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

She reached out her hand to him, and her fair little hand passed through the screen and actually appeared inside the room.

"you……"

The surreal scene left Miyake Satoshi, an ordinary working man, momentarily at a loss for words.

His consciousness remained clear. Even after his body and soul were tainted by some unknown force, he maintained a clear sense of self and was not immediately transformed into another state, despite his genuine contact with this existence that defied common sense.

However, some things are still accumulating little by little.

As the images and sounds on the television continued to play.

As his understanding of the girl in the picture grew richer.

As he became truly aware of the other party's abnormality, he entered the [interactive] state.

Some suppressed feelings, difficult to truly release, have begun to spread little by little in this dark little rented room.

[Sizzle—Sizzle sizzle—!!!]

Then, a crimson light spread out in an instant.

Amidst the intense noise, the white corridor and the beautiful girl instantly distorted. Disordered, unrecognizable text and a blood-red background covered everything. Rows of gibberish kept appearing and disappearing, and missing color blocks repeatedly appeared and reappeared on the screen, causing Miyake Satoshi to cover his ears and subconsciously avoid looking at the television again.

Then, when his gaze returned to the television, he noticed that among the jumbled text, a line of black text gradually changed and became legible.

[Urgent Notice...]

[Urgent Notice...]

The text kept changing, and from time to time, strange phenomena would appear as if it were being pulled and torn apart, but it would quickly recover in the next moment.

The distorted gibberish would occasionally intertwine with the text, as if trying to interfere with the content or to reconstruct a human form, gradually merging and becoming clearer in the process of constant change.

Please stay home...

When you stay at home... you are safe... *sizzle*

Please close... *sizzle*... Please close the doors and windows... If there are locks... please lock the doors and windows... Ensure the house is securely locked...

What is this? Is it a disaster avoidance guide? Why is it behaving so strangely?

Miyake Satoshi instinctively felt a strong sense of fear. The blood-red background and distorted black text made him extremely uneasy, as if he were being watched by something terrifying. So he struggled to his feet, and the thought of escaping the house arose in his mind.

If you are not at home...not indoors...please look for...look for an indoor environment that is isolated from the outside world...

[Please...buzz...find an indoor environment that you believe can withstand external shocks...buzz...]

Please remember that you are not... are not... are not sick... you do not need to see a doctor... in any case... you do not need... do not need... do not need, do not need, do not need, do not need...

The text on the television screen was changing more and more drastically.

The words began to repeat themselves, and gradually, Satoshi Miyake realized he could hear someone whispering those words. It didn't sound like it was coming from the television; it sounded like someone in the room was reciting those words, someone he couldn't see, right beside him.

What exactly happened here?

What exactly happened?

[No need, no need, no need, no need, no need, no need, no need, no need, no need...]

With his mind becoming increasingly confused, Miyake Satoshi took a step back.

Against the blood-red background of the television screen, only the three words "Not Needed" remained, frantically refreshing; all other text had disappeared.

Jingle Bell--

The cell phone on the sofa rang.

He stared at the TV for a while before suddenly shuddering and turning to look at his phone screen. He found that the screen also displayed distorted and jumbled text, but the content was completely different from what he had just seen on TV.

[Run! Miyake Satoshi!]

Don't stay at home! Don't stay at home! Don't stay at home!

It's right next to you! It's in your house! Run! Run away!!!

What, what's going on here?

Trembling, Satoshi Miyake wondered if he had gone insane, or if he was having nightmares from working too much overtime.

But after seeing this line of text, he did indeed hear a sound.

Squeak—Squeak—

It sounded like something scraping on the floor.

It sounded like something was slowly crawling towards him.

So he ignored the text still displayed on the TV screen and looked toward the source of the sound.

He saw a severed hand.

In the crimson light of the television, amidst the dim pool of blood, a severed hand slowly crawled toward him.

"Ah...ah..."

From the bedroom door not far away, there seemed to be some sounds coming from inside, as if something was about to come out.

From the back of the sofa behind me, I could hear something slowly emerging.

All his senses were frantically warning him at that moment, telling Satoshi Miyake that he had to escape.

So he scrambled around the ground where the severed hand lay, his steps faltering as he rushed toward the door, grabbing the doorknob before he could even put on his shoes.

squeak-

The door slowly opened the next moment.

A warm white light then enveloped him.

