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

In addition, perhaps because of Kita Ikuyo's incident, Nanami realized that she had become very distrustful of powerful but unfamiliar players and was prone to becoming suspicious over trivial matters.

clam down.

We're still in the exploration phase of the mission, and I need to fulfill my duties; I can't afford to waste my attention on this kind of thing.

Thinking this, Nanami carefully checked her surroundings again, making sure no strange creatures were approaching, and then cautiously checked on Hayasaka's situation. Then she suddenly received a message from Chika, informing her that Goto Ichiri might be in some trouble, and therefore she needed to contact Goto after the first period in the afternoon at the school to confirm her details.

The contact went smoothly this time. Although Goto Ichiri was a little out of sorts when she was with other people, she trusted Nanami very much and her mental state was not too bad. So she quickly told Nanami about what she had heard someone talking to her in class and what she had a feeling that Kita Ikuyo was completely dead.

Unable to leave Hayasaka's side immediately, Nanami, after a moment's thought, cut her wrist and used her blood to create a small doll the size of a palm, which she then sent floating to Goto Ichiri's side. Goto Ichiri then swallowed this blood imbued with the power of a possessed object, allowing it to enter her body and ensure that if Hayasaka lost control in a critical moment, it could be suppressed immediately, preventing her from harming others or herself.

Shortly after, as the second period began and ended at the main campus, another meeting was held via communications. This time, Takami fully revealed the situation regarding Takamagahara, explaining all the details and confirming the priorities for the upcoming operation. After exchanging basic information and confirming that the various ground operation teams would prioritize regrouping, Takami privately contacted Nanami again, explaining Kita Ikuyo's death and the potential situation Goto Ichiri might encounter.

"Has the body been burned?"

"Yes, I had to do this since my life force and soul had completely disappeared, otherwise there was a possibility of being possessed by a strange creature. I'm sorry, but the reason that person (referring to Pochi) was targeted and is now in this situation is probably because [Takamagahara] used this information to attack her and find a mental weakness, and then placed something like a curse on her. We must be very careful from now on, those immortal old people who have lived for hundreds of years definitely have more tricks up their sleeves than this."

"I understand. Please be careful. So, in other words, there was still hope (referring to Kita Ikuyo), right?"

"Even now, there is still hope. Although I'm not entirely sure what you were told, I haven't really tried to hide it from you, and I think you understand. In short, everyone will return unharmed, so please don't worry about that."

Since it's still unclear whether calling out names on campus would have any negative consequences, Nanami and Takami didn't call out anyone's name, even when using communication gadgets, and only communicated briefly.

Of course, the same strategy as in the second playthrough was used to get the names of those fanatics hiding in the forest. The Chika team would find a way to repeat those names to each of the strange students so that they would hear them. And to ensure the effect, they would repeat them by various means after each class.

At this moment, Gao Hai had confirmed that Xiong Mi would soon use the Blood Key to open the door and transfer back to the campus. Since Hirano Sosuke, who had been chasing the group of fanatics in the woods, had not found any trace of them for a long time, Gao Hai and Xiong Mi believed that the madmen had begun to change their strategy. Therefore, the most important thing was to reunite as quickly as possible.

Not far from the hidden location set up by Nanami, there was a door that had been removed beforehand, and it was likely that Xiongmi's people would soon be teleported over through this door.

As Nanami was thinking this, she suddenly sensed something was amiss and looked up at the sky.

it's dark.

The light filtering through the gaps in the trees gradually disappeared, and the entire woodland began to slowly fall into darkness.

What's going on? Something's wrong!

Nanami did not hesitate and immediately used a communication-type artifact, but... she could not connect.

The photograph that I cherish as a refuge is also unusable. Does this mean the space is sealed off?

In the dimly lit woods, the door that should have served as a connecting passageway had disappeared, replaced by three figures dressed in black robes standing not far away.

“It is divine guidance that has brought us together here. Hello, beautiful lady. If possible, I would like to present Lord Xiongmi with the skin of you and the girl behind you. Please grant me this humble wish.”

