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

If all of this is indeed a choice made by fate, then the fate of this world is truly quite cruel.

[All of this shouldn't have happened so quickly. Under normal circumstances, the "Sacrifice Game" should have run for at least five years, and five years of dungeon experience would have been enough for a group of top human players to grow and become the so-called saviors.]

[But the game's progression in this world has been accelerated. At a level beyond the reach of us KPs, some force has sped up the "sacrifice game," so much so that after only about two and a half years, it's nearing its final end. Because of this, many of us have essentially given up on this world, feeling indifferent to how things unfold. Perhaps the emergence of KPs like "Writers" from among us is also due to the world's hope being so slim, influencing our group's mindset?]

KP, who seemed to be sitting next to Gao Hai's head, remarked with emotion.

Those "historians" called this instance "Abyss Realm," which is a decent name. I initially had high hopes for them, even thinking they might be able to take some important items from this instance to pave the way for their future. But unfortunately, they didn't have that time to grow. The month after this instance ends, maybe two months later, this world will face the prelude to its end. You, who are not even ready to reach this point, must make a final, desperate fight for your lives.

To be honest, I find it hard to understand why the game pace in this world is so fast. Before those beings superior to me, I'm just a nobody with no power. Therefore, all I can do is pull you, the fastest-growing player among them, who holds the Key to All Things, into this instance, hoping you can survive this ordeal and accomplish what others cannot in the ensuing crisis.

Therefore, whether you accept it or not, I will not regret my actions. This is the last chance to forcibly enhance your strength; if you miss this opportunity, you will truly have no hope left...

KP's voice seemed to blur briefly, as if it had been interfered with, and it became rougher.

Most of my companions believe that your fate is already sealed, and that even with the addition of you, this extraordinary chosen one, no one thinks there will be any chance to change it.

But I don't like this viewpoint, nor do I want to accept such a boring story. I've had enough of those stale stories of foolish and ignorant people trapped in their own self-imposed prisons, making no progress even after hundreds or thousands of years, repeatedly wasting their chances to save themselves. To have to watch something like that again would be torture for me.

Therefore, I was truly delighted when I discovered I would be the one to choose your new instance. After all, you survived the third instance under the persecution of the Key of All Things, which is an extraordinary feat. If we want to break the predetermined future in everyone's eyes, I think only you are the most suitable candidate. Hehe, in a sense, this is also the work of fate. After all, the fate of the Key of All Things that you obtained destined you to be unable to access normal instances, so your encounter with me may have been somewhat coincidental.

During the conversation, KP's voice became increasingly blurred, and more and more noticeable background noise began to interfere with its sound.

Gao Hai had to try his best to concentrate and listen carefully to what the other person was saying, otherwise he might miss some information if he was careless.

But then, all the noise suddenly disappeared, and KP's voice became clearer than ever before.

It's a pity I won't be able to see that scene.

With a sigh, Gao Hai sensed that KP beside him got up and gradually walked away into the distance.

Having committed violations, and more than once, I must accept punishment. And for an being like me, there is only one form of punishment: eternal annihilation, ceasing to exist forever.

For me, the chains of fate are so heavy, so unbreakable; the slightest act of defiance has resulted in such a price. This is truly regrettable; I would have preferred to stay and witness more stories. However, since things have reached a point of no return, the things I can do now are much clearer. Therefore, this is my final contact with you, Chosen One. Having endured so much hardship and trial, will you ultimately be able to break the cycle and bring hope to this world destined for destruction? Even though I will not live to see you face the challenge, I sincerely anticipate your choices and perseverance in the face of fate.

Therefore, this gift serves as my final act of defiance, and I hope you will use it wisely. And, although I can no longer hear your reply, I still wish to ask you one question: in your opinion, did my final choice break free from the invisible fate that bound me?

After that, its sound disappeared.

A crimson light pierced the darkness, and the feeling of being heavily bound vanished.

Gao Hai opened his eyes and found himself lying in the square of the blood-red city, back in the silent city he always arrived at before each save point.

Was what I just sensed merely a message from that KP?

It selected a high-level instance for me that I shouldn't have accessed at this stage, and tried to communicate with me and give me hints within the instance. Therefore, I violated some rule and was destined to be killed and destroyed by some being. And then, before it died, this thing found me, left me this message, and is it going to give me something else?

