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

I had a pretty bad impression of him at first.

I used to hate him because he was a harem guy and played all sorts of depraved games with his girlfriends, but why don't I feel any disgust towards him now?

This man named "Gao Hai" is truly a strange fellow. My connection with him is probably both incredibly unlucky and incredibly lucky. Anyway, there's no reason to back down now, so I might as well keep going with it.

Unexpectedly, Takami did not respond to Kita's invitation immediately.

After all, unlike the girls like Maki who shared life and death with him, and unlike Ichiri who had spent a long time with him, Takahashi knew very well that his encounter and interactions with Kita were more out of necessity and helplessness. Whether it was the month they spent together or the difficult survival in the dungeon, it was hard to say what kind of emotional connection they had built up along the way. In any case, normal romantic feelings were impossible, a fact that Takahashi could clearly sense from today's almost performative date.

Even if Gao Hai himself were to try, he would find it difficult to describe his current feelings for Kita. He believed that the red-haired girl herself was equally unsure how to treat him. However, this invitation, and the subtle emotions revealed in the girl's words, took Gao Hai somewhat by surprise, leaving him unsure of how the girl's thoughts had changed.

Then, Kita grabbed his hand.

"I've already said that, so please don't make things difficult for me anymore. You've already made me look so foolish today."

The girl's voice carried a hint of complaint, as if she was still somewhat unable to let go of the fact that Gao Hai had forced her to confront her mother.

But Gao Hai didn't sense any negative emotions from her. On the contrary, what he felt in his mental energy through the girl's words was a gradually warming emotional power. It was as if she was originally a withered flower, but at this moment she was gradually radiating vitality.

"Sorry, I was just a little surprised that you invited me. How could I possibly refuse such a good opportunity?"

So Takahiro smiled and followed Kita into the house in front of them.

What happened next wasn't particularly noteworthy. It's unclear how Kita introduced Takami, but her mother, Kitaruyo, treated him as a powerful and influential figure, behaving with extreme caution and apprehension, afraid of displeasing him. In response, Takami had to soften his tone, explaining the various situations within the player community to his mother in a gentle voice, and even setting up mental fragment protection and mental strength protection for her.

Kita returned home shortly after his father, a civil servant, and quickly regained his memory after seeing Kita in person. The touching reunion of the family and the confusion and fear of ordinary people in the player world unfolded one after another, and Takami felt like he was about to talk his throat dry just trying to explain the situation. Only then did he vaguely guess that Kita might have brought Takami in so that he could talk to Kita's father, because he found it troublesome to explain the situation repeatedly.

Regardless of whether the truth is true or not, let's remember this grudge for now.

In short, as it got later, Kita naturally wanted to rest at home after a long time. Takami said goodbye to Kita's parents quite naturally, then activated his invisibility and etherealization, quietly returned and sneaked into Kita's room, where he found the girl in her pajamas cleaning the dust.

"This is Kita's room. It looks quite tidy."

Takami, who appeared in the room, sat down on Kita's bed quite naturally and commented on the room, which had a very girlish feel.

"It's been more than two months since I last cleaned it. To be honest, I doubt I can even sleep in this room tonight. There are so many places that need cleaning and so many things that need replacing."

Kita herself was not surprised by Takami's appearance. She put down her broom, stopped sweeping, and sat down next to Takami quite naturally.

"This is no trouble at all."

Upon hearing this, Gao Hai snapped his fingers, and the dust in the room instantly gathered together and, under his command, automatically flew out the window to a nearby garbage dump. The bed sheets and blankets, which hadn't been changed for two months, also became spotless under the influence of his mental power, looking as if they had just been bought from a store.

"No matter how many times I see it, I always feel like this mental power is cheating."

Seeing his bedroom, which he had spent a long time trying to clean but hadn't managed to get clean, transformed in an instant, Kita couldn't help but shake his head in dismay.

"You also have to think about how much I suffered to gain this power; it wasn't something that came easily."

Gao Hai also chimed in with a sigh, but his sigh was more profound than Kita's.

"Of course I know, after all, I suffered along with you, didn't I? That's why I said Mr. Gao, you're really not human, there's no one as terrifying as you."

As she spoke, the girl turned her head and looked at Gao Hai's handsome face.

To be honest, judging solely by appearance, I probably prefer a more carefree and unrestrained style, right? Mr. Gao is handsome too, but his demeanor is just too serious. You can't tell he's a lecher at all; he looks more like a soldier from China. Hmm, with such a proper demeanor, why is his inner self completely different? What a strange man.

"Thank you, Mr. Gao. I am truly grateful for everything you have done these past two days."

