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

Upon hearing Gao Hai's words, Jian Zi subconsciously looked out the window. Realizing what time it was, she paused for a moment, then nodded and stood up with Gao Hai.

The plain white dress, with its low neckline, subtly revealed a girl's curves. This rather daring style of dress wasn't originally one of Yotsuya Miko's preferences, but because she was meeting Takami today, she thought long and hard before choosing this outfit. And it seems... it didn't do her any favors; it didn't attract her senior at all.

She had temporarily forgotten about this matter because she was busy appraising the object she was obsessed with, but now she remembered it again. She felt a little frustrated, but she didn't show it on her face.

"Speaking of which, are you going to participate in that school sports meet?"

Gao Hai didn't seem to notice anything, and just walked towards the outside while asking the girl beside him.

"No, I've always just been a spectator. Besides, with my current physical condition, I'm simply not suited to participate in any events, right? No matter what event I choose, it would just be bullying others, since I'm not even on the same level as ordinary people."

Although Miko herself is the most normal, ordinary, and common type of girl that Takahashi knows, she has now come to understand the difference between herself and ordinary people to some extent and has begun to feel a sense of distance from them.

This kind of behavior is quite normal. After all, as their power increases, the world around them is gradually becoming more fragile, like glass. Without contact with players of the same level, they must be extremely careful to control their power wherever they go and whatever they do. Otherwise, a moment's carelessness could leave cracks in the ground or accidentally injure someone.

Takahashi understands this quite well, since he had to endure for a long time so as not to hurt Hayasaka because Hayasaka's physical abilities had not broken through the human limit.

Kita Ikuyo's figure appeared at this moment, slowly circling around Takami and Miko. For this girl who loved excitement, being cooped up inside Takami for an entire afternoon was not an easy feeling. Now that Takami had left the house, she had thought for a long time and figured that he couldn't possibly do anything weird in the street, so she came out for some fresh air.

"How have you been adjusting to the new blessings these past few days? After all, you and Xiao Ai are the ones who received Jonathan's blessings more comprehensively, so it's probably not quite the same for me, right?"

As they strolled down the street, Gao Hai asked the girl beside him.

"It's alright. I wasn't quite used to it at first, but this blessing was really powerful."

Seeing that Zi answered seriously, she was still a little excited about receiving the new blessing, after all, it was a genuine, side-effect-free extraordinary power.

Unlike the blessing Jonathan bestowed upon Takami, the blessing received by Hayasaka and Miko is far more powerful. In addition to their existing library retrieval and document recovery abilities, Miko and Hayasaka possess a special [Scene Recall] function. When they arrive at a key scene within a dungeon related to a particular obsession, they can activate the blessing's power, causing that scene to reveal past events related to the obsession's elusive entity. Furthermore, the basic ability enhancements from Jonathan's blessing that Takami didn't receive are present in Hayasaka and Miko's case. Both of them, while receiving the Dark Night-level buff, have further enhanced their physical strength and willpower, and also slightly increased their recovery speed after mental damage.

Corresponding to the situation of these two, Eriko Asamoto's blessing was distributed to Kaguya, Maki, and Chika, but the blessing power they received was somewhat weaker than that received by Takami. Firstly, the maximum range of their enhanced hearing was 3 kilometers, significantly less than Takami's 5-kilometer listening range; secondly, they could only move three times through pre-set coordinates while in a state of "unobserved," unlike Takami who could revive and move again after "undetermined death."

Koji Morihara's blessing was only received by Takami. The boy gave all his power after his obsession dissipated to Takami, while the other players did not receive any power at all.

And, the teacher's blessing is something everyone receives.

Yes, Hayasaka and Miko, who were in Baidos, also received a little bit of the blessing power of the [Void Thing].

Moreover, this blessing of obsession was tailored to each player, so that the actual blessing effect received by all players who received it was different.

Among the effects, Kaguya's physical and mental deficiencies were compensated for, bringing her previously poor physique to a normal level compared to other players. Furthermore, her archery skills seemed to receive an additional boost, reaching a true master level.

Maki gained a support ability specifically for Takahashi. She can now deepen her perception of him after he enters a state of nothingness, and after Takahashi uses the [Future Teleportation] ability, Maki will be able to directly [see] the location of the teleported item and the teleportation time. Furthermore, on top of this, Maki also gained the ability to distinguish between [reality] and [illusion] to a certain extent, thereby finding the intersection and entrance/exit points between alternate dimensions and normal dimensions.

Chika gained enhanced investigative abilities such as reconnaissance and stealth, and also acquired a small alternate dimension where she could store items. This small space could not store living beings, but could hold objects of obsession and ordinary items; the space itself was a 3x3x3 meter cube.

