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

Thanks to his mental strength, Gao Hai caused no damage in this battle. After the joint operation with Jianzi ended, the bedroom floor did not collapse at all, the walls did not crack, and Xiao Hua, who was already asleep next door, was not disturbed.

To be honest, I still feel somewhat sorry for Xiaohua. After all, last night, Jianzi was overwhelmed with shame because of her friend's presence, so she didn't make a sound the whole time. Gao Hai deliberately carried Jianzi to the sleeping Xiaohua and, taking advantage of Jianzi's shame, did some things he had never done before. It's safe to say that this unprecedented experience gave Jianzi a very profound experience, to the point that she eventually fainted.

Well, of course, it's also possible that Takahashi didn't let Miko sleep or rest at all from 11 PM until 5 AM the next morning. But in this matter, Takahashi felt he wasn't at fault at all. In his view, six consecutive hours of joint operations were perfectly normal. Both Chika Maki and Kaguya Hayasaka had done similar cooperative operations with him, and there had even been a five-person joint legion battle. In comparison, he had deliberately slowed down the pace to ensure Miko's first gaming experience, so as not to give her any bad feelings. And the prolonged battle that followed was simply a reward he deserved, so what was wrong with that?

"You actually recreated all the positions you tried in your dream. Senior, isn't your perverse sense of humor a bit too much?"

Having already showered and returned, Miko, now dressed in pajamas, walked up to Takahashi. She looked at him, who was still lying on the floor, with displeasure, and said angrily with her lips pursed.

"After all, the experience of dreams and reality is completely different. As a senior, I naturally have to teach these principles to the younger generation."

Gao Hai sat up and looked at Jian Zi, answering confidently as if he had only done something perfectly normal.

"...You weren't such a glib-tongued person before, how did you become like this now?"

After a soft sigh, the girl slowly sat down, directly into Gao Hai's lap.

In response to Miko's actions, Gao Hai naturally reached out and hugged her, then stepped back slightly to lean his back against the side of the bed, allowing Miko to fall into his arms. Her long, smooth hair, which she had just washed and dried, fell onto his cheeks, filling the air with its delicate fragrance.

The two of them didn't speak, but simply leaned against each other quietly for a short while.

Then, Miko, who opened her eyes first, looked up and met Takami's gaze, which opened a little later and moved downwards. Their eyes met for a moment. After a moment of silence, Miko couldn't help but laugh out loud first, then lowered her head and buried it in Takami's chest, laughing twice more.

"I skipped class for a whole day. I would never have done something like that before I met my senior. He corrupted me."

Seeing Zi extend her finger and gently poke Gao Hai's chin.

"Don't talk nonsense. This is a leave request, a vacation obtained through a proper procedure. How can you say it's skipping class? Jianzi, your awareness is a bit lacking."

Gao Hai, however, remained righteous and seriously denied the girl's accusations.

"The problem is, I didn't ask for leave at all. Did you use your mental power to influence reality and make Xiaohua convey my leave request to the school? And Mom too, you hypnotized her and made her think I went to school, didn't you? Using your abilities so casually to trap me at home and keep me from sleeping all night is just too much. Are you planning to become one of those middle-aged men in those sadistic movies who imprison girls?"

The girl's accusations did not stop because of Gao Hai's excuses; instead, they became even more intense.

Of course, although it was an accusation, there was no anger in Miko's voice; instead, there was more helplessness and a hint of coquetry.

"Believe me, those older men could never be as handsome as me. And even though I didn't sleep last night, I slept all morning, which should be enough, right?"

Gao Hai gently rocked Jianzi a few times while holding her, his tone as calm as ever.

"...Senior, are you sure that can be called sleeping?"

But this only intensified the dissatisfaction in Miko's eyes.

The girl propped herself up, grabbed Gao Hai's hands, and in the next moment pressed him directly to the ground.

bang——

With a muffled thud, Jianzi's unrestrained attack caused cracks to appear on the floor. But quickly, as Gao Hai's mental energy spread, the floor, which had been dented, was rapidly repaired and returned to its original, intact state.

This casual alteration of reality didn't surprise Miko. After all, Takahiro had already used this ability multiple times to repair damage during their joint operation the previous night. The situation then was far more serious than it was now, especially the time when the two of them accidentally used too much force, causing them to break the floor and fall to the first floor. If Takahiro hadn't used his mental power to quickly repair everything and hypnotize Xiaohua and Miko's mother, who had noticed the commotion, making them forget everything and fall back asleep, Miko probably would have completely ended her life in a social sense.

