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

Because Chika heard another set of footsteps besides her own.

The sound came from behind the half-open door, but there was no trace of human life.

{Ah Hai, I might be close to a clue.}

After casually reporting the situation in the mental link, Chika carefully approached the half-open door and gently pushed it open.

Her movements were extremely cautious, her perception constantly at its peak, allowing her to precisely detect even the slightest change in her surroundings. It must be said that at this moment, Chika couldn't help but feel a little envious of Miko's incredibly powerful extraordinary talent. Chika believed that if she possessed that level of perception, then now… well, let's not say "if." It was precisely because of this talent that Miko was targeted by the enemy and trapped in the residential area, only recently managing to break through the barriers and return.

squeak-

With a soft creak of the door, the sounds inside quickly subsided, as if nothing had happened, and everything fell silent.

Chika saw the dried bloodstains of the victims.

She also saw the footprints on the ground and the open window by the wall.

The night was high outside the window, and a sense of tranquility seemed to linger. But this was not what Chika cared about. Her gaze followed the marks, following the trail of the mysterious person who had clearly sneaked in to investigate after the incident years ago, finally stopping in front of a small bedroom.

Is it here?

After confirming that the footsteps had disappeared here, Chika looked up at the door of the small bedroom. The door itself was a reinforced metal structure, which was quite rare. Without much hesitation, she opened the door and stepped into this place that she had never set foot in during her previous hundreds of cycles.

"..."

There seems to be nothing there.

Once inside, Chika felt nothing and couldn't find any clues.

This room, with its twenty-odd small beds, was so peaceful, like a secluded paradise far from the smoke of war. The tiny distance between the inside and outside of the door separated two completely different areas.

Pure emptiness?

No, that's not necessarily true.

The girl walked among the empty beds.

Her steps, which started lightly, gradually slowed down, occasionally turning a corner before continuing forward.

Chika circled the not-so-large room several times before finally stopping in front of the only television set in the room.

She reached out and gently tapped the screen. A certain aura, a certain power, gradually became clearer. Something that had been hidden before also became clear again at this moment.

【Om—】

After the piercing sound, the scene in the corridor was all too familiar to Chika. Funada Taro, wielding a knife and a hunting rifle, was wreaking havoc with a crazed expression. The helpless children cried out in despair, and the teacher's desperate attempts to protect them were ultimately futile; in the end, they all perished together.

She had seen this scene more than once before through various means, so although she was indeed heartbroken by the tragedy, Chika did not react at all.

It's pointless to rewatch what happened. The key issue isn't what happened in the corridor, but why this place can see what happened there, as if someone was sitting there carefree, observing what was happening.

Slowly, the girl turned her head and looked behind her.

In the dark room, several chairs had appeared out of nowhere. These chairs were all gathered in front of the television playing footage of the hallway. Beside them were small plates of fruit, freshly extinguished cigarette butts, and a few playing cards. Everything seemed so relaxed and comfortable.

Chika could already picture that scene.

Imagine well-dressed people sitting in front of the television, casually commenting on the tragedies unfolding on screen while indulging in their own leisure time. It's as if the children's teachers aren't real beings, but commodities, consumables, or even worse, inferior toys.

Such things really do happen... no matter which instance you're in, they're always there.

Bang!

The girl kicked out hard, knocking the chairs to the ground and shattering them into pieces.

Right after she did that, cracks suddenly appeared on the television set, and then it shattered with a loud "bang," as if someone had smashed it.

Yes, it must have been smashed by someone.

After what happened back then, before all the cause and effect were included in the copy.

Fujiwara Chika stepped forward and saw the slip of paper with distorted writing tucked inside the dilapidated television set. She reached out, took out the paper, and unfolded it. The first thing she saw was the name "Eiji Kashiwatani" written on one side of the paper.

They found the investigator who arrived after the incident.

So, will the information left behind by this person be the key to the answer?

I've uncovered their secret.

I found what those bastards were trying to hide.

Although I have to admit, I wish I had never seen these things.

They use the deaths of innocent people as a ritual to seek something.

The vast majority of them are trying to gain something or trigger something through these sacrifices.

However, this is not the most crucial part.

Before today, before witnessing all of this, I wasn't able to realize it beforehand, but now I understand, I know exactly what they want.

