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

In front of the corridor, which should have been empty except for rusty wire mesh, some decorations of unclear origin have appeared.

The items looked to be of various sizes, like different kinds of furniture, but for some reason they were placed haphazardly and chaotically in this not-so-spacious corridor.

Xiaohua couldn't see what the furniture was because her vision was starting to blur, her energy was running out, and she even had the hallucination that her heart was about to jump out of her mouth because of her rapid heartbeat.

However, there was no time to worry about such things now. For Xiaohua, all she wanted was to take one more step forward at this moment and do her best for this strong intuition that she herself could not describe.

“Hu…Hu…”

Despite the intense pressure and distortion that constantly tormented consciousness and body, it didn't seem as painful as expected. Something seemed to be changing under this strong external stimulus, gradually permeating the entire body and bringing a subtle warmth.

[Xiaohua...should we continue?]

But the figure following behind made a completely different move at this moment.

"Whoa—uh!?"

Before I could dodge, a large, cold hand grabbed my neck.

The next second, Xiao Hua was lifted into the air, kicking her feet in vain, struggling helplessly as her throat was being choked and she couldn't breathe.

That twisted smile was etched on the porcelain face, as if mocking Xiao Hua's desperate efforts.

As if victory was assured and she was about to give her acceptance speech, her withered, wooden fingers tightened their grip, inflicting even more intense pain on Xiaohua. The red light from her phone, which should have been protecting the girl, remained completely still. It seemed that, according to the light's judgment, this doll-like woman was not a monster at all, but a normal, living person.

Come back with me... let the doctor... save you...

The monster was still speaking gently in Miko's voice.

Xiao Hua's little foot, which she had lifted with all her might, had reached the appropriate height in that instant.

Bang!

With a powerful thud, Xiaohua kicked the thing hard in the face, sending it staggering backward. She herself was thrown to the ground and almost fainted on the spot.

Click——click——

Xiao Hua, panting heavily while clutching her scratched neck, heard the sound of something breaking.

She could feel the strange warm current within her body becoming increasingly pronounced, and her physical abilities seemed to be gradually receiving a boost. However, there was no joy or excitement on the girl's face. Instead, she cautiously retreated, intently watching the strange creature in front of her, which had been leaning back, but whose head was slowly lifting back up.

The perpetually smiling, stiff mask was now covered in cracks, with about a third of the ceramic mask disappearing under Xiao Hua's flying kick, revealing the monster hiding beneath it.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Power Awakened in the Moment of Life and Death, and Newcomers

"Talent? I also have a way to obtain superpowers, to use power like that of a god?"

Some time ago, in a space filled with golden and red light, Xiao Hua showed a surprised expression after hearing what Gao Hai said and couldn't help but ask a question.

First, I am not a god, at least not yet. Second, the strength and manifestation of your innate power are not within my control; it depends on your own inherent talent. Even if I were to forcibly release your innate power ahead of time, whether you can truly utilize it depends on your own performance. If you cannot truly understand the power you possess, then even with my help, you will likely find it difficult to use it effectively. Ultimately, there are no shortcuts in this matter; you must rely on yourself.

Gao Hai's reply was so authoritative that Xiao Hua, who was a little dazed, thought for a moment that she was listening to a teacher in school.

I always feel like what they're saying is incredibly profound, but I can't understand it at all.

Understanding one's own power? What does it mean to understand one's own power? Does it mean trying to strike a melodramatic pose and shout out some lines?

"...Hmm, is it too early to tell you all this now? Well then, let me put it this way: after you leave this space, because I've enhanced your innate power, your previously difficult-to-unleash talents will become easier to activate. They will transform from a dormant state within you to a state where they are under your control and can be released outside your body. But to truly reach this point, you must understand the essence of the power you possess; otherwise, you won't be able to truly use this power."

As for how to understand this, questions involving instinct and self are difficult to answer definitively. Cases like Miko's, where someone suddenly awakens their powers without doing anything, are not uncommon. So, if I had to suggest a method, I could only say you can try to follow your instincts and feel if there's anything different in your subconscious than before. Theoretically, after awakening your abilities, some kind of change will definitely occur within you. If you can pinpoint the key to this change and try to understand it deeply, perhaps you can master this power ahead of time.

However, even if you truly master your innate power, you're still just an ordinary person who hasn't even ventured into a Twilight-level dungeon. In this situation, unleashing your potential might actually bring you disaster. After all, the extraordinary talent you possess might not be directly applicable to head-on combat, but awakening it will inevitably stimulate your senses, granting you perception abilities beyond those of ordinary people, which will bring you more danger. As for how problematic those extraordinary talents that specifically evolve perception are in the early stages of dungeons, I won't go into details; hopefully, you won't encounter them. So, after saying all this, my point is simply this: be extremely careful when facing danger. In the face of strange and mysterious creatures, nothing is absolutely safe.

I can still remember Mr. Gao Hai's instructions to me, who always said that he was "not a god".

Although Xiao Hua couldn't quite understand what he was emphasizing, she still managed to take notes.

However, although she had written it down, Xiaohua had no idea how it could help her in her current predicament. After all, she had simply written it down without truly understanding its meaning or being able to recall the corresponding parts immediately in a crisis.

"call……"

The warmth inside my body is getting stronger and stronger.

Xiao Hua could feel that this gradually emerging warmth was the result of the manifestation of her innate power.

