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

She found it difficult to clearly describe what this feeling was like.

Perhaps at that moment, before that door actually opened, the person standing outside wasn't the kind-faced old landlord?

Or perhaps, behind the peephole of that door, something else is peering into the room from the outside?

However, mere unease, without any valuable clues, proves nothing. Yesterday, Gao Hai practically turned the entire apartment upside down because of her anxiety, but found nothing. Continuing the conversation now, even though Jianzi was certain her senior would side with her, it wouldn't change anything. She also had a primal feeling that no matter how many times she investigated that apartment building, the result would be the same.

Any clues that might have existed in that place must have vanished by now.

To find out the truth, to figure out what really happened, and to find the vanished Aoyama Nanami, perhaps we can only wait for another opportunity.

Regardless, for now we can only focus on the upcoming dungeon quest.

Hopefully, this time it will go smoothly.

In the end, all Jianzi could do was pray like this in her heart.

While the girls waited anxiously on one side, another group of people were preparing in a coffee shop on the other.

"I really think we don't need to prepare something like the Headless Buddha. I'm genuinely afraid that it might get out of control in the dungeon, which would turn it into a dangerous situation even if there wasn't one."

Cat Brother patted his head and looked at his companions with a helpless expression.

"No, we absolutely have to bring this. The players chosen by [Infant Cry Village] are a mixed bag. There are Red Moon level player teams, as well as a considerable number of Dark Night level players who have sneaked in to pick up scraps. If we don't prepare for the worst, something bad might happen."

With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Xiong Mi seriously rejected Cat Brother's opinion, and Jianbing, who was sitting next to him, nodded in agreement.

"Fine, fine, say whatever you want, just hope this thing doesn't really go out of control on me."

Cat sighed, looking reluctant, but finally accepted his companion's kindness.

On the other side, Guo Hang, who had only recently joined the "Slacking Off Gang," paced nervously around the room a few times before noticing that his shoelaces were untied. He quickly squatted down to tie them again.

The man referred to as the "Taoist priest" found a spot and fiddled with something that looked like a tortoise shell in his hand, muttering incantations as if he were calculating something.

There was also a man with a cold expression sitting a little further away, silently watching the five people not far away, not saying a word, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

"Taoist priest, how did the divination go?"

Cat Brother turned his head and asked at this moment.

"That's strange."

The Taoist priest hesitated for a long time before finally frowning and saying something with great doubt.

"Oh, so you're going to be unlucky again if you don't tell me this time? Every time you've given a divination before, it's never been an ominous sign."

Xiong Mi chuckled and asked.

“This time it’s different. My calculations show it’s all doom and death. Me, Cat Brother, and Xiao Guo, none of us will survive.”

The Taoist priest shook his head solemnly in response, immediately silencing the group of people who had been laughing.

"Death is certain?"

Cat Bro frowned; this was the first time he had heard this player, who had joined a little later, say something like that.

"Yes, they're definitely going to die, or at least that's how it seems."

"But for some reason, no matter how I calculated it, I could tell that people died, but then I calculated that we all survived."

"Two completely contradictory results have appeared simultaneously, and both are presented in very clear terms. This 'prophecy' is so strange that I cannot understand why such a result would occur."

But then, what the fake Taoist priest said next stunned everyone present.

They certainly knew that this nearly thirty-year-old young man named Li Nianyou possessed an extremely rare and special blessing: the [Prophecy Blessing]. Through the power of this blessing, the player could glimpse seemingly real but often unpredictable [afterimages of the future]. Because activating this blessing required using something recognized as a "divination tool" as a medium, and considering the man's own experiences, the members of the [Slacking Off Gang] began to call him a Taoist priest.

However, just as the Taoist priest himself said, the result of this blessing was really too strange.

While this guy had often given bleak predictions about the future in the past, subsequent events proved that he was basically just exaggerating, habitually portraying things in a negative light. But this time, he gave a completely opposite, and very clear, prediction, which is extremely strange.

Why would there be such a prophecy? Could it be that before he even entered the instance, the power of the blessing had already formed a connection with some strange creature?

Xiong Mi thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a reason. For some reason, she inexplicably recalled a man who seemed like a "miracle," and then she remembered the name of the player team that this guy had registered in the "market" not long ago.

This refers to a player team called "The Saviors," consisting of Gao Hai and his five girlfriends.

They actually call themselves the Saviors! This kind of childish team name feels even worse than the Slacking Off Gang.

However, judging by the miracles he accomplished in the [Campus Ghost Stories] instance, he certainly deserves this name.

Hmm, so, will this incident actually be related to him?

Xiong Mi considered calling Gao Hai to ask if he had also received the same ticket. However, considering that there was only a short time left before the dungeon opened, Xiong Mi hesitated for a moment and decided not to contact him, deciding to wait until the dungeon ended before doing so.

I can already feel it.

With the final countdown underway, players around the world, whether they like it or not, whether they are prepared or not, can already sense what is about to happen.

Some stood ready for battle, some cried out in despair, and some gave up and acted recklessly before being eliminated by the well-prepared players. Many of the players who received the "Invitation" reacted particularly fiercely, going mad at the thought of being forced to enter a mysterious Red Moon-level dungeon.

Of course, Gao Hai himself could never know such a thing. Right now, his attention was focused on the girls in the room. While humming a song, Gao Hai adjusted his mindset and looked at the girls beside him who were also making mental preparations.

hum-

Finally, Gao Hai heard that strange voice echoing in his mind.

