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

Thump—thump—

The same thing happened to Zhenfei and the others. Players who had never entered the "Dark Night" level of the Sacrifice Game before felt an indescribable sensation, as if something was seeping into their flesh and soul, and therefore they were unable to control their bodies.

Kumami, Aoyama Nanami, Nanakawa Ren, and Goto Ichiri immediately came to help, lifting up the girls and Takami.

It was only then that Gao Hai noticed that his shadow on the ground seemed to briefly appear blurry before suddenly returning to its normal shape.

A surge of power coursed through my body.

Muscle strength, nerve reflexes... these basic physical qualities were further enhanced at this moment, becoming even stronger than before.

That already unbreakable willpower was also enhanced by some kind of power, but the enhancement was so small that Gao Hai could hardly feel it.

"A new blessing? It feels pretty good."

In a whisper, Gao Hai released Goto Ichiri's hand and regained his balance, but tiny cracks appeared on the ground beneath his feet.

As a reward for achieving an S-rank clear of the Dark Night dungeon, Gao Hai received the highest-level [Shadow of the Night] blessing. Now, he can contend with Red Moon level players without using any blessing power. And if he were to use the Berserk Blessing, instantly killing an unsuspecting, normal Red Moon level player would be no problem at all.

While physical enhancements are largely meaningless in Red Moon-level dungeons—even a random roadside monster can be more powerful than Gao Hai with his Berserk Blessing activated, and might even have some kind of instant-kill rule—this power is a completely different story when applied to players. It's fair to say that Gao Hai could now eliminate many players before they even have a chance to use their special items. The difference in base stats is so vast that players with lower enhancement levels wouldn't even realize the extent of Gao Hai's power.

So, the "Sacrifice Game" buff, aside from enhancing players' infighting abilities, has almost no other effect.

Thinking this, Gao Hai felt an even stronger power spreading through his body in the next moment.

Unlike the power he felt before, this time the power Gao Hai sensed was stronger, yet gentler, warmer, and more tender. He could feel the sincere blessings contained within this power, and the further transformation it brought to his body and soul.

Indeed, although the core obsessions of Eriko Asamoto and others were eventually reborn through the efforts of Takami and Ichiri Goto, the power of the blessing was still received by Takami because the source of the blessing was the obsession of fulfilling regrets. He simply took the soul that was about to rest and reincarnate after giving the blessing back into its original body.

Eriko Asamoto's blessing.

Koji Morihara's blessing.

And that illusory thing, the blessing of that "teacher".

And... um? Is this a blessing from Dean Jonathan of Baydos? I've never even come into contact with this obsession... because Ai and Miko came into contact with it, and through them it learned that I was the one who accomplished all of this, so it gave me a blessing while giving them its blessing?

Although Urian didn't leave anything behind after entering the watch, it's still not bad to have this person's blessing. Moreover, compared to the blessing of an evil person, the blessing of a good person is definitely more comfortable to use.

Wait, so that's how it feels. Was there something left in the end?

It was only then that Gao Hai suddenly realized that his rescue team badge now had a fourth summoning slot.

The fourth rescuer was a teacher, a teacher with a blurry figure and no specific appearance, like a phantom, ethereal and indistinct.

Because Gao Hai continued to wear the rescue team badge even after merging with [Void], after [Void]'s obsession was satisfied and dissipated, its last remaining remnant merged with the power of the rescue team badge, thus becoming a new member within the rescue team badge.

Although it is just a remnant without self-awareness, like the police officer that Hirano Sosuke left in his badge, it is still a comforting and poignant thing for Takami that it can leave some trace.

Then, it's time to confirm the power of the blessing.

Xiong Mi and the others also received the blessed power along with Gao Hai, and they clearly understood what the players wanted to do most at this time. Therefore, Gao Hai quickly obtained a separate hut with information-concealing artifacts to prevent being spied on, and slowly began to feel and adapt to his newly acquired blessed power.

Here, Gao Hai closed his eyes and listened carefully to the sounds around him.

"Hey, look, the new ornaments that came out at the mall today, aren't they really pretty?"

"Wow, so cute."

This is the sound of two girls chatting in a street-side dessert shop about two kilometers away.

