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

As Liang pushed open the door to the small bedroom and stepped out, she heard several terrified screams from the living room. Then, as she stepped out of the room, she saw a kitchen knife looming large in her field of vision.

cold:"?"

Turn your head to avoid the cold wind whipped up by the blade.

Then the girl reached out and gently grasped the hilt of the knife, casually holding it in her hand.

Ahead, the twin-tailed girl who had thrown the kitchen knife looked terrified, as if she had seen a ghost. On the other side, two people, one old and one young, were sitting on the ground protecting a middle-aged man lying motionless. Judging from their expressions, they also seemed quite surprised. Only then did Liang slightly reflect on whether her entrance had been a bit exaggerated, or if she had frightened the people.

"What's wrong? What happened?! Oh, is it cold?"

Hearing the noise, Hongxia in the monitoring room quickly ran out and was surprised to find that Yamada Ryo had appeared in the room.

Nijika's reaction caught Fujiwara Manho's eye, making the mother realize it wasn't a ghostly attack, and she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As for Fujiwara Moeha, the youngest and most frightened among them, who had thrown the kitchen knife, the middle school student was still trembling, clearly not yet recovered. Considering that Ryo had appeared out of thin air from a small bedroom that had just been checked and was theoretically empty, this was obviously a very strong shock for the Fujiwara family, who had just experienced a terrifying supernatural event; a stress reaction was to be expected.

"I just got back. I'm sorry I scared you."

As Ryo said this, he walked up to Moeha and handed her the knife.

"You...you're not a ghost? That room...wasn't there anyone there just now..."

The little girl took a step back with some difficulty, but because her back was already pressed against the wall, she had nowhere to escape. In the end, she could only ask in a trembling voice.

"I have superpowers."

Ryo's response was to raise a V-sign with a blank expression and then open her hand. The next second, the kitchen knife floated up without anyone holding it and landed steadily on a small table next to Fujiwara Moeha.

"Hey? Hey hey?"

Unexpectedly witnessing such extraordinary power, Meng Ye's eyes widened in shock. The fear in her heart gradually dissipated, leaving only astonishment and curiosity.

"Look, this is a superpower, not a ghost."

After giving that casual explanation, Ryo turned and walked away, then noticed Fujiwara Toyomi standing to the side.

"I'm so sorry, my sister is too timid. She was terrified and that's why she tried to attack you."

Seeing that Ryo had no intention of making things difficult for Moeha, Fujiwara Toyomi, who had been observing cautiously, immediately apologized. Meanwhile, Fujiwara Manho, who was also taking care of her husband, was also carefully bowing her head and apologizing, as if Ryo had suddenly become some kind of high-ranking official.

To be honest, Ryo didn't quite like this fearful attitude, but she could understand why the family was afraid. Therefore, she didn't say much, but turned to look at Hongxia, who had a surprised expression, and Xingge, who came out with Hongxia, and whose expression looked a little strange.

Oh, the store manager is here too. Could she have already seen my corpse?

No, after you died, I used the power of the Crimson Domain to reclaim your body. I couldn't leave your flesh and blood for those things. In fact, your new body now uses a lot of your original body's flesh and blood, which is why it fits your soul so well.

Gao Hai answered Liang's small question very quickly. And because Liang herself wanted to keep certain information confidential, Gao Hai was communicating with her through a private mental link at this time, and neither Hong Xia nor Xing Ge knew the specific content of the communication.

"Hongxia, and store manager, I'm back."

Liang made a peace sign with both hands this time and continued to greet people with a blank expression.

"You're finally back? Mr. Gao Hai kept saying you had other missions and were away for a while. I was worried about you for a long time. Are you alright?"

In fact, Hongxia, who had been fearful of what she had perceived in her semi-conscious state, finally felt truly relieved after grasping Liang's hand and confirming that she had a normal body temperature instead of being ice-cold. Her voice also became relaxed.

"Yes, I just got back, but I have something to do and will be leaving soon."

However, after Ryo said that he had further plans and would not stay here, Hongxia immediately recalled what Gao Hai had said in the monitoring room and realized that her partner probably possessed some kind of power that she did not understand.