This time the voice was very calm, sounding like that of a young girl.

But what it said was no different from before.

Welcome to the "Sacrifice Game"

The game level you are about to participate in is: Dark Night.

May you witness the end of all things amidst true fear.

All the light vanished as the sound faded.

Gao Hai felt as if he were being swallowed by boundless darkness, sinking into a void where nothing existed.

Then, light appeared.

call--

A chilly wind, accompanied by a damp atmosphere, descended.

Gao Hai opened his eyes, stood up from a country road overgrown with weeds and marked with tire tracks, and looked into the distance.

In the distance, towering mountains rise into the clouds under a dark sky, their height unknown, and stretches out into a vast forest.

There was also a small village at the foot of a mountain, where smoke rose from every household, and the village looked very peaceful and serene, seemingly only a kilometer or two away.

Volume 4: Mission Four: The Village of Infants' Cries

Chapter 1: Upon Arrival in This Isolated Land and Its Pristine Ecological Environment

The air here is very fresh.

Although the climate here is noticeably humid, making it an undesirable retirement destination for people with joint problems, Gao Hai must admit that the air quality is quite good; it's a genuine natural oxygen bar.

The faint chirping of birds can be heard in the distance.

Under the blue sky and white clouds, lush forests stretch along the rugged mountain range.

The towering mountains pierced the clouds, stretching as far as the eye could see. Lush vegetation covered the horizon, and apart from a small village nestled on the mountainside not far away, there was no sign of human activity.

There are no power lines, no paved roads, and no trace of modern civilization.

Not far away, below the only village on the high mountain, on a narrow plain formed between several peaks, rows of fields could be seen. Gao Hai couldn't recognize what was planted in the fields, but he guessed it was probably rice, since there was clearly standing water in the fields.

It appeared to be morning, and some busy figures could be vaguely seen in the fields. Because of the distance of at least several kilometers, Gao Hai didn't sense any strange aura. In fact, he felt that this place was more like a world inhabited by living people, completely different from the dungeons he had experienced before.

This strange feeling put considerable pressure on Gao Hai. After all, from the beginning, he knew that this instance was unusual and would definitely be very difficult.

In short, judging from first impressions alone, the main space of this instance should be this village located deep in the mountains, isolated from the world and far from civilization.

This closed and confined environment... I have a feeling it's going to be a really troublesome dungeon...

"This is my first time visiting a small town like this in a dungeon. I wonder what it will be like inside."

Chika stood beside Takahashi, tiptoed, and gazed into the distance at the village, muttering to herself.

"It's better not to have too many expectations. This is ultimately a dungeon world, and there won't be anything normal or beautiful for us to enjoy."

Meanwhile, Maki spoke calmly, carefully observing the distance between everyone's current location and the village using her enhanced vision.

The straight-line distance should be around seven or eight kilometers, but the actual distance is definitely more than 10 kilometers.

With just a rough assessment, Zhenfei realized that this instance might be the largest in terms of activity space that their team had ever experienced.

The group entered the instance from a mountainside. Descending from this point, they passed a vast lake, with the half-buried remains of what appeared to be villages destroyed by mudslides clearly visible beside it. Beyond the lake lay a field in a basin, terraced fields extending up the mountain along a river that flowed into the lake. Further up were the villages, their smoke rising from their chimneys.

The rest of the area was completely shrouded in dense forest, so dense that nothing outside the trees could be seen. The surrounding mountains were mostly steep, and even by sight, Zhenfei could tell that many places were extremely difficult to access from the outside. It could be said that even if this village existed in the real world and not in a virtual world, it would be an isolated village with almost no way to communicate normally with the outside world, because it was highly unlikely that any government would undertake large-scale construction to build a road for such a village.

Furthermore, the villagers working in the fields wore very rough clothes, unlike clothes produced in a modern factory. Hmm... an ancient setting? Is it a village set in ancient China?

Princess Maki observed very carefully, trying her best to gather as much information as possible in the opening stage.

"I can hardly sense anything... There seems to be no eerie presence here."

Seeing that Zi had his eyes closed, he carefully sensed for a long time before opening them and speaking with some doubt.

Goto Ichiri stood quietly in the corner without saying a word. Having lost contact with Aoyama Nanami, although she could communicate with Kita and relieve stress through the mental link established by the object of her obsession, her condition was still not very good.

Kaguya and Hayasaka were observing the surroundings, one standing at the front of the group and the other at the back, carefully conducting preliminary reconnaissance of the surroundings without straying too far from the team.

hum-

A piercing sound suddenly rang in the minds of the members of Gao Hai's team, just after they had completed their initial observation of the dungeon environment.

Everyone was frozen in place, unable to move, listening to the voice echoing in their minds. However, Gao Hai was different; he vaguely sensed that he wasn't completely immobilized this time. Although the force did control his body, compared to the feeling of complete paralysis he'd experienced during the previous three instances of the dungeon notification, this time… he seemed able to move slightly, at least his breathing was still functioning normally.

Before I could think any further, a strange voice began to speak slowly and deliberately.

Welcome to the Sacrifice Game

[Player Gao Hai, this is your fourth game, game level: Dark Night]

Your condition for passing the level is: Sever the threads that are trying to control your destiny.

The time limit for this game is 30 days.