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

The girl's face quickly revealed undisguised surprise.

monitoring room.

What appeared before Hongxia was a monitoring room equipped with numerous television screens displaying various scenes from the lobby, corridors, and inner plaza of the Zhenyang Apartment complex. She then noticed a large number of documents on the table and a map nailed to the wall, labeled "[Dansu Company Office Building High-Rise Map]". Below the map, a single, bright red Chinese character for "kill" was written.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Company Data in the Monitoring Room and Gao Hai's Plans

Dansu Company

Hongxia had absolutely no recollection of this company; she was certain that she had never heard of such a company in Japan since she was born.

Of course, Hongxia had never heard of either the Sheep Apartment or Isidor Coz. Gao Hai had explained this to Hongxia, and she knew it was because the [Sacrifice Game] had a cognitive shielding effect, allowing ordinary people to forget anything related to the instance. However, now that she was truly immersed in the instance and had actually come into contact with things related to it, the girl felt increasingly unreal. It was hard to imagine that such a large company, capable of easily controlling a small city, could completely disappear from the real world without leaving a trace.

Yes, this city could be said to be under the control of this company. It wasn't until Hongxia reviewed the various documents left in this secret monitoring room that she came to this understanding.

The city's first railway line opened with the assistance of Dansu Company.

Dansu Company Assists in Building Kindergartens and Primary Schools in the City, Showing Concern for Basic Education.

Dansu Company's assistance in highway construction opens up avenues for external communication.

Whether it's paper-cuttings from newspapers or various promotional documents and books, all sorts of information cover the walls and pile up on the table. It's hard to imagine how much time and effort was spent collecting, organizing, and posting the key parts. Now, it's presented so bluntly to the two sisters in this monitoring room.

The content encompassed every aspect of this small city, both large and small, and Dansu Company was lurking within it, almost everywhere. From transportation to jobs to education, the company's influence was evident in every detail. Even someone as politically insensitive as Hongxia could see that this company essentially held a local tyrant status, and that every department in the city, from top to bottom, was likely under its control.

However, if we only focus on this surface information, there's really nothing special about it. Perhaps Dansu Company overstepped its bounds a bit, but overall, isn't the company doing good deeds?

However, if we consider the other aspects of the story within the instance, the problem becomes enormous. So enormous that even without delving deeper into the details, one can already perceive the evil hidden beneath this glamorous surface.

"This place is full of information about this company."

Xingge, who was tidying up and reviewing the documents on the table with Hongxia, frowned and said.

"Yes, with this information, we can basically understand the situation of this company. It's hard to believe there's so much information here..."

Hongxia nodded gently, her expression quite complicated.

No matter what superficial efforts are made, no matter how kind and approachable they appear, or how many good deeds they do, let's return to the basics and the fundamental nature of this company. 【Dansu Company】is ultimately a chemical company, and the kind of heavily polluting company that is extremely prone to safety accidents and is prohibited from operating in many countries and regions.

Furthermore, the documents gathered in this room reveal that [Dansu Company], while being a chemical enterprise, uses over 90% outdated equipment that has been rendered obsolete due to severe pollution. Regarding wastewater treatment facilities, according to the intelligence gathered here, [Dansu Company] never built such facilities in the first place. While outwardly claiming to be environmentally friendly and pollution-free, the company actually discharges polluting waste directly into local rivers and nearby seas. They even utilize several natural caves in the surrounding mountains to dump heavily polluted waste, causing pollutants to enter the local groundwater system.

Of course, despite this incident, no one will hold the company accountable.

Even as increasingly serious safety incidents occurred throughout the city, even as sparrows and swallows died on a large scale, even as many residents' dogs died of poisoning for no apparent reason, even as cats began to go mad, convulse, and jump into the sea and rivers, even as squirrels in the woods near the school began to refuse food and frantically attack nearby residents and students, even as chickens and ducks raised by farmers began to kill each other on a large scale, even as people eventually went mad and all sorts of terrible things happened, no one held [Dansu Company] accountable.