To be honest, Gao Hai's feelings were somewhat complicated.

KP... What exactly are these inhuman beings? They possess high-dimensional characteristics, yet they don't seem to be the gods beyond human comprehension that I encountered in the instance. Rather, they are somewhere in between, like something specially created to perform a certain function.

They are fundamentally indefinable by the "good" and "bad" of human civilization. Even with the existence of something as distorted as a "writer," they are still difficult to describe using common sense. But without a doubt, they are intelligent beings with emotions, feelings, and a clear sense of self. Their actions of setting rules and drawing boundaries for each copy make their stance even more divided and harder to define.

However, no matter what, what I need to do will not change.

Clear dungeons, destroy dungeons, gain more and stronger power, and then face the next, even more severe challenge.

As long as you haven't been truly driven to the brink, you can't give up. That's all there is to it.

So let's see what this guy gave me.

Thinking this, Gao Hai got up from the ground and then noticed something he was holding in his hand. Lifting it up, he realized it looked just like the marionette the KP had used when he appeared before him. However, unlike the marionette that was bound and swayed by strings back then, the marionette in Gao Hai's hand now had all its strings broken, and the marionette itself was covered in cracks, as if it might shatter into pieces at any moment.

However, this is only what it appears to be.

Gao Hai could sense what this thing was.

That KP actually handed over his core to me? Is he making this choice because he can't survive? Well, since you dare to give it to me, I'll accept it.

Without any hesitation or embarrassment, Gao Hai immediately accepted the doll.

The instant he accepted this thing, he clearly sensed that he had gained three more rollback slots. Just like the writer who was pierced and roasted every day, this core, provided by the doll, gave Gao Hai more rollback slots, allowing him more opportunities to rewind and use the watch's functions.

From this moment on, the maximum rollback gauge for the black watch increases from 15 to 18.

Thinking this, Gao Hai slowly exhaled, then turned around and looked at the other side of the square.

Chapter 104: The Sufferers Return to the Bloodstained City and the Modified Watch Functions

Under the dark red sky, the silent city was no different from usual, still as lifeless as I remembered.

Upon returning to this place once again, Gao Hai remained silent for a long time before letting out a long sigh, revealing a look of utter exhaustion, just as he had on many previous returns.

The third playthrough of the [Infant Cry Village] dungeon ends here.

Despite Gao Hai's considerable struggle and extensive investigations over a long period, which yielded numerous clues, he ultimately failed to find a way to counter or weaken the Crimson Flower, an Outer God avatar. He even lost another companion and the girl he loved.

That was... such a failure...

Slowly walking towards the area where the girls were lying, I found Maki Shijou, Kaguya Shinomiya, Ichiri Goto, and Ikuyo Kita. The four were lying there quietly. Maki, Kaguya, and Ichiri all had their eyes closed, seemingly asleep and motionless. Kita's eyes were open, but they were lifeless, as if she had taken some kind of mental-depressing drug, appearing dazed and confused. It was likely that the mental trauma she suffered before being killed in her third playthrough had affected her, and she hadn't fully recovered yet.

This kid is really unlucky. She was already half-dead in the Red Moon-level dungeon for months, suffering every day. She finally got out, but then she ran into me, and had to come with me into the high-level dungeon [Infant Cry Village] to face off against a god above all monsters. Ah, speaking of which, the time I was tortured to the point of having my soul shattered in my second playthrough was similar. It took me several months to finally recover, and she suffered a lot during that time too.

But speaking of which, the next playthrough will be the fourth one.

I've done four playthroughs of both Fujika Junior High and Yoruyama Junior High before, and more than four playthroughs of Hayate Elementary School, but that was due to the "writers" causing trouble. In short, completing the dungeon within three playthroughs like I did with Shirakawa Apartment and Red Nut Gray Hole is no longer possible.

Each level is more difficult than the last, and each one is more dangerous than the last. When will this ever end?

Even though Gao Hai believed he was determined and wouldn't give up easily, the repeated setbacks and pain still made him sigh and feel genuinely tired and troubled.

And Xiao Ai... I won't be able to see her in the next playthrough.

Like Miko, she had been captured and imprisoned by the power of the crimson flower. However, unlike Miko, her situation was different; she suffered this fate because of me. It was because the crimson flower was watching me that it targeted Ai, who had been with me at the time. Otherwise, even if Ai had encountered that thing under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have been completely imprisoned.

