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

Then, Gao Hai quickly recalled the school-wide broadcast during his second playthrough, the direct cause of the player wipeout in the teaching building.

These scum hiding deep within the instance, surviving from wartime until now, are ultimately just cowards. They can't possibly possess truly immense power; at most, they can only exert a slight influence on the instance. The fact that Aoyama Nanami was targeted and attacked can be easily understood with a little post-event analysis: it must have been the people of Takamagahara who somehow altered the depth of the instance she was in, thus isolating her from those fanatics.

To be honest, if these people had immediately attacked Kumami and the others after attacking Nanami, even if Takahashi could complete the post-attack analysis, Kumami's side would inevitably have suffered casualties. After all, there was Maki, who lacked combat power; Hayasaka, who couldn't even move; and Nanami, who was still recovering from a serious injury. With these three burdens present, it was absolutely impossible for Kumami, Kenmochi, and Hayashibe Kenta, three Red Moon-level players, to survive unscathed against three fanatical players.

However, these guys didn't do that. No one knows what they were thinking, but they left a gap, giving Xiong Mi and the others ample time to communicate with Gao Hai. So, using a mental link and communication artifacts, Zhen Fei quickly completed the information exchange between the two groups without speaking or making any sound. Thus, Xiong Mi and the others had made thorough preparations for this broadcast well in advance.

[Reason for notification: One day of absence from class, and unauthorized organization of personnel to occupy teaching facilities area]

[Disciplinary Action: Suspension from school for one week, requiring the student to spend the week in the reflection room on the 4th floor of the affiliated teaching building. After the suspension period, the corresponding class teacher will confirm whether the student can return to the class.]

The report about Xiong Mi was broadcast smoothly in this way.

This is what the players in the swimming pool heard.

However, Takami, who was also listening to the sounds here through Maki's mental link, naturally heard completely different content than he did in the second playthrough.

[The following is a presentation of the newly selected list of offerings and the corresponding measures to be taken.]

[List of sacrificial offerings 1: Xiong Mi, Class: Grade 11 (09)]

[Depth: 2]

[Handling Recommendation: This is an extremely dangerous, out-of-control sacrificial offering. Immediately mobilize all available resources to eliminate it.]

Gao Hai relayed this content in its entirety, allowing the players present to understand what it was actually saying.

To this day, those fanatical players have not entered the swimming pool.

Even after publicly announcing their presence, they showed absolutely no intention of coming in to investigate. It seemed they planned to wait until the announcement was over and every player in the swimming pool had been debuffed by this instance before making their move.

Unfortunately, that was the crucial mistake.

Xiong Mi pulled out a very inconspicuous little microphone.

In her first playthrough, she used this microphone to thwart the ghost story broadcast on the second floor of the attached teaching building, thus saving Maki and Chika. However, in her second playthrough, this little gadget wasn't needed; compared to other gadgets, its applications were relatively limited. But now, however, the conditions were sufficient. She had listened to the entire broadcast and confirmed its content, so that was enough.

[List of names in the announcement, part two... *sizzle*...]

The new name is about to be announced on the radio.

But the previously stable broadcast suddenly developed a slight static, as if it had been interfered with by something.

[List of Announcements 2: Miotiad, Class: Grade 11 (05)]

[Reason for notification: Long-term absenteeism, organizing people to damage public facilities, fighting, disseminating prohibited items, disrupting normal class order, disrupting dormitory life, littering, leaking confidential information, burglary and robbery, serial murder, and openly defying basic social order]

[Disciplinary Action: Expulsion and return of student records]

Then, the broadcast, which quickly stabilized, presented a completely new list of names to be announced.

Snapped!

Jianbing pressed the Enter key on the keyboard.

Realizing something was wrong, the three players who rushed towards the main entrance of the swimming pool immediately discovered that the distance between them and the swimming pool had changed from just a few steps to several kilometers or more, and this distance was still increasing.