In fact, even as the infection spread to over a thousand people, and even as the severity of the incident began to surpass that of the Minamata disease outbreak of recent years, the production operations of [Danso Corporation] showed no signs of ceasing. On the contrary, the several blocks and apartments where the outbreaks were confirmed to be concentrated were sealed off by security personnel dispatched by the local government and the company, and the residents were prohibited from leaving. Moreover, based on the documents found here, combined with some other things seen before, this company even had more cruel and terrifying methods up its sleeve.

Analysis of the infected individuals confirmed that there is no cure once the mid-stage of infection begins, resulting in lifelong disability. Calculations show that if our company were to compensate each patient, we would need to cover the lifelong treatment costs for at least 2000 patients, an expense that is clearly unacceptable. Even if all 2000+ patients die, the one-time compensation to their families would still exceed our budget. It can be said that choosing the compensation path will inevitably come at a high cost for our company.

[In contrast, luring confirmed infected individuals and their families into concentrated detention areas through inducements and deceptive propaganda, claiming an infectious disease outbreak, and releasing them with more contaminated water to induce their rapid death from severe infection might be a better way to handle the problem, and the costs involved would be far lower than choosing compensation.]

These measures are not impossible. Local residents are currently unaware of the source of the disease. If the local government cooperates with our company in public awareness campaigns, imposes a curfew in the city, and isolates the infected individuals and their families, these potential threats can be eliminated smoothly. We don't even need to do anything ourselves; simply prolonging the process and allowing prolonged exposure to the contaminated water will eliminate these problems without any issues.

I know some might prefer to delay, since the problem can be solved simply by waiting until the victim dies. However, firstly, this would cause long-term, irreversible damage to the company's reputation, and we don't need to take that risk. Secondly, we all know the reasons we chose this city outside of company business, and there are certain things that must never be discovered. If something goes wrong and leaks out, we'll be the ones who suffer the consequences.

As long as we operate properly and act quickly and decisively, there will be no problems left.

I hope everyone will seriously consider my suggestion; we don't have much time.

[Please also remember to destroy this proposal after reading it, and do not leave any information that could be used by the enemy.]

【——Kanahara Microo】

Despite the report being marked as needing to be destroyed at the end, for some reason, this report, which should have been hidden by Dansu Company, has now appeared in front of Hongxia and Xingge, revealing the cruel and terrifying side of the company beneath its facade without reservation.

“…Hongxia, how about I do it?”

As an adult, Xingge looked at Hongxia with some concern, not wanting her innocent and kind-hearted younger sister to be exposed to too much of this information.

“It’s okay, sister. I was already mentally prepared before I saw these messages. What I’m seeing now… isn’t really unexpected. Let’s continue looking at these materials. To be able to collect so much information and establish this hidden monitoring point, the original owner of this secret room must have been an extraordinary person. We need to process the information he left behind as soon as possible.”

But for Hongxia, who had already seen the mass grave in the basement, the information she was seeing now was no problem at all. She didn't even show much change in expression, and after saying this in a flat tone, she continued to flip through the documents.

Of course, although she didn't show much emotional reaction on the surface, deep down, the girl had already developed strong thoughts that she couldn't suppress.

Such a thing must never be allowed to continue.

Such a twisted and terrifying place must be completely eradicated.

Although the girl herself doesn't yet have the power to truly change anything, this simple thought has already taken root in her heart. Just like many players who still have to deal with dungeons, and many ordinary people who are experiencing dungeons for the first time, not many people would want something like the "Sacrifice Game" to continue after encountering it.

【Eiji Kashiwatani】

Hongxia's gaze lingered on the wall covered with various documents, and then on the name label at the end of one of the pages.

Based on the information found so far, this name should belong to the original creator of this secret room.

