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

Thinking this, Hayasaka let out a soft breath, his fingers trembled slightly for a moment, then he clenched his fist tightly, his expression becoming even more resolute.

What is the meaning of fear?

Even if I cry, no one can save me now.

If you don't want to die here, if you don't want to die meaninglessly like this, the only thing you can do right now is to keep moving forward.

squeak-

Open the door to the power supply room.

Hayasaka, dressed in a soldier's uniform, carefully walked out with a gun in hand, looking at the corridor under the flashing lights.

There was nothing moving around, nor anything that looked strange or didn't move, so it should be considered safe for now.

Thinking this, Hayasaka carefully walked down the corridor for a while and quickly returned to the elevator where she had just come down. There she saw a map of Zone 2 and a copy of the "Class 1 Rules" that were exactly the same as those in Zone 1.

At present, it seems that there are no major problems.

After glancing at the map and memorizing it, Hayasaka was puzzled as to why the central blood pool area in the middle of the map was a strange red, as if someone had deliberately smeared blood on it. However, she didn't impulsively touch it to see if it was real blood. Instead, she quickly went to the outer area's protective suit changing area, replenished her oxygen tank there, and then began to consider her next move.

With my current level of knowledge, it's unlikely that I can understand all the scientific research content. So, it would be better to try heading towards the monitoring area and see for myself what's going on inside.

Without Yotsuya's warning, I don't know if I could have persevered.

Thinking this, Hayasaka opened the door to the repair and replacement area and returned to the corridor. It was at this moment, just as she opened the door, that she noticed a fleeting, very subtle footstep coming from one side of the corridor.

The sound was like someone walking stealthily along the wall.

Chapter 116: The Little Girl Exploring the Abyss Alone

I heard someone whispering.

It was hard to tell which direction the sounds were coming from. Sometimes they seemed to be far apart, and sometimes they were very close, as if they were right next to you, as if they were whispering in your ear.

Hayasaka could never make out what the voice was saying.

Although she could sense that something was trying to communicate with her, and could tell that the sounds weren't just noise, she couldn't make out the other person's voice. It was as if there was a plastic film or a mask between them, making the sounds consistently muffled and unclear.

Of course, Hayasaka knew very well that it wasn't that the voice was muffled or unclear, but rather that she couldn't hear it clearly. She seemed to be naturally weaker than others in her perception of these strange things, and the mental wear and tear caused by turning into a dog after the mission at Hayasaka Elementary School seemed to have exacerbated this weakness, making it even harder for her to perceive the power of strange things, to recognize various forms of mental pollution, and consequently, to detect some non-physical strange things.

This characteristic, in a sense, protects her cognitive abilities well, but it also puts her at a disadvantage when gathering clues or facing dangerous situations, potentially leading to her being delivered into the enemy's face without any knowledge of what's happening.

If she wants to avoid this situation, the only thing she can rely on right now is Yotsuya Miko, who has integrated her consciousness into her body and can "see".

{Growing...born from the blood...}

Unfortunately, Miko Yotsuya's sleep-talking still occasionally echoes through the air.

She still hadn't woken up. Even after Hayasaka herself had roughly surveyed the outer area of ​​the second floor and was preparing to move deeper, she still hadn't been able to wake up.

Not only that, but Miko's indistinct mutterings gradually instilled a strange sense of fear in Hayasaka. Although the voice sounded exactly like Miko's own and hadn't changed, Hayasaka had a strange feeling, as if these words weren't coming from Miko's own consciousness, but rather from something else speaking through her.

zizi——

The slightly dim white light began to flicker at that moment.

She took a step, one step at a time, moving forward. The shadow beside the girl trembled slightly with her steps, as if if you looked down, you would occasionally notice other shadows flashing by, but if you looked up, you could see no one at all.

beep--

Hayasaka placed the stolen magnetic card on the card reader, opened the door to the inspection room, and immediately saw black smoke billowing out.

Dead body.

All of them were mutilated corpses.

The ground was covered with charred, mangled flesh, and blackened blood plasma.

There were the bodies of soldiers, some dressed as researchers, and others that appeared to be ordinary people.

These remains were severely damaged, with hardly any intact parts to be found, and they had also undergone incomplete burning, resulting in much of the rotten flesh appearing charred.

Hayasaka instinctively felt nauseous and vomiting, but she still frowned and carefully stepped into the room.

Based on the clues on the map, this is one of the two inspection rooms in the outer to middle area of ​​the Bydos Research Institute. After passing through this inspection room, she will be able to reach the two monitoring stations, the outer monitoring area and the inner monitoring area, which are likely used to monitor the blood pool area. If she wants to go further in, she needs to pass through another inner inspection room, and then she will be able to reach a laboratory area in the inner layer of Zone 2, which is also the last area of ​​this floor.

Hayasaka chose to head towards the monitoring area mainly because the rooms on the other side, such as the "Materials Supply Room" and the "Blood Analysis Room," made her quite uneasy. She suspected that something significant might be hidden in those rooms. Furthermore, Hayasaka felt that directly searching with her own eyes was more reliable than reading and investigating various research documents. However, seeing so many corpses in the examination room before even officially entering the monitoring area was completely unexpected for Hayasaka.

zizi——

The communicator built into the protective suit suddenly went off after Hayasaka entered the area.

Hayasaka looked down and discovered that the frequency had jumped to the 1st frequency band at some point.

[Frequency 1: Open the door! Quickly find a way to open the door!]