[Announcement...buzz...buzz...]

The interference with the broadcast intensified at this moment, clearly indicating that the person behind the broadcast had also taken action to cut off Xiong Mi's control.

The attached teaching building has two floors, including the corridor and the entrance to the broadcasting room.

A figure appeared silently.

That was a clone created by Goto Ichiri in advance using his obsession object, a guitar. After using the obsession object that could conceal its form, it stopped here.

Almost the instant the broadcast was interfered with, the clone opened the door and entered, restoring the broadcast, which was being automatically adjusted and controlled by some invisible force, back to its original state, and firmly locking all the buttons to prevent it from changing again.

And so Xiong Mi's third and fourth names were announced.

[List 3: Maseru, Class: Grade 11 (Class 05)...]

[List of names, Part 4: Zoma...]

The names of the three fanatical players were broadcast throughout the entire school. Under Xiong Mi's control, they were forcibly given the status of students at this school and immediately subjected to the most severe punishment.

Of course, Gao Hai could also clearly hear the true content of Xiong Mi's broadcast, or rather, the content accepted by the rules of the Nightfall Mountain Middle School instance.

[List of Sacrifices, Part Two: Miotiad]

[Depth: 3]

[Handling Recommendation: Extremely dangerous! Extremely dangerous! Immediately mobilize all forces to eliminate this sacrificial offering. This is the highest alert level! This is the highest alert level!!!]

That sounds pretty inspiring.

Having already eliminated the two fanatical players, Gao Hai couldn't help but sigh at this moment.

As for the schools that have completed the broadcast, well, the schools are now in an uproar.

The students have stopped attending classes.

Whether in the main teaching building, the annex teaching building, or anywhere else, every student stopped, every teacher stopped, and every ghostly creature playing the role of a living person in the Yeluoshan Middle School campus stopped moving at this moment.

Then, expressionless, they turned their heads and, regardless of the distance or whether there were anything obstructing their view, directly locked onto the direction of the three fanatical players.

However, as the first person to be reported, Xiong Mi was also targeted by a small number of students who were studying strange creatures. There was nothing that could be done about it, but the situation wasn't too bad.

{Takami: Chika, you're going to go with the students to catch the people on the list, right?}

{Fujiwara Chika: That's right, we can't let these bad students run around like this. We have to catch them. Akai thinks so too, right?}

Gao Hai: ...Well, so, how are you planning to capture Xiong Mi?

{Fujiwara Chika: Well, for Miss Kumami, we'll send out two students to catch her. That's right, Goto-kun and Nanakawa-kun will go after her. They'll come from behind the annex building, going around to the pavilion. The other students will start from the main road connecting the main building and the annex building, as well as the side path of the indoor sports field. They shouldn't be able to see those two students there, right? Of course, we need to be quick, since everyone's excited. They might run around aimlessly if we don't catch them, and even the forest could be dangerous then!}

{Takahashi: I understand, thank you, Chika, and... um, I'm sorry...}

{Fujiwara Chika: Umi doesn't need to apologize. What Umi needs to do is win, win in the end, and have the last laugh, right? I'll always cheer for Umi. Oh, and also, don't skip class for too long. I can help Hayasaka-san get sick leave, but I definitely can't help Umi.}

{Shijou Maki: Fujiwara...}

{Gao Hai: I will win in the end, with everyone, so don't worry.}

After the brief spiritual communication ended, Fujiwara Chika smiled, stood up from her seat, clapped her hands, and said to the students present:

Let's all go catch the naughty kids and hand them over to the "courtyard"! The first good kid to catch one will get an extra reward!

All the students got moving.

With excited, gleeful, and malicious smiles, all the strange students in the school came to life.

Based on a class size of 25 students and a grade of 13 classes, the total number of students at Yeluoshan Middle School should be close to 1000. However, as all the strange students began to go berserk, Qianhua estimated that nearly 10,000 strange creatures would start to move, marching out from all directions like an army.

