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

I didn't see the paper figure.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, all the paper figures that had been wandering around the village disappeared.

when!

Then, Gao Hai heard a loud clapper sound.

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Flower of Blood, the Blood of God, the Unclear Thing, and What Was Seen Behind the Door

when!

With another clear clapper strike, Gao Hai sensed something gradually approaching from the front.

Night watchman.

The strange creature that appeared during the invasion of the real world before the instance opened, and when Jianzi entered Liujia Village in the first playthrough, is now gradually approaching Gao Hai.

Before this, Jianzi had said that when she heard the night watchman's voice and realized that the other party was approaching her, she felt an extremely strong sense of fear and realized that if she really came into contact with that thing, her fate would be a miserable death.

But Gao Hai didn't feel that way.

At the moment he became aware of the night watchman's presence, and realized that the night watchman was gradually approaching him, he had absolutely no premonition of danger, and no intuition that he was about to face some terrifying monster. In fact... he felt that the thing approaching seemed quite safe.

This feeling was quite strange. Gao Hai could clearly sense through his perception that the night watchman who was about to appear in front of him was a completely strange creature, possessing abnormal characteristics, capable of easily killing living people, and inhuman and incomprehensible. On the other hand, through some strange sense that he himself couldn't explain, Gao Hai also vaguely felt that the night watchman was currently very safe and a trustworthy being.

What the hell? Why do I feel like I can "trust" this person? How does the word "mysterious creature" even apply to this?

However, in any case, there is no need for me to deliberately avoid the other party now.

With this thought in mind, Gao Hai endured the blood and vines that gradually appeared on his body as he approached the direction of the night watchman.

After Yotsuya Miko's single glance at the unknown big boss led to the team's annihilation, Gao Hai no longer needed to act cautiously. Although he still had many ideas and plans to implement, his life was already nearing its end, so it didn't matter. After all, as long as the crimson flower continued to grow within his body, Gao Hai's remaining time was still limited.

Neither the blessing of immortality, the blessing of teleportation, nor the blessing of memory modification seemed able to remove this crimson flower. Once touched by it, it became completely entangled with Gao Hai, and no matter what he did, he couldn't break free. It was as if from the moment they made contact, an invisible fate had bound Gao Hai and the crimson flower together, inseparable no matter what.

Not quite. There is a way: through the power of the black watch. If he dies once and returns to the Crimson City, the watch will naturally cease to exist. So far, Gao Hai has never seen any strange entity's power break through the black watch, and he doesn't believe this eerie blood flower can achieve the same. Therefore, he isn't panicked; he simply plans to be a little reckless in the remaining time of this loop, trying to see if he can trigger something different.

when!

The sound of the night watchman's clapper was already very close.

The dim red light of the lanterns illuminated the street, and Gao Hai strode forward without hesitation, heading straight towards the direction where the night watchman was.

It seems like you can hear some kind of sound.

A faint, muttered voice, like someone talking to themselves.

The sound kept repeating, as if begging for someone's forgiveness, and never ceased.

call--

A gust of cold wind caused the lanterns lining both sides of the street to sway.

Gao Hai had clearly heard the emotionless voice coming from ahead on the dark dirt road.

Beware of ghost candles in this freezing weather!

Although he hadn't seen the watchman's appearance yet, the thing's voice was quite penetrating, as if it were ringing directly in Gao Hai's ears.

[Keep quiet, hehe, you can't escape divine favor!]

Then, as if mocking something, the night watchman's voice turned into laughter, filled with malice, as if he were truly watching and appreciating some kind of scene, speaking casually and leisurely, as if making some kind of hindsight evaluation.

Gao Hai seemed to be able to see such a scene, although it was still blurry at the moment, he could gradually make out some details of the scene.

The villagers huddled in their huts, shivering on their beds, trying not to make a sound, praying that they would not be chosen.

As the night watchman struck his clapper, he slowly walked to the gate of the villager's house, staring at the gate and the trembling villager, grinning smirk.

