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

"The broadcast is cursed, and the Blood Moon will activate this curse, so Miss Xiongmi can't leave. People from [Takamagahara] seem to be able to possess those who are cursed in this state. Another person told Miss Xiongmi to rest in peace, and he will try his best to eliminate those three fanatical players. This is the last communication he left. For safety reasons, he has cut off contact and released the communication artifact on his end."

Kenta Hayashibe quickly gave a reply.

The loss of two more people, one of whom was Xiong Mi, a kind older sister to him, made Gao Hai's expression slightly gloomy.

A sense of irritation started to rise again. Was the "Void" attached to me reacting again because Xiongmi and Jianbing in this instance also had the identity of "student"? This obsession's reaction to the harm done to students is really quite direct. What a pity. If you were really a teacher who educates and nurtures people, you would definitely be a good teacher.

Gao Hai's thoughts went unanswered. No matter how special the so-called "nothingness" was, it was ultimately just a strange object. At present, this thing only mechanically reacted to the information that "students were harmed," and otherwise did not respond to anything else.

"Uh, I'm not very good at communicating. I usually just follow orders from others. It's really troublesome, but oh well... Anyway, what do we do now? Sister Xiong Mi mentioned some things about you to us. She thinks you can turn things around even in this situation. Is she serious?"

Having barely interacted with anyone in the previous two playthroughs, Kenta Hayashibe, now found himself with no choice but to reluctantly step forward and communicate with Takami, as everyone present was either unconscious, lying down, or withdrawn.

"The exploration of the underground base has reached its final stage."

Gao Hai didn't waste any words, nodded and immediately spoke.

"The excavation of the core obsession, [Morihara Koji], is basically complete. My companion and I have just reassembled the core obsession artifacts. However, the final step of sensing and communicating with spirits is not yet finished. Whether we can obtain information about the root obsession of this core depends on this."

As he spoke, Gao Hai looked behind him and nodded to Kaguya, who was holding the fully recovered little Miao Nai.

"And I also made some discoveries about the mirror fragment in that blood pool. I investigated the deeper areas of this underground base and confirmed that these researchers would enter the blood pool repeatedly to check the condition of the mirror fragment in the early days. In order to cope with the corrosive effects of divine blood on the human body, these people once made a special diving suit. Those diving suits are still kept in one of the rooms of the research institute. There are three of them in total, and I took them all out."

As Gao Hai spoke, he pointed to one side of the room, allowing the players to see the heavy, armor-like diving suits placed against the wall.

"Completing our perception of [Morihara Koji]'s core obsession and diving into the blood pool to retrieve the mirror fragments are the last two steps we haven't completed. If we can succeed in these two steps, then we will have basically grasped all the information to crack this dungeon. I can tell you for sure that I can turn the tide and I can lead everyone out of this place alive."

Despite his calm tone, Gao Hai's gaze seemed to hold a hidden flame, burning fiercely and releasing intense heat.

The crimson color spreading around them continued to expand silently, bit by bit, without stopping for even a second, gradually transforming this place into the crimson world on the ground.

Chapter 135: Actions and Unexpected Discoveries Before the Final Battle

Takami and Kaguya didn't expend much effort searching for the last piece of the kitten fragment. The fragment was located in the medical room of the underground base, carefully placed in a small box with a note attached bearing the name "Nyanna".

Inside the medical room, the two also found a lot of bloodstains and some opened medical supplies. It seemed that Morihara Koji had treated his gunshot wound through sheer willpower when he arrived here. Gao Hai didn't want to comment further on this tough guy's performance; after all, based on the traces found along the way and the analysis results, this young man couldn't be viewed through the eyes of an ordinary person.

In comparison, what people care about more is what this boy left behind in the end.

The kitten Nyanna, who had been reduced to fragments, was restored to its original form by the power of the black watch.

However, despite regaining its full form, the kitten remained dead and no longer interacted with Kaguya and Takami as it had at the beginning.

That lively and adorable kitten was ultimately just a dream. As players' pursuit drew closer to the truth, closer to the root of everything, the things that never existed in the first place naturally began to reveal their true forms.

