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

As they moved forward, rotting figures would occasionally pass by, emitting agonizing screams. Sometimes Gao Hai would even step on some corpses lying on the ground, and if he looked down, he could see that these people had grotesque faces and were bleeding from their seven orifices, as if they had suffered immense pain before their deaths.

But it doesn't make any sense.

The dust couldn't corrode Gao Hai's body at all. No matter how strong the resentment it contained, it couldn't truly touch Gao Hai's body.

These corpses lurking in the dust, whether they looked abstract or normal, none of them could grab Gao Hai. Even if they collided head-on, those things would simply pass right through Gao Hai's body, never touching him.

There was no way around it; after all, he was now in a state of nothingness.

Boom——

Amidst the deafening explosion, two fanatical players destroyed the gate they had come from, intending to escape through a hidden exit in the underground base.

These guys seemed to know a thing or two about the base, having chosen a very cunning escape route, including many secret passages and tunnels that Gao Hai hadn't noticed before. They also set up numerous deceptive maneuvers to delay Gao Hai's progress as much as possible.

However, it is obvious that this operation will not be useful, because Gao Hai in the [Void] state can see through the walls and directly see where they are.

Furthermore, he wasn't the only hunter chasing these two players.

boom!

After a gunshot rang out, the player named Pusi screamed in agony.

The police officer, whose face was blurred, strode out from the opposite side of the corridor, raised his hand, and shot the player through the knee.

"It's you again?! This thing doesn't even have territorial restrictions; can it hunt you down across the entire map?"

The two players, who thought the police officers were just hidden monsters from Nightfall Mountain Middle School, suddenly changed their expressions. They never expected that this thing could chase them all the way down from the ground.

Bang bang bang bang bang——

In an instant, hundreds of bullets exploded in the corridor, roaring and nearly shattering everything in their path.

Heathcote, who possessed a spatial artifact, reacted faster and immediately used it to teleport himself to another nearby corridor. Meanwhile, Poussin, clearly lacking in variety of obsessive objects, could only rely on his physical body to endure the damage, resulting in hundreds of small holes all over his body.

"Ugh! No way! This can't be!"

Amidst screams, Gao Hai passed through the wall and walked to Pu Xide's side.

It was only then that Gao Hai noticed that the man being beaten to near death by the police officers was the same unlucky guy who had been maimed and dragged back to school by the police officers in the automatic mode during his second playthrough. He couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that the man had fallen victim to the police officers again in his third playthrough. Then, using the Blood Key, he opened the door, threw the dying man into the crimson domain activated by Kaguya, drained him completely, gave him a blood bath, removed all the obsession items from his body, and then Gao Hai chased after Heathcote.

The cultist's spatial artifact didn't seem to have a long teleportation range; it appeared to be able to exchange matter between two areas within a 100-meter radius, and its usage was quite restricted. He was now almost at the exit, just a few steps away from opening the hidden door and returning to the forest.

Where do you want to go?

So Gao Hai opened the door, pulled out the blood key, closed the door, and stood there blocking Heathcote's way.

"You... how could you... the Blood Key? This rare item is on you? You... you spare me, I can give you my object of obsession."

The man, pale-faced, staggered back a few steps. The teleportation artifact in his hand was on cooldown; forcing its use would only kill him. But aside from this artifact, he couldn't think of any other way to escape this terrifying creature. So, gritting his teeth, he decided to back down.

"Even if I kill you, won't your obsession still belong to me?"

However, Gao Hai had no intention of accepting the gesture. After speaking, he stepped forward and activated the Berserk Blessing while firing his pistol continuously. He charged towards the fanatic at an incredibly high speed, almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

"Damn it! If you don't leave me a way out, I won't let you get away with it!!!"

Amidst desperate screams, Heathcote turned and fled, using almost every obsessive item he could muster.

He first tried to curse Gao Hai, but failed because he couldn't find a target for his curse.

He tried to obfuscate his own existence again, but Gao Hai could not receive the obfuscated information, so he failed again.

