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

And that enormous eyeball, that eyeball with cracks appearing, from which worm-like blood vessels sprouted. It was now right in front of Yu Qingshan, as if watching him, yet as if it wasn't looking at anything at all, just floating quietly in mid-air.

Now, in Yu Qingshan's eyes, the aura of this terrifying thing could no longer have a serious corrosive effect on his spirit.

He knew the reason perfectly well; after all, the fragment of his consciousness residing within his mind had begun to shatter, burning like a flame. To protect his consciousness from this thing, the fragment was already operating at double the rate of consumption, and it would likely be completely exhausted in just a few minutes. At that point, Yu Qingshan would only be able to rely on his own mental strength to hold on. But before that, having received a higher level of mental strength enhancement, he no longer needed to fear this eyeball monster.

"You think you can wipe us all out by gathering us all together? What a clever scheme, but don't underestimate us!"

He reached out and tore off the connecting flesh and blood on his body, along with a portion of the skin and flesh from the eroded area.

The moment the eyeball realized something was wrong and turned its gaze toward Yu Qingshan, the captain leaped high into the air, swung the ice axe down hard, piercing the eyeball and tearing open a huge wound.

【＃%＆*￥＃＆！ ！ ！ 】

There was no way to identify what sound this thing was making.

In that extremely ear-piercing roar, which made Yu Qingshan's ears bleed and nearly rupture his eardrums, causing him to lose his hearing, the enormous eyeball cracked open with slit after slit. Each slit was filled with human eyes, and inside those eyes, blood-red, maggot-like creatures wriggled and crawled back and forth.

A terrifying aura enveloped Yu Qingshan's entire body in an instant.

He could feel his life force being violently depleted in an instant, and the terrifying power he couldn't resist was almost crushing his body completely. Even with the protection of the fragments of the Crimson Domain, the overwhelming power disparity made it impossible for him to withstand the aftershocks of the domain clash.

Then, before the confrontation began, Yu Qingshan threw his phone into one of the gaps.

boom! ! ! ! !

A crimson light, far more intense than before, exploded and shattered a small section of the eyeball the instant it burst forth.

The dark, filthy blood twisted and contorted for a fleeting moment, briefly revealing the shape of the apartment.

Seventeen and Kazama Ren, who were not directly impacted by this force, were unharmed under the protection of their respective crimson domains. Furthermore, the flesh and blood ties connecting them were completely destroyed by the one-time burst of the crimson domain fragments, allowing the two to finally break free of control and fall to the ground.

The location where they fell... was an area that had temporarily transformed into an apartment building scene after the spatial disorder occurred.

So that's how it is. It was the monster's power that created this distorted space, so the space's seal was broken the moment it was injured?

Realizing what was happening, Yu Qingshan coughed up blood, got up from the ground, and threw out a mental object that could create a brief displacement, sending his two still not fully awake companions a few steps toward the apartment.

Then, before the monster with a small piece of its eyeball blown off could react, he threw his climbing axe, which pierced the hole in the eyeball, causing the monster to struggle violently again and let out an unprecedentedly terrible howl.

"team leader?!"

Seventeen, who recovered first, struggled to his feet, wanting to come over and help.

"Node priority, don't come any closer!"

Yu Qingshan coughed up another mouthful of blood, shouting as he stumbled toward the direction where the eyeball monster was.

I absolutely cannot let this thing interfere with my companions. I have already lost the protection of the Crimson Domain fragment, and my mental fragments are about to be exhausted. I must control this most dangerous monster before that happens and ensure that my companions can return to the apartment area alive to destroy the node!

As the damage to his body gradually worsened, Yu Qingshan took one step, then another, and found that his steps were becoming slower and weaker.

Turning around, he realized that his legs had been grabbed by twisted arms, and behind him, the corpses that had been standing still had all gathered together and stretched out their hands to block his movement.

Oh no, I didn't notice these things. If this keeps up, my eyeball will have to recover.

"Take my picture, quick!"

Within a second or two, Yu Qingshan, having recovered, shouted at Seventeen.

Upon hearing this, Seventeen didn't hesitate at all. He picked up his camera and immediately framed the eyeball monster, several corpses clutching Yu Qingshan, and Yu Qingshan himself, then pressed the shutter button.

Click!

With a shutter click, seemingly due to photographing something at too high a position, the obsessive camera emitted a thick smoke and a piercing sound like it had malfunctioned or crashed. Even so, it still produced a photograph, and the monsters photographed, including the eyeball monster, were clearly restricted in some way, their movements temporarily hindered.

