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

【Meow~】

At that moment, the three of them suddenly heard a cat meow, coming from the direction they had come from, from a dark corner not far from them, not illuminated by streetlights.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The commissioned Alice character design is finished! Thanks to artist Xiaolang_lxl. Now I'm sharing the commissioned character design with everyone.

Chapter Four: The Chase on the Dark Streets and the Apartment Building Entered

Meow~

I heard a very cute cat meowing.

The meows, which sounded quite cute, came from the dark neighborhood where the three of them had just woken up, and seemed to be gradually approaching.

Could there really be cats in such a strange and terrifying place?

Feeling somewhat puzzled, Ryo turned around to look at the source of the sound, but only saw darkness and could not see the cat hiding inside that kept meowing.

"Could it be that, like us, you came to this place by accident or were forced to?"

Hongxia looked somewhat worried. She wanted to go and check on the kitten, but because the two people around her hadn't moved, she was hesitant to go back to the dark street alone. So she looked at Liang and Xingge.

"Really? There are cats here? Even if there aren't any of those things, they'd probably freeze to death by now, right?"

Xingge gripped the hose tightly, frowning as she spoke. Instinctively, she didn't want to get involved with anything suspicious. Even cats, which Xingge usually liked, held no appeal for her now. After all, compared to the life or death of a kitten, the survival of the three of them was clearly more important.

"...A cat? Hongxia, don't go over there yet."

Yamada Ryo seemed to be deep in thought. He first turned his head to look at the three documents on the notice board again, and then turned to look at the dark area not far away.

【Meow~】

The cat's meow rang out again, still as soft and gentle as before. Just hearing the sound made you imagine a cute little cat being affectionate.

However, such a sound should never have appeared in this place under any circumstances.

And shouldn't such a whining sound be coming from this distance? Generally, cats only make this sound when they get close enough to a person to make a certain noise. But the three of them can't even see the kitten. Why would it start whining from this far away?

Ultimately, was that really a cat?

The thought had just surfaced in his mind when Liang suddenly realized something was wrong.

"Their cries sound so pitiful."

Hongxia spoke softly, but did not act on her own. She just looked nervously at the two people beside her, wanting to know what they were thinking.

"At this distance, shining a flashlight should be enough to see what the other person looks like, right?"

Xingge hesitated for a moment, then took out a flashlight and intended to shine it in the direction of the sound.

At this moment, Liang turned back to look at the three notices on the wall again. To be precise, she looked at the last notice, the one that listed excellent examples of elementary school students' compositions, but which Liang found strange to read.

If that thing isn't a cat, what could it be?

Cool pupils focused on the sentence, "The kitten told me not to be late."

Cats shouldn't be able to talk.

While we can't rule out that this is just a child's wild imagination, given that the document information was seen in such a strange place, could it be that... some things can actually be understood literally?

After all, most of the objects described in this short essay are based on reality. Whether it's sparrows, puppies, swallows, or other animals, they don't speak, as the descriptions suggest. In contrast, the three talking animals—kittens, squirrels, and ducklings—are the truly abrupt and strange ones.

Meow~

The sound of a cat meowing rang out once again.

This time, the other party was even closer, so close that Liang felt it was stuck to the edge of darkness. If it took just one more step, the thing's appearance would be truly revealed, and the three girls present would be able to see its true form.

What would happen if we saw it?

Such a thought drifted through Liang's heart, transforming into an unconscious gaze that spread outwards.

Then, in the next instant, an indescribable chill spread throughout his body, making Liang almost lose his balance for a moment.

"Gu?!"

I couldn't make out what it was.

The moment one's soul perspective briefly left the body and truly looked in that direction, an unprecedented sense of terror instantly assailed them. And clearly, this suffocatingly terrifying sense of oppression already indicated a very serious problem.

You must not go near that thing! You must not approach that terrifying thing! It...it is...

Turning her head, Liang saw Xingge pick up a flashlight and press the switch in the direction of darkness.

Don't take the picture—

Before the warning sound even finished, the switch had already been turned on, and the white light immediately dispelled the darkness.

The three people present then clearly saw what it was in the next second.

I saw the creature that was meowing, lying on its four limbs, with a body that clearly resembled a human, but covered in black fur. It had no male or female characteristics, and its face was extremely distorted, as if many pieces of rotten flesh had been torn apart and stitched together, resulting in a deformed growth.

It's right here.

It is hidden in the darkness.

It emits a faint, cat-like sound, luring unsuspecting survivors to wait for the moment when the trap will be revealed.

"Hey?"

This was the questioning sound that Hongxia uttered the moment she saw the thing, completely unprepared.

"WTF?!"

This was Xingge's voice as she reacted slightly, startled, and instinctively gripped the water pipe.

