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

I walked through the rotting corridor, past passages strewn with shards of glass, listening to the sounds of cockroaches and maggots crawling all around me.

The torn family photos fluttered and fell with the gentle breeze, revealing the happy yet incomplete smiles on the faces that could no longer be pieced together.

Click——click——

With each step, the shards of glass made a crisp sound, like something being shattered.

Xiao Hua walked towards the end of the corridor, pushed open the door, and saw a messy bedroom and a doll kneeling in the bedroom.

This is my mother's bedroom.

She remembered the hand-drawn map and how this place looked in the rule description. Clearly, the scene she was seeing now didn't match the situation back then. Xiaohua guessed that she might have triggered some special rule, but tracing back to find out the specifics was too complicated for the girl. Besides, now wasn't the time to dwell on such issues, so she didn't think too much about it, simply walked to the doll, and knelt down.

It's as if I can see that scene appear before my eyes.

Seeing the mother, who had finally come to her senses from her madness, looking at her child's remains with a look of despair.

Her hatred for the hospital burned like a flame in her soul, but what truly kept her from finding peace and made her a monster was not her hatred for the hospital, but her guilt and pain towards her children and family.

What she really wanted was her family's forgiveness; that was all.

Upon realizing this fact, Xiaohua remained silent for a long time. After learning that she had been given the identity of "family" and that she could free her, the girl sighed deeply, unsure of what expression to make.

But in the end, she still came and decided to complete the task.

"I'm sorry, I'm not your real family."

The girl, speaking softly, gazed at the silent, bowed doll before her, her expression growing increasingly complex.

She had no idea how to save the dead and bring a happy ending to a tragic tragedy.

Ultimately, she was just a weakling who couldn't even protect herself and had to rely on Mr. Gao Hai's power to survive. During these dangerous hours, Xiao Hua herself had lost count of how many times she had been saved by fragments of Gao Hai's spirit and blood-red domain, not to mention that Gao Hai had personally guided her in unlocking her own extraordinary power within the realm of consciousness. It could be said that she was currently just a weakling who could only move forward by borrowing the power of others; compared to this puppet mother, she was merely lucky to have someone to rely on.

The person she truly hoped to be forgiven by is no longer capable of saying the words of forgiveness to her.

This was confirmed by several players in the Sunflower Squad. They did not find any obsessions about the woman's children, husband, or other family members in this small twilight-level instance. All the other obsessions existing in the instance were formed by victims who mistakenly entered this place and were killed.

This is probably one of the hospital's schemes, cutting off the key factor in freeing the mother from her obsession, so that she can never be forgiven, never find peace, and can only wander in an endless abyss of pain, becoming one of the tentacles extending outward from the hospital itself.

Fortunately, Xiaohua accomplished a feat that would have been impossible for any ordinary person who had accidentally entered the instance, and with a series of coincidences in the subsequent actions and Gao Hai's subtle adjustments, she successfully obtained this special identity. Therefore, she was able to end everything, and she was able to allow her mother, who had been wandering the world for too long, to finally find true peace.

But it's still so sad. If only her real child, her real family, could forgive her and help her free herself from this sin that doesn't belong to her.

"I believe that they will understand you after they know the truth."

"This matter was not your fault; you were merely a victim of the hospital's choice. There's no reason to take the blame upon yourself or consider this your fault. I believe your family can forgive you, and I believe they will tell you that this was not your fault."

"So now, let me tell you on their behalf. Please listen carefully to what I have to say."

Gently, the girl rested her forehead on the doll's head.

She didn't mind the cockroaches crawling all over the doll, nor did she care about the stench of the rotting corpse emanating from it, and she endured the chilling aura emanating from the doll.

Xiaohua believes that if they are truly family, they will not look down on these circumstances, nor will they care about these trivial matters. Therefore, she will play this role well, and she will do her best to try to make this poor mother feel what she wants to convey.

"I forgive you, Mom."

She whispered in the doll's ear.

The foul odor then dissipated.

As a result, the cockroaches and maggots that had been crawling around disappeared without a trace.

The broken room was restored to normal, the torn photos were restored to their original state, sunlight streamed into the room, and the woman, as if she had just woken up from a long nightmare, finally opened her eyes and woke up.

[Mom, wake up, wake up! Don't stay in bed any longer, it's time to go!]

The child laughed and played beside the woman, took her hand, and pulled her up.