Kita's voice became incredibly serious at that moment.

"It can't be entirely attributed to me. The important thing is that you originally wanted to restore the original relationship, didn't you?"

Sensing the change in the girl's mindset, Takami turned around and looked at Kita, who was sitting next to her and staring intently at her.

"Without Mr. Gao, I definitely wouldn't have been able to muster the courage, so I think I should repay him no matter what, and not let Mr. Gao just give to me unilaterally."

Kita's voice remained calm and steady.

But her cheeks were already flushed, and it was clear that the "reward" she was referring to was something that would make her feel ashamed.

What kind of reward?

Gao Hai originally wanted to ask that question as well.

However, when Kita opened his arms and wrapped them around his neck, Takami understood Kita's thoughts and decisively chose to support and accept them.

So Takami lowered his head, while Kita straightened his back and raised his head.

A light kiss was exchanged between the two of them.

Interlude 4-51: The End of the Date and the Brewing Storm

Thirteen days after the dungeon ended, Gao Hai's solo dates with the girls finally came to an end.

Last night, my last contact with Kita Ikuyo ended with a deep kiss, marking a real breakthrough in our relationship, and we officially became a couple.

As for why they didn't jump straight into a physical fight, it's simply because Kita is a rather reserved girl and couldn't be too proactive. Meanwhile, Takami, after several rounds of intense physical interactions these past few days, wasn't in a rush to take their relationship to the final step. After all, these things can't be rushed; for mutual feelings to reach a certain level isn't something that happens easily; it requires considerable experience.

Just like how Hayasaka Ai and Takami had already established a deep relationship during the Hayate Elementary School arc, it wasn't until after the Infant Cry Village arc that Takami overheard Ai's true feelings and they finally broke through to the final barrier. As for Kaguya, it goes without saying that it took quite a while from the Shirakawa Apartment arc to finally reach the end.

Therefore, regarding the physical relationship, Gao Hai proactively gave up after confirming that Kita was still somewhat hesitant, deciding to give her more time to think. Andres's blessing connection failed to be established this time, which was understandable given Kita's previous negative impressions of him; it wasn't expected to change so quickly. However, Gao Hai was certain that the mental link with Kita using the black watch could now be established. Whether a deep link would work was still unclear, but Gao Hai felt it should be fine; it's just that these functions could only be verified after Gao Hai died once.

In conclusion, the seventh member of the harem has been officially added to the family.

Thinking about this, Gao Hai felt like he was playing some kind of stamp collecting game, and couldn't help but chuckle. His voice obviously woke up the girl next to him who wasn't sleeping very soundly. She opened her sleepy eyes, yawned, rubbed her eyes, and then noticed Gao Hai lying next to her.

"Oh, you're awake. Did you sleep well?"

Seeing that the girl had regained consciousness, Gao Hai turned around, greeted her, and asked.

"..."

The girl did not answer Gao Hai immediately.

After her mind gradually cleared, Kita Ikuyo didn't speak. Instead, she lowered her head and began to feel her own body.

There was nothing unusual, really nothing unusual at all.

"...They really didn't do anything."

After checking his body and confirming that there were no problems, Kita slowly raised his head, his voice carrying a subtle feeling.

"Of course it's impossible. My senses are very sharp. I don't want to accept your idea of ​​giving your body to me out of gratitude. I would much rather you do it willingly. That's what I like."

Takahashi spoke to Kita with a very serious tone, his voice frank and completely devoid of any intention to lie.

"I don't remember you being like this. You clearly did things like sleeping with Chika."

Kita sat up in bed, looking at Takami with suspicion.

"That was just something between her and me, it was a matter of mutual consent, how can you confuse the two? You see, I would never play that kind of game with Zhenfei."

Takami, with an upright and righteous air, refuted Kita's statement in a very serious manner.

"But you'd pull Maki's hair and make her meow like a cat, is that what you call a normal game?"

However, Kita, who had been following Takami to observe various game techniques for a month, immediately gave a second example, and his expression towards Takami became even more subtle.

"That was just teasing Maki, what's so strange about that? I think you're the one who's strange. Could it be that you're starting to doubt your own charm because you think I'm so casual with other girls but so gentlemanly with you? No way, no way, my lovely Kita-san wouldn't be thinking that, would she?"

Gao Hai sneered. Having already seen through the real reason for Kita's dissatisfaction, he immediately transformed into Alice Unit 2 and unleashed a barrage of attacks on Kita.

"Don't talk like Alice. It's disgusting for a grown man to speak like that."

Unsurprisingly, this move immediately angered Kita.

The girl opened her mouth and bit Gao Hai's wrist hard, but didn't break the skin.

