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

"Let me do it."

Fujiwara Chika spoke with a firm expression.

"Leave it to me, don't get involved in this."

Gao Hai looked at the girl beside him with some helplessness. He really didn't want Chika to experience this kind of thing.

{For Ahai, this level of pain was nothing new, was it? Since I can't help in the battle, I'll try my best not to hold them back in other ways. After all, Ahai still needs to maintain the best possible condition to deal with players who might break through the barrier, right?}

Chika's voice rang out in the mental link. The girl smiled gently at Gao Hai, and Gao Hai, who was certain from her expression that the girl had made up her mind, hesitated for a moment before finally nodding gently in agreement with Chika's idea.

The next moment, accompanied by a splatter of blood, a slender finger and a rough finger fell together into the small container placed in front of the headless Buddha.

"Ugh...huh?"

The excruciating pain of the severed finger was clearly unbearable for Chika, who hadn't experienced many torments from strange creatures. Tears streamed down her face, and she trembled for a while before she could barely calm down. However, she then noticed that Takami had also broken off a finger and placed it in the ritual vessel, instead of using both of Chika's own fingers.

"Don't you think this still gives off a couple vibe?"

Unlike Chika's severe reaction, Takami's expression didn't change much after cutting off his own finger; he even joked about it.

However, while he was joking around with Qianhua quite freely, one of the fleeing believer players was not so happy.

"How is this possible... They actually came looking for us, and it's that thing again?!"

The middle-aged man named Garisto looked at the police officers relentlessly pursuing him, his expression growing increasingly grim.

If you disregard the strange-looking black cloak, Garristo himself looks like an ordinary middle-aged office worker, someone who appears harmless and even honest and reliable to strangers.

Of course, before becoming a player, this man was indeed quite honest and reliable. He had never had any problems at work, and his faith was very sincere. He also served as a priest in the local community church.

But after becoming a player, truly experiencing supernatural power, and enduring inhuman torture from several dungeon monsters, this man rapidly changed. He began to believe he was a chosen one, destined to become an unparalleled being after suffering. To this end, he sacrificed all the non-religious people in his community, including his own father and children, and subsequently massacred three rural towns and non-church hospitals and schools.

For this, he was naturally hunted down by the players who maintained order and nearly died. It was at this time that the fanatics found and accepted him, and Garisto's own faith and extremism propelled him to climb higher, eventually plotting to kill the Red Moon-level player who had led him into the fanatic organization and was like a father to him, thus becoming one of the seven highest-ranking members of this force.

In terms of his past experience alone, Garristo undoubtedly has a lot to say about him.

But at this moment, these things could not help him get out of his predicament, or get rid of the police officer who was relentlessly pursuing him, as if he wanted to grind him to dust.

Even though I've already used an object of obsession to eliminate my own presence, why did this thing still chase after me? Is it because I was injured by it during our last encounter, so it left a mark on me to some extent?

This monster, which is ineffective against any kind of artifact, is actually being used by players. Doesn't it have any side effects? How can it be used so casually? Shouldn't artifacts of this level have significant limitations and be essentially one-time use items?!

The man was filled with frustration and resentment, but he didn't feel his situation was particularly dangerous. While the bullets were annoying, they were unlikely to cause serious injury to a Red Moon-level player, unless they were instantly focused down like that unlucky guy before him. He was currently using a blessing he had obtained in a Twilight-level dungeon—one that increased movement speed and reaction time—to dart and weave through the woods. For the time being, the police officer couldn't catch this monkey-like darting fellow.

However, while the police could easily handle the situation, the recurring appearance and disappearance of the female corpse in the woods was rather chilling.

curse.

Just as Gao Hai struggled to deal with the kitten's curse and could only try to postpone its onset, this kind of thing, which could still function even without the support of the object of obsession after its activation, was extremely difficult to deal with. Therefore, even an experienced player like Garisto, who had many items, could only endure the thing's gaze and could only try to get rid of it when it actually launched an attack.

It's alright. The rotten apple's curse takes a relatively long time to activate, so there's no immediate danger. The kitten's murderous curse, however, activates very quickly; I just need to stall for time as much as possible. Once the curse activates, that annoying police officer should disappear because he's lost his controller, and then I can focus solely on dealing with the curse.

It sounds like a perfect action plan.

But as Garristo was thinking this, he suddenly sensed that something was amiss.

He suddenly looked up at the sky and saw a dark red light.

That wasn't the light emanating from the red moon. There's still no place to see a red moon in the Nightfall Mountain Middle School instance, meaning that, in a sense, no player has yet found the true "bottom layer" of this area. At this moment, the light is emanating from a human head suspended in mid-air, roughly estimated to be at least a hundred meters in size. It resembles the head of a Buddha statue and is currently emitting light while searching for something.

A headless Buddha… How come they even have this? The [Slacking Off Gang] still possesses 10 Red Moon-level Obsession Items, and two of them have appeared here? Didn't that player gang shrink back after Xiong Mi's squad was almost wiped out, becoming very cautious every time they explored a dungeon? How dare they send out two Red Moon-level Obsession Items in one dungeon? Didn't they ever consider what it meant to leave such a strategic weapon in a dungeon?