[Frequency 1: What the hell is wrong with this damn door? Why can't it recognize my ID card?!]

[Frequency 1: Those things are catching up! Hurry! Turn it on!!!]

Terrified roars accompanied by heavy breathing filled the air, and amidst the commotion, one could vaguely hear the screams and cries of many people.

It was as if you could actually see those people crowding into the examination room, desperately trying to open the door again and again, only to fail until death arrived. The chaotic sounds rang out one after another, followed by the sound of bullets being chambered, and then someone's low laughter.

boom!

Amid the gunfire, someone screamed in agony.

Bang bang bang bang bang——

A barrage of gunfire rang out one after another. Something spilled onto the ground, something shattered, and finally rolled together with a thud, piling up on top of each other.

[Frequency Band 2: Execution... must be executed... all infected... must be executed...]

Amidst the louder noise, after the desperate cries of those who had spoken earlier ceased, new voices rose up, accompanied by slow, advancing footsteps.

Hayasaka noticed that the frequency band had jumped to position 2. Even though she was looking down at the device, she didn't see when it switched frequencies at all.

Snapped!

Without listening any further, the girl decisively switched the frequency to band 4.

There was hardly any sound in this frequency band at the moment, except for the occasional, slightly piercing electromagnetic noise.

On the wall of the examination room, there were new blood-red characters that read, "Everyone must die." The characters were messy and looked like they were scribbled by someone on drugs.

Slowly, Hayasaka walked to the other side of the examination room, to the door leading to the middle area.

The girl no longer knew what kind of examination the room was originally used for. Gunfire, explosions, and fire had turned the small room into a dark place, and all the original facilities were in ruins.

But she couldn't help wondering whether the purpose of this examination room was to check people coming from outside who wanted to enter the research institute, or to check people coming out of the research institute who wanted to leave the research institute area.

The door is already open.

Behind the door was a pitch-black corridor, completely without power.

Hayasaka turned on his flashlight and the first thing he saw was a skinless, crushed corpse hanging from the ventilation shaft on one side of the ceiling.

pat!

The moment her foot touched the ground, she was shocked to realize that the floor of the corridor was covered with a thin layer of liquid. A dark red bloodstain covered the area, enough to completely envelop Hayasaka's entire foot.

Don't make eye contact with them!

The wall beside him bore the marks left by the blade.

She continued to move forward cautiously, stepping through the blood-soaked ground, slowly making her way deeper into the corridor.

Hayasaka hasn't seen anything moving yet. The dark corridor is deathly silent under the flashlight beam, except for the splashing sound of water as she walks.

More bodies have been discovered.

A headless corpse lying on the ground, clutching a gun.

The body was mangled beyond recognition, as if it had been shattered by a weapon such as a grenade.

These things lay on one side of the corridor, most of their bodies submerged in blood, so Hayasaka didn't see them immediately.

Could these corpses actually be those moving monsters, but for some reason they are now appearing to be dead?

Such thoughts unconsciously popped into his head, but he immediately stopped himself, trying his best not to think about them anymore, and instead focused his attention on what lay ahead, on the places he had not yet reached.

The outer monitoring area is just ahead.

According to the markings on the map, this monitoring area appears to be a place used to monitor a circular passage surrounding the blood pool.

The Blood Pool, which can be considered the core of the entire Bydos Research Institute, is actually located in Zone 3, or possibly even deeper. Zone 2 is situated above the Blood Pool; unlike Zone 1, the distance between Zone 3 and the Blood Pool is not as great, nor is it as close as Zone 3. Therefore, most of the experimental facilities are likely located on this floor. The presence of both internal and external monitoring rooms is primarily for observing the daily activities of the Blood Pool.

Hayasaka wanted to try and find the humanoid package with severed limbs and some organs that Takami and Miko had mentioned in Zone 2. Based on previous investigations, the "true form" of the players entering Yoruyama Middle School was very likely that thing. If they could manipulate this thing, such as directly finding the "true form" of the opposing players, they might be able to eliminate the enemy in one fell swoop.

Soon, we arrived at the entrance to the outer monitoring area.

Surprisingly, the door was open despite the power being cut off. Hayasaka approached the doorway and discovered that a corpse was wedged against it, preventing the door from closing automatically.

【Shh...】

The girl who heard the sound turned around abruptly.

The corridor behind me was empty, devoid of anything.

But when she turned her gaze back, she heard a sound as if something was following behind her.

One step, then another.

They followed her from behind, as if tiptoeing along cautiously, where she couldn't see them.

Hayasaka stepped inside without hesitation, kicked the corpse stuck by the door out into the corridor, then grabbed the heavy door with both hands and pulled it shut with force.

The room, which was very spacious and filled with various incomprehensible facilities and equipment, still had no power supply. However, after Hayasaka swept the room with his flashlight and confirmed that there were no corpses in the place, he felt a little calmer.

zizi——

The frequency band has switched automatically once again.

[Frequency Band 3: Welcome to...buzz...sharing...what's the story...buzz...]

[Frequency Band 3: Other frequencies... are already contaminated... Buzz... I'm posting here... Survive... Buzz...]

[Frequency 3: Buzz... This person... please don't... play pranks... This is buzzing... buzzing...]

[Frequency Band 3: It was destined to get out of control from the very beginning... For his own dream... He wouldn't give up even if it meant the whole world was destroyed... Tsk... He's just a liar... a madman... And he actually values ​​his own life... more than anything else... Tsk tsk...]