Moreover, this is probably not the end. If the Blood Flower discovers the close relationship between me, Maki, Chika, and Kaguya Ichiri, it will definitely not let them go and will try to capture them all.

To be honest, Gao Hai really didn't understand this thing. From what perspective did this crimson flower view the world? Why did it define itself as humanity's "mother," and create such a mad scheme to erode, assimilate, and eternally imprison everyone, giving them the illusion of unchanging, beautiful happiness? Gao Hai truly couldn't understand the reasons behind this. Furthermore, whether this thing could understand human emotions and needs, and whether it could communicate with humans, was also very puzzling. After all, it could observe the intimate relationship between Gao Hai and Hayasaka and act accordingly, yet it showed absolutely no reaction to Gao Hai's attacks and hostility—this seemed utterly contradictory to Gao Hai.

What exactly is this so-called blood-red flower?

Speaking of which, after this thing captured me, when I tried to escape by self-destructing, it seemed to forcibly reverse the self-destruction of the black watch by injecting a massive amount of life force, which almost made me die.

Although he did eventually die, the real cause of his death wasn't the black watch's function, but rather Blood Flower's inability to control the amount of life force injected. This caused Gao Hai's life force to exceed the limit after being forcibly restored, resulting in a second self-destruction. It sounds rather ridiculous, since Blood Flower clearly wanted to save Gao Hai's life but ended up killing him instead. However, upon closer examination, the whole thing is rather terrifying.

The crimson flower—it can actually directly resist the power of the black watch, and it actually wins!

No, I should have realized this long ago, after that thing took Jianzi away. The black watch doesn't have an absolute advantage against this thing. Its existence is a truly insurmountable threat to me now, so great that even a cheat code could be overturned.

In the next playthrough, if I encounter the Blood Flower, perhaps... the watch's suicide function won't work anymore.

In other words, if I get caught by this thing again, it's very likely that I'll be completely finished and my journey will end here.

There's no chance to rewind, no possibility of starting over. It's a complete and utter death, or rather, a living hell awaiting eternity. This is the reality I face in my fourth playthrough.

"Ah, just thinking about it makes me want to give up..."

Gao Hai sighed deeply, looking increasingly exhausted.

Then, he simply lay down, rested his head on Maki's chest, turned his head to look at the girl's sleeping appearance, and then closed his eyes and fell asleep.

I didn't dream.

This time, Gao Hai experienced a dreamless, dark, and peaceful sleep.

He didn't know how many hours he had slept. When he woke up, Gao Hai yawned, stretched, and did a few push-ups to warm up. He immediately felt refreshed and all his worries had been left behind.

Well, that's impossible.

"I've rested enough, it's about time to get back to work. It's a pity that no one can replace me for this job, and if I quit, I'll lose my life. It's really not an easy job."

Shaking his head and sighing, Gao Hai sat on Kaguya's lap, then closed his eyes and began activating the functions of the black watch.

At this moment, he activated the function of establishing spiritual and deep connections.

The former, once established, allows Gao Hai and the creator to form a spiritual link provided by the black watch. The latter enables the linked individuals to establish a mechanism for transferring and releasing their obsessions and blessings. This means that the linked individuals can directly exchange their obsessions and release the power of blessings onto each other. With these two functions, Gao Hai's team's strength can be greatly enhanced, making it a crucial survival skill in the current perilous situation.

Prior to this, only Maki, Chika, and Miko had established a connection. Although the other girls had also developed close relationships with Takami, they had not been able to meet the activation conditions stipulated by the Black Watch, which is why the matter had been delayed until now.

Gao Hai knew that this was his own fault, the fault of him as the captain, and the fault of the girl who trusted him.

Even though I knew about this problem before, I never really made up my mind to have a serious talk with Kaguya and Ai to find out where the problems lay. I always thought that time would solve everything and that we would gradually overcome these issues. It was precisely because I wasn't proactive or persistent enough in matters of the heart, and because I was always too easy to compromise, that the team's strength was lacking, which led to two teammates being captured in this instance.

