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

I realized they had given up hope.

[A truly, utterly and completely hopeless despair.]

No matter how terrible things happen to them, these people will no longer react. They adapt to everything, they accept everything, they coexist with all the pain and torment in despair, becoming the purest form of beings, incapable of any further reaction.

How could such a terrible thing happen?

I cannot comprehend the changes in these people. Who could have transformed them like this? This is beyond the capabilities of the "Dansu Company." If this absurd dream is real, what kind of power could bring about such changes, and to such an evil and terrifying degree?

I hope this is just a dream.

But these nightmarish images keep replaying in my mind. I've dreamt of those scenes more than once. Sometimes I feel that it's not that I'm dreaming of them, but that they are searching for me—those victims who can no longer feel anything seem to be searching for me in their dreams?

No, a person who has become like that will no longer take any initiative.

I understand now. It's not that they're looking for me, but that the one who turned them into this is looking for me. The one who created this horrific thing, who turned people into this, has seen me. It's searching for me, it's slowly pulling me away.

I don't understand what that thing is.

But I will not give in, no matter what the final outcome, I will never yield to such a thing, just as I will not yield to the "Dansu Company" that took my daughter away.

I just hope that day will come a little later.

Turn the page, and then there's a blank page with no content.

Xingge was slightly taken aback. She hadn't expected that the diary left by this initial rebel would end with such a nonsensical entry. He hadn't recorded the most important secrets about "Dansu Company," nor his longing for his daughter; he had only recorded this... seemingly meaningless information about a strange dream.

To be honest, Xingge was a little confused about what was going on.

Until that eerie chill suddenly spread through her body, until she abruptly felt something emerge from her surroundings, all she could feel was the same confusion as those who had once read this passage.

【I see】

The intense chill arrived without warning, almost causing Xingge to collapse to the ground.

But as Gao Hai's voice fell, the eerie chill immediately vanished, and everything seemed like an illusion; in the blink of an eye, nothing could be felt anymore.

"Um... Mr. Gao Hai, what was that feeling just now...?"

Xingge wasn't used to calling people "sir," so her words sounded a little awkward. But knowing she had almost gotten into trouble, Xingge still kept a humble attitude and carefully asked Gao Hai.

That's something that's not really related to this instance, at least not on the surface. Stop paying attention to it. This kind of information is something only I can handle personally. Neither you nor Hongxia will be safe from it if you rashly touch it.

However, Gao Hai had no intention of explaining. Instead, he gave Xing Ge a serious warning and even took action to blur her memory of reading those words, making it impossible for her to clearly recall the content of the words she saw. He did this to protect Xing Ge.

Gao Hai's reason for doing so was simple: he had confirmed that the diary entries pointed to one of the three doctors at the hospital, the internist who hoped that everything in the world could be integrated and inclusive, and that everyone could accept everything.

To coexist with all suffering, to inflict all torment and disease upon people, until all things are no longer separate.

Gao Hai was certain he couldn't be mistaken about this extremely twisted curse power; it could only be that of the "internal medicine doctor."

The investigator from Dansu Hospital likely became like this after coming into contact with the power of the [Internal Medicine Doctor]. But how did he come into contact with the [Internal Medicine Doctor]? Judging from this information, Kashiwagi Eiji shouldn't have entered the instance; the instance shouldn't have been completed when he was alive. Could it be that he was the [Hospital]'s initial contact with outsiders?

Furthermore, the [Hospital] instance is quite strange. While it's primarily characterized by a "hospital," its subordinate instances don't entirely conform to this rule. For example, information obtained from Yurikawa Hana shows that the [Rotting Room] instance has no hospital-related scenes whatsoever. If there's any connection, it's only that the doll mother, a core member of the Twilight-level instance, develops a mental disorder under the influence of the [Hospital]. In this sense, could it be that the root form of the [Hospital] instance is anchored to "illness"?

While she was pondering, Hongxia had already pulled out another document. This time, it was a plan by Kashiwagi Eiji himself. According to the plan, he would sneak into the upper floors of the Dansu Company building after a night shift, retrieve a homemade bomb that he had hidden in the company beforehand, and kill all the company's upper management while they were attending a meeting. To express his determination, the father had written several "kill" characters in blood-red ink on the plan, demonstrating the depth of his hatred.

At the same time, Hongxia found another memo, this time about the apartment's personnel. It mentioned the apartment's own security guards in blue uniforms and the operatives sent by Jin Yang Apartment, who wore full white protective suits. Kashiwatani Eiji bluntly described both types of people as lackeys. However, among the security guards, he specifically marked one special person named Yamashita Masafumi.

