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

"Five nights ago, the last time a neighbor saw her enter her rented room was five days ago, and then no one saw her come out the next day? After that, there was no news of her, and she couldn't be reached by phone or found out. This situation... seems to be very problematic."

After listening to Goto Ichiri's slightly tired explanation over the phone, Takami thought for a moment and then contacted Yotsuya Miko directly.

"Kimi, come with me after school. I need the ability from your blessing to access information about past events. Something might happen that could be dangerous, so please prepare in advance."

By this time, Gao Hai had completely abandoned his relaxed and cheerful daily mindset, and was basically in a state of preparation before entering the dungeon. Just in case, after contacting Miko, he immediately contacted Maki Kaguya and the others, asking them to be prepared in case something went wrong.

Although his girls are still attending school normally, they've adjusted their mindset in the last few days and haven't really focused on their studies. In fact, because the dungeon is about to open, Kaguya and Maki's grades had dropped not long ago, resulting in a decrease in their rankings in yesterday's mock exam.

Hmm... They dropped from first or second place in the whole school to fourth or fifth. Gao Hai really couldn't understand how they could easily get good grades under such circumstances. You have to know that the Shuchiin School in the world Gao Hai entered was already at the university level or even higher in terms of the actual difficulty of the courses. In fact, these high school students were actually able to learn them and even learn them quite well. Gao Hai just found it unbelievable.

By the way, aside from Miko and her best friend Xiaohua, their grades are terrible, among the worst in the entire school. But in this world, Shuchiin doesn't have the concept of expelling students for low grades. In fact, according to Maki, Miko and Xiaohua were placed in a special academic group. Students in this group will never be expelled unless they commit some underhanded act, and their academic performance won't be included in the rankings.

In other words, these two children entered Shuchiin, a place specifically for gaining experience and seniority, and they received a lot of special treatment. Miko herself was somewhat uneasy about this, wondering if it was inappropriate for an ordinary person to receive such treatment. However, because she was recommended by the Shinomiya, Shijo, and Fujiwara families, almost none of her classmates dared to speak to her; it was only when Kaguya Maki and others approached her that she had someone to chat with.

As for the magnificent girl named Xiaohua, Gao Hai didn't interact with her much. Although according to the original work, this girl should be quite extraordinary, she wasn't a player at the moment, so Gao Hai adopted a respectful but distant attitude. However, this girl was quite oblivious, just like in the original work. Despite being inexplicably transferred to the nation's top aristocratic school, she continued to eat and drink happily as usual, showing no signs of unease like Miko did.

It seems I've been thinking a bit too far ahead; let's focus on the important matters at hand for now.

Standing downstairs at the apartment building where Aoyama Nanami rents, waiting for Miko to arrive, Takami brings his somewhat drifting thoughts back to the present.

At this moment, Goto Ichiri stood beside him with a worried expression, occasionally looking up at the apartment building.

She only realized something was wrong on the afternoon of the second day after Aoyama Nanami disappeared and began searching for her. For a socially awkward girl, forcing herself to talk to and ask questions of various strangers would obviously be an extremely painful thing, but she couldn't care less about that now. After all, several days had passed, and there was still no news of Aoyama Nanami; she had no idea where she had gone.

She had actually searched this apartment building many times already, and if there were really any problems, Yili felt she should have discovered them long ago. But Gao Hai suggested searching again, and after thinking about it, she decided to bring him along. After all, this man was really amazing, and maybe he could find some clues.

{Everything will be alright. Sister Qingshan is very capable, and she doesn't really have any enemies. She must have had some business to attend to and left temporarily.}

Because Takami and Goto Ichiri had established a temporary mental link using their shared object, Ichiri could see Kita Ikuyo floating beside Takami and hear her softly comforting voice. However, although Ichiri was nodding, his body remained tense, showing no sign of relaxing.

Gao Hai had noticed the girl's emotional state, but he didn't say anything. He just took out his phone to check the time and see how much longer it would be before Miko finished class.

There's probably a little while left, within the last five minutes of the last class, but I don't think the teachers here will go overtime, right?

As for offering words of comfort, Gao Hai figured he wouldn't be able to say anything. He'd better wait until Jianzi arrives and then go upstairs to check the situation, to see if he could find any clues to confirm the other person's safety.

Thinking this, Gao Hai turned to look at the apartment building behind him and tried to sense it, but he couldn't detect anything unusual at all.

No matter how you look at it, it's a very ordinary, even somewhat dilapidated old apartment.

Hmm, this reminds me a little of Shirakawa Apartments, but I've never actually seen what the exterior of that building looks like; I've only spent a few days inside it. As for this kind of spooky, dilapidated old apartment building dungeon… pshaw, whatever dungeon stuff, don't get the wrong idea, don't make any promises you can't keep.

After regaining her composure and waiting a short while, with the activation of the blessing power, Yotsuya Miko appeared directly beside Takami. Before she could even change out of her school uniform, she first looked at Takami, then noticed Goto Ichiri on the other side. After politely greeting the two of them, she stood on the other side of Takami, flanking him with Ichiri on either side.