Hayasaka and Miko, being in Baidos, seem to have some difficulty receiving power, thus receiving fewer blessing bonuses. Hayasaka gained the ability to imbue her physical attacks with mysterious properties; now, when she attacks monsters with her fists or weapons, the impact of her attacks will be enhanced, meaning she might actually be able to defeat a monster with her bare hands. Miko, on the other hand, gained an even more advanced mental energy recovery ability, allowing her to recover more quickly after losing sanity.

Including Xiongmi, Jianbing, Hayashibe Kenta, Nanakawa Ren, Goto Ichiri, and Aoyama Nanami, all of them received the blessing power bestowed by [Void]. Moreover, based on what Gao Hai inquired about in the communications over the past two days, the blessing power of [Void] received by these players was completely different. In other words, before that [Teacher]'s obsession dissipated, it truly did provide specific power adaptations to all the players it could bless.

To be honest, Gao Hai didn't know how to describe the other person's feelings after seeing them go to such lengths. Apart from sincere admiration, he felt there were probably no better words to express his emotions.

Speaking of which, Ichiri received the guitar that was transformed into a blessing item. I wonder how much of that time-traveling ability is still retained in the guitar. And what about the next dungeon? I wonder if she'll still be with me. If Ichiri plans to come along, Aoyama might too. If they both come, then we'll have an eight-person team. Oh wait, nine people! I almost forgot about Kita, who's currently bound to me.

{……Um?}

Kita Ikuyo, sensing someone talking about her, turned around, looked around in confusion, and finally fixed her gaze on Takami, staring at him suspiciously for a while.

Gao Hai himself didn't reveal any flaws and walked and chatted with Jianzi side by side on the street. In the end, they chose a restaurant with pretty good online reviews and had dinner together.

The sky gradually darkened.

As night fell, those indistinct things resurfaced, but both Gao Hai and Jianzi chose to ignore them and continued their walk after dinner, eventually ending up on a deserted riverside path.

"You and Xiao Ai really worked hard before. Without your efforts, there probably would have been no chance of conquering Baidos."

At this point, Gao Hai finally took it seriously and thanked everyone for their help in the previous instance.

"Well, there's no need to thank me for this. We were able to get out of here alive because of everyone's best efforts. Even if some things are destined to be remembered only by me and my senior, the things that have already happened will not change because of this."

Jianzi just smiled gently, simply holding Gao Hai's hand, and continued walking side by side.

"That's true, but I just couldn't help saying it. By the way, you look beautiful in your outfit today, so beautiful that I couldn't help but admire it."

Gao Hai looked around again, and after confirming that no one would be passing by for the time being, he slowed down and smiled at Jianzi.

"Can't help it? Can't help what? Ah... ugh..."

The somewhat puzzled girl turned to look at Gao Hai, only to see Gao Hai's face close to hers.

Breathing paused slightly for a moment.

A feeling of warmth then spread throughout the room.

Jianzi closed his eyes.

Gao Hai opened his eyes in slight surprise.

He felt it.

The teleportation blessing originating from Andres has just changed.

The moment he kissed Miko, the power of this blessing shifted, adding new teleportation slots. Miko Yotsuya, the girl who had accompanied him through the [School Ghost Stories], had now received the blessing's approval.

Interlude 3-57: Intimacy with Miko Yotsuya increases, and the undercurrents on the other side...

"Woo..."

With a soft moan, Jianzi's eyes widened slightly, and a blush rose to her cheeks.

thump--

My heartbeat became slightly erratic at that moment.

The breath that belonged to Gao Hai, so close at hand, reminded Jianzi of the current situation and what had happened.

They actually kissed like that...

The girl could feel her body had completely stiffened.

Although her feelings for Gao Hai had long since deepened after their life-or-death experiences at Fujika Middle School and Yoruyama Middle School, and because she had strange dreams almost every night, she had even somewhat anticipated this situation. But now that it had actually come to this, and she could really feel the touch on his lips, she couldn't help but feel nervous. Her head spun, and she felt a sense of disorientation, not knowing where she was or what she was doing.

However, this feeling is indeed different from that in the dream.

In my dreams, although I don't know why I became particularly bold, I always had a vague, ethereal feeling when interacting with my seniors. As soon as I woke up, I felt that my dreams didn't feel real, more like watching a movie... no, it was more immersive than watching a movie, but that feeling... well, it seemed more like being mentally instilled with some external thing, rather than a genuine personal experience.

So, is this the difference between dreams and reality?

Yotsuya Miko felt her body becoming lighter and lighter, as if she were about to take flight in the air at any moment.

Not long after, Gao Hai raised his head, released Jianzi, and her feeling of weightlessness quickly disappeared, bringing her back to reality.

Sigh, is it... over already?

The girl, who unconsciously opened her mouth slightly, revealed a blank expression.

