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

The little thing that accompanied him during the most difficult days, and who also guided him to find this underground base and this refuge.

As long as it remains healthy and intact, everything else can wait. As for those who have passed away, it must be acknowledged that losing people who could have understood each other is a tragic thing, but things have come to this point, so let's focus on minimizing losses first.

As I pondered, more fragmented images emerged.

Laughter could already be heard from afar.

The laughter of the bullies was disgusting.

They seemed to have gathered together and were saying something, or perhaps inflicting abuse on someone or something.

"Oh, oh, oh, fire another shot! That's amazing, one shot broke it! If you used a knife, the cut would definitely get stuck in the bone; you couldn't break it in one go."

That only proves the knife wasn't sharp enough. Aren't there legendary swords crafted by master craftsmen so powerful that a hair could be instantly severed by a breeze? If it were such a sword, it could easily sever limbs, right? This thing is quite resilient, though. Three limbs, an ear, a tail—it's already had so much cut off, why is it still jumping around?

[Isn't this great? Let's keep going, hahaha, coming here today was definitely the right decision. So many guns and bullets, so many fun things! Tomorrow we'll take all these guns and bullets to school, and if we see a class we don't like, we'll just fire a whole magazine at that class!]

The giggling laughter grew increasingly shrill.

The bodies lying on the ground and by the wall were riddled with bullet holes.

Those bullets... I shouldn't have kept them after all? I just thought it would be a waste to throw them away, so I found a very secluded room to store them, but now they've been found.

Not only was it found, but it was also used for this kind of thing?

why?

Why won't you let me go even after all this?

Do you like this? Haha, if this is what you want, then I can give it to you.

Open a hidden door that requires a magnetic card to open and is usually only used by yourself.

He took out the gun hidden there, awkwardly checked the bullets, and then faced the laughing "students." He raised his hand, aimed the gun at the chatting and laughing guys, and pulled the trigger.

Crossing this boundary was much easier than expected.

However, even if the boundary is crossed, some things that cannot be changed will remain the same as before.

So that's how it is. This is... your kind of fun...

……

...open your eyes.

Gao Hai took a deep breath, trying to stay conscious and slowly adjusting his state to avoid letting the emotions in the remnants of past memories affect his thinking ability.

He could sense that everything he saw and felt was a remnant of Morihara Koji himself. In a sense, he seemed to be experiencing Morihara Koji's life on a particular day from a first-person perspective.

He extended his kindness and tried to accept other people who were being bullied.

His reward for this was the destruction of the underground base he had painstakingly cleaned, repaired, and divided into safe zones, by a group of laughing students his own age. And his most beloved and cherished kitten, the one that had been with him for over a month and had healed his heart, was also completely killed.

And... it was after killing the kitten, no, during the killing process, that the kitten was dismembered.

Chapter 113: The Collection Process of Horror Games and the Voices from Behind

Gao Hai reached out and picked up the broken pieces of the kitten.

He could sense a strong, eerie aura; this fragment was undoubtedly the little cat that had led him and Kaguya forward earlier.

As a memento embodying Koji Morihara's obsessions, this kitten named "Nyana," less than two months old, ultimately met its end by being dismembered on the spot by the other students of Yoruyama Middle School, who used guns and knives to shatter it into pieces.

It's easy to figure out how the bullies found and entered this shelter. After all, Gao Hai had already seen enough of what kind of people the students at Nightfall Mountain Middle School were like in his first and second playthroughs.

Well, there are two possibilities: either the bullied person being rescued actively led the bullies in, or the bullies threatened the victim after discovering them, and the victim then slid in on their knees. Considering that Morihara Koji ultimately chose to send everyone to their deaths with a single bomb, Gao Hai thinks the former is more likely.

Despite experiencing domestic violence and school bullying, she still retained a kind heart and chose to help and rescue others, only to be betrayed. Not only did everything she had worked so hard for vanish, but she also suffered extremely painful injuries... What a tragic outcome! It's so disgusting that I want to immediately go into the blood-red city of the watch and skin that scumbag writer alive.

Hirano Sosuke, Hachiya Chiyo, and now Asamoto Eriko and Morihara Koji, and, well, there should also be Sora Smit from Baydos, and Dean Jonathan is very likely in the same situation. Those who harbor beautiful visions always suffer torment; those who stubbornly resist fate always endure greater pain; those who still possess humanity and principles are always forced to face painful choices, and after those choices, failure is inevitable.

