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

This is the appearance of the surroundings that Miko could describe.

Within a 100-meter radius of the explosion point, all buildings had vanished without a trace, and a crater more than 10 meters deep was blasted into the ground.

Within the next 300 meters, the buildings were mostly in ruins, with not a single intact wall to be found. Flames began to appear in large numbers in this area, burning fiercely and raising a lot of smoke and dust.

As for the more distant areas, Jianzi, who had just climbed out of the impact crater, couldn't see clearly yet, but could roughly tell from the gaps in the smoke and dust that it was also a sea of ​​fire.

No, with such a sprawling fire... the entire forest of Little Black Mountain could probably be set ablaze.

Carefully, Jianzi began to move through the ruins. Unlike when she walked on the street before, this time there were no paper figures carrying red lanterns following behind her, and she couldn't sense any eerie presence at all. This situation was extremely unfamiliar to Jianzi within the instance, so unfamiliar that she began to doubt whether she was even in the instance world at all.

Such terrifying power... is this really a blessing?

Looking at the burning buildings and the tattered remains of paper figures lying on the ground, Miko couldn't help but feel a sense of感慨 (gan3kai3, a complex emotion encompassing both emotion and reflection). Incidentally, although flames were burning everywhere and the acrid smoke was constantly thickening, Miko herself was completely unaffected. This was because she was currently under the designated protection of Takami's blessing power; therefore, these effects, essentially caused by the aerial bombs, did not affect her. This allowed her to walk freely through the flames and smoke, emerging unscathed.

After spending a little time, Miko found Hayasaka, who had emerged from the ruins and was still somewhat bewildered.

Despite being separated by an inexplicable situation, Hayasaka herself did not lose her composure. She investigated the village alone for a considerable period, uncovering numerous valuable clues. In terms of the sheer number of clues collected, Hayasaka actually gathered far more than Miko. However, this is quite normal, as Hayasaka, compared to Miko whose senses were excessively acute and who could see all sorts of things, perceived almost nothing amiss, thus facing far less risk.

{So that's how it is. It's the power of the master's blessing. Such a violent breakthrough is truly unexpected.}

{Well, in short, the activity of the strange creatures around here has been suppressed to some extent. We'd better find Shinomiya as soon as possible, and the three of us can meet up before considering our next move. This situation certainly can't last forever; we need to find a solution before the strange creatures become active again.}

After a brief exchange, the two quickly got to work. Perhaps because they had teamed up before, Hayasaka and Miko's teamwork had become much more refined. Of course, since this was a two-person cooperative operation, rather than some kind of super combination mode, their coordination was still somewhat lacking. However, since there were no monsters around, this level of oversight wouldn't cause any problems.

It is no exaggeration to say that Gao Hai's aerial bomb has completely destroyed Liu Family Village on Jianzi's side, turning it into utter ruins.

Even after moving beyond the bomb's blast radius—more than 500 meters from the epicenter—the surrounding buildings still suffered considerable damage. This damage appeared not to be caused by the bomb's explosion itself, but rather by the debris and debris thrown up by the blast. As for the spreading flames, they showed no signs of abating and continued to rage.

Kaguya Shinomiya's location remains unknown. Considering the village is still large even in ruins, and the thick smoke and flames obstruct visibility, Miko and Hayasaka are unsure how long it will take to find their missing teammate. As for Ichiri Goto, whose whereabouts are also unknown, although Miko and Hayasaka had planned to look for him as well, they haven't found him yet either.

{Senior, I've met up with Hayasaka-san. She found the other two [Monster Village Record Sheets], both buried inside the house. One sheet is titled [Monster Village Investigation Record Part 3: The Night Watchman], and the other is titled [Monster Village Initial Investigation Record Information]. The latter is a fragment, incomplete, and appears to contain only about a third of the information.}

According to Hayasaka, these written records were buried under the beds in the bedrooms. In one house, she even found a small altar in a very hidden place, on which was placed a bamboo stick with the words "Jiang Shi" written on it. She suspects that the reason these papers were torn up and buried under the bed might be out of some kind of religious devotion, or perhaps out of fear and disgust.

{We haven't found Shinomiya-kun yet, but we don't see any active monsters around, and I don't sense anything unusual. Senpai, should I relay the information Hayasaka-kun saw now?}

Within the mental link, Jianzi was reporting the situation in great detail.

Not long after, Gao Hai's reply came through.

{Wait a minute. Your priority right now is to ensure your own safety and find your teammates. Memorize those two pages of records first, and let me know when things are safer. I still have other things to deal with and can't be distracted.}

Takahashi, speaking calmly to Miko, had already stood up completely and, along with most of the other players, looked around seemingly oblivious, searching for the "suspect" who had caused this commotion.

The crying is getting louder.

The villagers who were still alive were all filled with grief, calling out and calling out incessantly.

Gao Hai, who had already begun to consider whether to take the opportunity to escape, now saw the dense crowd of villagers gathering from the surrounding roads.

