peek at the interrogation.

As for Gao Hai himself, he naturally wanted to stay here. After all, this player was practically a trophy that Gao Hai had captured, and he felt it was essential to obtain relevant information about the other party as soon as possible.

"I still suggest you leave; the scene here is going to be quite unsightly in a little while."

Xiong Mi glanced at Gao Hai a few more times and even offered him some advice.

"If we're talking about something ugly in a bloody sense, believe me, there's nothing in this world that would make me feel uncomfortable. Of course, if you're going to conjure up a poop-like person to strengthen this player, I admit that kind of work would blind me."

Gao Hai shook his head and replied to Xiong Mi calmly.

"A game about the strength of poop-people... It seems like something we could refer to, but let's leave it for now. Hmm, although I don't really like showing this side of myself to others, you, who have survived this long in the sacrificial game, should be able to understand that [every veteran player will inevitably have some degree of personality distortion], right?"

Xiong Mi did not insist on driving Gao Hai away; instead, she took out a small pair of pliers from the pile of tools she had laid out.

A cruel emotion flashed across the veteran player's eyes, while Gao Hai, who witnessed this scene, simply nodded slightly and said, "Try not to kill this person," without showing the slightest surprise.

After all, he himself had been genuinely troubled by claustrophobia for a long time, and now even seeing cave scenes on television made him very uncomfortable. Therefore, Gao Hai was all too aware of the player's mental distortion. Moreover, he hadn't forgotten that when Xiong Mi first met Yotsuya Miko during the operation at Fujika Middle School, she had shown a similar expression. This warm-hearted and reliable older sister would probably be a completely different person when facing someone she didn't have a friendly relationship with.

Perhaps by observing Xiong Mi interrogating this fanatical player, I can gain a deeper understanding of what kind of people these so-called Red Moon level players really are.

With this thought in mind, Gao Hai, who was standing guard, watched as Xiong Mi walked towards the dazed man.

The sky outside the window was overcast.

It was already afternoon, and it was getting dark.

Goto Ichiri stood guard in front of the swimming pool entrance, glancing back at the closed doors every now and then, his expression always very unpleasant.

This door doesn't actually block Xiaoboqi's perception. She is, after all, a proper Red Moon level, and considering the information blocking mechanism of this instance, she must make sure she can hear the sounds inside, lest she accidentally miss some important information and cause the team to get separated again.

Therefore, not seeing that scene with one's own eyes is a choice made out of necessity.

"The scene inside must be quite unpleasant right now, um, I can't even imagine what it's like."

Fujiwara Chika was genuinely curious and even considered peeking through the crack in the door. However, Goto Ichiri firmly blocked her way, so the energetic girl could only helplessly spin around in circles in the open space in front of the swimming pool.

Miko Yotsuya's face was also somewhat pale. She hadn't heard any movement inside the door, but... she sensed the waning of life force. It was a very strange, indescribable feeling, the sensation of someone's life force being gradually severed and disintegrated.

In fact, whether players are cooperating or hostile within the instance, they need to avoid each other dying inside. This is because those who die in the world of ghost stories often become monsters, so even mortal enemies will try their best to avoid life-or-death situations within the instance.

In that case, if it's certain that you can't kill the other person, how can you interrogate them to extract information?

Having never actually witnessed that cruel scene, Miko couldn't imagine what it was like.

Gao Hai, on the other hand, witnessed it firsthand.

The brain inside the glass jar still seemed to show faint signs of movement, indicating that the player was still alive.

Sharp needles pierced the brain, and murky liquid quickly covered it. Then, something seemed to travel through the needles.

After waiting for a while, Xiong Mi finally let out a long sigh and put down the various tools stained with blood.

"Cognitive function is confirmed to be completely destroyed, self-personality is confirmed to be completely destroyed, and memory function is completely intact. Hmm, we can now gather intelligence, but we can't relax yet, as the information itself may carry some kind of danger."

Having completed the interrogation, Xiong Mi continued to carefully explore using the power of her obsession.

As for Gao Hai, who witnessed all of this, well, all he can say is that it's quite entertaining.

Chapter Sixty-Six: The Seeker of "Destiny" and Alienated Perception

For players with willpower far exceeding that of ordinary people, and whose death would inevitably cause enormous trouble, conventional interrogation methods are often ineffective.