"Has it finally arrived? Darling, it's time to set off. Let's go together."

The husband pushed open the door, smiled when he saw the woman, walked up to her, and gently patted her shoulder.

[Always waiting for her, ugh, this time it's taken forever again. Okay, hurry up and leave, honestly, don't always make us wait.]

An elderly man stood at the door, grumbling and complaining, but a gentle smile was clearly visible on his face.

All the pain and despair were like a dream, which vanished without a trace upon waking.

The only thing I can still feel now is the warmth from this distant memory, a warmth I can hardly recall anymore.

So everyone's been waiting for me all this time?

So, it turns out everyone didn't hate me after all?

【I'm back……】

The woman lowered her head, wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and whispered to her family.

I'm sorry for the delay, I'm back, I'm really back.

Let's go together, let's set off as a family!

They held hands.

Under the warm sunlight, their figures flew towards the sky, soaring into the vast blue sky.

Only at this moment did she realize that she had never truly fallen. On the contrary, with her family and this harmonious home, she had always been living in happiness. It was just that she hadn't been able to understand or truly comprehend it in the past.

Let's fly together, let's fly towards higher places.

In the warm light, those figures had already vanished without a trace amidst their smiles.

Xiao Hua, who opened her eyes in the warm light, saw the room collapsing and on the verge of disappearing like the city and factory ruins before.

"The core obsession has been successfully released, and all imprisoned obsessions have also been released. Hmm, this obsession was quite generous, giving each of us a blessing. Although it's only at the Twilight level, its strength is rather average... Wait, is that the kind of ability? Well, I take back what I said earlier, this ability is quite good."

"A blessing for daily life? Although it can't be used in battle, it's really good. But what we got should only be the most basic ability. The real power of the blessing should have been given to that little girl, right? She's really lucky. Not only did she get caught up in such a global event unscathed, but she also got a blessing after it was all over. Why didn't I have such good luck when I was a newbie?"

"Luck is a mysterious thing, and no one can be sure of it. Alright, it's about time we left. We need to get out of here before this passage collapses."

The players from the Sunflower Squad chatted and joked casually, seemingly unconcerned about the impending collapse of the dungeon. Perhaps because the dungeon level was so low, and their group had all been leveled up by Gao Hai, they weren't worried about any unseen monsters emerging to attack at the end.

Feeling a little sad, Xiao Hua rubbed her eyes. Seeing that everyone was waiting for her, she smiled, stood up, and ran towards them.

During this process, she vaguely felt something merging into her body, something warm and comforting, thus integrating into her body and soul, and endowing her with new, extraordinary power. Originally, this step should only be felt after completely leaving the instance, but probably because the instance itself had undergone a huge change under the intervention of the [Hospital], Xiaohua successfully felt the effect of the blessing as soon as she freed herself from that mother.

As a twilight-level blessing, the doll mother granted Xiaohua two abilities, the first of which was the power to maintain health.

This ability has both active and passive effects. The active effect is external cleaning, cleaning Xiaohua's clothes, skin, hair, and other surfaces, maintaining her perceived state of "cleanliness." The passive effect is the enhancement of bodily functions, making the girl's body stronger while effectively controlling her immune system and body fat percentage, allowing her to completely eliminate any possibility of falling into a sub-healthy state and virtually preventing illness.

The second effect of this blessing is rather unique: the ability to [find delicious food]. With this blessing, whether Xiaohua is walking through streets and alleys past various restaurants, or browsing websites on her phone to order takeout or search for restaurants, she can quickly find truly delicious food that suits her taste. Furthermore, this ability can reduce Xiaohua's discomfort when eating food that doesn't suit her palate, enhancing her taste buds' acceptance. It can be said that with this effect, Xiaohua could easily become a gourmet.

The Sunflower Squad members only received the blessing of instantly cleaning their bodies and clothes; the ability to find food was specifically given to Xiaohua. Perhaps it was because the mother discovered Xiaohua's gluttony that she bestowed this blessing upon her. In any case, the group, already quite satisfied with their gains, didn't hesitate and quickly exited through the only exit of the collapsing dungeon—the door at the end of the corridor marked as inaccessible on the map.