He tried to utilize the superior physical abilities of a Red Moon-level player, but Gao Hai, with his Berserk Blessing activated, was even stronger. Even when he tried to shake off Gao Hai by navigating various curves and complex corridors, the sound of the measuring tape being pulled closed the distance in an instant. Although this caused Gao Hai to briefly exit his [Void] state, resulting in various cuts and wounds on his body, the power of the rescue team badge allowed these wounds to heal rapidly, leaving virtually no lasting damage.

Can't escape!

Heathcote discovered this fact in despair.

Even if he struggles with all his might and tries his best to escape, he still can't escape.

This man is like the core obsession of a Red Moon-level dungeon that has triggered the killing rule; no matter how hard the player tries, they cannot escape the gradually descending despair.

"Let me go, and I swear I will never harm you again!"

Heathcote tried to beg for mercy again.

"If I kill you, you'll never be able to harm me again, right?"

Gao Hai answered calmly, his pursuit undiminished.

"No, Your Excellency, we have no enmity, do we? We are simply on opposing sides. Release me, and I have many connections. We have deep ties with the upper echelons of America. I can introduce you to these connections, which will definitely benefit you!"

Heathcote panicked and quickly joined in the shouting.

"What use are your connections to me? To come to this island and watch people solve equations? Besides, you know we have no grudge against each other. Aren't you the ones who came here to kill me?"

These words only made Gao Hai's expression darken further, and he chased after them even faster.

"I was forced into this, it has nothing to do with me, please let me go! I will really repay you!"

Driven to desperation, Heathcote's escape speed actually increased, to the point that Gao Hai couldn't keep up for a while. This Red Moon-level player might not be good at much else, but his escape speed was truly impressive. Even with the measuring tape closing the distance, Gao Hai hadn't caught him after running for so long, and now the Berserk Blessing was gradually fading. At this rate, he might actually be able to outrun Gao Hai in a race.

No, we can't keep chasing like this; it's a complete waste of energy to expend so much of our strength.

Gao Hai's gaze sharpened as he formed an idea in his mind.

"Okay, I'll let you go."

So, in the next moment, he deactivated the power of the rampage blessing and truly stopped.

"what?"

Heathcote, who thought he was at his wit's end, was stunned for a moment. Even though he had suspected that it might be a trap, the fact that the other party had stopped so frankly still confused him for a moment.

That one moment is enough.

"I'll let you go to the [shard of the Abyss Mirror in the Blood Pool], do you accept?"

Gao Hai spoke in a gentle tone.

The language contained hidden information within the copy, carrying a deadly pollution that swept up the scene, forcing Gao Hai and Heathcote to simultaneously see flickering images and acquire memories they shouldn't have.

There's no way around it; after all, players at this level can't have poor perception (except for Hayasaka). So, a message containing a fatal meme is a critical hit of over 300% for someone like them.

However, Gao Hai quickly returned to normal because the forced memory had been erased by the power of the blessing, completely severed from his mind. Having received Yotsuya Miko's warning, Gao Hai wouldn't make such a basic mistake.

"Huh?!"

Heathcote's eyes widened. When he came to his senses, he realized he had come across some terrifying information. He immediately realized that at the bottom of the blood pool, which they had previously avoided exploring out of caution, lay something—something crucial, something… uh… something… No, no, no, I don't want to remember, I don't want to know, I don't want to know this kind of thing!

The object of obsession that could block perception was taken out by Heathcote.

Then Gao Hai caught it and put it into his watch.

"How was it? Was it fun?"

As he spoke, Gao Hai grabbed Heathcote's head and casually used the Blood Key to open a door. The next moment, a crimson field spread out from inside the door, beginning to absorb the fanatic's blood. Gao Hai then ripped the man's head directly from his body, threw it on the ground along with a long spine, and then stomped on the skull until it exploded.