Ah... ahh... I felt it...

That's right, come to us, we'll take you to a happy future.

That's right...that's right...there's no need to think about anything anymore...

Let doctors heal you, let doctors save you, let doctors help you become truly perfect.

Just keep walking forward... keep going forward... it's right ahead... it's right there...

Yes, come with us! Welcome to our world, welcome to the world of happiness!

Step by step, I climbed the stairs.

In the soft light, Satoshi Miyake's figure disappeared into the darkness at the end.

In the empty room, in front of the clean floor, the distorted and disordered text continued to flash on the screen.

Do not believe any unusual phenomena or abnormalities observed indoors.

Don't trust... hospitals... don't continue communicating with them... don't communicate with them... communicate with them...

Rescue... will come... will come... the doctor will come to save you...

It was as if two forces were fighting each other, constantly flashing and intersecting back and forth.

Whose door was opened?

Someone's door was gently knocked on.

There was a soft voice outside the door.

But many more things are still lurking in the darkness, quietly waiting.

The distorted screen flashed with twisted red and white colors.

On the television screens of every household in this building, on all electronic devices, in this dark city, light flickers incessantly.

As yet another person, filled with fear or confusion, opened the door, the darkness hidden outside silently spread further.

Chapter Two: The Bloodstained Announcement Broadcast Citywide and the Moment of Struggle for Survival

Splash—splash—

The relentless downpour continued to wash over the dark city.

The power was out, all the buildings were dark, and all the roads were plunged into complete darkness. Only dark clouds covered everything, and with howling winds, more and more raindrops were being released, as if to completely submerge the city.

【emegency notice! 】

On the blood-red screen, a line of large characters was displayed, along with a cold, seemingly young girl's voice reading the words aloud.

【emegency notice! 】

Tick-tick-tick-

With the sound of water dripping down, Hongxia, whose clothes were soaked in many places, sat at the bar of Fanxing Livehouse, her feet in the water that was already above her ankles. She shivered slightly as she looked at the laptop on the bar and the distorted text displayed on the screen.

Beside her, Yamada Ryo, who was in the same band as Nijika, and her older sister Ijika Seika, who was a few years older than her, were also sitting in the temporary chairs, staring at the words displayed on the computer screen and listening to the girl's voice reciting the words word by word without any emotion.

"call……"

Hongxia could feel her body trembling slightly.

The cold touch of the rain was one thing, the fact that Yili was pushed back into the store and fell to the ground covered in water was another, but the girl knew that the reason her body was trembling was ultimately because of what was happening right now.

[This is currently being broadcast citywide. Residents who can listen to this broadcast or watch this channel are requested not to change the frequency. Please listen carefully to the content on this channel.]

On the blood-red screen, rows of text scrolled continuously.

Occasionally, the text seemed to be interfered with by some force, resulting in brief gibberish or distortion. However, for some reason, this interference was very rare in the underground space where Hongxia and the others were, and even when it occurred, it couldn't affect the broadcast for long. Therefore, the three of them were still able to read the entire announcement without missing anything due to the strange interference.

Although Hongxia herself absolutely did not want to see these things if she could, she only hoped that when she closed her eyes and opened them again, everything would be alright, and she could return to the leisurely times of going to and from school, practicing drums, and cooking. However, this thought was just wishful thinking. Just a few minutes ago, Yili pushed her into the starry sky, told her that she must never come out, closed the door and broke the lock to prevent it from being opened, and then attacked some unknown enemy, so much so that she had not heard a sound from him since, and did not know what had happened to him.

[A large-scale and extremely dangerous incident is currently occurring in the Tokyo area. It has been confirmed that there is a leak of extremely dangerous hallucinogenic chemical gas within the city, and there are extremist terrorists and escaped dangerous animals active in the city. To ensure the personal safety of all citizens, please be sure to comply with the contents of this emergency notice.]

As the next line of text scrolled out, Hongxia wondered if it was just her imagination, but she felt that the girl reading the subtitles had a hint of helplessness in her voice.

Hallucinogenic chemicals? Terrorists? Escaped dangerous animals?

No, no, no. Although she only saw it from afar, Hongxia was certain that what she saw couldn't be explained by such a reason. But if that were the case, why would this strange broadcast use such a nonsensical excuse? Anyone who had even a slight experience with those things would immediately realize it was fake, right?