A young man who appeared to be quite handsome and gentle stepped forward and spoke sincerely to Aoyama Nanami, who was sealed by blood lines.

Chapter 126: The Development of the School District and the Deepening of the Underground District

"The 17th piece."

Picking up a broken piece of a kitten and placing it in the space of his black watch, Gao Hai muttered a few words, straightened up, and looked at the still dimly lit road ahead.

"There are far too many of these fragments."

Kaguya, who was standing next to him, was holding a flashlight and couldn't help but whisper something after Takami picked up the shards.

"That depends on what the people who killed the cat were thinking. Hmm... But more than how many pieces there are, I'm more concerned about why these pieces are so scattered. It feels like these pieces were deliberately discarded in different places in this underground base, just to make things difficult for people. It seems that before Morihara Koji finally escaped the underground base after getting rid of the pursuers, he may have been entangled with those students for quite some time."

Gao Hai shook his head slightly with a hint of helplessness as he spoke, he could already imagine the scene at that time.

The boy who loved kittens, after initially escaping the pursuit, likely tried to return to the place where the little cat, Nami, was tortured and killed, wanting to take the cat's body back. This action was likely noticed by the surviving students among the bullies. So they took the cat's body, deliberately scattering the already mangled remains everywhere, making it more difficult for Morihara Koji to retrieve the body, and using this as a game of hide-and-seek with him.

As for why living students and students with supernatural abilities can form a bullying group, that's a matter of the rules at Yoruyama Middle School itself; that's just how this lousy place is. Rather, what's more incredible and miraculous is that Morihara Koji, this big boy, was able to maintain normal thinking after entering Yoruyama Middle School, wasn't completely assimilated by this place, and even had the capacity to help those who had similar experiences to him.

"Three of them are coming from ahead."

Before the strange creature appeared, Gao Hai had already confirmed its arrival and immediately pulled Kaguya into a small room on the side.

Accompanied by muttered murmurs, the students, their bodies mangled and bloodied, with gun barrels embedded in their bodies, passed through the corridor one after another. Although these creatures couldn't detect the hidden Takami and Kaguya, they seemed to react to the nearby cat carcasses. Therefore, whenever a cat carcass was removed, the monsters moving around would immediately notice the situation and approach to search for any living people.

It felt like the process of collecting items to trigger a battle in a game, but unfortunately, with Takahashi's greatly enhanced perception, this process had become quite tedious. Just like now, Takahashi and Kaguya were quietly hiding in the small house, using the [Bandit Headgear] to block out these things' senses, silently waiting for them to leave before emerging from the house, and then quickly heading towards the next location with cat corpses. Like speedrunners in games, they had perfected the unskippable process to the point of being tedious.

However, Gao Hai thought this was fine; rather than experiencing various thrills and excitements, he preferred each dungeon run to be as boring as possible. Unfortunately, his ideas weren't always achievable. More often than not, the things he least wanted to happen were the ones that caused the problems.

For example, just now, he received a message through Xiong Mi's communicator. Xiong Mi and the others, who had arrived at the woods outside the Yelu Mountain Middle School campus, were unable to find Aoyama Nanami, who should have been waiting there, or Hayasaka Ai, who was still unconscious. The first group had disappeared without a trace, and no matter what method they used, they could not find any trace of them.

Or did our opponent beat us to it?

This news weighed heavily on Gao Hai's mind.

Aoyama Nanami's disappearance has turned the situation on Hayasaka's side into an unverifiable black box. Now that Yotsuya Miko, the only person responsible for communication with the First Squad, is dead, and if Hayasaka Ai's body at Yoruyama Middle School is damaged, then she will truly be left alone at the Baytos Research Institute.

Furthermore, without Aoyama Nanami, the only person who could appease Goto Ichiri is gone, and Goto Ichiri is very likely being targeted and sabotaged by Takamagahara. Tsk, this whole operation is truly disgusting…

Gao Hai didn't ask for more specific details, but he and Maki Chika had a brief discussion before he continued to focus on finding the fragments of Nyana's body.