Incidentally, upon reaching this area, Xiaohua realized that this area, marked as inaccessible by the rules, was likely the place where the mother had turned her family members into dolls. Considering this was the mother's most insane and desperate period, it's understandable that ordinary people couldn't access this area. The problem is that the only exit from the instance is also located in this area, which is a very unreasonable and disgusting design. Xiaohua strongly suspects that this was also the work of the [Hospital], intended to reduce the survival rate of those who mistakenly enter, thereby ensuring a sufficient number of victims to increase the instance's obsession count and intensity.

This hospital is really... so annoying. I wonder if Mr. Gao Hai has any way to eliminate these monsters. It would be best to wipe them all out so that they don't harm more people in the future.

As she pondered, the girl passed through the gate and felt a flash of light. When her vision cleared again, she saw the corridor of the mansion where she had stayed before.

You're back.

I'm really back.

Xiao Hua opened his mouth, looking at the familiar corridor that was clearly the one where he had encountered the long-necked monster before. He was overwhelmed with emotion and didn't know what to say to express his excitement.

But then again, there shouldn't be any ghosts in this house anymore, right?

The doll mother from before was actually the monster that broke into this house. After freeing her, there shouldn't be any dangerous monsters left here, right?

Thinking of this, Xiaohua suddenly became a little nervous again, especially after noticing that the players from the Sunflower Squad hadn't appeared in the house with her. The girl became even more nervous. However, compared to before, Xiaohua, who had experienced some things, had become a bit braver. So she cautiously took a step forward and carefully observed her surroundings.

The sky outside was still dark, and I could hear the sound of rain. I had no idea how long I had been in the edge space or how much longer it would be until dawn.

Click——

As Xiaohua was thinking this, she heard the sound of the door opening. She was slightly startled, then quickly went forward and turned the corner of the corridor. She saw Yotsuya Miko stepping into the house, and Kita Ikuyo standing on the street outside the door, yawning in the rain with an indifferent expression.

It's Miko-chan!

Xiao Hua was happy to see her friend and walked forward without noticing that someone else was walking down the stairs beside her. By the time she noticed, the person behind her was almost touching her footsteps, and their breath was on the back of her neck. Xiao Hua immediately sensed something was wrong, stopped, and looked back.

Then she saw a horrifying face that was completely rotten, slightly writhing, and utterly devoid of any features.

"..."

Xiao Hua stood motionless in place, without making a sound.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you moving?"

With a chocolate still dangling from her mouth, Sai Emi, the only member of the Sunflower Squad who missed the enhanced version of Takahashi because she didn't participate in the Edge Space operation, was carrying the nurse monster sealed by Kita. Seeing that Xiaohua in front of her had suddenly stopped, she poked her head out with some confusion and asked.

"..."

The girl still did not answer.

She simply stared silently at the terrifying face so close to her, then silently looked up at another human head that had suddenly emerged from the creature's body.

Then, Xiaohua rolled her eyes and fell straight to the ground, her expression immediately showing a sense of peace.

"Oh no, it's already collapsed?"

He was stunned by the fact that he had been scammed by Sai Emi.

Jianzi, who had wanted to say a few words to her good friend whom she had finally reunited with, was both amused and exasperated. She walked over, touched Xiaohua's breath, shook her head, and stood up.

"I'm mentally exhausted, so I've fallen asleep. Don't worry about it."

As she spoke, Jianzi moved Xiaohua, who had fallen into a deep sleep, to the side of the corridor. Then she picked up her phone, which was now filled with a long text message, all of which was Jianzi's notes about the "psychologist".

For Yurikawa Hana, an ordinary person who was simply caught up in the disaster, there was nothing left for her to do in tonight's battle.

But Jianzi knew that what she needed to do was far more than what she was currently doing. Outside the residential area, many more people were struggling in danger, and she had to use her strength as quickly as possible to help those people and to help her predecessors.

Chapter 54: The Monster Rules Summarized by Players and the Uncertain Outcome

slam-la-

Under a pitch-black night sky that seemed to promise that day would never come again, the torrential rain showed no sign of abating.

However, for Miko Yotsuya, who had already effectively turned the tide in the residential area and crushed one of the Hospital's tentacles, this seemingly sinister scene posed no threat whatsoever. Instead, her primary concern was how to further destroy the Hospital's tentacles and drive these monsters back into the instance world.

So, the first issue that needs to be clarified is how to stop the expansion of hospitals.

Standing at the window of a bedroom on the second floor of the mansion, I saw Zi looking down with a thoughtful expression.