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

slam-la-

Xingge slowly walked to the door.

The deformed, twisted doorknob was the first thing to come into the flashlight's beam. Hoshika had already marveled at this before, pondering for a while how Goto Ichiri managed to do such a thing. This time, however, she wasn't dwelling on it anymore. Her attention shifted to the peephole; she planned to try and observe the outside through it to see what the person knocking looked like.

"hiss……"

A sudden chill ran through Xingge, causing her to instinctively shiver and nearly drop the flashlight.

Realizing the water might be colder than expected, Xingge slowly moved forward, gradually reaching the doorway, her gaze slowly probing towards the peephole.

What will we see next?

This question once again crossed Xingge's mind.

She couldn't deny that she was actually very nervous, and she was actually very afraid of seeing something terrible.

Even though she had taken the initiative to investigate, even though she insisted on coming up to check the situation, Xingge was actually the last person who wanted to see anything strange. She prayed to see the rescue team members who looked normal, hoping that everything could get back on track. Even though deep down she could vaguely sense that something might have gone wrong, at least for now, she could still hold onto that thought.

He reached out and pressed his hand against the door.

Slowly, lift the cover that was originally blocking the peephole.

In the dim light of the flashlight, Xingge brought her face close, closed one eye, and pressed the half of her face with her open eye against the cold door, looking out through the peephole.

Then, she saw a pitch-black color.

"Hey?"

Nothing.

There was nothing on the other side of the peephole, just darkness, as if it were blocked by something, and you couldn't see anything at all.

How am I supposed to determine the situation outside? If I can't see anything through the peephole, even if there are rescue teams standing outside, I can't make a judgment.

Splash—splash—

Water seeping from the crack in the door flowed into the pool inside the house, splashing out ripples.

Xingge didn't notice that the knocking had stopped, nor did she pay attention to the talking that had subsided at some point.

She was seriously considering how to assess the situation outside the door, hesitating and struggling with whether or not to answer, and reached out to wipe away the water droplets that had splashed onto her face and seeped from the top of the door.

"..."

Only then did Xingge, realizing something, suddenly look up at the top of the door.

There was a noticeable flow of water seeping out there.

Even though Hongxia and Liang had completely sealed all the gaps in the door with waste paper and glue, they still couldn't truly stop the water from seeping in. After all, the door was completely submerged in water, so as long as there was even the slightest gap, the water would continue to seep into the store.

Yes, the door has been submerged.

Although she didn't realize the problem at first, Xingge has come to remember it.

How could a door completely submerged underwater make that knocking sound? And what kind of person could stand in the water and make such a sound, so clear it seemed to be right next to their ear?

Tuk-tuk-tuk——

Hello, ma'am, could you please open the door?

【I am Yasuo Funato from the Tokyo Rescue Team. I'm here to help you. I need you to open the door.】

The sounds outside the door, which had been silent for a long time, started up again the instant Xingge realized something was wrong.

This time, Xingge inexplicably felt a sense of absurdity, as if the owner of the voice was looking at her while speaking to her, communicating with her as she stood in front of the door.

Splash—splash—

The undulations of the water flow were exceptionally clear in the darkness.

It seemed to have gotten colder, so cold that Hongxia wondered if winter had arrived early.

She looked towards the doorway, but could only see the beam of a swaying flashlight; she couldn't make out Xingge herself.

This was somewhat strange, considering the distance was less than thirty meters. With a light source present, it was impossible not to see people clearly. But Hongxia didn't think about that at the moment. She just sat there silently waiting, occasionally turning her head to look at Liang, who was also silent.

Isn't it taking too long for my sister to come back? Several minutes have passed and she still hasn't returned.

Hmm, is she really going to open the door? I remember Pochi completely destroyed the door; my older sister tried for ages to open it before. What if she really is going to open it now, and there's a monster outside...?

"Liang, shall we go and take a look?"

After thinking for a moment, Hongxia stood up and decided to go check on Xingge's situation.

"No, don't go there yet."

However, before she could jump off the stage, Ryo suddenly reached out and grabbed Hongxia's clothes, and stood up as well.

Liang is feeling very bad right now, extremely bad.

Although she hadn't seen anything wrong yet, this eerie unease lingered in her heart and gradually intensified.

It wasn't really related to Xingge running to the door to check the situation. Whether she went or not, some things were bound to happen. It was as if something had been watching them all along, and that malice would eventually creep in, whether they wanted to or not.

Turning around, Liang walked up to the laptop.

On the dark red screen, the "6th Edition Residents' Notice" could be seen. Shortly after that bratty voice finished broadcasting it, the computer automatically generated this text message to ensure the three of them could review and memorize it repeatedly.

Liang opened this thing at this moment not to confirm a certain rule, but to confirm again whether it would be updated or whether new content would appear.

Just like that strange, instinctive feeling she had before, Liang subconsciously felt that this thing would be updated, that new rules would appear after a period of time. However, she couldn't pinpoint the exact time of the update; she only had a vague feeling. If she remembered correctly, it might be around…

[Sizzle…]

[Attention all residents...buzz...buzz...pay attention...]