There wasn't much information about this person in the room. The room key with his name on it on the table suggested he was a tenant of the Zhenyang Apartment. A black-and-white photo of him and his daughter, who appeared to be only five or six years old, a work ID from the lower level of the Dansu Company, and his daughter's obituary tucked inside the photo suggested that his daughter was likely a victim of the pollutants released by the Dansu Company, and he was living in the apartment as a family member. Furthermore, because of his status as a company employee, he was able to move freely within the apartment to some extent, preventing him from being completely locked up inside.

The surveillance cameras in the room were secretly connected to the company's lines by Eiji Kashiwagi himself. It's unclear how he discovered the surveillance cameras that Dansu Company had secretly installed in the Zhenyang Apartment and successfully connected to them. But now that they have this device, the people inside can use the surveillance to check at any time whether there are any strange things moving in the corridor outside, and can identify a safe route in advance.

Of course, these surveillance cameras alone cannot guarantee complete security, as they only cover the apartment's entrance lobby, the first-floor plaza, and some corridors and staircases, leaving many areas unconfirmed. However, this is unavoidable, as Danso Company did not install surveillance cameras in every corridor of the apartment building, and given the insufficient coverage of surveillance cameras, employee Eiji Kashiwatani obviously could not conjure up new cameras out of thin air.

"If we can make use of these surveillance cameras, we can find survivors more quickly and find ways to guide them to the safe zone if they enter the apartment again."

Hongxia turned her head and looked at the several television screens in the room again, pondering and saying in a low voice.

At this moment, she could see several blurry shadows flashing by in the surveillance footage marked on the east side of the second-floor corridor, while the surveillance footage in the plaza on the first floor showed several figures that appeared to be apartment residents, with distorted bodies as if they were dancing.

In just that brief moment of observation, Hongxia keenly noticed that the figures on the inner plaza's surveillance camera seemed to be turning their heads to look at her. She quickly looked away and instead looked at a document hanging on the wall next to the surveillance camera.

[Monitoring Records and Response Methods]

1. A blurry, indistinct figure

[There is no danger of being observed; the individual cannot be found in the area where the shadowy figure was observed at any time, suggesting it may be an anomaly that only appears in surveillance footage.]

[2. A blurry, but recognizable figure wearing a blue security guard uniform from the Zhenyang Apartment complex.]

There is no danger of being watched. If you go to the activity area outside of curfew hours, you will not be able to find the corresponding individual. After curfew, you will be able to find individual security personnel in the activity area.

Those who possess "Zhenyang Apartment room keys" will not encounter danger; however, the reactions of those who do not possess keys have not been tested, and it is presumed that danger exists.

3. A blurry white figure

[If there is a risk of being watched, the individual will be directly taken to room 303, but will be unable to enter the secret room.]

Never attempt to approach their activity area; contact is extremely dangerous.

[4. Relatively clear, suspected individual residents of the apartment]

[Staring directly at someone is extremely dangerous; staring for more than 3 seconds will attract attention, and staring for more than 10 seconds will draw attention to them (303).]

[Individuals with this type of record will not enter room 303, but will continue to wander in the corridor outside the room. The longest recorded wandering time is 10 hours.]

Contact with such individuals must be avoided, as it is extremely dangerous.

5. Relatively clear, suspected cat-like individuals.

[Staring at this individual is extremely dangerous. Staring for more than 3 seconds will attract them to room 303, where they may enter a secret room. When this individual is discovered, the entrance to the secret room must be locked; otherwise, you must leave the secret room within 15 seconds.]

[Untouchable, seemingly lacking a physical form in the real world, but continuously observed through hallucinations, accompanied by various inexplicable and unpredictable paranormal phenomena]

6. People you know

[Staring is the most dangerous tactic; they will directly attempt to communicate with you through the monitor. If you are detected, you must immediately leave the monitoring room and close the room. You can only enter to check the situation after at least 3 hours.]

[Do not talk! Do not talk! Absolutely do not talk! This type of individual can directly enter the secret room. The specific triggering rules are not yet determined, but as long as you talk to them, this individual may appear directly in the secret room. Contact with them is extremely dangerous, and the chances of survival are slim.]