However, this power is far from being fully unleashed yet. Xiaohua wasn't sure how to explain it specifically, but from the inexplicable sensations within her body, she realized that the current warm current was only a very superficial release of power. To truly utilize this power, she needed to go further.

But what should I do if I want to go further? Ugh, never mind, I need to figure out how to escape first.

After all, the monster he had kicked in the face was already heading his way again.

Hahaha... Hahaha... Wahahaha...

A distorted, sharp, and strange sound, unlike anything a human could make, rang out from under the broken ceramic mask.

Under the dim red light of the phone screen, Xiaohua could clearly see that there was nothing under the mask of this thing, and the entire head was completely hollow.

Strangely, the thing itself seemed to be caught in a daze, reaching into its own mask as if trying to retrieve something. Of course, it couldn't retrieve anything; an empty place remains empty, and its actions wouldn't magically create anything.

Hehehe... Haha... Hahaha... Doctor... Doctor...

Many voices rang out from behind the masks.

It was impossible to tell who it was; one could only vaguely discern the voices of men and women, adults and children, and the elderly.

These voices called out to the doctor in unison, some were desperate cries, some were hysterical roars, and some were humble pleas. They piled up one after another, and everyone continued to call out together.

Xiao Hua quietly took a step back.

After confirming that the monster seemed to be in a state of confusion and bewilderment, the girl wanted to leave quietly and continue deeper into the dark corridor.

tread--

But the moment the first foot landed, the monster with the missing face quickly turned its head and aimed its lifeless eyes at Xiao Hua.

A suffocating, chilling sense of crisis surged up in an instant. Unlike the previous chase, Xiao Hua could now clearly feel the intense hostility emanating from the monster, and a violent emotional fluctuation akin to hatred.

What's going on? Does it hate me?!

Xiao Hua immediately turned and ran, fleeing deeper into the corridor.

But this time, she had only just started moving when the thing immediately caught up from behind. Then, Xiaohua felt as if she had been hit by a car at full speed. She was thrown into the air and landed on a sofa in the hallway, causing the sofa to overturn. Xiaohua herself was so disoriented by the impact that she couldn't even think about who she was, where she was, or what she was doing.

"Doctor...I need to see a doctor...I need to take my medicine...I need to receive treatment..."

Those distorted, overlapping sounds were drawing ever closer once again.

"Cough...cough..."

Xiao Hua tried to get up from the overturned sofa, but a pair of withered, twig-like fingers were already pressed on the girl's neck. As they pressed her back to the ground, they began to apply pressure, gradually compressing and tightening her breathing.

Can't break free.

Even though the girl tried her best, she still couldn't break free from the strange creature whose power far surpassed her own.

[Doctor...the doctor will prescribe medicine for me...I'll feel better after taking the medicine...I'll be fine...we'll be fine...hehehehe...]

The monster with its shattered face was still roaring and repeating words that Xiaohua could only half understand.

"Ugh... Ugh..."

can not breath.

Xiao Hua kicked wildly, but was pinned down by the monster and unable to kick at it like before.

A strong feeling of suffocation quickly overwhelmed her, and the girl began to feel her vision gradually darken, her consciousness becoming blurred.

The red light still did not elicit any response.

Even though it was already in a life-or-death crisis, this thing still didn't react at all, showing no intention of attacking the ceramic-faced monster. It was as if the red light couldn't sense the monster at all, or rather... in the red light's judgment within the Crimson Domain, this thing couldn't be identified as a strange creature that needed to be expelled?

Xiaohua was no longer able to think about the answer to this question. In her increasingly severe state of oxygen deprivation and suffocation, she had completely lost the ability to think and was merely struggling instinctively.

I saw more.

I saw the hospital corridor bathed in warm light, yet for some reason it exuded a chill.

I saw patients walking listlessly down the corridor, and the doctors and nurses staring at them expressionlessly beside them.

That kind of gaze shouldn't be directed at humans.

squeak-

The door to the ward slowly opened.

The hospital bed was slowly pushed out, on which lay a mangled corpse, a shredded body still emitting faint breaths, a mass of flesh that had lost its basic human form.

Those things gradually dissolved and merged into one, transforming into something entirely new.

Even as they screamed and wailed throughout the process, this twisted and grotesque fusion was never interrupted and never truly ended.

In the end, they changed into something else entirely.

The wails and screams were all covered up and drowned out, leaving only the meticulously crafted smiles, and the ever-present image of happiness.

Ahhh.

This is salvation, isn't it?

This is true happiness, isn't it?

Accept the beauty I bestow upon you, accept everything I have, and let us together reach the eternal paradise!

That voice, which seemed to have drowned out all reason, appeared to be reaching out to the girl's dwindling consciousness at this moment.

From the hole in the ceramic-headed monster, something seemed to wriggle out tentacles, trying to touch Xiao Hua's cheek, who was now suffocating.

hum-

A crimson light erupted in the next moment.

The monster with the broken cheek suddenly stopped moving, its hands gripping Xiao Hua's throat ceased their exertion, and the pitch-black tentacles that had emerged from the hole shattered, turning into black ash and dissipating in mid-air.

“Ah…haah…”

Xiaohua regained a brief moment of clarity. Her eyes widened, and she began to struggle as she took a deep breath, but she still couldn't get rid of the monster in front of her.

Don't want to die.

The senses become so real when life is on a countdown.

All other distracting thoughts vanished without a trace, and none of them could continue.

All thoughts, all struggles, all actions, converge in this instant to form a final thought, which is then allowed to remain as only one.