"Pfft..."

Yu Qingshan himself vomited blood after being attacked by the Dark Night-level core obsession object in his human form. Large and small purple marks instantly appeared on his body. He was forcibly transformed from a living person into a rotting corpse, just like the photos that had just been taken.

“Let’s go!!!”

Yu Qingshan, who finally uttered these words in a hoarse voice, disappeared along with the eyeball monster and the corpses as the distorted space closed.

"Uh, cough cough, what exactly is this..."

Kazama Ren, who was in the worst condition, finally struggled to get up from the ground. She did not see Yu Qingshan disappear directly, but she could clearly feel the change in the aura of Seventeen beside her due to the damage caused by using the camera.

"The captain is covering the rear... The curse in the camera is about to explode, we don't have much time... It's just ahead..."

Seventeen, gritting his teeth and persevering, was also covered in large and small wounds, while the camera in his hand had just produced a photograph of himself being torn to pieces. Clearly, his appearance in the photo was gradually replacing his true form as the curse spread.

At that moment, as a nauseating stench of blood spread, both players saw a grotesque, twisted mass of flesh and blood slowly writhing forward in the corridor ahead. The undeniable aura emanating from it made both players realize that this thing must be the Node.

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Sacrificial Spirit of the Sunflower Squad

Without a second's hesitation, the two players, both in poor condition, took one step after the other and rushed towards the writhing mass of flesh and blood.

Almost instantly, the monster, which appeared to be a composite of many people, opened its eyes and locked onto the two people not far away. The blood-red domain fragments they carried then erupted with intense light, protecting them for a moment, but the resulting wind pressure nearly knocked them over.

Taking advantage of the moment the two players were blocked, the writhing, fleshy creature turned and fled, quickly disappearing into the depths of the corridor. Kazama Ren and Shichi, having regained their footing, didn't hesitate and immediately followed, fearlessly charging into the darkness ahead.

"Take turns!"

Seventeen, having shouted this, quickened his pace and rushed ahead of Kazama Ren. Kazama Ren herself quickly adjusted her position and followed behind Seventeen, carrying a machete in one hand and taking out another object of obsession in the other, beginning to operate it.

At this moment, the length of the corridor seemed to extend to infinity. No matter how far Seventeen and Kazama Ren advanced, they could not reach the end of the corridor, nor could they find the location of the flesh-and-blood monster.

The deeper they ventured into the darkness, the more suffocating the pressure became. It seemed that as they moved forward, the corridor itself began to mutate, transforming into something else entirely.

"No, we won't find it this way, we're going the wrong way!"

Kazama Ren, who was the first to react, stopped in her tracks, her gaze quickly sweeping across her surroundings. Then, without hesitation, she slammed her blade into the ground. The cleaver, clearly a weapon of obsession, emitted a sharp crack the moment it touched the ground. In the ensuing gusts of wind, the corridor floor was shattered, revealing a dim firelight below and a massive figure frantically fleeing.

Click!

Seventeen took another photo in mid-air, capturing the figure of the fleshy monster, which suddenly slowed its movements, preventing it from escaping quickly.

Kazama Ren swung her cleaver, the blade plunging into the monster's body, instantly spraying out a large amount of blood. She then swiftly opened her right hand, the blade vanishing into thin air, only to reappear in her hand, which she then hurled a second time. This time, the blade pinned a limb of the monster to the wall, causing the monster to roar and struggle, unable to break free from the lock of its obsessive object.

pat-

Blood splattered as Kazama Ren plunged directly into the deep pool of blood, disappearing completely from sight. The surrounding scenery had changed, returning to that dark, twisted, blood-red world. Or rather, this blood-red space had once again pulled Kazama Ren and Seventeen into it, attempting to hinder their pursuit of Node.

But this time, the situation is different from the last time.

【＃%＆*￥＃……】

Amidst the indistinguishable howls, a monster formed from the fusion of many people's flesh and blood struggled to escape, its movements becoming much slower.

This time, it did not remain in the apartment building on the surface. The reason for this was the long knife that had pinned it to its body, and the thin, almost invisible golden thread wrapped around the hilt.

One end of the thread was connected to the flesh-and-blood monster itself, while the other end was connected to the finger of Kazama Ren, who had just emerged from the blood pool and was covered in blood.

Clearly, to prevent a spatial shift that would cause them to lose their target again, the two players were well-prepared this time. With Seventeen's cover, Kazama Ren used the artifact that could forcibly synchronize the two to drag the monster into the deeper space as well.

