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

The moment it came into contact with this thing, the vines immediately began to spread into Gao Hai's body, resonating with the vines parasitizing his body and growing at an accelerated pace.

But Gao Hai couldn't care less about that now; his only concern was the girl trapped in the vines.

tear-

With the blessing of rampage, Gao Hai tore off another large piece of the blood-red vine and threw it aside.

But the severed vines did not wither or stop growing; instead, they rapidly grew and spread across the ground, taking over more space.

Behind the door that had been forcibly sealed off, the stench of blood was growing stronger. What was chasing after them was closing in, and would likely reach Gao Hai within seconds, opening the wooden door.

tear-

He tore off a few more wriggling, blood-red vines.

At this moment, the spreading crimson color is everywhere. These writhing vines penetrate the ground, penetrate the walls and roofs of the surrounding buildings, and gradually change in shape, seemingly trying to replace the original things.

Gao Hai paid no attention to these things, but simply took another step forward, trying his best to tear apart more vines in an attempt to find the girl inside.

However, there was no way to find it.

Even though we had already torn away those annoying vines, there was nothing inside; we couldn't find a single trace.

The girl named [Hayasaka Ai] seems to be gone, no longer existing. She disappeared even more completely than Miko from the previous timeline, leaving not a trace whatsoever.

I rushed back as fast as I could, but was I still too late?

Amidst the writhing, blood-red sea of ​​vines, Gao Hai's movements paused slightly, and his expression momentarily blank.

"wrong."

But immediately, his eyes regained their clarity.

She's still here.

Even if you can't see her, even if you can't touch her, she's still here.

The power of the Blood Flower can be described as something that kills, or it can be described as something that grants immortality. It's wrong to have a one-sided understanding of something far beyond human imagination. Just as Miko could still give Takami hints in her dreams after being consumed by His power, Hayasaka has likely been transformed into another life form. Therefore, she is still here; she is still alive, only her consciousness and thought have been eroded and shattered, and she has lost her physical body.

I must find her.

If I let her continue in this state into the next loop, Ai will truly be gone forever; she will be taken away from me forever, just like Miko. Therefore, I must find her in this current state and take her back!

You can feel the blood vines spreading and growing wildly inside your body; they're about to burst out and bloom into new flowers.

By then, I'd probably be completely beyond saving. And if I died in that state and entered a new loop, I might have to lie in the Crimson City for another two weeks before regaining my senses. Therefore, it's best to commit suicide before the situation deteriorates to its limit. If I don't want to experience that torment worse than death, I have to do this.

Wait, flowers?

In fact, this thing is mainly represented by vines and flowers in the real world.

if it is like this……

Gao Hai's gaze fell upon the blood-red vines that he had torn to pieces, but which were rapidly recovering and growing back. He looked at the flower bud about to bloom that was wrapped in the writhing creature.

He pushed his way forward with all his might, tearing off all the vines that blocked his path, and finally reached out and grabbed the small, gently swaying flower bud.

Hayasaka, today's homework is about to begin, don't get distracted.

Then, as I touched the flower bud, I heard a soft, distant sound, along with the faint sound of a girl sobbing.

I think I saw a blurry image.

In the gloomy mansion, a little girl with her head down and a timid expression, wiping away tears, stands in stark contrast to the adults who watch her with indifference.

That was a time similar to Kaguya's childhood, filled with gloomy colors.

She was an introverted, shy girl who was prone to tears. But in that environment, no one sympathized with her, and no one gave her time to throw a tantrum. Even though her mother tried her best to show her love, she and her mother were always separated due to the family's inhumane and strict demands. What accompanied her was always a series of tedious and painful lessons and training, all for the sake of becoming that so-called "qualified servant."

However, this was unavoidable. After all, the Hayasaka family, to which Hayasaka Ai belonged, was a subordinate family that was annexed after losing a competition with the Shinomiya family. Therefore, the fate of the children in this family was decided from birth. Although this sounds absurd in modern society, the Hayasaka family had been servants of the Shinomiya family for generations. Members of this family would be trained from birth to become the personal servants of designated members of the Shinomiya family. Hayasaka Ai was chosen by the elders of the Shinomiya family to become Kaguya's servant under these circumstances, her fate decided with a single sentence.

But it wasn't just that. If she had simply become a servant, things might have been better. But within that twisted family, she was essentially given the role of a spy, a carefully orchestrated traitor who grew up alongside her master.

【Then, you shall become Kaguya Shinomiya's attendant. From this day forward, you shall report to me every single day of her every move.】

You need to become her most trusted subordinate, her friend, and her partner, so that she feels she can share everything with you and discuss things with you.

Then, whatever she does, whatever her thoughts or plans, you must tell me everything. This is your task, Hayasaka's youngest daughter. I believe you can do it well, so don't let me down.

Even after becoming a player, the young lady finally gained the power to confront and even overpower her family, freeing herself from this morally reprehensible duty. But that twisted feeling still lingered in her heart, tormenting her along with the fear of the monsters in the dungeons.

So I don't want to continue suffering like this anymore.

Even if you struggle to survive in the dungeon, aren't you still suffering in the end?

I don't want to face those terrifying creatures, and I don't want to be approached by those horrific things without being able to sense them or even knowing what they are.

And the young lady... does it mean that since there's no need to betray her anymore, the things that happened before can be disregarded?

If she knew that her most trusted servant was actually a spy planted by the family, if she knew that I was the traitor from the very beginning, she would definitely... never forgive me...