According to Eiji Kashiwatani himself, the young security guard named Masafumi Yamashita was a deformed child, seemingly due to congenital developmental abnormalities caused by his mother's food poisoning before his birth. This resulted in him being intellectually disabled from birth, along with leg problems and facial deformities. Perhaps because of this, the not-so-bright Yamashita was incredibly stubborn; he only respected the basic management rules published by the Jin Yang Apartment complex, ignoring everything else and failing to understand any hints or warnings. Because of this, Yamashita had helped Eiji Kashiwatani to some extent, which is probably why he was specifically singled out.

However, the eventual outcome was predictable. As described at the end of the memo, the young security guard mysteriously disappeared one night while on patrol after obstructing the actions of other security personnel, and no one ever saw him again.

I don't know if I saw that security guard in the pile of corpses in the basement, but even if I had, I wouldn't have been able to recognize him from among the bodies.

This intelligence has been confirmed.

"This [Dansu Company] doesn't seem to be doing these things entirely for financial gain. It seems they have some other ulterior motive?"

Hongxia spoke in a low voice, having paid special attention to the earliest leads in the investigation of Kashiwatani Eiji, noticing many unusual details. For example, it was rumored that the Dansu Company's industrial park had been dug to a depth of at least 50 meters, and even that was just hearsay; the actual depth of the well was unknown, as was the reason for the excavation. Furthermore, Dansu Company's upper management had mentioned in some of their reports that they had come to this city specifically because they valued its relatively isolated environment and believed it was easy to control.

Among the pile of documents, Hongxia also found a second map of the upper area of ​​Dansu Company. It marked the differences between the top floor and other upper areas. Judging from some of the markings on the map, Kashiwagi Eiji was probably planning to plant a bomb in the area below the boss's office, and it was estimated that he was already prepared to risk injuring other employees.

So, did he ultimately fail?

While thinking, Hongxia picked up the map and turned it over, only to find that there were still writings left on the back of the map, which seemed to be information left by the victims who were later involved in the duplication apartment.

The key lies with that company; the crucial element in finding a way to escape is likely there.

Only the boss's office can issue the permit, allowing one to truly leave the apartment and sever all ties with that company.

Those of us already trapped in this mess must obtain such an official document, such approval, before we can truly escape this hell.

The problem now is that we can't leave here; the apartment building won't let us out. How are we supposed to get to the office building under these circumstances?

The boss's office on the third floor only contained unstamped documents, while the stamp we needed was likely only found in the actual boss's office.

We tried many methods, but none of them worked. If this continues, we'll have to try 302 again. Hopefully, the door at the end of the corridor can overcome the spatial barrier and lead us into that building.

If this information is updated and new content is added later, then we have succeeded. If not, at least we tried, at least we didn't give up.

From the brief words, Hongxia could already vaguely sense the writer's tragic sentiment, and her mood couldn't help but become melancholy.

However, she then noticed a comment below the message. For a moment, the girl thought they had succeeded and was subconsciously happy. But upon closer inspection, she realized that the comment was actually written by someone else.

If you're not an employee, what gives you the right to go to the company?

Everything in this world has a label, and some people use these labels to distinguish friend from foe. This superficial thing has never ceased to exist in our lives.

So my friend, think things through before you do anything. Those around you who are watching you might not care what you do; they only care who you are. For that, everything else is secondary.

Regardless, I offer my condolences and prayers for you all.

【The Artist of the Night - Coz】

So Mr. Coates was here too? And judging from the looks of it, he wasn't the first person to be caught up in the instance? Before him, and after him, perhaps this place swallowed far more lives than it appears?

"Room 302... Is there anything special about it?"

Hongxia frowned. She remembered that the Fujiwara family had obtained the key to room 302. Perhaps she could take it and go investigate? Or... what if the corridor behind that blood-soaked room led to the company? A so-called "shortcut" that could teleport people directly into the company without going through the streets, using supernatural powers?

While thinking, Hongxia glanced at the clock in the monitoring room again, confirming that it was 5:50. Time moved quite quickly in this instance; at this rate, Hongxia estimated that the curfew would end soon. It should be much safer outside then, and she could try to find a path leading to the company.

No, your investigation can end here. Hongxia and Xingge, you don't need to get involved in what happens after this.

But at this very moment, after the two of them had already reviewed a large amount of data in the monitoring room, Gao Hai, who had studied the data with them, gave this instruction.

{No need to participate? Why not?}

Hongxia was very puzzled and immediately asked Gao Hai through the temporary mental link.