When he found the 22nd cat fragment, Xiongmi received another message: Hayasaka Ai had been successfully found. Her body emerged from the elevator of the affiliated teaching building, carried out as a moving mass of blood. Along with this mass of blood, a portion of Aoyama Nanami's body was also brought out. Because it was during the second period at Yoruyama Middle School, Xiongmi and the others managed to sneak past the lecture hall where classes were in session, retrieve the remaining parts of the unconscious Hayasaka Ai and Aoyama Nanami, and roughly figure out the situation based on the condition of the remains.

"She probably self-destructed. 40% of her blood was replaced by a blood-obsessed substance. With this substance, Miss Aoyama can perform various operations using blood, one of which is to directly shatter her own body with her own blood. Hmm, that might sound terrifying, but normally even if she's shattered, she can regenerate. She can regrow her entire body using the largest remaining piece of tissue. However, this method can only be used once a month. If the interval between uses is less than a month, the second resurrection will be a monster, directly replacing her identity and possessing all her memories. This monster will kill everyone the replaced person has ever seen based on their memories; it's a terrifying Red Moon-level obsessed substance."

Although Aoyama Nanami hadn't given Gao Hai any information about her, Xiong Mi, being a fellow Red Moon-level player, clearly knew something. Therefore, she quickly informed Gao Hai of the situation via communicator, allowing him to further witness the vitality and tenacity of Red Moon-level players.

Having lost all her possessions and only managing to escape by self-destructing, Aoyama Nanami now only has a small portion of her organs remaining. It will probably take her more than an hour to regain consciousness, and we'll only know what happened to her then. So, for safety's sake, Xiongmi and the others found the swimming pool, a place that hadn't caused any problems in previous playthroughs, and hid there for the time being.

It was at this moment that Maki, who was taking care of the unconscious Hayasaka Ai, discovered that the blonde maid had suddenly developed several wounds. Some looked like scratches, some looked like bullet wounds, and some looked like they had been burned by a high-temperature shockwave. She looked to be in very bad shape.

{Shijo Maki: It's currently unclear whether these wounds are due to external force inflicted on her body, or whether she suffered some kind of backlash during her exploration of the Baydos region, resulting in damage being reflected back onto this side of her body.}

{Shijo Maki: Considering Yotsuya's situation... I think Hayasaka's body and consciousness on either side of Baydos and Yoruyama have formed a deep link. If she suffers any further damage, she might die on both sides. Hmm, according to what you said before, this didn't happen in previous playthroughs, so she must have discovered something she hadn't found before. I suspect she may have already come into contact with the [Baidos Observation Experiment System] you mentioned.}

{Gao Hai: I understand. Be extra careful over there… Now that those fanatics have partnered with [Takamagahara], they definitely won't let this go. They'll surely strike again soon. Either they'll target you again, or they'll attack the three players in the school building. Either way, we absolutely cannot let them succeed.}

{Shijo Maki: Yes, I know. Miss Kumami is already making arrangements.}

{Fujiwara Chika: Don't worry, Umi, there's nothing to worry about on my end. The classmates are basically under my control now. I've learned to use these strange creatures to some extent, and I'll definitely know if someone comes.}

Gao Hai: Hmm...

End communication and continue operations.

The 30th piece of the kitten's body was found. Through his black watch, Gao Hai could see that the fragments of the kitten's body had automatically come together and were now almost pieced together to form a complete kitten. He was not far from finding all the pieces.

Meanwhile, Gao Hai and Hui Ye were gradually approaching the central area of ​​the underground base. Judging from their location, they were now basically beneath the main campus of Yeluo Mountain Middle School, though their exact location was still uncertain.

A new stage was discovered during the exploration process. Unlike the previous stage, this stage is more intuitive and directly shows the process of Morihara Koji suffering domestic violence.

There were stages where people were burned directly with cigarette butts.

There is a stage where the characters are submerged in water and only released when they are on the verge of death.

There was also a stage where someone was beaten until they bled profusely and was sobbing with their head down.