"Let's go, Yili, please lead the way."

Gao Hai didn't pay attention to the details of the other party's behavior, and only spoke to Goto Ichiri.

The three quickly entered the apartment building, which was over 30 years old. After entering through the rusty door, there were many peeling and cracked walls in the interior corridors and staircases, and a musty smell could be clearly smelled.

Why choose such a dilapidated apartment?

Gao Hai couldn't help but ask after walking in.

{Aoyama-nee is usually very frugal. She's already prepaid three years' rent for this apartment, so she doesn't want to move out. She's the same way in her daily life; although Pochi-chan and I have tried to persuade her, she doesn't spend much money and is always very concerned about the price of everything she does…}

Kita Ikuyo quietly explained the situation to Takami. Judging from her expression, she and Aoyama Nanami had obviously argued about this many times.

If I remember correctly, Nanami in the original Sakurasou manga was a working-class soldier who lived a very frugal life. Now that she's a player, she hasn't been able to shake off her thrifty habits. Is she still going to live in a place like this?

step-step-

As Gao Hai walked from the first floor to the second floor, amidst the crisp sound of footsteps in the stairwell, he saw an old man with gray hair sitting in the second-floor hallway, gently rocking in a rocking chair, his eyes closed as if he were asleep.

On the third floor, a clear sound of running water came from a half-open door, where a young couple was arguing loudly. Then, before Gao Hai could even reach the fourth floor, a little boy who looked no more than five or six years old ran out of another door, carrying an Ultraman toy and shouting "Scare! Scare! Scare!" as he ran down the corridor.

When Takahashi reached the fourth floor, the floor where Nanami himself lived, he smelled a faint smell of cooking oil, as if someone was cooking.

Goto Ichiri, who was at the front, had clearly been here many times before. She walked calmly ahead of everyone, taking her steps in the narrow, dark corridor. She quickly stopped in front of a room door, took out her key, and opened it.

At this moment, Gao Hai, who was following behind, looked at the house number.

【403】

Suddenly I have this feeling that the world is against me...

Slightly annoyed, but neither he nor Jianzi sensed anything unusual along the way, so it was probably just a coincidence.

"excuse me."

I'm in.

Ichiri entered the house first, and subconsciously muttered something to herself. Kita Ikuyo followed, also muttering something to herself, and even subconsciously wanted to find her slippers in the entryway, then remembered that she was now a spirit and paused for a moment.

Gao Hai walked in without saying a word, took off his shoes and stepped directly onto the floor in his socks. After walking a distance into the living room, Yi Li suddenly remembered something and quickly turned back to find slippers for Gao Hai and Jian Zi to change into before continuing inside.

This is a very small one-bedroom rental room. The living room and a simple kitchenette are connected, and there is an even narrower toilet with only a shower and a toilet. Judging from the bedding in the half-open closet on one side of the living room, this living room probably also serves as a bedroom.

It's similar to the rental house in the old anime Clannad, but smaller. Wouldn't you feel depressed living in a place like this for a long time?

"Can you sense anything? Can the power of the blessing be activated?"

Gao Hai glanced around the room briefly, noticing that everything was neatly arranged and there was nothing unusual about it. He then turned to Jian Zi and asked her a question.

He knew that the [Jonathan's Blessing] that Miko and Hayasaka received was different from his; it had an additional function: [when confirming key scenes with ghosts and monsters, it can reveal past scenes of those scenes]. If this function worked, it meant that Nanami's disappearance was a serious problem. If it didn't activate, well, it could only mean that she didn't have the accident in the house, but even then, her inexplicable disappearance from the rented apartment was still very suspicious; it only ruled out one possibility.

"..."

Seeing that Zi didn't speak, but just closed his eyes and sat in the room, it seemed that he was sensing something.

{The house was all very tidy; perhaps Sister Aoyama disappeared in the morning after getting ready to leave?}

Because Kita Ikuyo is a spirit and can freely pass through walls, she has already circled the room several times and is subconsciously muttering to herself.

"I... I didn't touch anything in the house. It's exactly as it was when I came in after discovering that Sister Qingshan was missing. Um... do you have any clues?"

Goto Ichiri simply stood next to Takami and Miko, watching Miko with some nervousness.

A gust of cold wind blew in from outside, causing the curtains to sway.

Gao Hai's gaze fell on a small bookshelf on one side of the room, where a somewhat damaged book, "Key Techniques for Voice Actors," which looked like it had been read so many times that it was almost falling apart, was placed on top. There were also other books that were basically covered in damage, along with several notebooks placed together.

Although Aoyama Nanami of this world is very different from the part-time soldier he knows, it seems that they are exactly the same in their dream of becoming a voice actress.

It's really strange, though.

Although Aoyama Nanami seems to be somewhat risk-averse and prone to thinking the worst, she is generally a reliable teammate and doesn't seem to have made enemies with anyone. Why would she disappear silently from her room?

Could it be some high-difficulty dungeon power causing trouble again...?