Goto Ichiri and Nanakawa Ren, who had been less assimilated and were able to break free of control, still had the idea of ​​staying to help Chika. However, they were inexplicably given an order to capture Kumami and had no choice but to leave as well.

Then, Qianhua was the only one left in the entire teaching building.

"Observation process... um... observation process, to observe a student, it's impossible to leave the main teaching building, right? After all, surveillance hadn't been invented back then. Gao Hai is very smart, but he can be silly at times. How could such a large main campus be a smokescreen to mislead students?"

The girl, muttering to herself, walked out of the classroom, her gaze slightly vacant yet seemingly sparkling with a hint of spirit as she looked at the now quiet school building.

"Well then, let me look for it and see where the secret might be hidden. After all, I love playing games the most."

As if she were still a carefree little girl, Qianhua skipped and hopped through the empty corridor, looking at each classroom one by one, and slowly walked to the outside of Class 10, Grade 11.

Then, she reached out and opened the door, walking straight into the classroom.

Chapter 132: The Key Node That Has Been Cracked and the Path Ahead

Fujiwara Chika knew that she couldn't hold on for much longer.

She didn't possess Gao Hai's incredibly strong willpower and couldn't withstand the mental pollution power of the Red Moon level for long. If the assimilation mechanism of the Nightfall Mountain Middle School's main campus hadn't been a gradual and gentle one, Qianhua estimated that from the moment she actively began bullying, she would have been immediately transformed into a pure monster student, completely losing her sense of self.

But it is precisely because this transformation process is gradual, slow, and silent that the girl can truly understand this deep-seated sense of terror.

who am I?

Am I Chika Fujiwara?

Am I still Fujiwara Chika?

The girl couldn't stop asking herself these questions.

It's as if she'll forget her name in the next second, forget how she was born into this world, forget her parents, family, friends, and lover, forget all the traces she left in this world as Fujiwara Chika.

Consciousness is being replaced little by little, replaced by something unfamiliar, cold, cruel, and insane.

She felt like she was on the Ship of Theseus, being replaced step by step by something else, transformed into something different from the past, starting from every corner of her mind and body, from every cell and every neuron.

She remained clear-headed throughout the entire process.

As long as she doesn't pay special attention, she won't feel the replacement phenomenon at all, and she will always feel that she is still herself and that nothing has changed.

But she couldn't ignore it, she couldn't pretend not to see it. So she knew very well that it wouldn't be long before she was no longer herself.

Chika didn't know how to describe this terrifying feeling. She could only endure it as much as possible, repeatedly confirming the things that were very important to her, trying to slow down the transformation in this way, so as to ensure that she would remain herself for as long as possible.

But she couldn't keep it up for long.

Chika could gradually sense that the time when she would completely become another person was fast approaching.

But there's nothing to be afraid of, isn't there?

After all, it's just a dream that you'll forget once you wake up.

No matter how painful or desperate, everything will eventually return to the point before anything even began, as time rewinds.

Once I go back, everything I'm going through will just be a dream that I'll forget completely when I wake up.

So now she only has one thing to do: before she wakes up, find the important information she can't forget and tell it to the only person who can remember every dream, the person who is so important to her.

Where will you hide?

Chika said softly, reached out and gently touched her lips, then smiled.

His gaze slowly swept across the empty classroom. Unsurprisingly, there was no indication of any hidden observation point. Considering that Xiong Mi had investigated this classroom before and died there without finding anything, it was certain that if such a hidden observation point existed, it would be extremely well concealed.

[Ta-da! It's time for the great detective to solve the case!]

As she said this, Chika took out her detective hat and decorative pipe. Huh, why did I bring these things into the dungeon? Or are these things based on my memories? Oh well, I'm already destined to be completely assimilated and unable to leave anyway, so I might as well act recklessly while I still have some consciousness left.

He searched through the desks, looking through the textbooks and notebooks.