If judged solely by the method of torture, Gao Hai felt the boy's treatment wasn't as tragic as Li Zhaodi's or Hachiya Chiyo's. However, suffering isn't something that can be compared in terms of superiority or inferiority. In fact, it was precisely because the torture he endured had limits that the boy was able to survive and grow into a high school student. In a sense, the pain this boy suffered was like a specially polished gem, crafted to achieve just the right brightness and beauty, to cultivate just the right amount of rebellion and kindness.

Whether this perfectly timed situation was due to Morihara Koji's own resilience or the presence of a writer who had been watching his growth from the beginning, Takahashi found it hard to answer. However, this didn't stop him from finding writers increasingly disgusting.

However, I always felt that this was not enough.

Something is still missing.

All the information we have obtained so far regarding the second core obsession is focused on two time points: Morihara Koji's "abused childhood" and "betrayed sanctuary." There is virtually nothing else.

Gao Hai felt there should be something else.

There should be something else they've overlooked that's closely related to this core obsession.

Where in this underground base could that information be located?

"The 31st piece should only have one or two fragments left."

New fragments were found again.

The cat inside the black watch is so intact that you can't tell it was ever broken.

The number of strange students gathered around them reached its peak; basically, all the strange students in the entire underground base had gathered there, frantically searching for Gao Hai and Kaguya's whereabouts.

These eerie creatures, long dead, laughed incessantly and wandered around madly. They staggered in the light, vanished into the darkness, and then emerged again from another patch of darkness shortly afterward.

The stench of blood intensified, and more and more bullet holes and traces of grenade explosions were discovered, confirming that a fierce battle had taken place here. Morihara Koji must have been chased by these creatures, forced to venture deep into this place. Most of the cat carcass fragments he painstakingly collected were likely lost along the way during the pursuit. However, Takami believed he must have kept a few fragments; he must have entered the deepest part of the underground base while still carrying some remaining pieces, pursued by the strange creatures.

That was the place where Takami and Kaguya were going to go in the end.

Hiding again.

This time, the two chose to hide in a locker in a dressing room. Because the locker was very small, Takami and Kaguya had to stand close together, facing each other. Kaguya, being shorter, was practically buried in Takami's chest, making it difficult for her to breathe.

Bang!

Amidst the loud slamming of doors, strange students violently broke open the doors on both sides of the corridor and began searching the room.

As they came into contact with more and more cat corpses, even with the black watch inside to ensure no scent was leaked, these things became increasingly sensitive to Kaguya Takami's scent, and the time spent searching each time continued to increase.

In this situation, Gao Hai didn't have any particularly good solutions, so he could only hide and wait it out. Anyway, these things wouldn't stay in the same place for long, and they would leave naturally after a while.

"..."

Kaguya's cheeks felt slightly hot.

She pressed herself against Gao Hai's chest without saying a word, feeling his breath filling her nostrils.

Even though she knew this wasn't the time to focus on such things, the girl still felt embarrassed by the close proximity between herself and Gao Hai, and quite annoyed by the stifling atmosphere.

However, at this point, Kaguya is still able to hold on and it won't affect her normal thinking, analysis, and judgment.

"..."

Gao Hai remained silent, but unlike Kaguya, he wasn't thinking as much. After all, he had already embraced more than one woman, and this level of closeness could no longer sway his emotions. Therefore, he was mainly using his enhanced senses to analyze and judge the surrounding path, trying to find a safe route to avoid the strange creatures, and monitoring the surroundings to see if any fools were coming.

An unusual sensation quickly flooded Gao Hai's mind.

At first, Gao Hai, who had never experienced this feeling before, felt somewhat unfamiliar with it, but he quickly realized what was going on and confirmed the source of the strange feeling through the combined effects of his perception and blessing.

Ah, I see. We have guests.

At this moment, Gao Hai could clearly see two figures dressed in black robes, exuding malice, entering through the entrance to the highest point of the underground base in the wind farm.

The fact that they would run into the underground base at this time, dressed like that, means they must be one of those fanatics.