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

"...Are you using me as a shield?"

Liang turned around and looked at the two sisters on her left and right without expression. She casually made a comment and then walked towards the center of the square.

This small square, though not very large, is surrounded by lots of grass and has several wooden benches for people to rest on. In the very center of the square stands a tree almost as tall as the apartment building itself. Overall, it's a pleasant little square, perfect for a stroll after dinner.

However, despite this, all the grass in the small square has now withered and turned into dry grass. The big tree looks alive, but its branches and leaves have shriveled, giving the impression that it might fall at any moment.

If that's all there is to it, then there's really no major problem with this small square.

But once Ryojin stepped into the square and observed the things scattered throughout it, the so-called withered grass and branches became no problem at all.

"all these are……"

Hongxia, who noticed the situation in the square a little later than Liang, covered her mouth with her hand.

"It doesn't look like it's been dead for long; at least it's not too badly rotten yet. You can still recognize what it is."

As Liang spoke, she looked around, her brows furrowing unconsciously.

The small square was littered with corpses.

Sparrows, magpies, swallows, crows... all kinds of bird carcasses that are common in life and have become integrated into the urban environment can be found in this small square.

Besides, in one corner of the square, there was a Shiba Inu's corpse lying on the ground. Judging from the dog's wide-eyed, tongue-out, stiff appearance, Ryo guessed that its death probably wasn't easy.

"It seems like a large number of people died around the same time. Could they have been poisoned?"

After confirming that there was nothing scary in the square, only many animal corpses, Xingge relaxed a bit. Unlike Hongxia, who hid behind Liang, Xingge stood aside and analyzed the situation seriously.

"Indeed, it looks like they were poisoned, but poisoning all these animals at once wouldn't be an easy thing to do. And it's very likely that it wasn't just these animals."

Liang, speaking softly, walked to a patch of grass, squatted down, and gently parted the withered grass to reveal a large number of dead ants in the soil.

The grass was withered, the trees were half-dead, birds and insects were dying off in large numbers, and even a dog was dead. These things, concentrated in the small square of this apartment building, do they indicate something? If they do indeed contain some intelligence clues, what do they point to?

In silence, Liang reached out and gently wiped the soil with his hand.

It was still a bit damp, probably because it had rained not long ago. So, although the walkway was dry, the moisture on the grass-covered soil had not completely evaporated or seeped into the soil.

It's raining... Could this be another clue?

As she pondered, Liang raised her head, her gaze sweeping across the grass ahead. She then noticed the shards of glass that reflected the light faintly in the grass, and a figure lying motionless in the grass, not immediately noticed because of the grayish-yellow clothes worn by the person.

"Watch out, there's someone here!"

Liang, instantly alert, warned the two people behind him, while quickly standing up and backing away to prevent the person lying on the ground from getting up and attacking him.

Startled by Ryo's sudden movement, Hongxia quickly stepped back, nearly tripping over the dead bird. Xingge, standing nearby, swiftly steadied her. At the same time, Ryo had already turned on his computer, pointing the screen, emitting a dark red glow, at the person lying on the ground.

There was no movement.

The person lying on the ground did not react at all, remaining motionless like a corpse.

"He looks like he's already dead."

After observing carefully for a while, Xingge spoke in a low voice.

"Dying doesn't mean you can't get back up; after all, this isn't the real world."

Liang replied calmly, then looked up at the wall above the figure and quickly spotted the broken window on the second floor.

This location... should be the window of the laundry room on the second floor.

Wait a minute, it seems to be right next to the window of the laundry room near room 201. If this person fell from that window and landed in the small square, could he be related to the note in the duty room?

"I'm going to get closer. You guys stay here and keep an eye on things. If you notice anything wrong, remind me immediately."

After handing the computer to Xingge next to him, Liang decisively stepped forward and walked a few steps to the figure lying on the ground.

"Hey, wait a minute, this is too dangerous..."

Hongxia said with some worry from behind, but seeing that her friend had no intention of backing down, the timid girl gritted her teeth and followed Xingge forward, approaching the figure with Liang.

As for Ryo, who walked up to this person, she quickly noticed a small flowerpot and a small shovel in front of him. It seemed that this person was the same Funada Taro mentioned in the note.

Liang carefully squatted down, first picking up the empty flowerpot filled with some soil and the small shovel and handing them to Hongxia behind her. Then she looked around the person and noticed a crumpled piece of paper in the person's hand.

"..."

Take a deep breath, reach out, and Liang grabs the note in the other person's hand, slowly pulling it out.

The person lying on the ground did not move at all, as if he were a dead object that remained motionless.

After receiving the note, Liang hesitated for a moment before abandoning his plan to turn the person over to confirm their appearance and search them. Instead, he slowly backed away and stopped only after leaving the bushes.

We got the items normally, and nothing like the time-traveling attack or anything worse happened, so that should be considered good news.

Thinking this, Ryo unfolded the note in her hand and found that the writing on it was extremely messy and distorted, making it very difficult to decipher. She frowned and barely managed to read it for a short while, only able to roughly determine that it was originally a memo someone had written to her, but for some reason it was written as if she had gone mad.

No, considering how strange this place is, maybe he really has gone mad.

As Liang pondered, he carefully read the words on the note, trying his best to decipher the parts that were still relatively clear.

I am Taro Funada, I am Taro Funada, I am Taro Funada

This sentence can be found in various places on the note, it has been written many times, and the strokes are extremely messy.