I clearly don't want to live with a mask on, and I don't want to pretend to be someone else to deal with others.

But whether it's the young lady, my classmates, my teammates fighting alongside me in the dungeon, or... my master who saved me, the way I face them is always the facade I learned through training. Whether it's pretending not to be afraid of those things, pretending to be a trustworthy teammate, pretending to always act calmly and rationally, this masked version of myself, suppressing my true self, is truly... utterly disgusting...

I don't want to suffer anymore.

If life is meant to be suffering, then I've already suffered enough, haven't I?

If falling asleep could bring eternal happiness, then perhaps that would be enough.

Let me end this, let me rest in peace.

Let me...

Let's sleep here...

……

Is this what she truly feels inside?

The moment he touched the flower bud, Takami sensed Hayasaka's consciousness.

Her consciousness, already on the verge of collapse under the power of the blood flower, was almost unable to sustain itself. All her pain seemed to be magnified in that instant, and her thoughts gradually veered off course under the erosion of the blood flower's power, showing a faint tendency to actively succumb to this force and fall into a deep sleep.

My mental energy can't be transmitted; in this state, she can't establish a temporary mental link. If there were a link through the black watch… what's the point of thinking about that now? No, I have to find a way to communicate with her, but my mental energy can't penetrate the blood flower's blockade. What should I do? What will happen if this continues?

Even with a hesitation of less than a second, Gao Hai could feel the urgency of the thing behind him rapidly approaching through the door.

He doesn't have much time left.

If he doesn't act immediately, he'll have no chance to save her.

What should I do?

We must not panic; we must come up with a solution now, as this is our last chance to rescue her.

So, after thinking about it carefully, what else can I do?

Gao Hai's breathing became erratic for a moment, then quickly returned to normal.

Since spiritual power cannot penetrate.

Let's just physically penetrate it!

The next moment, Gao Hai opened his mouth and bit directly into the flower bud.

Dark red liquid flowed from his mouth, trickling out from between the bitten and cracked flower buds.

Tiny, blood-red vines grew in Gao Hai's mouth, piercing through his tongue and teeth, and sprouting from both sides of his cheeks.

The murmurs that flooded his mind at that moment were so intense that Gao Hai thought his soul had left his body. Unlike Hayasaka, whose erosion had been clearly weakened, Gao Hai felt the full power of the blood flower's erosion, which had not been weakened at all, because he had chosen to bite or even swallow a part of the blood-red vines at that moment.

Hold on! I must hold on! I cannot lose consciousness, especially not at this moment. I must persevere!

I can no longer feel my own body.

Even though he managed to withstand the intense erosion for a moment, Takami almost lost all of his sensory abilities, with only a faint sense of vision remaining. He couldn't even be sure if Hayasaka could hear his own voice or sense him.

There was no time to wait for my senses to return to normal.

The blood-stained body behind him was about to reach him; there was probably not even a second left.

Therefore, even if we haven't established contact, all I can do now is communicate as much as possible and say everything I can.

Don't give up, Xiao Ai, don't give up.

In a daze, Gao Hai didn't even know if he had successfully controlled his mental power to transmit these words. He was no longer able to properly perceive himself and his surroundings. He simply focused his mind and did his best to say what he wanted to say.

{No matter what, don't give up. I will rescue you. I will definitely get you out of this instance alive, out of this hellish place.}

{I'm so sorry I haven't paid much attention to your pain until now. Only now have I heard your true feelings and understood your true heart. This is indeed my problem, my mistake. But people don't live to endure pain; they live to overcome pain and find happiness. Don't let those thoughts affect you. Don't give in, absolutely don't give in!}

{I'm not sure if you can hear me, but I'm right here in front of you. So don't give up, Xiao Ai. Try to break free, try to come to me. Don't let Him take you away. Let's find a solution together in the next cycle of reincarnation, and we'll solve the problem together again!}

If these mental fluctuations could be transformed into actual sounds, they would probably be quite hoarse and distorted. After all, Gao Hai's mental state is currently very bad. He has exhausted all his strength just to form meaningful information with his mental power, and he has no room to make any further modifications to the information itself.

It seems like I can sense some kind of response.

Although it was very subtle, I could definitely feel the mental fluctuations that belonged to Hayasaka himself.

She seemed to have regained some of her senses.

She also seemed to be trying to respond to Gao Hai, trying to say something.

It can capture this subtle fluctuation.

It will only take a little time.

Gao Hai was certain that he only needed a very short time.

Hayasaka's spirit has reactivated. In just a few seconds, I can follow this spiritual fluctuation to locate the location of Hayasaka's consciousness, which has lost its body. Then, I can pull her onto me like Ikuyo Kita did, ensuring that she won't be taken away by the power of the blood flower, but can continue to rewind time with me and act together in the next cycle.

Faster, faster!

The wriggling blood vines pushed one of Gao Hai's eyes off his face, but he couldn't feel the change.

With all his consciousness focused on Hayasaka's mental fluctuations, Takami was no longer able to perceive anything in the outside world.

crunch - crunch -

The wriggling crimson vines condensed into a human shape in front of Gao Hai, enveloping the crimson flower bud, and slowly raised their hands.

This blood-red vine, which is essentially just a clone of another, seems to have some kind of weakness in terms of power level. So much so that, under the spiritual resonance of Takami and Hayasaka, it actually began to reassemble Hayasaka's body, trying to reshape her from within itself.

Just one step away.

She was just one step away from being separated from this twisted thing.