We can't keep running away.

Other obsessions going out of control might be one thing, they'd naturally disappear after a while. But if it was the headless Buddha that went out of control, the situation would become quite dire. To avoid that, even if it only increased expenses in vain, they had to go back and fight the players. This could be considered a calculated move, and Garisto was helpless about it, but he had no choice but to comply. He believed that the others wouldn't be foolish at this point; everyone would immediately return to besiege those players, striving to eliminate them in the shortest possible time—

squeak-

A clone of Goto, holding a door, stood up from the bushes, carrying the door in its arms.

The door opened under the aura of the eerie creature, and a blood-red domain was released in an instant, enveloping Garisto himself who had no time to escape. Then, Xiong Mi's figure appeared.

The power of the object of obsession was activated in an instant, slicing open the neck of the charging bear, Mi.

The blessing of immortality from Hirano Sousuke activated, and the headless bear steadied itself, raised its short-barreled shotgun, and pulled the trigger.

The next moment, chunks of flesh grew out of Xiong Mi's neck, accompanied by a chilling aura. Some kind of malevolent power, along with the small music box that Garisto had taken out, began to try to take over Xiong Mi's body.

Snapped!

The guide cane slammed onto the ground, and in the blink of an eye, the headless bear, Mi, caught up with Garristo, who was still trying to escape the area. The distance between them seemed to have been erased by some strange force, so that Mi himself was in front of Garristo in the blink of an eye.

A domino fell to the ground at that moment, and Xiong Mi's figure and Garristo's figure passed each other, causing the spatial structure of both of them to be disrupted for a moment.

In just a few seconds, Xiong Mi and Garista used multiple items of obsession in succession, engaging in a true life-or-death battle between Red Moon-level players.

The battle was hardly exciting; in fact, the scene looked strange and comical. The two figures either remained stationary or suddenly changed direction, making various incomprehensible movements from time to time. They would then appear to be in pain without being attacked by anything, or suffer severe injuries, only for the injuries to suddenly disappear. Afterward, they would each start pulling out their own strange items.

In a sense, this strange fighting style is actually like a life-or-death game of rock-paper-scissors, where both sides constantly search for suitable items and abilities to counter each other's moves, and try to launch attacks using items and abilities that the other side does not have corresponding counters for. Round after round, they fight each other with all their might in a short period of time.

Judging from the situation at this moment, Garrisdo still had the advantage, allowing him to create a blind spot for the opponent while staggering his position, enabling him to attack without being seen by the opponent.

Then Garrisdo saw the direction from which Xiongmi had just rushed, and looked at a mirror that had somehow appeared there, and his own reflection in the mirror.

not good--

Gareth thought he could use his cloth to block the stones thrown by his opponent, but he didn't expect that scissors were following behind the stones. He realized a crucial problem: he wasn't fighting a single enemy. There was actually more than one enemy, but only Xiong Mi had been in the open from beginning to end.

boom!

Under Gao Hai's command, the police officers fired a shot, shattering the mirror instantly.

The next second, the mirror was completely unharmed, and Garristo in the mirror was also unharmed, while the real Garristo's body shattered instantly, just like the mirror, into countless tiny pieces of flesh, like shards of glass.

We must immediately use a substitute for someone else's death...

Garristo's consciousness had not completely dissipated; he knew very well what he should do now.

However, the crimson domain was increasingly eroding his body and consciousness. He hadn't noticed it before, but now he felt that his thoughts and actions had become slow-motion, reduced to less than one-tenth of their original speed.

Even so, he could still manage to do so before he truly died—

A suppressor bullet landed on him.

For a creature that Gao Hai himself knew virtually nothing about, the effect of a single suppression bomb was negligible. But even something completely unknown could, with a special suppression bomb, cause at least a moment of chaos.

This disorder has no meaning for the object itself, but for the player who uses it, it can mean something quite terrifying.

bang——

The crimson light finally shattered completely.

Xiong Mi skillfully picked up all the items that Garristo himself had thrown out, counting them as he did so:

"There are 5 left."

Chapter 77: The Wonderful Uses of Obsessive Objects and Unexpected Events

Another brother has sacrificed his life.

Evalist stopped in his tracks, his expression turning cold as he looked at the black-robed figures that had appeared around him.

Not long ago, he noticed the abnormal red light, realizing that the enemy had taken out the extremely troublesome object of obsession, the [Headless Buddha], and planned to return to the enemy's location to fight. This was a move born of necessity, as combat at this level was extremely uncertain for players. Therefore, after confirming their own chances of victory, the focus was on how to better protect themselves.

However, if the "Headless Buddha" is taken out, they will have to go back.

This Red Moon-level artifact, controlled by the "Slacking Off Gang," has a nickname among players who have seen it: the "Dungeon Shit Machine." In a sense, this nickname vividly reveals the attitude of most players towards this thing.

Its function is very simple: to summon monsters into the dungeon.