Such a utterly awful story makes one want to clench their fists just thinking about it. While tragedies also occurred in Shirakawa Apartment and Red Nut Gray Hole, the Keeper of the Priest (KP) wasn't particularly prominent, and Takayuki couldn't determine whether the final outcome was due more to KP's intervention or simply an inevitable, unavoidable development. However, in the "School Ghost Stories" arc, the author clearly intervened personally, guiding the story step by step to its current state. This bastard even took artistic photos of Morihara Koji, the boy who had suffered so much, turning his pain into a series of stage plays—it's downright insane.

"A character who has already left the stage is still so infuriating, it's really too much."

As he said this, Gao Hai put the mutilated cat carcass into his black watch, then let out a heavy sigh.

"Why did this kitten turn out like this...?"

Kaguya doesn't have the same level of perception as Takami, so she could only vaguely sense something earlier and didn't see the afterimage from back then. To be honest, she was still a little confused to see the cute little cat from before turned into minced meat.

"This proves that we have indeed delved into this core obsession. I just saw something. The reason this kitten is in this state is due to a tragedy. If I'm not mistaken, we need to find all the fragments of this kitten so that we can solve the mystery from back then."

Gao Hai briefly explained what he had sensed to Kaguya, allowing her to understand what had happened and determine the next course of action.

This gloomy and dark underground base has now undergone another change.

The once clean walls were now covered in bloodstains, bullet holes and cracks of all kinds, and incoherent ramblings written in blood.

Many lights were off, and those that were still on mostly malfunctioned, flickering from time to time.

The damage had worsened, but... all the corpses that were still visible had vanished, as if the murdered people had come back to life and were active again in this gloomy underground area.

No, it's not like that, that's the truth.

Gao Hai was certain that in the distorted scene he had just witnessed, after Morihara Koji fired at the bullies, what followed was not a typical revenge story of the bullied retaliating, but a terrifying revelation of the supernatural entity. It was important to understand that Nightfall Mountain Middle School was a school where humans and supernatural beings coexisted; among the bullies were, 100%, the dead. Attacking those entities and exposing their nature directly broke the supernatural entity's hidden rules.

Of course, Nightfall Mountain Middle School also has a "statement" rule: ghosts can only reveal their true form after relevant information, that is, related ghost stories and legends, is recognized. Therefore, if someone completely unfamiliar with Nightfall Mountain Middle School shoots a ghost, the ghost that is shot will most likely only be able to fall down and play dead, and will not be able to forcibly attack a living person. The problem is... Morihara Koji is a student at Nightfall Mountain Middle School, and has obviously lived in this school for a long time. It is impossible that he has not heard of the various ghost stories that are extremely popular in this school, which means that after he fired that shot, the ghost mixed in with the bullies had the right to attack him.

Considering that the other side later sent a bomb to the school, it's safe to say that Morihara Koji ultimately escaped the monster's pursuit alive. However, in the process, the body of the cat Nyanna was definitely unrecoverable, and his escape was certainly not an easy journey.

"Be prepared, we may receive some kind of [strange tale information] at any time. The strange creatures in this place have begun to become truly active."

Gao Hai's gaze had turned sharp.

Those zombie students that even Lao Guo couldn't kill instantly were probably just phantoms left behind by the living students who were killed back then, merely appetizers for the main event.

Now that he and Kaguya have access to crucial information, the real strange tales lingering in this base are probably only just beginning to reveal their fangs.

However, the kitten that was originally the core object of obsession turns into pieces when the scene changes. Players then have to collect the kitten's pieces while fighting and dodging dangerous monsters in the scene, and most of the time they have to put the kitten back together.

This way of unfolding the game actually seems quite game-like.

{Fujiwara Chika: Umi, my second period this afternoon is PE, an indoor PE class, we need to go to the indoor court. We don't know much about this area. So if I find anything unusual, I'll report it immediately. Will that affect your progress?}

Qianhua's message arrived at this moment, interrupting Gao Hai's reflections.

Gao Hai: No problem, I'm fine here. You need to be careful too, don't take any risks. Your most important thing is to ensure your own safety.

Gao Hai replied immediately and calculated the time to confirm that Qianhua was currently in the break between the first and second classes in the afternoon.