"You're going to investigate that Dansu Company? Right now?"

Standing behind Hongxia, Xingge frowned and asked.

"Only I can go now. Give me the doll, and you can stay."

As Ryo spoke, he waved his hand. After a brief silence, Hongxia took the doll off her waist and placed it in Ryo's hand.

"Please don't get hurt, Ryo. Before I... Ugh, anyway, Mr. Gao Hai, are you really sure you'll be alright?"

After handing over the doll, Hongxia spoke softly again. Perhaps because of the deep psychological trauma she had suffered from what she had seen before, she was still quite frightened and couldn't help but worry that something bad might happen. So she could only turn her gaze to the little doll that Gao Hai's consciousness was possessing, and her words involuntarily carried a pleading tone.

Don't worry, leave it to me!

Gao Hai responded quickly to this, his tone firm and leaving no room for doubt.

"...Can't I do it? I should be able to do it, right? It's not really necessary to entrust this kind of thing to a high school girl, is it?"

Compared to the bewildered Hongxia, Xingge was clearly unwilling. For her, it was incredibly shameful that she, an adult, couldn't stand on the front lines and had to watch her younger colleagues take on difficult, potentially life-threatening missions. However, of the three, only Liang had truly awakened some extraordinary power after facing death, so in the upcoming operation, Gao Hai could only choose the relatively safer Liang, and couldn't let the others follow.

"No, only I can go now. Manager, you just need to protect Hongxia."

Without uttering any hesitant or sentimental words, Liang, who had already decided what to do, replied to Xingge earnestly, then exchanged a few more brief words with the two of them before turning to leave the secret room.

Before leaving, Gao Hai linked the power he had left in the computer with the surveillance cameras in the monitoring room, allowing everyone to view the apartment's security footage directly through the laptop, which didn't require a power source, instead of having to stand in front of the monitoring room. Through the computer's own filtering power, Gao Hai could also ensure that in the event of any dangerous situations mentioned in the rules, he could use the power of his domain to filter them out, thus protecting the safety of the people in the room.

She moved the hidden entrance door aside, slipped into the wardrobe, turned around and closed the hidden door again, then pushed the door open and went out.

The clock in room 303 showed 6:22, not far from 7:00 when the curfew would end. Theoretically, Hongxia and the others in the room only needed to hold out for a little longer before they could move around the apartment normally without worrying too much about attacks from the monsters.

Similarly, if the guy who secretly shot at Hongxia and himself on the third floor is still alive, he could take advantage of the fact that most of the strange creatures in the apartment have stopped moving after curfew ends to launch another ambush. He might even track them down to the secret room where Hongxia and the others are hiding, posing a serious threat to his side.

Therefore, Yamada Ryo's first priority is not to investigate 302, nor to find a way to enter the Danso Company office building.

What she needs to do most right now is to find that pure evil guy, who is likely named Kusashi Satoshi, who stole the fountain pen from the lobby and attacked people with sniper shots, and eliminate this threat. This is the most important task that must be completed as soon as possible.

Are you sure everything is okay?

Gao Hai asked the question from within the girl's mind.

[Your physical abilities are indeed close to those of a Red Moon-level player, reaching a level that is absolutely impossible for a normal human to achieve.]

With your current physical strength and reflexes, taking down that player who is likely only at the Twilight level would be very easy. You could say that the opponent poses virtually no threat to you.

However, to truly stop an opponent, you need to completely disrupt their ability to move. Players always possess a variety of unpredictable and unpredictable methods; simply defeating them is never a reliable solution. The best way to stop a player often involves only one option. Are you sure you have the resolve to make that choice?

The question emanating from his thoughts darkened Liang's eyes.

But soon, both her normal yellow-green eyes and the blood-red eyes that had been tainted by Gao Hai's power shone brightly, revealing the girl's resolute emotions.

"I will kill that player."

Her answer wasn't entirely firm, but there was no trace of hesitation in her voice.

“He took the pen nib from the hall, and he shot Hongxia and me.”