By sacrificing a certain amount of flesh and blood, one can use this object of obsession to open a portal, summoning various monsters into the current instance. A safe zone exists approximately 10 meters around the summoner, where players will not be the monsters' primary targets.

Furthermore, these summoned monsters possess a unique global lock-on characteristic. This means that no matter where you go, if you're not near the summoning circle when the summoning begins, these summoned monsters will lock onto you and relentlessly pursue you. The monsters summoned by the [Headless Buddha] also possess a degree of ability to be ignored by other monsters, slowing down the reaction speed of local monsters that would normally prioritize attacking them due to territorial conflicts, making it difficult to use other monsters to defend against them. As for waiting for the instance space to eject them, that would take more than ten hours, or even half a day—enough time for these creatures to circle the entire instance space several times.

Because of this characteristic, players who are hostile to the "Slacking Off Gang" often encounter situations where a large group of strange creatures suddenly appear in the arena and chase after them while they are fighting. Occasionally, some neutral player teams will also be affected by the player conflicts if they are accidentally involved.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. The key issue is that this obsessive object can be manipulated by the player to enter a state of complete chaos, summoning wave after wave of bizarre creatures. In some cases, it can even create more monsters than are currently present in the dungeon, then run rampant across the entire map, killing anyone in sight. The level of disgust and danger is off the charts. Its main purpose is to defecate everywhere, pollute the environment, and then everyone dies together.

Especially considering that these players are already cursed and will die soon, and that the Headless Buddha will go out of control because it has lost its priest, Evalist can't even imagine what kind of chaotic scene the forest will be in when a large group of monsters are summoned.

Damn it, why are these guys resorting to such sorely risky tactics right from the start? Did they already know about the cursed core artifact they possess from Pusid? Even so, they shouldn't be using something like this right away, right?

As Evalist was thinking this, he noticed a connection disappear.

One of my teammates got killed.

Judging by the connection of fate... it's Garisto, the member of that radical faction.

How could it be so fast? It hasn't been long since they decided to retreat. Wait, I see. First, they showed themselves to be difficult to deal with, forcing them to instinctively retreat, thus scattering their forces. Then, they revealed the existence of the "Headless Buddha," forcing them to return, but also using this back-and-forth movement to further disperse their forces. Then, they seized the opportunity to find isolated enemies and eliminate them one-on-one. There must be some very powerful figures among these guys. The "Slacking Off Gang," which was severely weakened in "Campus Ghost Stories," still has such characters?

Clearly, due to the geographical distance and the fact that their respective factions were extremely unpopular, these fanatics were unaware that Xiong Mi himself had returned alive from Teng Hua Middle School, and therefore had a huge misjudgment of the strength of Gao Hai's team.

[Everyone, gather around me! The enemy plans to divide and conquer us. They must have some kind of teleportation device to pursue us. From now on, we must act as a team!]

The moment the mental communication was sent, Evalist saw a pink-haired girl carrying a door emerge from the bushes.

They came so fast! How could they find another one immediately after taking out one of us?!

Evalist couldn't comprehend it; he naturally couldn't possibly know about Goto Ichiri's guitar's ability to [interfere with the timeline], nor could he know that this pink-haired girl could use the guitar to launch one individual after another as pursuers, constantly tracking down the fleeing fanatic players. If one wasn't caught, its existence would be canceled and replaced with another; if a trace was found, the corresponding individual would be preserved, thus making minor adjustments to the present to ensure that the target could not escape.

Garisto, the first target to be tracked, is considered weaker in the player team due to insufficient quantity and strength of his obsession objects, according to intelligence. Therefore, taking him down first would not only weaken the enemy team by eliminating one member, but also lull the remaining enemies into a false sense of security, making them believe that they were not the first target and that there was still room for maneuver.

Then, the second goal is the key right now.

The crimson domain expanded instantly as the door opened.

Evalist retreated quickly, but was still unable to avoid being enveloped by the domain. However, the domain that had severely eroded Garisto was now completely unable to harm Evalist. It was as if there was an invisible barrier around him, rendering all the forces aimed at him ineffective.

"You chose me as your second target? That's probably the biggest mistake you've made. An attack of this magnitude couldn't possibly hurt me."

With an indifferent voice, Evalist produced a scepter from somewhere and placed it on the ground. Coupled with his kind and compassionate appearance, he truly seemed like a high-ranking priest or even a pope.

"Of course we need you as the target. After all, your ability seems quite interesting. This trait of being unselectable... let me think, could it be related to the third core obsession of Nightfall Mountain Middle School, Evalist?"

Gao Hai's voice rang out from the blood-red mist.

Evalist's expression changed slightly; he hadn't expected that the origin of his obsessive object would be so easily seen through.

The strange object of obsession that he obtained, which prevented him from being chosen by the power of the strange and supernatural tales, did indeed come from the [Nightfall Mountain Middle School] instance area, and according to the investigation, it is likely related to the third core obsession within this instance that has never been explored.

He hadn't told anyone about this, not even his own companions, but this guy had revealed it in just one sentence.

The blessing of the Crimson Moon level, seeing through the source of their own trump card... Could it be here, the target that fate guides them to find?