Gao Hai wasn't surprised by this; he just felt a little regretful.

Another noteworthy point is that in this simple medical room, Gao Hai found some documents marked with the word "confidential." While the contents of these documents weren't particularly clear, they obviously pointed directly to Eriko Asamoto's research, and also included sections about various aspects of Yoruyama Middle School.

The placement of these items was quite coincidental, as if it were deliberately designed to lure Koji Morihara into discovering the truth.

Based on a location mentioned in the confidential documents, Gao Hai and Kaguya quickly found another smaller experimental room, where they discovered many incomplete human remains, various blood-soaked experimental equipment, and more research reports on the characteristics of the strange creatures within Yelu Mountain Middle School.

The experimental reports here were even more numerous than those in the large laboratory around the blood pool. Although most of the content was difficult to understand, Gao Hai noticed that there was even experimental information from Fujika Middle School and Hayate Elementary School, as well as related items from those two other schools. It seemed that Sato was quite kind to Egaya, sharing experimental information from other places. However, this kind of thing didn't help the current situation, so Gao Hai didn't pay much attention to these things.

The trail of Koji Morihara himself ends here, and there is no way to find any further information.

However, at this point, Gao Hai didn't really need to look for any further developments. The information before him was enough to piece together the complete truth and help him understand what happened later.

Having lost her most beloved cat, Nyanna, she witnessed the existence of strange creatures in reality. Hunted by these creatures, she fled to a previously unexplored area deep within the laboratory, where she learned a part of the truth that had been hidden all along. It was around this time that Koji Morihara made his decision: he stole a bomb from the underground base and detonated it in the school assembly hall, finally ending this dark hell.

However, what exactly was his obsession? What was the reason that this obsession, which served as the "end" of the Nightfall Mountain Middle School instance, prevented him from finding peace? Even now, Takami and Kaguya haven't been able to find out. Despite having essentially reviewed his life's trajectory, they still haven't been able to pinpoint the source of his regrets.

This was clearly unusual. Gao Hai guessed they might have missed a detail, or perhaps the remaining clues in this place were incomplete to begin with. In any case, to confirm the source of that obsession that still had no clues, the next method Gao Hai could think of was to depict Morihara Koji himself through the "Persistent Pen," attempting to communicate with this core obsession in this way.

As for the mirror fragment buried in the blood pool, this abyssal object that embodies the true [Eriko Asamoto]. There's not much to say about it; the main problem is simply how to survive and infiltrate the blood pool, then retrieve it—that's all.

At first, Gao Hai had considered trying to drip his blood into the blood pool to see if he could use this method to remove the fragment buried deep at the bottom. However, after trying to approach and sense the blood pool, he became certain that this thing not only possessed the characteristic of being "alive" in a certain sense, but also had an extremely strong ability to transform all foreign matter. Just like when Kaguya and Maki were transformed into monsters in the second playthrough, if Gao Hai actually dripped his blood into it, the result would only be that his blood would be transformed into something else by the power of the blood pool before it even touched the mirror fragment. Then, Gao Hai himself, as the source of the blood, would be exposed to the power of the blood pool and be instantly defeated.

Clearly, this is the crucial problem where skipping levels is not allowed. Fortunately, the two later found a diving suit in a small storeroom that could be used to dive into the blood pool. Well… according to the report next to the diving suit, even wearing a diving suit would have resulted in deaths for the researchers once the blood pool had reached a significant scale. However, they didn't have a better solution at the moment, and could only hope that this would help them survive.

"You come and sense that core obsession, and leave the fragments to us."

After listening to Gao Hai lay out the two key points that had not yet been explored, Hayashibe Kenta, who was standing in front of him, did not hesitate and immediately gave such an answer.

"Mirror shards? Are you sure?"

Gao Hai was stunned for a moment. He originally thought that only he could take on the task of dealing with the mirror fragment that contained some fatal information. He did not expect that this veteran player would take the task away from him.