Their numbers were more than Gao Hai had anticipated.

Chapter Thirteen: Unusual Villagers and Another Investigation Record

You can sense the eerie aura gradually intensifying.

Unlike the villagers who appeared to be ordinary humans, these newly arrived villagers, who had gathered from all directions, clearly carried the cold, dark aura that only eerie creatures possess. Even though they hadn't approached yet and were still a considerable distance from the players, the ominous feeling was already so strong that it sent chills down one's spine.

The players have quieted down.

After the violent shockwave, many players had been itching to escape the plaza or try to loot the villagers' corpses for anything useful. But now, seeing these suddenly appearing, clearly menacing villagers, everyone stopped, and few dared to cause any trouble.

However, Gao Hai and his two companions remained completely still throughout. They had thoroughly investigated from the beginning and concluded that these villagers, who appeared almost alive, were unlikely to possess any valuable clues. On the contrary, the deeper they interacted with them, the more likely they were to attract some unknown trouble. Therefore, after the shockwave subsided, Gao Hai not only refrained from contacting the dead and wounded villagers, but also took advantage of the chaos to quietly release two summoners.

One of them was Lao Guo. The reason for summoning him was simple: Gao Hai wanted to use this rescue team member to try to enter a villager's house and carefully determine whether the players who had entered the house before were dead or had been teleported to some other place.

Judging from the results of his perception, those players were probably teleported. Hmm... and then Lao Guo died. The exact manner of his death wasn't clear; the rescue team seemed to have been killed immediately after the teleportation ended. As a result, Gao Hai wasn't able to get any clear information from Lao Guo.

If I had to put it into words… well, this feeling… it smells a bit awful? Tsk, with no effective feedback from sight or hearing, this rescue team member died too quickly. Gao Hai could only barely confirm that the rescue team member seemed to smell something very foul. Hmm, that stench was hard to describe; it was somewhat similar to the stench of a corpse, but it seemed to be mixed with something else. Gao Hai couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, only that it smelled disgusting.

As for the other rescue team member released by Gao Hai, it was [the teacher].

This non-human entity, dressed in a black suit with its exposed parts, such as its head and arms, appearing as black, ethereal smoke, and lacking any gender characteristics, has now entered a state of "nothingness" and left the plaza for other areas.

As a newly joined member of the rescue team, and the second Red Moon-level rescuer, Gao Hai naturally couldn't use this teacher in the same way he used Lao Guo. Furthermore, due to the special power of etherealization, the teacher was inherently more suited to the roles of reconnaissance and surveillance personnel. Therefore, Gao Hai simply had the teacher move around within the village, constantly roaming to construct an internal topographical map of the entire village and identifying and recording any houses that looked suspicious.

At this moment, the rescue team member had moved to an area more than a thousand meters away from Gao Hai. The village was larger and more intricate than Gao Hai had expected, with an internal structure like a maze. This reminded Gao Hai of places like the "Sick Village" and the "Undying Village." He wondered how the villagers who built this village had created this kind of terrain.

"..."

The dilapidated little square was now completely silent.

The injured villagers had stopped wailing at some point and were just lying silently on the ground, as if they could no longer feel their injuries.

The approaching villagers remained silent, and Gao Hai could barely hear their footsteps. It was as if they weren't walking, but rather floating towards him.

Gao Hai's gaze quickly settled on the man at the very front of the villagers. He was a man who looked similar to Li Ziyong, but was slightly shorter. This man's eyes and aura were noticeably more ferocious than that of the clan chief, Li Ziyong. Gao Hai felt as if he were a serial killer who had just escaped from prison, and that strong, eerie aura emanated from him. However… this feeling seemed more like the aura of some kind of obsessive force?

Thinking this, Gao Hai looked the man up and down several times, finally noticing the thin rope hanging around his neck.

The man was wearing some kind of pendant, but it was impossible to know exactly what it was, as it was hidden by his clothes. However, the object of his obsession was most likely that pendant.

How about trying to get some hair?

Gao Hai pondered the operation of recalling the "Teacher" and having it take some of his blood, then approaching the man through etherealization and sprinkling his blood on him.

No, let's play it safe for now. The previous explosion was already eye-catching enough; now is not the time to act recklessly.

After hesitating for a moment, Gao Hai decided to abandon his risky plan. If he were alone, he might have taken the risk, but with Maki and Chika present, he preferred a safer approach unless absolutely necessary, unless he encountered a special situation like Miko, where a strange creature directly approached him.

{Haijun, these villagers don't seem to be the same kind of people as before. Moreover, all the newly appeared villagers seem to be male; I haven't seen any females.}

While Gao Hai was pondering, Zhen Fei was also silently observing the villagers and quickly noticed a detail.

{They all seem to have ill intentions, Ah Hai. I suspect these new villagers are suspicious.}

Chika also spoke solemnly in the mental link.