Amidst the malicious laughter, the night watchman's voice continued to ring out. And Gao Hai finally caught a glimpse of a dark red figure emerging from ahead.

Alas, those who haven't set out by the fourth watch of the night, do you really think you can escape the eyes of the King of Hell?

The mocking laughter eventually turned into a sigh, followed by earnest words.

Those who are meant to be dogs will always be dogs; those who go mad will never wake up; those who think themselves clever will only dig their own graves. These paths, aren't they all chosen by people?

【But if you don't want to choose anything, then someone else will have to choose for you. Otherwise, how can your skinny arm possibly twist someone else's thigh?】

So when it's time to hit the road, just do it honestly. Maybe that's actually a good thing.

As the words fell, the dark red figure finally arrived in front of Gao Hai.

He got a clear look at the night watchman.

This should have been a very old man, a human being.

The reason for using "should be" is that it is actually just a human-shaped object formed by a tangled mass of dark red vines and flowers.

Judging from the slightly hunched posture and body shape, if the difference between the body shape before and after death was not significant, then Gao Hai estimated that the original night watchman was about 1.67 meters tall, slightly hunchbacked but still quite healthy. Judging from the voice, he should have been over 30 years old and under 50 years old, but Gao Hai could not confirm the exact age.

At this moment, this thing, just like when Jianzi and the others were affected, had completely turned into a deformed plant.

Unlike Gao Hai's teammates who died directly, this thing can continue to move and wander around the village as a ghost, constantly shouting various lines, repeating what it may have said in its previous life.

It did not attack Gao Hai, nor did it cause Gao Hai any damage.

Gao Hai already knew the reason for this situation: the deadly contamination carried by this thing had now infected him. As a carrier of the contamination, he would no longer be repeatedly infected by the same source of contamination. Therefore, Gao Hai was now actually safe in the face of the "Night Watchman."

So this is ah.

Therefore, the reason why the "night watchman" cannot touch it according to the rules is because this thing carries the curse power of the "blood flower".

Having understood the reason, Gao Hai sighed softly.

However, he was still somewhat confused.

Seeing that Zi had a stroke of inspiration after being watched by the mountain god of Xiaoheishan, she successfully saw that thing, which means that the [Blood Flower] itself should be closely connected with the existence of the mountain god. But why didn't such a terrifying thing show any trace of itself during the first playthrough? And since the power of the [Blood Flower] is strong enough to kill a powerful player in a few seconds, how did the [Watchman], who was probably just an ordinary human in life, maintain his existence after being corrupted and transformed by this thing, and become the so-called [Watchman]?

Something must be wrong.

There must be many gaps in these scenes and phenomena that I haven't been able to uncover, so that I can reasonably connect these clues.

tread--

Gao Hai blocked the night watchman's path.

Without the slightest hesitation, he reached out and snatched the clapper and short hammer from the night watchman's hand.

No success.

The seemingly ordinary clapper and the short hammer used for striking it seemed to be fused to the night watchman's hand, and no matter how hard Gao Hai tried, he couldn't pull them off.

Well, it doesn't matter if I didn't manage to get it down; it's already confirmed that it's an object of my obsession.

So Gao Hai dripped his blood onto the two objects, marking them with his unique method.

The night watchman made no move in response, but simply continued to walk forward, continue to strike the clapper, and continue to shout.

This thing treated Gao Hai, who was already infected by the [Blood Flower], as if he were air, and did not react to him at all.

Gao Hai wasn't surprised, after all, strange creatures were mechanical and rigid things like that. So he followed the thing, thought for a moment, and then took out the next prop to continue testing.

buzzing-

Gao Hai took out that blood saw.

Grasp the chainsaw with your hand, which is already showing holes of various sizes.

The next moment, Gao Hai thrust forward violently, piercing the night watchman's chest with a fierce tearing sound, just like when Leon was executed from behind by the Chainsaw Master in Resident Evil 4.

