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

"That's really rubbish."

Gao Hai grinned, his tone full of disdain, as he gripped the burning blade of his sword.

"It's nothing more than the escapist tendency inherent in human nature, merely a trivial aspect of humanity itself, yet you have the audacity to claim you can save all of humanity, and even think you have the right to decide the fate of the entire civilization. Who do you think you are? You don't actually think you're anything special, do you?"

Amidst the mocking voices, a scorching light suddenly pierced forward, extending with a brightness sufficient to blind the eye.

【■■■■■——】

The monster let out a shrill roar. Something invisible writhed and transformed into a defense, attempting to withstand Gao Hai's attack. However, it was blasted forward by this force, passing right through him and extending for tens of kilometers, turning large areas of building ruins into dust.

Those eyeballs were rapidly merging together, bleeding as they trembled continuously.

The surging blood rushed towards Gao Hai's location and also chased after Jianzi and the others who were retreating not far away.

All I want is to bring happiness to everyone. Is it really worth taking away even this simple wish?

Surrounded by countless stares, the "psychologist" rose and addressed Gao Hai with a sorrowful voice, as if Gao Hai, standing opposite her, were the truly heinous villain.

"Are you happy?"

Gao Hai, who was too lazy to argue with the monster, simply swung his sword again, and a dazzling light pierced through the entire city ruins. All the incoming blood evaporated instantly, and the figure of the "psychologist" along with countless eyeball monsters flew up and fell into the flying building debris under Gao Hai's unreserved power.

The comparison of strength was quite straightforward. If it were only a matter of directly releasing one's own power, Gao Hai could undoubtedly overpower several "psychologists." However, he didn't think things would be that simple. After all, this monster was, after all, a genuine conceptual life form and couldn't be easily destroyed.

So the question now is, what other tricks does this guy have up his sleeve?

While pondering, Gao Hai took a step forward in the void, heading towards the monster once more.

Before the surrounding building debris could even get close to Takahashi, it was melted by the scorching flames and turned into a ring of bright lava floating around Takahashi.

The tens of thousands of eyeball-like monsters had all merged into the [Psychiatrist]'s body, becoming one with this stick figure-like deformed monster. No, it should be said that they had returned to their original form. Gao Hai could sense that those eyeball-like monsters were originally derivatives born from the [Psychiatrist], belonging to the [Psychiatrist]. At this moment, probably because the monster was desperate and knew it was no match for Gao Hai, it simply absorbed all the derivatives to strengthen its own power.

So, to what extent can you strengthen yourself?

Unconcerned, Gao Hai simply took a step forward and was suddenly plunged into an endless sea of ​​blood, where he was grabbed and dragged downwards by rotting arms.

A piercing wail enveloped him, and twisted spiritual power surged forth with the sea of ​​blood, threatening to completely engulf Gao Hai. An invisible curse also exerted its power at this moment, attempting to destroy this body formed from flames, and even trying to use the connection to attack Gao Hai's non-present physical body.

【oh? 】

The next moment, the burning crimson flames instantly cleared the ocean, burning away all the hands that reached out to Gao Hai.

The flaming sword thrust forward, silencing the wailing and curses.

The psychologist, who had just finished gathering his power, was caught off guard and had his arm severed by Gao Hai, who walked up to him. His whole body trembled, and the cries of many people could be heard from the broken television screen.

Some power was released once again, striking the moment Gao Hai launched his attack.

But the man within was like indestructible steel; without taking any further action, he simply took another step forward, easily shattering the dark ocean current. With a wave of his hand, the terror that terrified mortals was torn apart, unable to coalesce into a coherent form.

You don't think using the same methods you use on ordinary people will actually work on me, do you?

If these are all the tricks you have to offer, then I can only say that you are utterly disappointing.

Your body can stay here; there's no need for you to leave.

Gao Hai's voice became authoritative at this moment, and every word he spoke sounded as if many voices were repeating themselves.

Golden light flowed across his body, and with each breath, the radiance around Gao Hai intensified, as the power projected from another dimension continued to rise.

The psychologist is still resisting and trying to fight back against Gao Hai.

For a moment, it seemed as if countless eyes grew out of the monster's television head and stared at him.

An unprecedented and bizarre power then activated in Gao Hai's body, causing his body to dim instantly, flickering like a flame blown by the wind.

Phew!

Then Gao Hai reached into the TV screen again and crushed the eyeballs on the spot.

Rumble, rumble——

The city ruins have dwindled to less than a tenth of their original size. More and more ruins have turned to ashes and dissipated into the void beyond the universe. Even the factory ruins below, which Gao Hai had cleaved in two with his sword, have now mostly vanished, leaving very little behind.