I will entrust this part of the task to Ms. Yamada Ryo; she will investigate the Dansu Company independently under my command.

The reason for doing this is simple. As the information states, whether we want to escape this instance or completely eliminate it, Dansu Company is an unavoidable point, and there's a high probability that this company is the real key. Once we're in this situation, relying solely on my clone's strength to protect you would be too much of a strain. Given the lack of raw power, choosing only Miss Liang will lessen the burden on me.

[Miss Liang and Hongxia, you are different from Miss Xingge. She has already awakened her extraordinary power to a certain extent and has officially crossed that threshold. Although there were some shortcuts in the process, she is now better and stronger in terms of both strength and mentality. This matter can only be handled by her. What you should do is guard this safe house. That is the most important thing.]

Gao Hai didn't hide anything from the girl's question, explaining the reason very directly without giving her any room for argument, and immediately arranged what would happen to the two of them afterward.

"How...how could this be?"

Hongxia was a little anxious because she hadn't expected this answer, and blurted out what she had said without thinking.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to everyone else, in the small bedroom next to the monitoring room, which was currently closed, the girl with short blue hair opened her eyes again.

The golden and red light faded from his body and dissipated in mid-air.

The girl landed steadily on the ground without making a sound, just like a cat.

"Hmm...is this...resurrection?"

As Yamada Ryo spoke, completely naked, she thoughtfully examined her own body, looking at her fair arms, her delicate fingers that had shed the calluses from playing bass, and her figure that seemed to have become even more slender.

These superficial changes might be difficult for the average person to discern at first glance, but Liang could clearly feel that his body was undergoing even more profound changes.

power.

Such powerful energy, filling the body.

Completely different from the past, Ryo is certain that her current body possesses a power that she could never have imagined in the past.

click-

With a simple reach, the girl easily pried off a small piece of cement from the wall and crushed it with her fingers.

[How do you feel? Your physical strength is now approaching that of a Red Moon-level player. I simply couldn't create a body for you that was too weak, like an ordinary person, so this was the best I could do. Are you satisfied? With a body like this, you should be able to complete the upcoming missions with ease, right?]

Gao Hai's voice rang in Liang's mind. At the same time, a set of fairly clean women's clothes flew out of the pile of clothes in the small bedroom and landed in front of her. It was complete from the inside out, and the size was exactly right.

"The next task?"

Liang didn't stand on ceremony and picked up his clothes to put them on, then asked directly.

[It's just an idea, an idea I'm not even sure will work.]

Now that you've been physically enhanced and are no longer fragile, and with my power protecting you, will you be able to successfully reach the vicinity of your core obsession?

[Find the core obsession, and then I'll dissolve the regret within it. Perhaps we can use this method to forcibly break through the dungeon, end everything in one fell swoop, and rescue everyone.]

In the next moment, Gao Hai's tone revealed a hint of a willingness to go all in.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Girl Who Returned from the Dead and the Death That Was Prepared to Be Delivered

What does it feel like to be resurrected from the dead?

Yamada Ryo never imagined that he would one day have the opportunity to truly experience something like this.

To once again experience a real, physical world, to once again feel breath, to feel temperature, and to truly stand on solid ground.

This feeling... is really hard to describe in words. For more than ten years before this, I had been used to having these things, but now, after only temporarily losing my body and regaining these basic senses, I never expected to have such strong feelings.

Well, if she had to describe the feeling, Ryo thought she would probably say something like "it feels very rock and roll." Although she didn't really understand what it had to do with rock and roll.

While thinking, the girl lightly jumped up and down like a little rabbit, closed her eyes, and carefully felt the continuously beating heart in her chest.

It seems she's getting a little agitated.

However, this was unavoidable, given that he had been resurrected from the brink of death and truly experienced a scenario only seen in movies and comics. Moreover, this wasn't entirely the same as a simple resurrection; at the same time, Ryo's physical strength was greatly enhanced by Gao Hai's power. Even without truly testing the limits of this power, Ryo was certain that he was now ten or even a hundred times stronger than before, essentially entering another dimension.

This unprecedented display of tile-throwing is truly exhilarating.

Of course, Ryo wasn't going to get carried away by this. She was still aware that even with the enhancements, she would struggle to fight against the monsters. After all, her enhancements were just simple physical improvements, offering no advantage against those supernatural beings with their bizarre abilities. Moreover, she had only briefly felt a little smug before being sliced ​​to pieces by the monsters. After that experience, Ryo had absolutely no courage to be arrogant again.

squeak-