"Ha...this is really..."

Kazama Ren was unable to immediately step out of the blood pool and rush towards the direction where the fleshy monster was.

At this moment, her brain was nearly burning. Following the golden thread of attachment that had established the connection, chaotic hallucinations and delirium began to launch a full-scale attack on her consciousness. Simply maintaining her own consciousness was an arduous task for her, making it utterly impossible to focus on pursuing her goal.

Damn it, this thing is so heavily contaminated, even though it's just a derivative made from living people...

He opened his mouth and bit his tongue hard, tearing off a small piece of it.

With her mouth full of blood, Kazama Ren's eyes widened as she stood up forcefully.

But then, arms reached out from the pool of blood below, grabbed her hands, feet, and torso, and dragged her, who was in extremely poor condition, back into the pool of blood.

"Uh...uh oh..."

Seventeen, who had also fallen into the pool of blood, was in an even worse state. The camera's curse had begun to take effect on him, and he was still using this core artifact with such severe side effects. Under the intense backlash, Seventeen was on the verge of death, and his consciousness was on the verge of collapse.

The writhing, agglomerated mass of flesh continued to wail and struggle desperately, trying to get as far away as possible from the two dying players. This thing clearly lacked intelligence and couldn't realize that the two pursuing players were already at their limit; it was simply acting on instinct to continue moving away from them.

hum-

The crimson light then spread out vigorously in the next moment.

Suddenly, a string of bubbles rose from the blood, followed by ripples that spread rapidly, and the murky blood pool suddenly became clean.

When the monster sensed the approaching third aura, Yu Qingshan, covered in blood and having lost an arm, suddenly leaped out of the blood pool, directly blocking the monster's body, and after a roar, forcefully lifted it up.

Amidst the baby-like wailing, twisted arms suddenly grabbed Yu Qingshan. The flesh and blood he touched on the monster's arms, shoulders, and cheeks began to be absorbed and assimilated by this thing.

"Move!"

A thunderous roar jolted Seventeen, who had been delirious, back to consciousness, briefly restoring his senses.

He took a deep breath, slowly got up, and looked at Yu Qingshan, who was struggling to lift the fleshy monster not far away. He paused for a moment, then gave a somewhat helpless smile, his hands trembling slightly as he took out his phone, tossed it towards Yu Qingshan, and raised his camera one last time.

"Let's not have an eighteenth one."

With a sigh, he pointed his camera at Yu Qingshan's back, at the enormous, scarred, and tattered eyeball that emerged from the darkness and was chasing after him.

Click!

The last photo was taken, and the camera fell into the blood. Seventeen people disappeared without a trace.

Yu Qingshan's expression remained unchanged regarding the sacrifice of his companion. He gritted his teeth and continued to fight against the desperately struggling flesh and blood monster, trying to find the phone that Seventeen had thrown at the last moment, the one containing the fragment of the Crimson Domain.

No... there's no way... I only have one hand left, and it's glued shut. Even if I tried to move it a little, it wouldn't hold the eyeball in place for long, and I need to get here right away... If this continues... will everything fall apart...?

The blood swelled once again.

A piercing scream erupted from the blood, followed by Kazama Ren herself bursting out of it.

At this moment, her face was deathly pale, and her whole body was covered in blood, making her look like a ghost. Behind her, the hands trembled and swayed, seemingly trying to grab Kazama Ren herself, but for some reason, they could not lock onto the girl.

Kazama Ren's method of escaping was simple. First, she used the "Death Makeup," a set of cosmetics for applying makeup to corpses. The dyes in it had unusual effects, allowing her to apply makeup even underwater. Next, she used a twilight-level blessing that could produce a false voice, disguising her voice as that of a ghost. Combined with the aura disguise provided by the "Death Makeup," she successfully disrupted the judgment of the ghost hands, preventing them from harming her further.

Of course, this can only buy a very short period of time.

But now, the timing is just right.

whoosh-

A cell phone glowing red was retrieved from the water by Kazama Ren, thrown out, and flew towards the eyeball-shaped monster, bursting with blood-red light to stop it.

Meanwhile, her other phone, amidst the surging crimson light, was directly pressed against the molting corpse monster.

Then, blood erupted in an instant.

Thus, an unstoppable force constructed a perfect bridge at that moment, and the non-human being cast its gaze from afar, touching that node with its own power.

Tear it open, rip it apart, shred it, and then destroy it.