However, this doesn't stop her from harboring resentment towards Gao Hai at this moment.

"They've been keeping me up all night, and after I finally fell asleep, they started playing tricks on me in my dreams again. Whether I'm awake or asleep, they don't give me any rest at all. Several times I felt like I was about to die. Senior, can't you control yourself a little and not let your desires get the better of you?"

The son is making accusations.

Gao Hai simply responded with a smile.

Their playful bickering didn't last long. Soon, Miko, dressed in casual clothes, left home hand in hand with Takami. Then, quickly, Takami was pulling Miko, who was still somewhat uneasy about skipping school, along the sunny streets, beginning their date.

Three days after yet another "sacrifice game" ended, the real world was bustling with traffic and people coming and going, and everything was peaceful.

There were no twisted and terrifying monsters, no bloody tragedies, and no arduous trials leaving one battered and bruised. Above the blue sky, the sun still gently illuminated this land, and the man and girl, hand in hand, walked together, enjoying this ordinary happiness that had not yet come to an end.

However, not everyone has the time or inclination to enjoy these things.

Still no news?

In Aoyama Nanami's rented room, Kita Ikuyo gazed at the small room with a melancholy expression and let out a sigh.

"……Um."

Goto Ichiri, who was sitting on the ground to the side, nodded slightly, but his expression was not very pleasant.

After the events in [Infant Cry Village] ended, it was quickly confirmed by the two former teammates that player Aoyama Nanami had failed to return to the real world. At the same time, it was also confirmed that ordinary people who had contact with Nanami had not forgotten her, meaning that Nanami was still alive and had not died.

So, where did she go?

After coordinating with the Market to ensure the most crucial preparations for dealing with the apocalypse, the two, who finally had time to investigate Nanami's whereabouts, fell into silence.

Interlude 4-10: Questions about the investigation of the missing persons and the arrival of KP

Despite Kita and Ichiri's efforts to investigate Aoyama Nanami's mysterious disappearance, they have been unable to find any clues.

This veteran who had led the two through countless missions seemed to have vanished into thin air, completely erasing all traces of herself from the world from the moment she disappeared. If we consider the most likely explanation, it seems that Aoyama Nanami may have accidentally entered some instance and died there. But if that were the case, ordinary people in the real world should have completely forgotten Nanami's existence. However, according to the two girls' investigation, all the ordinary people who had contact with Aoyama Nanami still remembered her; no one had lost any memories related to her.

Therefore, she should still be alive.

If they are still alive... could it be that, like Fujika Middle School, they were imprisoned in a dungeon by the power of the monster?

Regardless, Sister Nanami is a Red Moon-level player, and extremely skilled at survival; even if her body is destroyed, she has ways to regenerate and repair herself. What kind of dungeon could have trapped her, preventing her from returning to reality even after the dungeon quest has ended?

As Kita pondered, he glanced at the several voice actor guidebooks on the bookshelf that were already worn out from being read so many times.

Nanami-nee...

Taking a deep breath, Kita controlled his emotions, and his gaze gradually became firm.

"Try a divination."

She turned to look at Ichiri sitting to the side and made a suggestion.

"Through special divination rituals and the power of obsessive objects, there is still a chance to find clues. Although this kind of ability is very rare and its use often comes at a heavy price, there is probably no better way to find Nanami right now."

What Kita was talking about was not the kind of prophetic ability used by Li Nianyou of the "Slacker Gang," but a more profound ability that could construct mystical connections by leveraging various factors such as fate and blood ties between people.

By utilizing this power, Kita was certain that she and Ichiri could find traces of Nanami through the connection they had established, or at least receive some vague revelation. However, while this ability was useful, it was also extremely dangerous. If the connection was successfully established, and Nanami happened to be in some kind of cursed or distorted state, Kita and Ichiri could be caught in the crossfire. Moreover, if something locked onto Nanami, this connection would also lock onto Kita and Ichiri.

In other words, if things really go badly on Aoyama Nanami's side, Kita and Ichiri could be brought to Nanami's side by the power of divination, and the three of them would share the danger.