"..."

Liang didn't speak; her mind was completely focused on the creature, deeply sensing the terror emanating from it. This was definitely not human, an extremely dangerous anomaly, just like the pale, eerie creature rising from the water, making direct, unprotected contact with her.

【Meow~】

After letting out a meow, the monster moved forward a few steps, its body arched and slightly cowering, as if it were submitting and trying to please, but at the same time it seemed to be preparing to exert its strength, about to leap into the air and pounce in a certain direction.

The direction it lunged towards... that direction was where Xingge, who was holding a flashlight, was the first to spot it.

The next second, in the blink of an eye, it was no longer in the same place.

A crimson light erupted in the next second, roaring and repelling the savage-like monster.

The force of the blanket, which she was holding the laptop with, nearly knocked her to the ground. Fortunately, Hongxia caught her in time, and the two girls combined their strength to withstand the impact. On the other side, the lonely Xingge was not so lucky. She was blown over and fell flat on her back, wincing in pain and almost unable to get up.

"Hurry up! Stand up!"

Before the crimson light and shadow had completely dissipated, Liang arrived first, reaching out to grab Xingge's hand, while Hongxia ran up from the other side and grabbed Xingge's other hand.

"Uh cough cough... I..."

Xingge, who was hit quite hard, opened her mouth but couldn't immediately say anything grammatically correct; her mind was clearly still a bit muddled.

【Meow~】

And the terrifying meows of the monster were already getting closer again in the next moment.

Such intense cold is a completely new experience.

And this feeling of being so close, is it hiding somewhere here? Its target is...?

"Hongxia, go forward!"

A split-second instinct prompted Liang to shout as he pulled Xingge's hand forward forcefully.

As close friends who have performed together many times, Hongxia reacted the moment she heard Liang's voice and immediately rushed forward, grabbing Xingge's hand and dragging her forcefully.

tear-

This was the loud sound of Xingge's back and buttocks rubbing against the ground.

Click!

These were fingers covered in cat-like black fur, which gripped between Xingge's legs, shattering the floor tiles and digging away from another spot by less than three centimeters.

"Depend on--"

Stimulated by the approaching, foul stench reminiscent of stray animals and the intense sense of danger, Xingge's eyes widened, snapping her out of her dazed state. She immediately realized the near-fatal effect of the attack. She couldn't help but curse in front of her sister, instinctively wrenching her grip on the iron pipe to free her wrist from Hongxia's grasp. Taking advantage of Hongxia's presence, she slammed the pipe down hard on the thing's head.

Duang ~

In terms of the feel of hitting it, it was not much different from hitting a hard rock. Anyway, after the blow, the singer went numb and the stick slipped from his hand, while the black-haired savage monster didn't move at all, showing no signs of being actually hit.

No effect?

The unexpected situation startled Xingge. She wanted to pick up the stick and hit it again, but Hongxia had already grabbed her wrist again. Liang on the other side did not hesitate either. The two of them dragged her forward and ran. The monster also reached out and grabbed forward again, but missed again and crushed the tiles on the ground.

Boom! ! !

The crimson light spread again, striking the creature the moment it launched its third attack and pounced forward, sending it flying far away.

Liang wasn't sure how much of the blood-red light's power had been consumed, but she noticed that its already dim brightness was clearly continuing to decrease. It seemed that if it continued to be used like this, the red light would probably disappear soon.

If that happens, they will have no protection and will probably be doomed.

Tsk, we've only just entered this place, and we still have absolutely no idea how we ended up here...

Turning around, Liang clearly saw the thing move this time. He saw the monster roll on the ground after being knocked away by the blood light, quickly get up, and shrink back into the dark corner of the wall, into an absolutely dark area where no one could see what was hidden.

So that's how it is. As long as this monster is in the dark, it seems to transform into some kind of intangible state. Only when it actively leaves the dark area and enters the light, or when its location in the dark is suddenly illuminated by a strong light source, will it transform from an intangible state into a physical entity and have a tangible, touchable body.

Meow...

A cat's meow came from the darkness, sounding somewhat aggrieved, as if it had been bullied.

Xingge quickly got up from the ground, rubbing her buttocks and back that had been rubbing against the ground for more than ten meters. Hongxia could tell that she was extremely nervous at the moment, and it was probably impossible for her to calm down, analyze the situation, and come up with a solution. At most, she could only listen to the instructions of others, and she couldn't do anything more complicated than that.

"Keep running, don't stop! It's catching up with us!"

Liang shouted, clutching his laptop as he continued running forward.

Instead of crossing the zebra crossing to the other side of the road, the three rushed into the T-junction and continued to approach the depths of the fork in the road.

【Meow……】

The cat's meowing continued.