"Perception isn't my strong suit. In my opinion, sensing strange creatures is the most troublesome and dangerous thing. I remember Miss Xiongmi saying that although your overall quality is slightly inferior to that of Red Moon level players, your perception is far superior to the average Red Moon level player, and you are at the top level, right? In that case, I'll leave the task of finding out why Morihara Koji is so unwilling to die to you. I'll do some physical work."

Hayashibe Kenta scratched his head again, his words carrying a hint of naivety.

"Alright, I'll go to the Blood Pool with this fat guy. We know each other and have worked together many times, so retrieving something from the water shouldn't be a problem. You guys try to figure out what the core obsession's last wish is. Right now, this instance is undergoing increasingly deeper distortions, so this isn't the time to stop and chat. Let's go, don't just stand there."

Nanakawa Ren, on the other hand, was quite impulsive. Seeing that Takami and Hayashibe Kenta didn't seem to be moving immediately, she kicked her companion Hayashibe Kenta and dragged him, who was still a little dazed, towards the direction where the diving suits were.

At this point, Takami naturally couldn't waste any more time saying anything more. So he turned to look at Kaguya and Goto Ichiri, who was standing there somewhat helplessly, and gestured for them to take care of Hayasaka and Maki. Then, after thinking for a moment, he took out a keepsake from his black watch—a small bottle that looked quite old, like some kind of beverage. He unscrewed it and poured the liquid inside onto Aoyama Nanami, who was still slowly recovering.

Visibly, the mutilated flesh began to rapidly regenerate, and at the same time, a faint green fluorescence seemed to flash by, though it was unclear what was happening.

This obsessive item that can accelerate recovery naturally comes from those fanatical believers. Gao Hai calls it "Radium Water," and in fact, this name is directly written on the outer packaging of this obsessive item.

The effect of this obsession item is simple: it accelerates wound healing. However, as its name suggests, it contains a significant dose of the radioactive element radium, and this substance will actually accumulate in the player's body after consumption. Moreover, as an obsession item, it will produce extremely strong addictive symptoms within 5 minutes of consumption. If the player cannot withstand these 5 minutes and drinks "radium water," they will die instantly, suffering a painful death of dissolving and festering flesh. Their bones will then dissolve into a slime-like form, becoming the vessel for the monster's movement.

As a recovery item, this thing is clearly one of those obsessive items that are extremely useless. However, since Aoyama Nanami is currently unable to move, the temporary addiction debuff can be ignored, and using it to restore her is quite good.

As for what Aoyama Nanami herself thinks, well, she probably hasn't regained consciousness yet, right? After all, her brain hasn't fully developed yet, so it shouldn't be a big problem and there's no need to worry about it.

"I'll get started as soon as possible. You two will take care of the non-combat personnel."

After confirming that Aoyama Nanami's recovery speed had increased significantly, Takami gave Kaguya and Goto Ichiri another instruction before turning his gaze to some rooms at the edge of the laboratory.

"Yes, please be careful."

"……Um."

Kaguya responded immediately without hesitation, walking to Hayasaka and Maki's side as they lay on the ground. Goto Ichiri's reply, however, was slightly hesitant. She secretly glanced at Takami, who had already walked to the side, opened her mouth as if to ask something, but ultimately remained silent, simply walking to Aoyama Nanami's side to stay by her side.

squeak-

After rolling the golden die and getting a result of [14], Gao Hai opened a door and went inside.

It was a small room with only one door for entry and exit, seemingly a resting room. At this moment, the bloodstains in the room were minimal, suggesting it could hold out for a while longer. Therefore, Gao Hai decided to use the [Persistent Pen] here to activate his senses and try to obtain Morihara Koji's last wish.

Hopefully everything will go smoothly from here on out. So, there shouldn't be any problems here. I'll just... um, wait, what's this?

However, before taking action, Gao Hai inadvertently noticed something unusual.

It was something placed in the corner, covered by a thick cloth, covered with a layer of dust, and I didn't know exactly what it was.