Do not drink water.

Water is poisonous, water is a nightmare, water is a monster.

[Don't drink water! Don't drink water! The water here is undrinkable! Shouldn't the supermarket still have water? Can I drink boiled water? No, I can't drink it?]

These paragraphs are relatively neat and are located near the beginning of the note, so they appear to be the earliest pieces written.

The cat has been possessed; the cat has been possessed by a monster.

The cat will try to take me away, the cat will try to take everyone away, the cat will come closer when it meows.

I can't let a cat take me away. I want to stay away from cats, I want to stay away from cats, I want to stay away from cats, stay away from cats, stay away from cats!

These paragraphs have become quite disorganized, suggesting the writer was extremely agitated or perhaps unable to control their handwriting. Regardless, this information, combined with the elementary school student's essay and the cat-meowing ghost story I've seen before, is enough to explain a lot, in my opinion.

[The food is also problematic; avoid eating any food produced in this city, as the monster is attached to it.]

Why didn't I notice it at first?

Those monsters are looking for me. They already know I'm here. No one else can see me, and no one else has noticed them. Or are they one of them, and I just haven't noticed them?

I have to go to work. The curfew is still in effect, and everyone has to keep living. I can't lose my job; it's my pride, and it's everyone's pride.

I didn't see the monster, and the monster didn't see me, but I need to be vigilant. My life is my own, and I have things to do. I need to lock the doors and windows and go to sleep. Those monsters are still looking for me. I need to continue working tomorrow. Work can't solve the problem. I need to know. I need to know...

The later paragraphs became more structured, but the content of the text itself became increasingly strange and bizarre, as if the writer had entered a state of mental breakdown, to the point that the text itself had lost its inherent logic.

I want to run away, run away, run away, run away!

There are monsters here, monsters are here, monsters are next to me, monsters are here.

Monsters are coming! Monsters are coming! I'm not a monster! I'm not a cat! Monsters are coming! I'm not a monster! Monsters are coming!

[Go to the basement, go to the basement, go to the basement! I'm Taro Funada! I'm Taro Funada! I'm Taro Funada! The monster is coming! It's coming! It's coming!]

I'm going to water the flowers. I'm a good father. Today is a beautiful day. I'm going to work hard.

The last paragraph was so messy that it was almost illegible, but the last sentence became neat and tidy again, as if nothing had happened and everything was normal.

It is difficult to understand the circumstances under which these written records were made.

Liang stared at the note in her hand, her brows furrowing deeper and deeper. She felt a strong sense of unease from the words, as if the words themselves possessed some unknown power that was being transmitted to her nerves as she read them.

"call……"

Fortunately, Ryo did not feel the pain of her consciousness being eroded. It seems that although these words may have some kind of polluting properties, they are no match for Ryo's blessed and protected mental strength in terms of the intensity of the pollution.

Put the note away and write down the location: the basement.

Liang looked up the next moment and immediately noticed that the man who had been lying on the ground had disappeared.

The very next second, a strong sense of crisis arose, and a chill ran through his body. He instinctively dodged to the side, and then a loud bang came from a window on the third floor.

boom! ! !

Then, when Ryo turned around, he saw that Hongxia's head was tilted back and she fell straight to the ground.

Chapter Thirteen: The Confirmation of the Fourth Survivor and the Moment of the Attack by the Evil Being

After hesitating for a few seconds, Liang realized that the explosion he had just heard was actually a gunshot.

Unfortunately, Japan has relatively strict gun control these days. Although there are still some who slip through the net, ordinary people rarely see real guns unless they actively seek them out, and they can't tell the difference between the sound of a gun firing and the sound of firecrackers.

"Hongxia!"

Xingge shouted and rushed towards Hongxia, who had fallen to the ground.

Liang, who was a step too late to realize what had happened, looked up in astonishment and saw a figure flash through a window on the third floor of the apartment building. Then, a dark gun barrel emerged from the window and silently pointed at her.

boom! ! !

The next second, flames erupted, followed by a heavy impact on the body.

But it doesn't seem to hurt?

Liang stared wide-eyed, staggered a step from the impact, but did not fall down.

[This is really... I was only distracted for a short while doing other things, and you guys got shot? Your luck is just too bad! And this kind of attack... were some kind of cursed substance added to the bullets? Looks like it was made by a player, tsk tsk. At such a critical moment, instead of helping to evacuate the survivors, they even sniped a few little girls who were entering the instance for the first time. That's a bit too trashy.]

Gao Hai's nonchalant voice slowly rose from Liang's consciousness.

"Ugh, what just happened?"

Rubbing her slightly red forehead, which had no visible wounds, Hongxia sat up from the ground with a puzzled look on her face. Looking down, she saw a dented bullet land on her long dress.

"Huh? What is this?"

Hongxia, unaware of what had just happened, was stunned.

Liang realized that it was Gao Hai who protected Hongxia and her at the critical moment, allowing them to survive what should have been a fatal gun attack.

She looked up again, towards the direction of the gunman on the third floor, but could only see a half-open window and couldn't see what was inside.

Is the other person still there? Or have they already run away?

Mr. Gao Hai just said that the gunman was a player? Aren't players people too? Why would they shoot at other people, and why would they aim for a fatal spot like the head right away? Ah, speaking of which, Mr. Gao Hai said that not all players are good people. In fact, there are quite a few evil and dangerous individuals among players. It's just that there have always been more players who lean towards the side of order, so the real world has generally remained stable.