7. Yourself

There are no direct eyewitness accounts; only a few observers mentioned dreaming about this scene before the disappearance.

[This is presumed to be extremely dangerous. If any observer dreams of such a situation again, they should be removed from their post and replaced with someone else. We cannot afford to suffer any more losses.]

Unlike Eiji Kashiwatani, who was already active while still alive, this record was clearly left by victims who mistakenly entered the Jin'ya Apartment after it became a dungeon. It's unclear how those who initially entered the dungeon found the secret room 303, but their records provide a better basis for confirming information related to the dungeon. In fact, Nijika and Hoshika were able to confirm the name Eiji Kashiwatani thanks to the information left by these later arrivals. Those victims who mistakenly entered the area for various reasons before the [Sacrifice Game] began conducting numerous investigations, including one on this pioneer, and some of their findings were left in this room.

However, judging from the records, the Zhenyang Apartment that these people entered should be somewhat different from the current one. In Mr. Gao Hai's words, it seems that the [Hospital] itself, as the source, took some action that affected the lower-level instance related to it. In addition, this instance itself was involved with something else, resulting in other things that did not belong to this instance mixing in, making the already dangerous instance environment even more dangerous.

While Hongxia was confirming information related to the surveillance, Xingge noticed a locked drawer in the room. She asked Gao Hai to break the lock, then opened the drawer and took out a small notebook, carefully flipping through it. The notebook didn't contain much information, and after a brief look, Xingge confirmed that it belonged to [Eiji Kashiwatani].

The initial sections primarily document the minutiae of the father and daughter's life together in the apartment, and how the father's suspicions grew as his daughter's condition worsened, leading him to investigate the Danso Corporation. The information contained relatively little of value; the only confirmed fact was that the investigator's daughter ultimately died, and her body was forcibly taken away and disposed of by company personnel, never to be found again. Furthermore, Kashiwatani Eiji was consistently forbidden from leaving the apartment building and forced to continue working, which only strengthened his resolve to oppose the company.

"They clearly caused someone else's daughter's death, yet they still demand that she come to work. What kind of company is this?"

Unable to resist saying this, Xingge continued turning the page, her expression then began to change.

[Warning to later readers: Further information about this diary has been confirmed to possess characteristics akin to a curse; excessive reading may lead to bizarre and terrifying consequences.]

Whatever your purpose in opening this diary and reading this far, I hope you will think carefully before turning the pages. This is not a game.

What came into view was a passage of text that was clearly not written by Eiji Kashiwatani himself. To ensure that this page could be read, someone had even glued several crumpled pieces of paper onto it, making it difficult for anyone who opened the diary to avoid this page.

If Xingge were alone, she probably wouldn't have dared to actually turn the pages. But now that Gao Hai was watching, she was much bolder. After confirming with Hongxia that Gao Hai's power was protecting her, she turned the page and looked at the second half of the diary.

I've started dreaming. I think I've been infected. I don't have much time left.

But this dream was so strange; it didn't seem like the patients' dreams, it seemed like the patients themselves.

I don't know what this dream will eventually become; I can only try to record it.

Unlike all the previous records, for some reason, while reading it, I could almost feel someone speaking in my ear.

I saw those patients in my dream.

They became more tormented and more terrifying than they actually were.

The skin was rotting, with pus and fat oozing from beneath it, and countless worms wriggling and crawling inside the festering body.

[The eyes lost their sight and detached from their sockets; teeth came off and the tongue broke; the ears were blocked by tumors; and the nose became a mass of rotting flesh. Sight, hearing, smell, and taste were all lost; speech was impossible; and even the sense of touch was lost due to the decaying skin.]

Can such a person even be considered human?

Can someone who has become like this continue to live?

I didn't see them scream, I didn't see them show any sign of pain.

They were very calm.

I don't know how to put it, but such adjectives are so incongruous with such a horrific scene, yet that's just how it is.

In the face of these horrific victims, all I can feel is calm.

They have completely calmed down.

There are no more emotional fluctuations, no more pain, and no more struggle or resistance.