{I know these guys practically have "something's wrong" written all over their faces. But don't worry, if things really get out of hand, I'll use Crimson Domain and Alice's Room to deal with them. For now, let's observe what they're up to.}

Gao Hai spoke casually in the mental link, but his gaze was focused as he carefully observed the villagers appearing from all directions.

In silence, a large number of villagers finally poured into the square. There was no communication, no friendly smiles; these expressionless villagers simply stepped into the ceremony area, then carried away the corpses and wounded villagers scattered on the ground, took away the scattered tattered items, and cleaned up the various traces on the square.

The man, who seemed to be carrying some kind of obsession, walked to the collapsed platform, found a high spot, stood on it, and coldly surveyed the players around him.

Gao Hai slowly frowned.

That look in his eyes seemed somewhat familiar to him.

A familiar, nauseating, physically uncomfortable look in my eyes.

Ah, it can't be wrong.

Gao Hai was certain that he had seen that look in many places.

Whether it was Lao Guo, the female mask gang, those fanatics, or those scumbags from Takamagahara, they all showed the same look in their eyes.

In his eyes, the man who looked very much like the village chief Li Ziyong was not a human being, not one of his kind, but something that he could use at will, something that he could destroy and tear apart at will.

This is a completely alienated look; they no longer see themselves as human, but rather as the gaze of those who consider themselves superior and greater. Regardless of their actual strength, at least in their attitude, in their own life philosophy and values, such people can no longer be considered normal human beings.

Something's wrong; we might be in trouble.

Realizing this, Gao Hai became alert almost immediately and prepared for another bomb to be dropped.

But to Gao Hai's slight surprise, after the man coldly surveyed the players present, he actually managed to force a smile onto his face.

"I'm very sorry, everyone."

The man spoke politely and seemingly normally.

"What should have been a joyous occasion to welcome the mountain god has turned into this dilapidated state. This is our fault, and I apologize to everyone."

As he spoke, the man lowered his head and bowed deeply in sincere apology.

"My name is Li Duosun. I am the younger brother of the clan chief, Li Ziyong. The clan chief is currently injured and unable to continue presiding over the event for the time being, so this welcoming ceremony will end here. Everyone, please return to your respective villagers' homes. We will hold another celebration tonight."

After the man named Li Duosun finished speaking, several expressionless villagers walked up to Gao Hai and his companions and gestured for them to leave.

At this moment, new villagers also appeared around the other players. Basically, each player would be watched by at least two villagers, and some teams of four or five or more players would be surrounded by more than ten villagers, maintaining an absolute advantage in numbers.

They just kicked people out without even offering an explanation before continuing the music and dance?

The aura of the eerie creature began to spread from the villagers, but at this distance, Gao Hai could clearly sense many things. For example, these newly arrived villagers were still human; each of them still possessed a strong human aura; and the eerie aura emanating from them didn't seem to be connected to their own bodies, but rather more like some kind of object carried on their person and exerting its influence.

Gao Hai and Maki Chika exchanged a glance, then obediently followed the expressionless villagers away from the small square that still reeked of blood.

From the perspective of the "teacher" who was still in the small square, Gao Hai could see that the small black mountain god statue that had been covered by a cloth had been lifted again and moved toward the road on one side of the square.

The village chief, Li Ziyong, was also dug out from under the broken planks. He had a large hole in his head and was already dead. The man named Li Duosun didn't say a word; he simply waved for several villagers to carry his elder brother away, and they were taken somewhere along with the other dead and injured villagers.

Should we try having the teacher follow them and see how these people dispose of the body?

Or should we try to contact other player teams first, and try to interact with them through rescue team members to learn about each other's situations?

Gao Hai walked silently along the dirt road in the village. After thinking for a while, he decided to first track down the whereabouts of these corpses and see what these guys were up to.

While I was thinking, I heard Miko's voice through the mental link.

After successfully reuniting with Hayasaka, she still hasn't found Kaguya's location. As they move further away from the explosion's epicenter, the surrounding ruins increase, the buildings become more intact, and the search and investigation become more difficult.

During this process, Miko kept an eye on the surroundings and searched for Kaguya's whereabouts, while also relaying some information that Hayasaka had gathered.

[A Record of the Investigation of a Strange Village, Part 3: The Night Watchman]

Like the piece of paper that Miko found, this piece of paper was also covered with dried black blood. If it weren't for the power of the new blessing that could restore the text, Hayasaka probably wouldn't have been able to identify anything of value from it.

[Part One of the Records]

The so-called night watchman is a watchman who patrols at night to announce the time; it is a common profession in villages and towns.

[But this strange village claims there is no night watchman, which is extremely suspicious and must indicate some hidden danger.]

The paper figures and statues I examined earlier were confirmed to possess extraordinary power, so this nonexistent night watchman might also have some special characteristics. I've decided to make him my third target for investigation and observe him for a period of time.

I need to try to contact the other party, regardless of whether it's dangerous or safe; it's essential to find out who this night watchman is.

[Second part of the record]

I heard the night watchman's voice at night.

But when I went out of the house and onto the street, I couldn't find the night watchman.