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

"Your current condition is definitely not normal. Tell me what happened first, was anyone killed?"

Kaguya stood in front of Takahashi, looked up at him, and asked seriously.

"It's alright, trust me. Let's continue collecting cat corpses and then explore deeper into this base step by step. That's what we need to do most right now. Trust me, I've been through so many dungeons before, I won't be defeated so easily."

But Gao Hai simply shook his head slightly, answering in a calm tone.

This is really troublesome. At times like this, I don't need any humanitarian concern. Even if I were to die a horrible death in the next second, the most important thing is to investigate as quickly as possible and obtain as much information as possible.

Gao Hai suppressed his frustration as much as possible and did not reveal his true thoughts as he had before.

But the more he acted this way, the more Kaguya frowned. She could sense Takami's current state of self-repression; this desperate attempt to force himself to focus on a single thing, this compulsion to ignore everything else, was all too familiar to her. She had done it more than once in the twisted and perverse environment of the Shinomiya family.

Neither Maki nor Chika could have seen through Takami's twisted emotions as easily as Kaguya. Because they came from happy, harmonious families, they couldn't comprehend the subtle actions and hidden agendas of someone in a distorted environment. But Kaguya could see it. Perhaps she had no advantage in matters of femininity, but in this kind of situation, she had more authority than others.

"Stop pretending. I know this pretentious attitude all too well."

The black-haired, red-eyed girl continued to firmly block Gao Hai's movements. Of course, she only persisted in stopping him after confirming that there were no monsters around and that it wouldn't be a problem to stay there for a while. She wouldn't completely ignore her surroundings just to check on her teammate's mental state.

But it's clear that Takahashi doesn't intend to listen to Kaguya on this matter.

“I didn’t push myself too hard. Don’t forget, the other teams are also risking their lives. We can’t afford to waste any more time.”

Reaching out and grabbing Kaguya's shoulder, Gao Hai, whose physical abilities had been enhanced multiple times and were now superior to Kaguya's, decided to force his way through.

However, as Kaguya quickly countered with her own power, it became clear that neither player, who had already surpassed the limits of human physical ability, could easily determine a winner without going all out. Even though Gao Hai was indeed stronger, Kaguya could compensate somewhat in terms of technique, so even though he was at a disadvantage in terms of strength, Gao Hai could not immediately push his opponent away without using his full strength.

"Your current mindset is what's really causing problems. You're already getting impatient, aren't you? Don't forget where we are right now. There isn't even a rulebook here to refer to. Being driven by the desire to find information immediately at all costs will definitely lead to trouble. No matter who has sacrificed themselves, no matter which person you care about has died, you can't lose your rationality now. Please, it's precisely because people will sacrifice themselves that those who survive have to live more carefully and not waste the sacrifices made by others, right?"

Kaguya stared intently into Takahashi's eyes and spoke in a solemn tone, while also taking a quick look around to make sure no strange creatures were approaching.

"..."

Gao Hai did not answer immediately.

Just when he was eager to take action, Kaguya's obstruction only made him more agitated.

If he didn't know the other person was genuinely concerned for him, he would have wanted to just push them away. What kind of time is this? He's already lost all his teammates, and he's still talking like this? Wouldn't it be better to take action already?

"Something's coming."

Kaguya suddenly spoke, turning her gaze toward Takahashi's back.

Gao Hai, who was a little slow to react, turned around and noticed that a student covered in blood seemed to be staggering out from around the corner at the end of the corridor.

Did I realize it only after being a step too slow?

The feeling of irritability suddenly subsided.

Realizing that his emotions were fluctuating abnormally, Gao Hai didn't say anything. He pulled Kaguya and quickly moved to a different location. After going around several corridors, they hid in an empty hut and used the [Bandit Headgear] to evade the monster's pursuit.

"..."

"..."

silence.

In the dimly lit room, neither Takahashi nor Kaguya spoke immediately, but remained silent for a moment.

"I say, what on earth are you..."

Then, Kaguya couldn't help but open her mouth first, wanting to talk about the question from earlier again.

Takahashi's response was to bend down and hug Kaguya gently.

"I was indeed emotionally volatile just now, I'm sorry. Thank goodness you stopped me, otherwise I probably would have had a problem."