Even so, Kita was determined to do it. After a brief discussion with Ichiri, she contacted both the Market and the Red Society, hoping to find players who could use the divination ability through these two organizations. This process wasn't smooth, as everyone had already begun a full mobilization following Takami's warning. In this situation, it wasn't easy to spare manpower to help Kita and Ichiri. Therefore, after a brief discussion, Kita was told that it would take at least four or five days to find someone.

Do we really have to wait that long...? Nanami-nee, can she hold on until then...?

Kita and Ichiri were both plunged into a somber mood.

Despite this, they had no intention of asking Takami for help, even though they knew he could contact the person they needed much faster. The reason was simple: they didn't want to bother him and disrupt his daily life. After all, simply saving Kita was already an indebted debt. Although Aoyama Nanami's whereabouts were currently unknown, at least it was confirmed she wasn't dead, so Kita, after much hesitation, decided to postpone seeking Takami's help.

Meanwhile, Gao Hai and Jian Zi had spent the entire day shopping together. They went to a cute doll shop, bought ice cream together, went to see a movie, had dinner at a restaurant, and finally strolled hand in hand along the riverside path, spending their day having fun.

It wasn't until 8 PM that Gao Hai took Jianzi home. Shortly after Jianzi arrived home, he secretly followed her in, startling her as she came out of the bathroom after taking a shower.

Afterwards, with Gao Hai's mental energy blocking their movements to ensure that Miko's mother outside wouldn't hear, the two young people, like newly in love, became intimate again. Unlike Gao Hai's one-sided teasing the night before, after their first encounter, Miko gradually began to utilize the experience she had accumulated in the dream world over the past month. She gradually became able to keep up with Gao Hai's pace and even manage to overpower him a few times, a level of skill that left Gao Hai in awe.

Around 3 a.m., the two, finally feeling a little tired, fell asleep in each other's arms. This time, Jianzi gave Gao Hai a very serious warning: he couldn't continue to touch her in his dreams. Gao Hai outwardly replied with a serious "okay, okay, okay, uh-huh," but it was clear that he had no intention of keeping his promise and was already prepared to continue his carefree adventures in his dreams.

...At least that's what Gao Hai thought at first.

Dream.

It wasn't the familiar dream I shared with a young girl.

I dreamt of a blurry, indistinct white.

I dreamt of a pure white color that covered the entire world, seemingly trembling gently.

Something is stirring within this.

Something that was wriggling little by little, like a worm.

tear-

Then, Gao Hai heard the sound of something being torn apart.

From that pure white color, a sudden crack appeared, and from the crack, a blood-red color seeped out.

Then, Gao Hai realized that what he was seeing was actually a cocoon.

A cocoon that was gestating something, which has only now truly hatched.

What's inside?

What exactly is buried inside this cocoon?

Open your eyes wide.

I want to see those blurry things more clearly.

But in sight, there was nothing but the scarlet color seeping from the white cocoons.

zizi——

A piercing electrical sound disturbed me from behind.

In the hazy dream, Gao Hai's gaze shifted slightly, and he finally saw something other than the red and white colors.

It was a person, or rather, something that roughly resembled a human.

Its body was covered in thick, tattered, and strange clothes that looked like they were haphazardly sewn together, and its hands, which protruded from the sleeves, were mechanical structures.

The most striking feature was the creature's head, which was actually a television screen the size of a human head, with three smaller screens next to it. At that moment, as the creature slowly approached Gao Hai, the four television screens flickered continuously, displaying various bizarre images amidst a buzzing sound of electricity.

This thing is KP.

Gao Hai understood this the moment he saw it.

On the third day after the end of the [Infant Cry Village] instance, Gao Hai met another new KP in his dream.

To be honest, given that he had already been told what would happen in the future, Gao Hai really didn't want to meet the new KP so soon. After all, the fact that the other party had shown up meant that the crisis Gao Hai would have to face might arrive even faster than he expected.

Interlude 4-11: The Twisted and Split KP and the Noticed Anomaly

"you……"

Gao Hai opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say.

Having already encountered quite a few KPs (Keepers), Gao Hai had gained some understanding of this bizarre group. However, precisely because he understood the diversity of the KP community, Gao Hai was even more reluctant to easily engage with them. After all, the example of the "writers" vividly illustrated how low the bar for KPs could be, while the example of the "dolls" clearly demonstrated the extent of division within KPs. He dared not expect to encounter any KPs he might face.