"Om-"

This is the sound of bees fluttering their wings in a small garden about four kilometers away. One... two... there are seven bees here in total.

"Splat!"

This is a public toilet three kilometers away. The person inside seems to be constipated... Damn it, why are they making me listen to this?!

"Waaaaah, brother... brother..."

"Oh, my dear little sister, let's have a MuaMua today~"

This is in a hotel five kilometers away... emmm, what on earth is that strange sound making? Are there people who sing folk songs while doing *that* kind of thing?

Gao Hai withdrew his senses.

This is Eriko Asamoto's first blessing effect: enhanced auditory perception.

This is an auxiliary blessing that can be actively turned on and off with almost no energy consumption. Its maximum listening distance is five kilometers. This blessing can be turned on at full power to transmit all sounds within a five-kilometer radius to Gao Hai's ears at once, or it can be used to precisely locate a specific area within a certain spatial coordinate for targeted monitoring.

It's a very useful skill, but it requires some practice to use.

With this in mind, Gao Hai quickly turned his attention to the second effect of this blessing.

And this effect is a little bit special.

As the second effect of Eriko Asamoto's blessing, this blessing allows Takami to set a coordinate point in his current location when no one is observing him. Then, whenever Takami is in a state of being unobserved again, he can teleport back to that coordinate point. Furthermore, if Takami is killed by a monster, but as long as no one confirms his death within 10 minutes of his death, he can immediately teleport back to that coordinate point, recovering all his injuries and fully recovering.

This ability is essentially a time-reversal skill. Therefore, if Gao Hai obtains any items after setting the coordinates, unless he puts them into his black watch, even if he puts them into his spatial item bag, the item will drop out of his spatial equipment and remain at the original location when he teleports back to the coordinate point. Furthermore, Gao Hai can only set one coordinate point per instance, and each coordinate point can be used a maximum of three times. After three uses, the coordinate point will automatically be destroyed, and the blessing will have to wait two days, or 48 hours, before it can be used again.

He was certain that only Gao Hai could have this blessing effect.

While other players may also receive Eriko Asamoto's blessing, the content of the blessing will inevitably differ from his, and they will certainly be weaker than him.

Furthermore, he estimated that Goto Ichiri must have received Asamoto Eriko's guitar, just as Hirano Sosuke's pistol would transform into a blessing and remain with Takami. The second effect of Goto Ichiri's blessing should be that the guitar became a blessing item and remained with her. For Pochi, who was already used to using that guitar, this was probably the best news imaginable. However, Takami was still quite curious about what kind of blessing Asamoto Eriko would give to others besides him and Ichiri, who received special treatment.

As for the third effect of the blessing, it's quite simple: it gave Gao Hai a decent guitar playing ability and some music theory knowledge. However, Gao Hai really doesn't have any talent in this area. Even with the direct infusion of knowledge, his current music theory and guitar skills are only passable, far from reaching the pinnacle level of Goto Ichiri.

In addition, this blessing also has the characteristic of amplifying willpower, but just like Chiyo's blessing before, this effect is basically useless for Takami, as it is too difficult for him to increase his willpower now.

"If I make good use of this blessing, it will be like I have three extra lives. I need to carefully analyze and think about how to use this thing."

Gao Hai thought to himself.

In short, after briefly testing the listening effect of the blessing and, after some hesitation, giving up on trying the second effect of the blessing on the spot, Gao Hai finally turned his attention to the second blessing he had just obtained, which was the blessing of Morihara Koji, the big boy who destroyed Yoruyama Middle School.

Just as Gao Hai had predicted, the boy's blessing was a blessing with a somewhat violent style.

The first effect of the Crimson Moon-level blessing bestowed upon Takami by Koji Morihara is—

They suddenly received an air-dropped bomb weighing over 500 kilograms.

Interlude 3-40: The Blessing Power of the Crimson Moon and the Awakening Maiden

With a total weight of over 500 kilograms and a charge of at least 300 kilograms, its appearance is basically the same as that of an aerial bomb dropped by a Japanese bomber.

This is what Gao Hai can summon now.

