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

So that's how it is. No wonder you didn't dare reveal this place publicly, no wonder you didn't want this scene to be shown to the players. This can't be described as just a stage setting anymore. The significance of this place, what this place signifies, even for someone like you, is already terrifying, it's reached a point completely out of control, hasn't it?

So, do they point to the true path to God, or to self-righteous, fabricated false gods?

No, perhaps we never reached the place of God; it was just a failed path that couldn't be connected.

But even on a path of failure, the things that exist within it are still extraordinary.

While he was thinking, Gao Hai had already reached the end of the corridor, and his previously weak body regained its mobility.

He looked up and saw a rule sheet hanging on the wall, a rule sheet stained with blood, the handwriting of which was clearly altered and distorted.

[Baidus Institute Sees the Rules - Category 1 Rules You Should Follow]

[Zone 3 isn't close enough; it needs to be closer to the domain.]

[1. All personnel involved in our activities within this area have heard the corresponding voice-activated identification card and placed the Abyss Card in a location where they can be directly and visually verified, ensuring a safe distance for mutual identification. Any suspicious individuals attempting to open the door should be immediately apprehended to control access; in emergencies, proceed directly to the Abyss for execution.]

2. All personnel must carry their own standard weapons at all times and be prepared to engage in combat or evade at any time. When the Level 2 Truth Alarm sounds, they can open the armory in front of the gun and use any weapon there. At this time, any suspicious personnel from the Abyss can be immediately killed. Protecting the laboratory is our highest principle.

[3. All personnel involved in the Red Moon event are equipped with protective suits that are built into the Earth's communication devices. All personnel communication will be conducted through these devices.]

[This communication device has four frequency bands. Band 1 is for use in Zone 1, Band 2 is for use in Zone 2, Band 3 is for use in Zone 3, and Band 4 is for the central zone. Only core personnel can use this band. Non-core personnel are not allowed to speak in the fourth frequency band.]

[4. On the day of the experiment, the goods will eventually arrive at the detention center. We will transport, clean, and dispose of them harmlessly. This is a daily task that He must perform to ensure the cleanliness and hygiene of the experimental area. He does not want to have much contact with the experimental subjects. Any expression of sympathy for the experimental subjects, or any expression of dissatisfaction with the experimental constraints themselves, is a manifestation of physical disloyalty. Please remember your elevated status.]

[5. Please take good care of the facilities here. The maintenance and replacement of consumables are very troublesome. When you use the facilities here, please consider that there will be other people in the world after you. Do not use these facilities.]

[6. The Red Moon Core Area is a top-secret area. Regular missions will not involve this area. If you encounter a mission that points to this area, it may be due to a communication frequency error. If you cannot escape this situation and cannot refuse, please report it to your superior immediately. Do not undertake such dirty missions, and do not leak the mission content you hear to your superior or anyone else who may come to your superior.]

Become one of us. ...

[Don't refuse, don't refuse, refuse, refuse, refuse, refuse, refuse!]

【.g%＃,）o。 *＆d! 】

Chapter 85: The Deciphered Information and the Roaring Bullets

To be honest, this is the most difficult and incomprehensible rule sheet Gao Hai has ever seen.

The original rules and the altered ones were intertwined, making the rule sheet itself extremely chaotic. Especially since it was in German and Italian, written letter by letter instead of individual characters like Chinese. Gao Hai nearly fainted trying to figure out what was written on the rule sheet, only managing to read it fluently and understand its meaning thanks to his mysterious language recognition cheat.

This rule sheet... should be the earliest rule sheet in the entire research institute.

As Gao Hai pondered this, his gaze swept across the distorted lines of text, trying to discern the hidden, twisted and insane words within.

We heard the voice of the abyss... Open the door and enter the abyss...

The red moon will eventually descend upon the earth; He will come… His blessings have already been manifested in the world…

Do not resist, rejoice, welcome His coming... those filthy things... cannot be delayed much longer...

As the hidden information was deciphered, Gao Hai's expression gradually became serious.

Although he had realized after learning about the "Prototype of Ghost Stories" that the researchers in Baydos might be the real kings of pranks to date, after truly experiencing what they had done, he had to admit that these bastards really knew how to have fun.

In short, the first thing that can be confirmed now is that the so-called "ghost stories" and "strange objects" are essentially things born from humans as raw materials, mixed with some kind of "god" product.

If humans are simply brutally killed, whether it's an annihilation of an entire family or a massacre of a city by an army, no ghost story can be born. A true ghost story can only be born when humans, having already merged with something within the "blood of the gods," suffer immense torment and die.