In my dream, after that kiss, we were supposed to start the "battle" phase. Wait, I'm not dreaming now; I'm in the real world. That kiss was actually my first kiss, my first kiss with my senior…

Is there anywhere else you'd like to go next?

Gao Hai's face was expressionless; he even cheerfully asked Jianzi a question.

"That's too cunning..."

After a long silence, Jianzi could only say this in a low voice.

"cunning?"

Gao Hai was slightly taken aback by Jian Zi's words and didn't quite understand what she meant.

"Before I could react, he did it to me... and afterwards he even put on a completely unaffected expression. Senior, that's so awful!"

Seeing her face puff up slightly, she finally fully recovered from her daze, her face flushed and showing an angry expression, just like a newly ripe peach.

"Haha, it's mainly because the atmosphere just felt right, and you didn't object, right?"

It was the first time Gao Hai had been spoken to like that by a girl. He chuckled and patted his head, trying to hide his smugness, but Jian Zi could tell that he was somewhat proud of himself.

However, she didn't know that Gao Hai was actually using these expressions and actions to hide his excitement.

Ah, I've unlocked another anime achievement!

Being called "bad" by a girl with an angry look on her face does indeed give me a strange sense of pleasure. Unfortunately, this phrase usually needs to be accompanied by a picture of someone showing their panties with a disgusted expression, and I could never ask Miko to do that, so this achievement is still a little lacking.

"That sounds even worse, but... well, considering it's from a senior, it's not so strange after all. After all, he's a scumbag senior who's dated several girls. Speaking of which, a senior should be responsible for everyone, right? He wouldn't do something like getting someone pregnant and then running away, would he?"

Seeing Gao Hai's expression, Jian Zi first became even angrier and complained, but as she got angrier, she started to laugh, and her voice became joking.

"What are you thinking? My dream is for everyone to live happily together. There is absolutely no way I would do something like running away."

Gao Hai answered with a serious expression, and moved closer, pulling Jianzi into his arms.

"Um, not here, what if someone comes over..."

Ultimately, it was Jianzi, who was a bit more thin-skinned, who couldn't quite handle Gao Hai's persistent advances and couldn't help but whisper.

"How could that be? I could hear clearly whether anyone came or not. Right now, it's just the two of us here."

Gao Hai had already picked the girl up and was kissing her again while laughing.

{Kita Ikuyo:……}

On the grass beside the river path, the red-haired girl's eyes had already turned dead.

Although I've seen couples interact before back in high school, the feeling of being stuck within 10 meters of each other, forced to watch a man and woman being so intimate as to ignore everyone else, is still really unpleasant.

Ugh, what do you mean no one's coming? Am I not human? Am I even human?!

He completely ignored me, just because I don't have a physical body and no one can see me, so he doesn't care at all?! Speaking of which, this guy was like that before, whether it was talking to me with two girls in the middle of the night, fighting with girls in front of me in the gym, or hugging two new girls this morning, he really didn't care at all about exposing his lewd side.

And what about these girls? What's wrong with them? Why do they accept this kind of relationship so naturally? Why can they be so open about being members of this man's harem? Have modern girls become this open-minded? During the time I was trapped in this instance, have the moral standards of human society undergone a complete transformation? Isn't this change a bit too much? Isn't it happening far too fast?!

Kita wanted to complain.

She had never felt such a strong urge to complain before.

But now, watching Takami cuddling and chatting intimately with Miko, she couldn't utter a single word. She couldn't even cancel her clone and return to Takami's mind, because that would cause a strong mental fluctuation, making Takami, who was currently ignoring her, notice her again—in other words, making her, the third wheel, shine brightly. Kita really didn't want to do that; she felt she was already bright enough.

And this guy… Pochi-chan said she was coming to his house to sleep tonight, so she really is going to do *that* kind of thing, right? Dating a girl this afternoon and evening, then getting intimate with Pochi-chan tonight—in these three days since returning to reality from the virtual world, this guy is going to get intimate with six girls in a row? Wait, before, he had a 1v2 with those girls named Maki and Chika, then the next day he had a 1v2 with those girls named Kaguya and Ai, and tonight… is he planning to have a 1v2 with Miko and Pochi-chan?!

Bochi-chan is now proactively contacting this man to invite him to sleep at his place, and so is this woman—their kissing skills are incredibly practiced, clearly indicating they've kissed many times before; they're definitely not novices. So, tonight, these three... Ugh! Isn't Bochi-chan supposed to be very shy? Why is she doing this? This is too chaotic, far too chaotic! Is this what Ryo-senpai meant by "rock and roll freedom"? No way! She doesn't want Bochi-chan to experience this kind of freedom!!!

Kita was unaware that her mental outburst had generated intense psychological fluctuations, making it impossible for Takami to ignore her presence.

The problem is that he doesn't have the opportunity to focus on this issue right now.