As the first effect of Koji Morihara's blessing, Takami can conjure an aerial bomb anywhere within 5 meters of himself, and it can either explode immediately after being conjured or be launched in a certain direction with a range of about 600 kilometers.

Following the explosion, a shockwave radiates outwards from the bomb's blast center within a 100-meter radius. All undead within this radius will be rendered immobile, while all non-undead objects will suffer extremely violent impact damage. A 1-kilometer radius is the bomb's fragmentation kill zone; any undead hit by fragments within this zone will have their mobility significantly reduced.

As the first effect of the blessing bestowed by the boy who destroyed Nightfall Mountain Middle School, this aerial bomb possesses both eerie suppressive power and physical destructive properties. It truly achieves, and even surpasses, the explosive power of a normal aerial bomb. Crucially, based on the characteristics of this blessing, Gao Hai judged that the bomb's explosion could affect objects "fixed to space." For example, during the 45-day crushing experience in the Red Nut Gray Cave, Gao Hai was restricted by the rules, unable to commit suicide or destroy the walls. However, if he had this blessing then, he could have used the bomb's ability to forcefully defy the rules and forcibly destroy the cave walls.

In other words, this bomb can achieve a rule-based forced confrontation, directly damaging entities with the characteristic of being "indestructible," making it a completely head-on, door-kicking tool. Although such an attack is unlikely to actually damage another Red Moon-level monster in a Red Moon-level dungeon, Gao Hai couldn't help but think that if this bomb were combined with a suppression bomb, first launching a large bomb at the monster and then using guns to suppress it, it might produce unexpected results.

However, because it is essentially a blessing, Gao Hai himself is immune to the bomb's damage after detonation. Unless he actively relinquishes this immunity, the shockwave and fragments from the explosion will be negligible to him. He can also designate specific individuals to be unaffected by the bomb's blast, or conversely, to inflict damage only on specific individuals; the maximum number of designated individuals depends on Gao Hai's willpower. In other words, he could detonate a bomb in a stadium with tens of thousands of people, turning the entire stadium into ruins, yet killing only one person while leaving everyone else completely unharmed.

Yes, Gao Hai realized that this "invulnerability" had a causal relationship, including being hit by debris from an aerial bomb explosion, being buried alive, being affected by the high-temperature blast wave, or being burned by flames. As long as the harm was causally caused by this aerial bomb, Gao Hai could designate someone to be completely unaffected by it.

Like a pistol, the aerial bombs have an automatic replenishment feature. When fully charged, Gao Hai can use 3 aerial bombs. After firing the first bomb, the Blessing enters an automatic cooldown and replenishment state, and is restored to a full 3 bombs after 24 hours. During this period, no matter how many bombs Gao Hai uses, he will always be restored to the maximum number when replenishing. However, if he wants to use more bombs after using up 3, Gao Hai can also forcibly generate a fourth bomb using his own blood and mental energy. It seems that this would further increase the power of the bombs, but the consumption would be terrifying, and this should not be considered unless it is a life-or-death situation.

I wonder what the destructive power of this fourth aerial bomb, which requires massive resources to use, will be. I have a feeling it might be something terrifying...

Thinking this through, Gao Hai then went on to experience the second effect of the blessing, and he was somewhat surprised to find that Morihara Koji's second blessing effect was actually an active taunt skill.

This is a blessing effect that can be actively turned on and off, activated by speaking. When activated, Gao Hai can speak to force the attention of people with the [Evil] trait or supernatural beings to focus on him. If it is a living person, they will begin to feel intense hatred towards his voice and will inexplicably feel murderous intent. If it is a supernatural being, it will prioritize attacking Gao Hai and will launch an attack on him first when the rules are met.

"Is there such a special attack taunt?"

Gao Hai's eyes lit up. This peculiar active taunt skill might seem insignificant, but if combined with the sixth rule of the suppression bomb, it could be used for a great deal of things.

Furthermore, with this skill, combined with the dual perception blessing of Hedar and Li Zhaodi, it can be said that no enemy can get close to Gao Hai through disguise.