The blood of these innocent people has never been the point, nor has the death of those who have already died.

[The important ones who are still alive]

The important people are those who haven't died yet.

[The despair and suffering of those who did not die, those whose lives were not ended, are what are truly needed.]

I finally understand why I haven't died yet.

What can I do next?

Having successfully escaped the apartment, obtained crucial clues from the company, and acquired information that was utterly useless and unable to arrest anyone, what else can I do now?

【what do I do……】

【what do I do……】

【what do I do……】

Those who cannot find answers or a way forward break down in despair.

Those pieces of information that remained in the past have now been successfully found by Qianhua.

But why would such a thing happen?

Are the living the key to the ritual?

Why is it that the key is the living?

despair?

Why is it that driving these people to despair can be the key to the ritual?

Wait, what's going on here? Something's really wrong with the information in this instance; it's very abnormal. This kind of ritual makes absolutely no sense. What are those people trying to do?

{Ahai, something's not right.}

Sensing something was amiss, Chika quickly spoke up through the mental link.

{I did find some clues, but something about them doesn't seem right. I have a feeling these clues don't point to anything in this instance. The information confirms that the key to the ritual is inflicting pain and despair on the surviving survivors through slaughter. This unusual ritual, so contrary to common sense, makes me wonder...}

The girl's voice suddenly stopped.

She considered that possibility; she realized that possibility, which had not been taken into account at the beginning, was now utterly shameless.

But now she suddenly realized that her considerations might still be incomplete. After all, if that were truly the case, if the other party had actually gone this far, what reason would they have not to go even further and set it all up as a trap?

Only when the living face despair, yet cannot truly die, can they receive true healing and true redemption after accepting everything.

A distorted sound came from behind Chika.

The girl's clone vanished in an instant, turning into a bubble-like phantom; it was destroyed in a single moment.

At the same time, Fujiwara Chika's original body, who was originally at home, opened her eyes in shock, but was unable to resist being dragged by the power originating from the instance, and was directly pulled into the instance space in her original body.

The power of hospitals is spreading.

From seemingly insignificant, unnoticed corners.

In an instant, a deadly outbreak occurred, sweeping away one life after another.

[An internist?!]

Gao Hai raised his head, and the instant he sensed that aura, he understood the other party's conspiracy and knew exactly what they had done.

However, the next moment, problems suddenly erupted in multiple areas of the city. When the lurking enemy bared its fangs, he had no extra energy to think and could only do his best to deal with the imminent crisis.

Wait, this power, this position...

The doctor's next target is Goto Ichiri's group!

Chapter 48: Those Who Came to Provide Support and Those Who Peeked at Their Hideout

Something happened.

It would be extremely bad, something that could lead to a huge setback if not handled carefully, and could cause the hard-won advantage to be completely lost.

Even though things haven't reached the worst point yet, this vague intuition alone has made Yotsuya Miko realize that the hospital has probably done something big, and Takami's side may have already fallen behind in some area.

No, we absolutely cannot let this go unchecked!

Such a strong intuition tells me that something terrible must be happening right now, and we must go to help immediately.

On the bus, Miko, who had been dozing in her seat, opened her golden eyes. After sensing something a little by following her intuition, her expression changed rapidly, and she immediately turned her gaze to a certain direction in the city under the continuous drizzle.

"Meet your son?"

Sitting next to Miko, Touko Yotsuya looked over with some confusion when she saw her daughter suddenly react as if facing a formidable enemy.

The girl didn't have time to answer her mother; instead, she quickly immersed her consciousness in the mental link and called out to Gao Hai.

{Senior! Senior! What's the situation on your end? What happened?}

【…】

no respond.

I could sense Gao Hai's mental fluctuations. He hadn't lost consciousness, but judging from the frequency of his mental fluctuations, he must be in a state of extreme tension. He was probably doing his best to deal with some dangerous situation and had no time to pay attention to Jianzi's questions.

Has the situation become that critical?

Gao Hai was unable to respond, which made Miko realize that the situation was worse than she had anticipated. Without further hesitation, she turned to look at Kita Ikuyo inside the car. The red-haired girl, upon seeing Miko's expression, quickly realized the problem as well, and the two of them stood up together.

"Hey, what's going on?"