Thinking this, Gao Hai glanced at Ichiri beside him. The current Ichiri still possessed the guitar capable of altering the past, but because it had transformed from an object of obsession into a blessing tool, its limitations were now greater than before. Normally, the guitar's power could only be unleashed through clones created within the past 24 hours, but Ichiri discovered Nanami's disappearance after that time had passed, making it impossible to directly retrieve Nanami using the guitar's power.

"Well……"

Jianzi suddenly snorted and opened his bright golden eyes.

Takami, Ichiri, and Kita all immediately looked at the girl, waiting for her to give an answer.

But the girl didn't speak. Instead, she suddenly turned her head and looked at the gate not far away.

crunch--

At that moment, under Miko's gaze, the doorknob pressed down slightly.

Interlude 3-75: The Unsuccessful Searchers and the Beginning of the [Saviors] Team Name and Mission

The search for Aoyama Nanami's whereabouts ultimately failed completely, with no clues found.

Despite Miko's repeated attempts to sense the power of the blessing, she couldn't activate it, and her superhuman perception yielded no feedback. No matter how meticulous the investigation, the final conclusion was that Aoyama Nanami had indeed indeed left the room normally.

But if that's the case, there's no reason why the other people in the apartment building wouldn't know that Nanami went out, unless she used the power of her mental object when she left. But why would she use a mental object to go out for no reason, and why couldn't Miko sense anything?

The people present had no idea the answer to the question. Although Xiaoheshu said that the Market could help search for a memento that could display past images after learning about it, unfortunately, the Market still couldn't find a useful memento by the time the day came and they entered the instance.

However, after Gao Hai contacted them for help, a member of the "Slacking Off Gang" with the "Prophecy Blessing" skill performed a divination for Aoyama Nanami, predicting that she would suffer greatly in the coming period but would ultimately survive. Therefore, although they couldn't find out where she had gone, at least her safety was confirmed.

"So, Miss Aoyama just vanished without a trace? Something feels off about this."

Zhenfei sat on one side of the sofa and spoke with great concern.

"Unfortunately, there's no way to track her down right now. Ah Hai... is she really alright? No matter where Miss Qingshan is, she'll inevitably enter the instance world today, right? Can she really survive unscathed?"

Chika, who was standing to the side, was also very worried and hesitated before asking Takahashi in a low voice.

Miko didn't say anything, but the worry on her face was undisguised. On the other side, Kaguya and Hayasaka were also keeping an eye on Takami's conversation while they were finalizing their inventory of equipment.

As for Goto Ichiri, who was sitting in a corner not far away, she was not, or rather, not hearing what the people around her were saying at all. She was just silently holding her old guitar, which had been transformed into a blessing item, and silently waiting for the dungeon to open.

Yes, unable to find Aoyama Nanami and with the dungeon opening time fast approaching, Goto Ichiri ultimately opted to obtain a special item from the [Market] that would force her to join the dungeon, deciding to travel with Takami's team. Although this one-time-use item, which Chika had previously used in the [School Ghost Stories] dungeon, would bring misfortune to the user to some extent, Ichiri used it without hesitation, considering that Kita Ikuyo had no choice but to travel with Takami's team.

Therefore, the final participants in Takahashi's team for this instance were Takahashi himself, Maki, Kaguya, Chika, Miko, Hayasaka, and Ichiri, as well as Kita, the little spirit in Takahashi's head, for a total of eight people.

Gao Hai estimated that his team consisted of roughly this many people.

If he could find Aoyama Nanami, he might ask her if she wanted to come along. That means a maximum of nine people; no more. He wonders how far his team can go, and what their fate will be.

"Don't think too much about it now. Let's get through this difficult time first."

Gao Hai coughed lightly, interrupting the girls' conversation.

The instance will open soon; in about ten minutes, they will disappear from the real world and enter a terrifying and bizarre alternate dimension.

Although the time it takes for players to enter and leave a dungeon is less than a second in the real world, and they could disappear in front of ordinary people without anyone noticing anything unusual, for everyone participating in this mission, how long they will spend in the dungeon and how many cycles they will go through is something that no one can predict in advance.

Seeing that Zi had taken a sip of water, the tension in her heart did not ease.

She glanced at Goto Ichiri sitting in the corner, wanting to say something comforting, but couldn't bring herself to say it.

After all, the other person had clearly had high expectations of her yesterday, waiting for her to find some clues. In the end, despite trying hard for a while, she couldn't accomplish anything. Although she wasn't blamed by Ichiri, seeing the disappointment in the other person's eyes, the kind-hearted Miko still felt somewhat guilty.

And I always feel... there's something strange about it that I can't quite put my finger on.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but recall the apartment building landlord who had just pushed open the door and asked what the group of people were doing there.

The landlord was an ordinary person, with nothing special about him, and there were no traces of any lingering power on him. To make sure there were no problems, Gao Hai even knocked out the nearly sixty-year-old man and conducted a very thorough examination, but still found nothing wrong.

But now, as Jianzi recalls the situation, she still feels that something might have been wrong.

Although she didn't feel anything at the time.

But at that moment, she couldn't explain why, the girl instinctively looked towards the door.

Then the landlord opened the door and came in. This coincidence made Jianzi feel deeply uneasy.