After all, players at this level have all endured inhuman torture to varying degrees, possessing extraordinary pain tolerance and various trump cards that could allow them to turn the tide if they're not careful. Not to mention, if someone is accidentally killed, the deceased player's death could create a chain reaction that could lead to unimaginable chaos. Therefore, how to simultaneously ensure intelligence gathering and the survival and deprivation of players has been a problem that has troubled many.

The solution adopted by Xiong Mi's "Slacking Off Gang" is to directly "interrogate" the enemy's brain and ensure that the other party only retains the basic "survival" characteristics.

The specific method involves using a container that preserves the vitality of the contents to put the player's brain, which has just been dug out, into the container. This ensures that the player remains alive even with only their brain remaining, and does not turn into a monster or anything like that.

Then, by directly damaging the brain's organ functions, directly destroying the mental force with sharp objects of obsession, and using objects of obsession that manifest reading memories, the player's self-personality can be almost completely destroyed, while retaining complete memories that can be retrieved and read.

Such practices are clearly contrary to humanity. It's no exaggeration to say that this method completely disregards the human being; the intensity and severity of the torture are no less than various forms of horrific torture, and may even have reached a point of utter depravity. Therefore, although the [Slacking Off Gang] had to adopt this method in order to deal with their enemies, members, including Xiong Mi, rarely used this method.

However, there are always exceptions. For example, with these players who don't even consider themselves human, arrogantly comparing themselves to messengers of God, and even fanatical believers who want to become gods, there's no need to consider any bottom line. At least in Gao Hai's view, using such methods on them wouldn't cause any problems at all.

After all, even with such cruel methods, compared to what these people have done to other players or ordinary people, it can be said to have reached a point of being somewhat refreshing.

"How is the result?"

Gao Hai only spoke up after confirming that Xiong Mi had stopped the "interrogation".

"I've gathered quite a bit of intelligence. Hmm, these guys are actually after you. Although they themselves aren't entirely sure who their target is, I'm certain that these cultists are looking for you. Hmph, the prophesied one, so you have this side to you too."

Xiong Mi's face showed a rather emotional expression, as if she had obtained some very special information related to Gao Hai.

"The one destined for us?"

Gao Hai was taken aback; he felt that Xiong Mi was telling a riddle.

"This group of cultists possesses an extremely rare object of obsession with prophetic abilities. Through the power of that object, they are certain that they can find the existence that will change the fate of the entire world within the 'Campus Ghost Stories' instance. Their attitudes toward this prophecy differ; some believe that there may be some kind of opportunity lurking here, while others believe it is a test and a gift from God. But regardless of the different thoughts among their members, their actions are the same: to find this key existence and try to take control of it."

Xiong Mi placed the container containing the brain on a table on one side of the room, and then spoke leisurely.

"Hmph, although there's no direct evidence, among the players who participated in this mission, I think only you could possibly match this 'prophecy.' I really don't know how to describe it, that you actually received such treatment. But considering what you've done, this title isn't impossible."

"In short, this group of cultists has mobilized in full. There are a total of 27 people, including 7 Red Moon level players who have officially completed the Red Moon level dungeon and 20 Dark Night level players. Originally, there were also Twilight level newcomers below them. But before participating in this dungeon operation, all the players who had not yet completed the Dark Night level dungeon were killed and turned into items. Then they used some kind of special item that could force multiple players to enter the same dungeon using a single entry ticket. The price was that after entering the dungeon, they would be trapped in an unknown area and would not be given an identity by the dungeon."

"According to this guy's memories, those Night-level players were actually just used as expendable resources. From the moment they entered the dungeon, they locked up all the Night-level players and forbade them to act on their own. Therefore, there are only 7, no, 6 Red Moon-level [Cultists] active in the dungeon now. You killed such powerful individuals with a summoned follower from a mere artifact. I don't even know what to say..."

As she spoke, Xiong Mi's tone became somewhat wistful, while Gao Hai remained silent, listening intently and lost in thought.

A large team of 27 players came out in full force, just because they received a prophecy about the "Destined One"?

Despite now being in a different world where true supernatural powers exist, Gao Hai doesn't really believe in fate. Especially with the black watch as a cheat code, he doesn't feel that there's any unchangeable destiny on his path.