Only the death of someone possessing something from the "Divine Blood" can create the soil for the strange tales of rules, forming the foundation for the sacrificial game's instance. Only after the death of the person holding the "Divine Blood" will the deaths of others related to them, those without the "Divine Blood," be affected by a kind of radiation, a near-"infection" effect, causing them to exhibit abnormalities as well. Then, a core obsession will be born among these individuals, and only then will the instance truly take shape.

This is true for both the Shirakawa Apartment and the Red Nut Gray Hole. The Red Nut Gray Hole contains traces of God, so it's possible that some invisible archetypes of ghost stories still remain within. However, the traces in the Red Nut Gray Hole are extremely scarce; even the visible blood is gone. Therefore, Fornen and his researchers couldn't understand the true origin of these ghost stories and even attempted to create them by sending spies to infiltrate enemy countries and stage massacres.

Now, at the Bydos Research Institute, Urian and his men, through some unknown means, have nurtured the originally rare [Divine Blood] he obtained, gradually giving it the ability to proliferate. This has also filled the place with [Strange Tales Prototypes], with the fundamental raw materials for constructing [Strange Tales] that can merge with humans. At this very moment, Gao Hai is immersed in these raw materials, inevitably being corrupted by them.

"call……"

Even with Gao Hai's usual composure, he couldn't help but feel a slight emotional fluctuation at this moment.

He never expected that he would be able to find the true origin of the ghost stories in the [Campus Ghost Stories] instance, and find the answer to the mystery of the birth of these twisted beings.

Even though many questions remained unanswered, such as the origin of the "divine blood" and the true nature of the so-called "gods," Gao Hai felt these were not his immediate concerns. Solving the problems at hand was far more important than addressing things so distant.

As long as the person is alive, those [tales of the supernatural] prototypes don't seem to cause any harm. The reason I was previously contaminated and attacked was mainly because the researcher was effectively dead, and thus he had merged with the [prototype] parasitizing him, becoming a monster with dangerous killing rules. As for this thing parasitizing me, well… as long as I'm alive, this thing shouldn't cause any problems. And if I die, it'll just revert to a previous state, so there's no need to worry about anything afterward.

However, the name "Abyss" is hard to ignore. Especially since "Bythos" in the name Bythos Academy itself means "abyss," it makes one wonder just how far these Bythos researchers have gone.

Speaking of which, could the conditions for clearing the game in [Baydos] be a hint in some way?

Gao Hai hadn't forgotten that when he first entered [Baydos] in his dream during his first playthrough, he received brand new game hints and instructions on how to complete the game.

The normal completion requirement for the [Baydos] dungeon is to [Return the Lost Items of the Abyss]. The four hints provided are: [The boundary between reality and imagination is not inseparable], [You have reached the true origin of everything], [Those who investigate the gods will inevitably bring misfortune], and [Those consumed by desire will eventually return to the abyss]. The first hint clearly alludes to the [Prototype of Ghost Stories] and also hints at the experiments conducted in Baydos. Gao Hai believes the second hint is likely a "false hint" among the Dark Night level hints, since based on current information, there should be a deeper and earlier origin beneath Baydos, and that so-called origin might not even be within the [Campus Ghost Stories] dungeon.

As for the third hint, that's obvious, since the existence of the [Campus Ghost Stories] instance already demonstrates how badly those lunatics messed things up back then. But...hmm, thinking about it carefully, could this rule mean that the [God] himself inflicts some kind of misfortune on those who explore and study Him? After all, if the hint is too obvious, it doesn't feel quite right. And, could the fourth hint also suggest something?

And what about returning the lost items from the abyss? Is it about returning this [Divine Blood] to the gods? No, the research at Nightfall Mountain Middle School should also involve [Divine Blood], but the conditions for clearing that level there are completely unrelated to this. In other words, there's something else inside the Bydos Research Institute, and perhaps it's because of this that that idiot old man named Urian was able to keep the [Divine Blood] multiplying and regenerating, leading to the current state of the research institute.

While he was thinking, Gao Hai had already reached a three-way intersection in the corridor and saw a map hanging on the wall there.

So this place... Zone 3? Then this is the third basement level. Miko and Ai are on the first basement level, so they don't seem too far apart. The isolation here must be pretty good, otherwise, with Miko's senses, she wouldn't have failed to detect what's down there.

Unlike the rule sheet whose text had been altered to the point of being extremely difficult to read, this map showed virtually no signs of tampering. However, the central Blood Pool area was covered in bloodstains and what appeared to be excrement, so much so that Gao Hai could clearly smell a foul stench when he got closer to examine the map.

Hmm... my current location is... special power room... piping room... waste disposal room... water conversion room... I see. In that case, going down will lead to the North Corridor?