Knowing that Gao Hai was tough and wouldn't be easily defeated, she then reached out and punched Gao Hai's shoulders and chest a few more times, before snorting and turning away, looking like she didn't want to pay him any attention.

Kita's mindset was indeed as Takami described, carrying a somewhat contradictory and distressed feeling.

After taking the initiative to kiss her last night, Kita was actually prepared to take things to the next level with Takami. To this end, she didn't hesitate to imitate the girls she had seen before and directly launched a French kissing attack on Takami. However, she was quickly overpowered by Takami and pinned down on the bed.

At that moment, Kita told himself that he should be prepared to take the final step, and that this was what he had to do.

Although she was actually somewhat afraid and resistant at the time, worried that she might be manipulated by Takami like Chika had, and that her feelings for Takami weren't truly strong enough to warrant such a thing—it was still a little short—it's fair to say that for Kita now, her feelings for Takami are more of gratitude and trust; romantic feelings aren't particularly intense. It was only because she understood what this man wanted that she made the decision to give herself to him after careful consideration.

As it turned out, this pervert didn't want her, saying he didn't want to force her, so he didn't touch her at all. He really just lay in the same bed with her for one night and didn't touch her body even once.

what the hell……

He was like a beast, constantly moving from one battlefield to another, so why has he become so serious now?

Kita silently complained to himself.

Of course, the girl knew in her heart why Gao Hai was acting so gentlemanly. But it was precisely because she knew that he wanted to do it only when she was truly willing from the bottom of her heart, and that he actually had some pursuit in this area, that Kita felt secretly unhappy. She felt that Gao Hai was treating her differently in his words and actions, and even wondered if she didn't have enough charm, which made Gao Hai look down on her and get a little angry.

Ugh, the more I think about it, the more annoyed I get.

This pervert was clearly ruthless towards other girls before, so why is he so rude to her?

Although I do feel this is a bit unromantic, and I have considered getting to know this pervert better before doing *that*, didn't I already agree last night? Even if I was being a little hypocritical, I still agreed, so why didn't I just go for it?

According to my impression, he should have torn off his clothes and gone berserk like a wild beast, right? Hmm... whatever, let him be a gentleman if he wants. Hmph, you didn't take it when I offered it to you, so I won't give you that chance so easily again.

"Get up..."

The girl, who was in a bad mood, crawled out of bed, ignored Gao Hai who was lying next to her, and went into the bathroom, where she quickly started taking a shower.

"It's about time to get down to business today."

Gao Hai ignored Xi Duo's dissatisfaction. He sat up from the bed and casually used his mental energy to help his mental state recover to its best.

After more than ten days of relaxation, including flirting, traveling with his girlfriends, and engaging in continuous sexual activity, Gao Hai knew it was time to get serious.

Just recently, news came from Xiaoheshu that the support player team from China had arrived in the Tokyo area. Among them were Xiong Mi and Jianbing from the [Moyu Gang], whom Gao Hai was familiar with, and it seemed that a player nicknamed "Lawyer" had also come along. In addition, there were several other Red Moon level players, as well as a team of over fifty players of mixed Dark Night and Twilight levels. According to the message Xiong Mi sent to Gao Hai, those lower-level players originally had their own small teams, but the [Moyu Gang] organized them and gave them some basic training to ensure that they could quickly evacuate people in case of any situation.

He'd heard that quite a few acquaintances would be visiting. Xiong Mi had been rather mysterious when she said this, and Gao Hai couldn't guess which acquaintances would be coming to see him. But he wasn't particularly concerned; at least for now, Gao Hai's attention was mainly focused on Aoyama Nanami, whom Kita had mentioned.

Nanami disappeared several days before the start of the [Infant Cry Village] dungeon quest, and there has been no news of her since she was successfully cleared. Takahashi has been wondering where she might have gone.

Takami had also looked at all the clues that Kita himself had collected, but he hadn't found anything that could directly pinpoint the target.

But no matter what, Gao Hai believed that he would definitely see Aoyama Nanami again.

Like the pull of fate, just as he encountered Miko, Ai, and others in "Campus Ghost Stories," they shared joys and sorrows and overcame difficulties together. This character, who has already passed the age of a high school student but is still a two-dimensional girl known to Takahashi, will inevitably meet Takahashi again in some episode.

Will it be the next hospital instance?

Gao Hai had deep suspicions about this, especially after thinking about the strange blood-related object and the substitute flesh used by the [Female Face Gang]. Gao Hai felt even more strongly that Aoyama Nanami might reappear in the hospital instance.

But was Nanami, who appeared at that time, a human or a monster?