Gao Hai spoke earnestly in Kaguya's ear, but his expression was thoughtful as he pondered the origin of his intense agitation.

He was so impulsive that he forgot to be vigilant about his surroundings, and didn't even immediately notice the malice emanating from the blessing, making him a beat slower than Kaguya. This wasn't a minor issue; his emotional fluctuations were excessive, and some external factor was influencing him.

External factors?

"Hmm, oh, oh? Well, I... I didn't do anything special. Anyway, I need to know what happened first. You must have gotten a lot of new information, right?"

The sudden embrace clearly threw Kaguya into a state of considerable disarray, but she had a way of dealing with it. Before entering the dungeon, to combat her tendency to be too shy, she had trained with Hayasaka's help to master a technique that allowed her to quickly calm down: the "Action Suggestion Method."

Therefore, Kaguya, who quickly broke free from Takahashi's embrace, simply reached out and touched her cheek, her expression quickly calming down and her tone returning to normal.

"Yes, we have indeed obtained a lot of information. In short, what we can confirm at present is that this underground base, which seems to be just the area corresponding to the core obsession of [Morihara Koji], actually holds a very important position in the entire instance..."

Gao Hai nodded, intending to tell Kaguya the information he knew.

"Wait a moment."

But before he could finish speaking, Kaguya immediately interrupted him.

"What happened to your neck?"

The girl reached out and pointed at Gao Hai's neck.

Sensing something was wrong, Gao Hai immediately took out a mirror from his watch, using it as a regular mirror and pointing it at his neck.

The next moment, Gao Hai saw several dark red hickeys clearly imprinted on his skin.

Chapter 122: Kaguya Shinomiya's score is gradually increasing.

A hickey.

This isn't the first time I've had hickeys on my body.

Gao Hai remembers that this thing first appeared when he was in Hayate Elementary School. After he kissed Kaguya, who had turned into a monster at the time, such a hickey appeared on his neck.

The second and third hickeys appeared in the Yoruyama Middle School area. The second hickey was triggered after touching a lingering image of obsession in the student life club's lounge. The third hickey appeared in the third playthrough when Kita Ikuyo attacked him and wrote his name on the blank teacher's certificate.

In summary, the pattern of these hickeys seems to point to some connection between Eriko Asamoto and Void, and it also seems to involve some scandalous rumors between a teacher and student. But if that's the case, the timing of the first hickey on my body is very problematic. After all, at that time, I was not only at Hayate Elementary School, but I also kissed Kaguya Shinomiya, who had turned into a monster. It seems to have absolutely nothing to do with Yoruyama Middle School.

Hmm... I guess I can't do that. After all, according to the rumors I heard, that mysterious "teacher" was eventually transferred to Hayate Elementary School. So I even made a guess back then that I was given the same storyline identity in both Hayate Elementary School and Yoruyama Middle School.

Regardless, this is the fourth time I've had this kind of hickey on my body.

Previously, there weren't many clues in this area, and I couldn't figure out how to proceed. But now, I'm starting to have a better idea. Hmm... I hope my thinking is correct, otherwise it would be harassment.

"I need to verify this."

After a brief hesitation, Gao Hai spoke earnestly to Kaguya.

"verify?"

Kaguya was slightly taken aback by Gao Hai's extremely serious expression. For some reason, she instinctively felt that something was wrong. She had a premonition that something terrible was about to happen, but it didn't seem particularly bad either.

"Yes, this isn't the first time this hickey has appeared. After so many times, I've come to a certain conclusion about its origin, so I need to verify what it is. And to confirm my hypothesis, I'll need your assistance in this verification process."

As he spoke, Gao Hai began to act.

He first carefully inspected the small house where the two were hiding, and made sure that there was nothing hidden in the house, nor were there any secret doors or passages.

Then, Gao Hai took out a small item from the space inside his black watch and carefully tied it to the doorknob.

It's a "teru teru bozu," a popular ornament in Japan used to pray for sunny weather. Its origin is said to have evolved from the Chinese "sunsweeping goddess." It typically appears as a small, white doll with its face peeking out, hanging from a string; it looks quite adorable.