"Regardless of his purpose, this person has never cared about the lives of others from the beginning. Continuing to let him live will only pose a threat to more people."

“I…I have never killed anyone before. I’m not sure if I have the courage, but I will kill him. Mr. Gao Hai, please, continue to help me.”

The girl spoke as she walked slowly down the dark corridor.

Her enhanced senses, amplified by Gao Hai, had begun to detect traces left by a player. These subtle traces often went unnoticed by the strange creatures, as they typically acted according to their own rules. However, for a living person, with sufficient keenness and attention, these traces would not be overlooked.

So, she has found the room where the other party is hiding.

Next, it's time to test whether she can actually do it.

If you can't make up your mind, let me do it when the time comes. Don't worry about it; this wasn't something you were supposed to do in the first place.

Gao Hai spoke again, his tone as calm as ever.

Yamada Ryo was already standing at the door of room 311, reaching out and gently pressing his hand against the door.

"call--"

Take a deep breath, clench your fingers into a fist, pull them back slightly, then gently extend them forward to block the door again.

Bang! ! !

The next moment, with a loud bang, the girl punched the door so hard that it collapsed, splitting in two and falling to the ground, revealing the dark room inside. This startled someone who was silently waiting for the curfew to end, and also attracted the things that were still wandering around the apartment.

step-step-

Liang walked into the house expressionlessly, showing little fear even though she was now deep in darkness.

boom!

Gunshots rang out in the narrow corridor.

The girl tilted her head slightly, and a bullet grazed her cheek and embedded itself in the wall.

boom!

The second bullet flew straight toward the girl's face. Two bullets aimed at her head in quick succession clearly showed the gunman's high level of accuracy.

Liang then reached out, grabbed the bullet, and threw it to the ground.

"Any more?"

She looked into the darkness ahead and took another step forward.

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 annual character selection is now in the second round, narrowing down from 27 to 9. Alice's vote count isn't looking too good right now. Please vote for her more!

Chapter 30: The Only Way for a Villain to Repent and the Growing Girl

How should we deal with cruel and vicious thugs who kill strangers without cause, or even deliberately put them in danger for their own amusement? How can we make them truly repent and atone for their sins, or seek satisfactory justice for the victims?

According to the prevailing ideology of some so-called developed countries, in the name of human rights, no matter how heinous a criminal is, they should not be harmed; at most, they should be imprisoned until death—this is considered respect for human rights. On the other hand, it seems that no matter how serious the crime, as long as the criminal expresses remorse for their actions, the punishment will be kept very light, or sometimes no remorse is even necessary, with various people finding reasons to grant a pardon.

Deep down, Liang didn't really approve of this behavior. She always felt that no matter how much human rights, the rule of law, and morality were promoted, there would still be people in this world who were incomprehensible, unteachable, and unchangeable. Some people are born unable to learn and accept normal human social views and values; they are destined to harm others and bring disaster to the world.

For such people, those who seem beyond redemption, if they haven't yet committed any heinous acts, then there's nothing that can be done; after all, we can't use presumption of guilt or anything like that. But what if they've already clearly committed evil deeds, and can be definitively identified as villains?

Is it really enough to just feign repentance for this kind of person? No, even if they really want to repent, it can't just be verbal repentance, right? Simply locking them up in prison to live out their old age isn't much of a punishment either, since this kind of criminal has taken someone else's life.

Therefore, only one method is suitable.

Therefore, Liang believes that there is only one truly correct way to deal with such people.

So, are you ready?

Gao Hai chuckled softly in the girl's mind. He had sensed Liang's thoughts and understood the girl's true inner impulses, which made him feel somewhat pleased.

Yes, I'm ready.

Yamada Ryo, who also sensed the emotions Takahashi conveyed to him and felt the other's support, also showed a faint smile on his lips.

The villain who took the pen nib from the lobby, tried to harm every victim who stumbled into the instance, and secretly pulled the trigger on Hongxia and me to kill us—there is only one possible ending for him.

That was utter, complete, and utter death, leaving no room for anything else.

This is the true, and only, effective way to repent!