Gao Hai hadn't initially paid much attention to this corner, but after carefully extending his senses, he noticed the presence of a strange aura, resembling an obsessive object. This forced him to focus his attention. After all, the aura of this obsessive object felt somewhat familiar to him.

I stepped forward and lifted the thick cloth covered in dust.

The next moment, what appeared before Gao Hai was a flesh-fusion machine that he had seen and used at Teng Hua Middle School.

A faint, eerie aura emanated from this object. The pointed injection port on the device clearly indicated that it had been used at Nightfall Mountain Middle School, which explained its transformation into an object of obsession, unlike the ordinary items found in the previous labs.

"...There's actually such a thing?"

Gao Hai was surprised to see this prop again, and for a moment he couldn't help but think of some problems that he still hadn't figured out how to solve.

Chapter 136: The Players' Different Actions and the Sounds They Create

"Hey, are you even capable?"

After putting on his diving suit, Nanakawa Ren noticed Hayashibe Kenta beside him, whose diving suit was bulging a bit, and asked with narrowed eyes.

"It doesn't seem to be working out. Can I quit now?"

Hayashibe Kenta shook his head somewhat awkwardly and asked very seriously.

"That's definitely not going to work. If you quit now, you'll only die. Do you want to die?"

Nanakawa Ren checked her oxygen tank one last time, then casually replied to Hayashibe Kenta.

"Is there really nothing convenient in this world? It's so troublesome. Sigh, I want to go home and eat potato chips."

Then, with a sigh and a look of deep emotion, Hayashibe Kenta stretched his body and walked toward the blood pool.

Behind the two was a clone created by Goto Ichiri using a guitar. This clone was currently being controlled by Goto Ichiri herself, standing a short distance away and watching their actions. Considering that this object of obsession, the guitar, was, after all, Eriko Asamoto's core object of obsession, and that the two players from the [Red Society] were about to retrieve the mirror fragments containing Eriko Asamoto's original obsession, Goto Ichiri created a clone and placed it nearby. That way, if anything went wrong, the clone might provide a corresponding response, and she could come to their rescue in time.

Of course, it would be best if everything went perfectly. But given the current situation, Goto Ichiri felt that successfully completing the mission was probably just wishful thinking.

The dark red color was still spreading.

Now, a small portion of the large laboratory where the blood pool is located is completely covered in blood red.

Distorted and chaotic mental pollution is gradually engulfing this place.

Before long, this place will become like the school area, a dead zone capable of killing any player.

Goto Ichiri couldn't see how this situation could be improved. With the original balance broken and things that shouldn't have appeared emerging, how could the situation be restored to a positive state? How could the so-called "all survivors" ending be achieved under these circumstances?

Yes, he was just lying, wasn't he?

Kita Ikuyo is dead. She promised to save your friend, but she killed her instead.

Can such a murderer really be trusted? He might actually be lying to you, and to all of you.

A voice kept echoing in my mind.

Is this just my own thought?

It's hard to tell whose voice it is.

I just feel really sad, really sad.

She never wanted to be a player, nor did she ever dream of climbing to the so-called top player level, the Red Moon level. Ultimately, she was just a socially awkward girl who longed for friends and company.

Playing music with friends, eating and drinking together, traveling and having fun together, enjoying the happy and wonderful life of an ordinary person.

This was clearly the future she longed for, the future that this girl, who was incredibly timid around people and social interactions, yearned to reach.

Yes, the reason I chose to become a Red Moon-level player and to experience danger, from the very beginning, wasn't it all for that elusive legend, for the possibility of [being able to permanently escape the Sacrifice Game after achieving an A-rank clear of a Red Moon-level dungeon twice]? She just wanted to escape this hell with her friends Kita Ikuyo and Aoyama Nanami, and then return to that little band to continue their lives.

Nijika's dream... Ah, speaking of which, since I left the band, she hasn't been able to find a new member to join. We even said we'd all do our best together, but I let Nijika down. Will she hate me? Probably... No, she's such a kind person, maybe she'll comfort me when she sees me, telling me not to worry too much or anything. It's clearly my fault, I'm the one who's wrong...