I still have... things to accomplish... even if you are a god... you cannot stop me...

I could feel some kind of power being released.

That must originate from some kind of power within the [psychologist]. With just a slight perception, Gao Hai was certain that this power could help the [psychologist] forcibly understand their own enemy, inflict continuous mental damage on the enemy, and gradually control them.

Of course, this ability is primarily targeted at humans, and specifically at those with insufficient mental strength. Hmm, even a Red Moon-level player's mental strength would likely be insufficient to resist such power.

But what if this power is aimed at a divine-level spiritual power?

Close your eyes.

Gao Hai released his own mental energy, which directly collided with the mental energy of the [psychologist].

The golden light transformed into a vast ocean, instantly engulfing everything. The monster that had been trying to fight against the high seas trembled violently at that moment, seemingly trying to withdraw its power. However, it was unable to act in time and suffered a severe backlash. The television head emitted various chaotic sounds and even emitted blackish-gray smoke.

I...I...I...I...I...I'm so happy...so happy...so happy...

It seems the backlash is quite severe, nearly crashing the thing. Even so, it hasn't stopped, still struggling to resist Gao Hai, showing no sign of yielding or surrendering. Well, that's normal for such a non-human monster, but it's about time; there's no need to waste any more time.

"It's time to end this."

The authoritative voice transformed back into a human voice.

No...no...I can't...I can't be here...here...ga—

Click! ! !

Before the final howl and cry could be uttered, they were abruptly cut off. Gao Hai's hand gripped the head of the "Psychotherapist." After indifferently watching the monster's final, ugly struggle for a moment, he exerted force with his fingers and crushed its entire head. His mental power followed suit, shredding the thing's body and completely destroying the existence of this clone. At the same time, he launched a mental shock along the connection between this thing and the "Psychotherapist" body.

There seemed to be some faint sounds coming from afar. It was probably the thing that had been hit. I wonder how effective it was.

In the darkness, this edge space created by the [hospital] is nearly completely destroyed. It is estimated that in a minute or two at most, it will turn back into an empty void.

{Senior, has it been resolved yet?}

Miko's voice suddenly rang out from the mental link. It seemed that she hadn't gone too far. Takahashi looked in the direction from which the voice came and saw Miko Yotsuya, who had almost recovered, and Kita Ikuyo, who was being supported by her. After Takahashi arrived, Kita Ikuyo had reconnected with the power of blessing and had now recovered to about 70-80%.

As for Angel Gaohai, since we didn't see him, that player was probably taken to the factory by Miko and Kita to rejoin her team. Hmm, I guess Miko was worried that the passage below wouldn't be able to accommodate two top players. Seriously, can't she have a little more faith in me?

Gao Hai wanted to complain a bit, but he knew now wasn't the time to worry about such trivial matters, so he went straight to her and hugged Jianzi in his arms.

{I'm so glad to see you're okay, Zi. It's really so good that you're alright.}

Even though she tried to hide it well, Miko could still sense the weariness that Takami couldn't conceal from his words.

Having accomplished nothing in several playthroughs, how long has the senior been fighting and how much hardship has he endured?

Even if I manage to break through the residential area's bottleneck, it's probably just a drop in the ocean compared to what my predecessors did.

Miko's mood was inevitably somewhat heavy, and Gao Hai naturally understood this perfectly. After thinking for a moment, he reached out and gently tapped Miko's forehead. The next moment, Miko felt a slight dizziness, discovering that her spiritual body had been temporarily pulled into Gao Hai's mental world by his spiritual power, which was also where Gao Hai's physical body was located. Then, Gao Hai lowered his head and kissed Miko directly, leaving the girl, who hadn't reacted yet, stunned.

"Consider this a boost of energy for meeting the child. Are you ready? There's still a lot of work to be done."

Gao Hai looked at Jian Zi and smiled.

"Well, I'll try my best!"

After a brief moment of surprise, Jianzi nodded with unwavering determination, her voice filled with solemnity.

As for Kita, the girl who had single-handedly resisted the "psychologist" for a long time, she wasn't in a good state yet, so she just stood there silently, unaware of what Takami was doing. However, Takami naturally wouldn't let her off the hook. With the spread of his mental energy, Kita felt slightly dizzy, and then found her thoughts pulled into Takami's mental space. Then she saw Takami kissing Miko. Realizing what Takami was doing, Kita couldn't help but roll her eyes, feeling somewhat helpless at his seemingly natural actions.

Ah, this guy is still the same as always. Oh well, it has nothing to do with me anyway, there's no need to care what this guy does with other people.