The third blessing was much simpler. Koji Morihara granted Takami knowledge of mechanical repair, electrical repair, and pet care, specifically how to raise a cat. The repair knowledge was enough for Takami to become a mechanic, and the pet care knowledge was enough for him to work as a veterinarian. As for practicality… well, it wasn't entirely useless. This blessing also provided a boost to willpower and increased pain tolerance, but these were of little use to Takami.

The boy's blessing was somewhat complex in its mechanism, so Gao Hai spent a considerable amount of time confirming its characteristics. During this process, he briefly considered attempting to use his blood and spiritual energy to create the [Fourth Airborne Bomb]. However, after a brief assessment, well… although Gao Hai couldn't be entirely certain, if he actually did that, perhaps—just perhaps—Tokyo might become the third hottest city in Japanese history.

Can this thing really be that destructive? Come to think of it, the destructive Red Moon-level blessings I've received so far are indeed quite outrageous, capable of wiping out the population of an entire city in no time. It's truly terrifying.

After confirming the blessing for Morihara Koji, the next step is to confirm the third Red Moon level blessing, which is the blessing for the "Teacher".

"Is that really the case?"

Gao Hai lowered his head and looked at his arm, which had completely disappeared.

Nothingness—that is the first effect of this blessing.

After activating this effect, Gao Hai can teleport part or even his entire body into another dimension. He can completely conceal himself from the real world, or leave behind a corresponding phantom in the real world—a phantom that cannot be locked onto by the strange creatures and cannot touch anything. Then, by maintaining this ethereal form, Gao Hai can freely pass through various obstacles to enter places that were originally inaccessible, and can fly freely regardless of gravity.

Yes, after using this blessing, Gao Hai can fly. The alternate dimension pointed to by this [Voidification] can ignore the rules of gravity.

Even though Gao Hai himself is already in a state of violating the rules and being locked onto by the monster, he can still reduce the effects of the rules after becoming ethereal. For a monster to still harm Gao Hai in his ethereal state, it must be of the same level. In other words, only a Red Moon-level obsession can continue to influence Gao Hai in his ethereal state after he has violated the corresponding rules, but even then, Gao Hai can significantly reduce the damage he receives. As for the rules of the Dark Night level, Gao Hai can now ignore them.

The only downside is that this blessing can't teleport objects into another dimension, otherwise Gao Hai could have tried to cosplay the effect of [Kamui].

"I really want to use this setup to clear Dark Night-level dungeons. With this blessing, what Dark Night-level dungeon can stop me? Sigh... It's a pity, I'm just born to play high-end dungeons, I can't even get into low-level matches to kill fish..."

Gao Hai, muttering to himself, then turned his attention to the second effect of this blessing.

Replacement exists.

This is the second function of this blessing.

This blessing can be activated on both humans and supernatural beings. Once activated, Gao Hai can replace himself with someone he has previously seen, making him appear as that specific person in the eyes of the recipient. Activating this blessing requires physical contact, and Gao Hai must use his willpower to overshadow the recipient. If successful, regardless of whether the recipient is human or supernatural, Gao Hai can completely replace his identity. Even if his appearance, voice, etc., are completely different from the recipient's characteristics, the recipient will not recognize him. The replacement will only fail if both the recipient and Gao Hai are seen by the recipient simultaneously.

It's a functional blessing, and the effectiveness of this type of blessing is hard to judge depending on the type of dungeon. Hmm... overall, it should be quite useful.

Gao Hai's attention then turned to the third effect of the blessing, and he couldn't help but pause for a moment.

The third effect of a blessing from a teacher is its transmission to the future.

After using this blessing, Gao Hai can teleport an object completely enveloped by his willpower, whose volume and mass are no more than 10 times his own, to the future, up to a week in advance. The teleported object cannot change its location; it will be in the same place when it returns, just as it was before being sent away.

Enveloped by willpower? What exactly constitutes being enveloped by willpower?

As Gao Hai pondered, he looked around the abandoned house he was in and quickly focused his attention on a half-brick in the corner of the room.

hum-

In the blink of an eye, the brick had vanished from its spot.

Gao Hai immediately felt a slight drain on his mental energy, so small as to be almost imperceptible, but it was definitely a loss. Hmm... it's roughly equivalent to spending 20 minutes concentrating on a full-force attack, aiming for critical hits, and finally reaching the next level.