Gao Hai glanced at the central blood pool area on the map several times. He was curious about what was inside, but his intuition told him that if he ventured into such a place without any protection, he might die a gruesome death. Therefore, Gao Hai decided to ignore the maintenance port for now and focus on the two protective suit storage areas on this floor to get himself some protective clothing.

Even though I'm already in a contaminated state, wearing a protective suit won't help...

Thinking this, Gao Hai cautiously stepped out from the corner of the three-way intersection, intending to check the situation outside. He then heard a noise behind him and turned to see three or four soldiers in full protective suits rushing out from the other end of the corridor. Before Gao Hai could react, the soldiers raised their guns.

"grass--"

boom!

Amidst the sharp gunshots, Gao Hai, who had just activated his Berserk Blessing and begun to dodge, was shot by a soldier at the front of the line wielding a 98K. The impact, far exceeding that of a normal firearm, sent Gao Hai flying more than ten meters down the corridor before landing on the ground.

It hurt more than expected, but although the bullet was unusually powerful, it still failed to penetrate Gao Hai's skin, leaving only a bruise on his chest.

Gao Hai subconsciously tried to summon the police officer again, but this time his summons failed. For some reason, the officer refused the call of the badge.

what's the situation?

Unexpectedly, Takahashi sensed a response from his badge and discovered that Hirano Sosuke and Howard were already in Alice's room, suppressing the out-of-control woman's arm. If they were summoned now, the uncontrolled entity could easily kill the people feigning death in the room. Takahashi's situation was far from life-threatening, so his order conflicted with his "rescue duty" and was decisively rejected.

"Why did things get out of control over there at this particular time?"

Knowing that he could only rely on himself for the time being, Gao Hai casually complained, a pistol appeared in his hand, and as he got up from the ground, he swept a burst of bullets, knocking the soldiers to the ground.

Tread-tap-

The sound of hurried footsteps rang out again.

Gao Hai turned his head and saw five or six fully armed soldiers approaching him.

pat!

Something fell at that moment and landed beside Gao Hai.

He looked down and saw that it was a hand grenade with a long wooden handle, which was emitting smoke.

boom! ! !

Chapter 86: The Man Walking in the Dark and the Voice Listening

I think I heard a faint sound.

Hayasaka tilted her head slightly, looking down at the ground. She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but she felt as if the dust on the ground had vibrated slightly, and as if some sound had been transmitted from a considerable distance.

{What's wrong? Did you find something?}

Miko immediately noticed Hayasaka's reaction and asked him with some confusion.

{I think I heard something, but then again, I didn't. I'm not sure what's going on. Be careful. By the way, how's Master doing? Can you still sense his presence? How is he?}

As Hayasaka said this, he carefully observed his surroundings and began to move cautiously.

After losing the light, the underground research base is now in complete darkness, with not a single source of light.

In absolute darkness, neither Hayasaka nor Miko could actually see anything. However, the former could use her excellent hearing and spatial awareness to determine her location and continue moving in complete darkness. As for the latter, her perception was unaffected even without sight, so if anything truly extraordinary appeared, Miko would still be able to detect it, and therefore her situation wasn't particularly dire.

But... to be honest, Hayasaka still really wanted to go back and get off through the elevator door she had managed to open earlier. Knowing that Takami was in danger, it was really hard for the girl to remain calm.

But the master has already given orders not to go to the rescue, so... well, I'd better deal with the immediate problem first.

step-step-

The sound of soft footsteps echoed in the darkness.

With no light around, Hayasaka could no longer control the sound of her footsteps. She could only brace herself against the wall and cautiously extend her feet to explore what lay ahead.

Lighting devices such as flashlights, candles, or oil lamps are absent here. It's unclear why this underground base made no such precautions. Perhaps the base's founders and maintainers were quite confident that such an underground base would never experience a power outage.

tread--

With another footstep, Hayasaka began to realize that he was starting to have wild thoughts.

{Were any anomalies detected?}

She asked Miko through the mental link.

{No, it's very quiet here right now.}

The other person's reply quickly entered her mind, and it was quite strange to have someone else speaking in her head.

tread--

Hayasaka slowly started moving forward again.

Stop, back up, back up slowly, and try not to make any noise.

At that moment, Jianzi's voice suddenly rang out.

What comes before {...}?

Hayasaka immediately and slowly backed away, trying her best to slow her pace. After all, it was the path she had walked before, and the girl still had some spatial memory, so she could keep her feet steady. However, Miko's sudden warning made Hayasaka quite concerned, so she still asked a question.

{A voice is calling me over; it sounds a bit like an elderly woman. Move a little quieter, and it… should be standing right in front of you, but it can't hear you clearly. It's following you little by little, moving slightly slower than you.}