[The announcement has been updated... Updated... Updated... Buzzing...]

[Attention all... all residents experiencing hallucinations... please... take note...]

Hallucinations manifest in many forms... but their source is always external... it cannot know... things you haven't actively expressed... zz...

[You refuse to engage with illusions...buzz...you don't add anything to illusions...and illusions can more easily...buzz...discover them...because illusions can't know in advance...know what you haven't told them...buzz...]

Do not engage with hallucinations... Do not believe what hallucinations say... Do not try to... definitively confirm hallucinations... *buzzing sounds*... *buzzing sounds*...

[Sizzle... It's not here... It's not here... Sizzle sizzle sizzle... Sizzle...]

The piercing sound and intense noise almost punctured Hongxia and Liang's eardrums.

Unlike when she heard the broadcast before, this time the new announcement was inexplicably severely interfered with, so much so that Hongxia, who was a little further away, was dizzy and completely confused about what was going on.

In contrast, Ryo endured the noise and tried hard to decipher the new content in the announcement, but the interference was too strong. Even though Ryo was on her best, she could only barely understand a part of the information.

The source of hallucinations is always external; it cannot know things that a person has not actively expressed.

Liang's brows furrowed deeper and deeper; she sensed something ominous in this riddle-like message.

She tried to operate the laptop to find the latest announcement, but found that the computer had once again gone out of control, only displaying various garbled characters and could no longer be operated normally.

What the hell does this happen?

slam-la-

Before Liang could figure out what was going on, she heard the sound of flowing water approaching. Turning around, she saw a figure moving in the water in the darkness beyond the red light of the computer screen, seemingly heading their way.

"elder sister?"

Hongxia looked at the figure and asked softly.

"Well, it's me."

Xingge walked in from outside the red light, rubbed her wet hair, and looked not very good.

"Where did your flashlight go? And why are you completely soaked?"

Noticing that Xingge's clothes were completely soaked, Hongxia asked worriedly, intending to get off the stage, but Xingge, who had come over, gestured for her to stop, and then Xingge nimbly climbed onto the stage.

"I accidentally tripped and fell, and I think the flashlight got wet and broke. I looked outside, but there was nothing there. It's really weird, I don't understand what happened."

As Xingge said this, she casually took off her coat, put on a short-sleeved T-shirt, and sat down on the spot, her expression looking quite unpleasant.

"Is nobody here... Well, let's just keep waiting here on stage. Anyway, the water won't reach here for a while, so it should be fine."

After hearing what Xingge said, Hongxia's expression turned grim, confirming that the person knocking on the door was very likely some kind of monster. However, she quickly took a deep breath, forced a smile onto her face, and comforted Xingge.

In any case, as long as the rules are sound, there shouldn't be any worries about monsters breaking in.

In that case, there shouldn't be any problem if we just wait patiently for rescue.

As Hongxia was thinking this, she saw Xingge wipe her face a few times and then suddenly speak.

"There shouldn't be any place here that we haven't had time to check, right? If any doors or windows aren't closed properly, I always feel like there will be a problem."

Xingge's face showed undisguised worry.

When her sister brought up the topic, Hongxia lowered her head to think and recall, trying to confirm if there was any place she had missed checking before.

There shouldn't be such a place, since Ryo and I specifically went to check all the rooms. Ah, speaking of the skylight in the bathroom, we said we checked it before, but I don't really remember it. Should we go check it again?

"If there's a security check, then maybe—"

"No, everything has been checked and it's very safe. This place is completely sealed off."

Suddenly, Yamada Ryo's voice interrupted Nijika's unfinished words. The blue-haired girl stepped out from behind Hoshika and quickly walked to Nijika's side.

"Hey, what's wrong with you—"

Hongxia's words were interrupted for the second time when Liang reached out and grabbed Hongxia's shoulder, turning her around so that the dazed girl's perspective was directed towards the outside of the stage.

This time, Liang used a lot of force, gripping Hongxia so tightly that her shoulder ached, and it felt as if her nails had dug into her flesh.

Before Hongxia could say anything, she was blinded by the cold light of a flashlight, and then she saw Xingge walking in from outside the red light with a flashlight in hand, her face pale, as if she had seen something terrifying.

"Hey, sister?"

The unexpected situation left Hongxia stunned.

She subconsciously turned her gaze back to the spot where Xingge had been sitting.

However, on this stage, there was no one else besides her and Liang standing there.

"...Did you guys see anything strange? When I was over there just now, I felt like something was following me in the water. It was kind of scary."

Holding a flashlight, Xingge showed a somewhat frightened expression as she spoke. When she walked to the front of the stage, she placed the flashlight on the stage first and reached out to Hongxia, signaling her to pull her up.

Having just witnessed a supernatural phenomenon, Hongxia was completely frozen in place, unable to move at all.