However, the "Sunny Doll" in Gao Hai's hand was different. The doll had dark red stains on its white background, its brows were furrowed, and there were red stitches around its mouth, giving it a somewhat eerie and terrifying feel.

Gao Hai named this doll the "Silent Doll," a mass-produced, auxiliary, Dark Night-level obsession item. It can only be used in enclosed indoor environments with a volume of less than 200 cubic meters and closed doors and windows, making its use highly restrictive. To use it, the player must suspend it in a suitable indoor area, ensuring its stable suspension. After being suspended for more than 10 minutes, the obsession item creates a sound-isolating barrier, preventing any sound from being heard outside the room, achieving absolute soundproofing. It also reduces the presence of those inside, making it difficult for external supernatural entities to detect its existence.

As a mass-produced obsession item, this thing is abundant; Gao Hai recovered a total of 13 of these obsession items from the fanatics. Unlike other obsession items that typically have a time limit, this silencing doll can be left unattended after being hung up; it won't go out of control no matter how long it's left there. The conditions for this thing to go out of control are extremely stringent: after the silencing barrier has taken effect, three people must be killed consecutively within the barrier, and the order of the killings must be adult male, adult female, and underage male. Only after completing this act of killing will the obsession item go out of control and summon a strange creature to hunt down the killer.

It is mass-producible, non-polluting, has an extremely low rate of runaway, but the conditions for runaway are stringent, and its use is subject to many restrictions. These characteristics make this item a specialized auxiliary tool for indoor environment dungeons. However, considering that there are many different kinds of obsession objects, there might also be obsession objects that can create indoor environments out of thin air, which could then be combined with this item for use.

Incidentally, although this thing is a Dark Night-level obsession object, Gao Hai carefully sensed the aura emanating from it and suspected that if this obsession object, which has very demanding conditions for going out of control, were to really go out of control, it might release a Red Moon-level monster.

How can a Dark Night-level object of obsession transform into a Red Moon-level monster? What kind of Dark Legion is this? However, considering that Alice's obsession is even at the Twilight level, this kind of mismatch between the obsession's level and the monster's level is not the first time I've seen it.

In short, Takami and Kaguya waited quietly for 10 minutes, and only after confirming that the room had been silenced did they turn around to face each other.

"So, how do we test it?"

Kaguya blinked, vaguely sensing that something was off, but she still tried to remain calm and asked.

"Let's hug."

Gao Hai provided an answer.

what?

The girl with black hair and red eyes paused for a moment.

During the 10 minutes of waiting, the girl had carefully considered what kind of "verification" Takahashi would make, but this answer was completely outside of Kaguya's thoughts.

How about a hug?

Why a hug?

Wait, is it because he left a hickey after hugging me before, so you want to try it again?

Could it mean something else? I remember Hayasaka mentioning that the word "hug" has a slightly different meaning in Japanese, uh, what did it mean again? Hmm, I can't remember at all. Hayasaka talked about a lot of lewd things back then, but I was too shy to listen to any of it!

"Just a hug?"

Kaguya, whose mind was already exploding with excitement, asked as calmly as possible.

"Hmm, let's see if the hugging behavior will bring about any changes."

Gao Hai nodded and opened his arms, intending to hug him directly.

"Wait wait wait wait—"

But this action startled Kaguya, who was already a little unstable. She subconsciously made an evasive move, taking several steps back, like a little sister being attacked by a strange uncle.

"It's just a hug, don't overthink it. Okay, it's just a test."

But Gao Hai didn't give her a chance to escape. Taking advantage of his long legs and big strides, he caught up with Kaguya in no time and hugged her in his arms.

A little hard.

Ah, just to clarify, Takahashi isn't commenting on Kaguya's figure.

He was just saying that Kaguya was too nervous, and her whole body stiffened after being picked up, so it wasn't very comfortable to be held like that.

The girl's delicate fragrance wafted through Gao Hai's nostrils.

To avoid leaving too many special marks on themselves during dungeon raids, Gao Hai's teammates now use unscented shampoos, shower gels, and various cosmetics as much as possible. However, perhaps due to the gradual increase in physical abilities after becoming players and the shift in his own existence from human to human, Gao Hai can still smell a fragrance on Kaguya, a fresh scent that is hard to describe, like some kind of body odor.