As he was thinking this, Kita, who was feeling a little annoyed, sensed the other person approaching. When he looked up, he saw Takami walking straight up to him, reaching out to hug the petite girl's spirit body, who was less than 1.6 meters tall, and then kissing her.

"Uuuuuuuuuu——"

Kita's eyes widened. He instinctively tried to close his eyes to cooperate with Takahashi, but then he noticed Miko watching from the side. His cheeks flushed red, and he kicked his legs wildly, trying to break free from Takahashi, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get rid of his clamp-like arms.

Gao Hai didn't care about anything else and hugged Kita and kissed her for almost a minute before reluctantly letting go.

"Now that my energy is replenished, I can get going and work at 1000% power!"

Takahashi gave Kita a thumbs-up, a five-star rating. He then released the pull of their mental power, allowing their thoughts to return to the edge of space. This process clearly consumed a significant amount of Takahashi's power, to the point that his avatar as a link had weakened considerably.

"Who wants to replenish your energy? Can't you be serious at a time like this? Don't waste your precious mental energy on this kind of thing..."

Kita muttered a complaint under his breath, but his face didn't show any anger.

Gao Hai simply smiled at this, then activated his own power to create a passage from the edge of space to the real world. On the other side of the passage, Jian Zi could directly see the mansion where her mother was hiding.

{Go back as soon as possible. The residential area is calm now, but there are still many things to finish up. Whether it's the monsters still roaming the streets or the people waiting for rescue, we need both of you. Come find me again once the residential area is completely back to normal.}

Gao Hai spoke gently, his figure growing fainter and fainter, clearly indicating that this avatar could no longer be maintained and was about to dissipate.

Senior, did that psychologist really solve the problem?

Seeing that Zi did not choose to leave immediately, but instead came close to Gao Hai and asked with some concern.

The "Psychotherapist" that appeared in the residential area was merely an avatar, which I have now completely destroyed. This will undoubtedly cause irreversible damage to its true form in the short term. However, that thing will definitely reappear in other areas, not to mention the "Surgeon" and "Internal Medicine Doctor" of the same level. Currently, the areas where these three entities are confirmed to be active have suffered heavy casualties, and because players and rescuers who encounter them rarely survive, I still don't know much about them. Only this "Psychotherapist" has been successfully contacted.

Gao Hai naturally wouldn't hide the truth and immediately told him what had happened.

{I see, I understand. I'll immediately upload the information I have to the temporary network constructed from the fragments of the Crimson Realm. Also, Kita-kun, I won't participate in the complete clearing and occupation of the residential area; I'll get to the area where the [Doctor] is active as soon as possible. Since they're so eager to kill me, I'll give them the chance.}

Seeing that Zi nodded slightly, she made her decision without the slightest hesitation.

Takami could only nod in agreement, and Kita didn't say anything more before walking towards the passage.

Meanwhile, beneath the city ruins that were almost completely gone, the factory was also almost completely destroyed. Only a small patch of remains, deliberately left by Gao Hai, was slowly dissipating, allowing the players to remain on it.

"The outcome is decided. Mr. Gao Hai won, and he said we can leave now."

Wang Gui looked at the newly updated "Alice News" on his phone and spoke to the people around him. Yu Qingshan then gestured for the others to follow. Li Ling carried Xiao Hua, who was currently in a weak state and unable to walk, and the group quickly moved across the factory ruins, soon arriving at a barbed wire passage.

Clearly, this area connects to the region of the Twilight-level Mysterious Doll's mother. Gao Hai confirmed the connection to Xiao Hua the moment he made contact and specifically reinforced the passage to ensure the players could pass smoothly. In other words, unlike Miko and Kita who returned directly to the real world, the Sunflower Team and Xiao Hua's group needed to enter the instance world first, and then find a way to return to the real world from there.

Although it was just a small Twilight-level dungeon, this extra step was obviously still quite troublesome. However, neither Yu Qingshan nor the other team members complained. Instead, they naturally believed that Gao Hai must have a deeper meaning in doing so, and they chose to carry it out without hesitation.

As for the deeper meaning, Yurikawa Hana always felt that it seemed to be somewhat related to her.

After all, from the moment she returned to the doll's room, she vaguely sensed a gentle gaze fixed on her, waiting for her somewhere there.

"Dear brothers and sisters, could you please accompany me somewhere?"

So Xiaohua earnestly pleaded with the players, turning her gaze toward the direction of that gaze.

She already knew why Gao Hai had asked her to come back here.

Chapter 53: The Resting Doll, Twilight-Level Blessing, Unfinished Business