In the first playthrough, he could only cautiously retreat from the fanatics and ended up being cursed and killed. In the third playthrough, Gao Hai completely crushed the two Red Moon-level fanatic players who came to kill him in 2 minutes and 7 seconds.

Chapter 131: The Anticipated Attack and the Voice of the Girl with the Bow

"coming."

When Xiong Mi raised his head and said those words, all the players in the room immediately went into battle mode.

The reason for this reaction is that Xiong Mi's words had only one meaning: the enemy has arrived.

A chilling aura quickly spread.

Before the attacking fanatical players even entered the room, they had already used some kind of obsession item. It seemed to be an obsession item that could produce effects through the air, causing a certain degree of sensory disturbance in the players.

However, this tactic isn't very effective. Players at the Red Moon level already possess incredibly strong mental fortitude, making it difficult for their defenses to be breached instantly. Unless the problem arises immediately, players at this level can counter it, unlike lower-level players who often lack effective solutions even when they realize the problem.

Therefore, this tactic is less of an attack and more of a declaration, telling the players inside the room that the attackers have arrived.

"They're really arrogant. It seems these guys really think they have victory in their grasp."

Xiong Mi chuckled. After Maki relayed her message, she knew that these fanatics and [Takamagahara] must have had some form of contact. The fact that these lunatics could interfere with the depth of the area where Nanami Hayasaka was located, and even snipe and cripple her, all required external assistance. After all, judging from the initial location of the instance, it was highly likely that these fanatics hadn't obtained any instance information or corresponding instance identity, making it impossible for them to know its structural characteristics without contacting the school area.

"There are three of them. They came directly towards the main entrance. It can be confirmed that they are Miotiad, Zoma, and Maseru. The other two players have not yet appeared. According to previous intelligence, those two should still be in the underground area. There is a possibility that they have already contacted our personnel."

Jianbing, who was standing to the side, slowly spoke up. He had already taken out his computer and began to skillfully perform various operations on it.

"We are already suppressing them and are currently tracking them."

Maki, who had been keeping track of the situation on Takahashi's side through their mental link, immediately spoke up and informed the others present.

"Oh, it seems things are going very smoothly on his end. Well, we can't let things get too bad on our end either."

Xiong Mi chuckled, then her expression quickly turned serious.

To be honest, everything has gone incredibly smoothly for Xiong Mi since the start of the mission.

Yes, she knew that Yotsuya Miko, the girl with powerful perception, was dead, and that Hayasaka, who was currently unconscious, was likely not going to survive either. But in her opinion, it was incredibly easy for only one or two people to die during the initial exploration phase when the dungeon situation was completely unknown, especially since they were low-level players with insufficient strength. Furthermore, under these circumstances, most of the dungeon's situation was revealed by Takami in a spoiler-like manner, allowing everyone to avoid various dangers to a great extent and get to where they are now.

It's important to understand that every raider attempting a Red Moon-level dungeon must be prepared for a total wipeout. The losses we're experiencing now are really insignificant.

She was certain that this advantage wasn't something she had from the beginning.

I really don't know what price that kid paid to gain his current advantage. Hmph, whatever, thinking about it is useless. Let's prepare for what to do. After all, that kid already gave us hints about the tactics these guys might use.

Thinking this, Xiong Mi turned her head and looked at a small, unassuming loudspeaker on one side of the swimming pool lobby.

【Om—】

She heard a piercing static coming from the loudspeaker.

She raised an eyebrow slightly and silently recited the following sentence in her mind: "Now we will begin reporting on student violations."

[The following is a report on student violations.]

Then she heard a cold voice coming from the radio.

That's right, that's really the case.

[List 1: Xiong Mi, Class: Grade 11 (09)...]

The message was relayed verbatim.

This scene was already within the players' expectations, or more accurately, it was something Gao Hai had anticipated.

After realizing that [Takamagahara] had already taken action and that there was a high probability that they would form a team with the fanatics, Gao Hai began to make various contingency plans and think about what tricks this combination of scum and madmen would play.