Still no response.

Even though Gao Hai had made such a direct attack, the night watchman did not respond in any way.

The main threat posed by this thing seems to be the contamination of the blood flowers on its body. It does not have any offensive or fatal characteristics. Therefore, as long as one can overcome the effects of the blood flowers, one can approach this thing and do whatever one wants to it.

Of course, considering the terrifying nature of the Blood Flower, Gao Hai felt that no player other than himself could accomplish this. After all, its lethality against the [Natives] was virtually unstoppable.

Yes, while he couldn't be entirely certain why he was able to overcome the [Blood Flower] to some extent, Gao Hai was certain that it was probably related to his identity as a [Transmigrator]. He wasn't essentially a person of this world, so although the strange Blood Flower could ultimately destroy him, he wouldn't die instantly like other native players who experienced the amplified corrosive effect due to the presence of some kind of [ancestral mark] in their bodies.

As for the night watchman, Gao Hai had come to understand to some extent why this thing could be considered a ghost.

buzzing-

Amid the roar of the chainsaw, a familiar scent flowed from the torn wound on the night watchman's chest.

That was the aura of divine blood.

It is the source of power for all the strange and mysterious creatures in all the dungeons of this world, or at least one of the sources of power. The source of this thing seems to be a very mysterious [hotel]. Many years ago, Sato and his companions accidentally entered that hotel and brought out divine blood from it. That divine blood eventually became the foundation of the [Campus Ghost Stories] Red Moon-level dungeon. And now, in the [Infant Cry Village] dungeon, Gao Hai has once again confirmed the existence of the divine blood.

Blood Flower, Divine Blood... These two things are not the same, but their levels and their essence seem to be similar.

The absorbed form of the Root seemed to grant Gao Hai a certain degree of understanding of these two existences. He vaguely understood that the existence of the "Watchman" was essentially a combination of divine blood and blood flower power, or rather, a compromise between the two forces. Under the influence of these two extraordinary powers, the originally human "Watchman" transformed into the strange creature he is today. He became an immortal legend because of the divine blood, forever bearing the vibrant blood flower. He would not lose his life or become immobile because of this, nor would he become an uncontrollable source of infection. He would autonomously limit himself according to the rules of the legend, and as long as no one recklessly came into contact with him, there would be no problem.

The villagers of Li Family Village weren't even afraid of players coming into contact with the Night Watchman. They knew that no matter how powerful a player was, encountering the Night Watchman would inevitably lead to their death, and players infected and turned into human bonsai probably had some way of disposing of their corpses. In comparison, the fox statue was what the villagers feared most; they didn't know what the effects would be if players came into contact with it.

hum-

Gao Hai has already put away the chainsaw.

The wound on the night watchman's chest healed instantly, and the thing continued to move forward without stopping or slowing down for even a moment.

"..."

In silence, Gao Hai looked into the distance, back the way he had come, but he could no longer see Zhenfei and the others who had been transformed by the blood flowers.

He quickly turned around and began searching house by house along the street, looking for the houses marked as "extremely dangerous".

After spending some time, Gao Hai found a house with a blood-red "Danger" character written on the door. Without hesitation, he jumped over the wall and landed in the courtyard, then walked into the house. At this moment, he could already feel a gaze emanating from inside the house, and an incredibly strong, chilling aura surrounding him. When he pushed open the door and entered the house, in the bright candlelight, Gao Hai looked up and saw a high throne, and on the throne, a woman with long white hair that reached the ground and blood-red, beast-like eyes, smiling and watching him.

What do you need from me, my love?

In her sweet voice, the woman's pair of animal ears twitched slightly, and her huge, fluffy white tail swayed behind her.

Gao Hai:? !

Doesn't the art style here seem a bit out of place compared to before?

Chapter Thirty-Four: The Fox Queen Appears Here, Revealing Wishes and Costs