{Fujiwara Chika: Yeah, don't worry, I'll be fine. Hmm... by the way, Goto-san seems a bit off. Just now, I bumped into her and Nanakawa-san in the hallway, and according to Nanakawa-san, Goto-san seemed to have been talked to by something during class.}

Chika did not end the communication. After thinking for a while, she sent another message with some concern.

Goto Ichiri got talked to?

Gao Hai immediately thought of the strange creature that had spoken to him from behind during his first playthrough.

There are indeed strange creatures that can talk to you on the campus of Nightfall Mountain Middle School. Hmm, I remember explaining that to everyone. And although Little Boqi is very socially awkward when communicating with people, he has never been afraid of strange creatures. He shouldn't fall for this kind of trick. It shouldn't be a big problem.

But if it's not a big problem, Chika wouldn't have specifically brought it up in the mental link.

Gao Hai: Can you confirm the specifics of what happened?

{Fujiwara Chika: It's not quite clear yet. She... seems reluctant to talk about what happened, but she's clearly quite disturbed. I plan to contact Ms. Aoyama through Ms. Kumami's communicator to see if I can get any information from her. However, the second period is about to start, and if there's no free time in the following classes, I'm afraid I'll have to wait until the second period ends to explain the situation.}

Qianhua didn't waste any words, explaining her doubts and current difficulties clearly and logically, word by word.

Gao Hai couldn't offer any advice, only telling Qian Hua to be as careful as possible. However, Qian Hua could vaguely sense some hesitation in Gao Hai's tone. Perhaps something had indeed happened, but he was just having some reservations and didn't want to reveal it yet.

What exactly happened in Xiao Yi Li?

With class time fast approaching, although they had achieved some control over the students with strange abilities at the school, it was still important to maintain normal teaching order. Therefore, although Chika really wanted to find Goto Ichiri again to get more information, she could only return to her classroom and prepare to head to the indoor stadium.

The girl's worries were not unfounded.

Goto Ichiri was indeed spoken to by something she had no idea what it was, during class time, when the other person threw a small note on her desk.

At the time, Xiao Boqi was still very wary. Knowing that the basic rule of the Nightfall Mountain Middle School's ghost stories was "attack after being informed," she originally did not intend to open the little note or establish communication with the thing behind her.

But when the thing saw that she didn't react, it spoke a sentence directly.

Those words made Goto Ichiri's head buzz for a moment, and she was a little slow to react.

The content of the statement was very simple:

Kita Ikuyo was killed by a player.

Chapter 114: The Seeds of Abnormality Were Planted Unnoticed

Kita...is dead?

Completely unprepared to hear these words, Goto Ichiri's head went blank for a moment.

The strange creatures around them, along with the teacher, seemed to hear nothing. They remained in their seats, continuing the same lessons that had been repeated for countless years.

The voice that had been behind Goto Ichiri didn't stop there; after a brief silence, it continued to mutter.

Kita Ikuyo was killed by a player; her life was taken by a player.

It was impossible to tell if it was a male or female voice; it was mechanical and sounded like some kind of eerie voice reciting something.

[Poch-chan... I'm sorry... No... It hurts... It hurts so much...]

Then, suddenly, the voice changed to Kita Ikuyo's own voice, to the girl's soft sobbing and cries of pain.

Kita Ikuyo was killed by a player; she was burned alive by a player.

Then the voice returned to its mechanical, emphatic tone, and after uttering that final sentence, it fell completely silent.

Turning around, Goto Ichiri only saw an empty seat; the seats behind her seemed to be empty as well.

However, the voice that entered his mind was undoubtedly real. It was not a hallucination; someone had deliberately sent him that message, someone hidden in this instance world… probably a player, who had told him those words.

Who could that person be?

This method of relaying messages doesn't match anyone you know or any of your teammates involved in the mission, meaning it could only be from an unfamiliar player.

According to Mr. Gao and Ms. Xiong Mi's discovery, the unfamiliar players in this instance are none other than the fanatics lurking in the forest area outside the school. Those infamous lunatics wouldn't spread such messages, and it's unlikely they would bypass Ms. Xiong Mi and her group to infiltrate the school, right? Although Ms. Xiong Mi's team is currently at a disadvantage in their confrontation with the fanatics, she has set up ambushes and traps at the boundary between the school and the forest, so it's impossible for the fanatics to have entered without her noticing.