Especially regarding Miko, it wasn't the first time her extraordinary senses had caused serious problems. Moreover, back at Yoruyama Middle School, he had vaguely sensed that Miko's perception was evolving and gradually becoming stronger, and he had even considered methods to limit her abilities. But in the end, he only thought about it and didn't actually address the issue. Ha, after all, even though Miko had caused various problems before, he had ultimately resolved them. Frankly, he hadn't taken the matter seriously enough, naively believing that while Miko's eyes were troublesome, he could manage to suppress them even if something serious happened.

That's really arrogant.

Looking back on his thoughts now, Gao Hai's lips curled into a bitter smile.

What is Zi's current state?

This girl, who has always tried so hard to endure and help herself, has been bound by the blood flower for a long time. What will become of her if this continues? If it goes on for too long, will she still be able to be rescued?

Xiao Ai, too, pushed him away at the end because she knew she was beyond saving and hoped he could escape. Instead, he simply gave up, releasing his cognitive shield to look at the sky, intending to summon the fourth aerial missile to fight the Blood Flower. If he hadn't done that and had continued running, perhaps he could have held on a little longer, and maybe Zhenfei could have used that time to conduct a more in-depth investigation of the statue and uncover some more clues.

Tsk... What's the point of thinking about this now? What's done is done, and nothing can be changed. Rollbacks are no longer a foolproof guarantee, so I must be more cautious and careful with every action from now on.

There can be no more mistakes.

Having made more than one mistake, he was no longer a qualified captain. But he was the one holding the black watch, so whether he liked it or not, he had to find a way to resolve the situation. Therefore, all he could do was to do his best within his capabilities.

Click——click——

The hands of the black watch had begun to move.

Establishing a mental link requires one rollback slot, while establishing a deep mental link requires two rollback slots. Both types of links are permanent once established. Therefore, to establish a connection with Kaguya and Ichiri, Takami would need to consume a full six rollback slots. Without the core provided by the [Doll], Takami would have to use up all the slots on his watch until it reached position [9]. It can be said that thanks to the Keeper's (KP) voluntary sacrifice, Takami's survival pressure was somewhat reduced.

Well, it sounds a bit unpleasant, like saying the other person deserved to die. But then again, if this guy hadn't put pressure on me, I wouldn't have had to tackle this dungeon that surpasses the Red Moon level, especially the one marked "Dark Night level." Honestly, this whole thing is really messed up... No, not quite. The "doll" made it very clear before disappearing that the situation in this world is deteriorating rapidly. It's very likely that something will happen in the real world after this dungeon ends. And if I'm not strong enough then, my fate will probably be quite tragic.

Ultimately, this dungeon was set up by the [Doll] to forcibly boost my strength, and it has made that purpose crystal clear. In that sense, the Keeper (KP) is essentially on my side, on the side of the players and human civilization. It's just that I'm still very unhappy… After all, if a KP breaks the rules, they only need to say a few words and then die, while I, as the host of the Black Watch, have to clear this extremely difficult dungeon, and I have far too many things to consider…

Hmm, I was a little distracted, but this feeling is definitely not a problem.

Looking down, Gao Hai could clearly see that the hands of the black watch had already pointed to the position of [6], reaching halfway across the entire dial.

The three rollback slots provided by the [Doll] have been completely depleted, just like the three slots of the [Writer] who is currently grilling skewers. They are now empty and can only be filled later.

Both Kaguya and Ichiri successfully established mental and deep links. This means that from the fourth playthrough onwards, Takami could engage in the safest form of mental communication with them, and they could exchange and use each other's blessings and obsession items. The latter is particularly crucial, especially for Ichiri. Thanks to the deep link function, even if Takami and the others couldn't match her playing skills, Ichiri could use this function to directly set the location of her clones near others, regardless of distance. After all, with the deep link active, Ichiri could completely direct the guitar's rules to apply to everyone connected, treating them all as "herself."

That said, I actually managed to establish a connection with Yili.

Gao Hai lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

Kaguya was confident that she could establish a connection. After all, following his heart-to-heart talk and Chika's encouragement, the awkward girl had finally successfully expressed her feelings. This alone was enough to prove that their relationship had reached a new level. The fact that Andres's blessing link had been established first made this even more evident. But what about Goto Ichiri? Before this, he hadn't done anything inappropriate with Ichiri; they had maintained a respectful but distant relationship, merely spending at least a year together saving others. Did that meet the requirements?