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

"Don't go! Come back! We'll all die without you!"

Cries and screams rose from behind, accompanied by the renewed, pungent smell of blood.

At this moment, Ichiri realized that the "Internal Medicine Doctor" had probably been nearby from the beginning. It had used some method to suppress the actions of the surrounding monsters and deliberately released these suppressions when Ichiri came to confront it. It had even catalyzed the actions of those monsters, making them stronger.

So that's how it is. You planned to use this as a trap from the very beginning to launch an attack against me?

"Damn it, so you're all in cahoots?"

"Damn it, that woman must be one of those monsters' accomplices too. She deliberately brought us together!"

"Run! Run! Forget about this runaway apartment, it's a trap!"

More sounds came from across the street.

Guided by the "Internal Medicine Doctor," Ichiri clearly heard the voices of the survivors who did not trust her and learned about their actions after she lost control.

You see, now, you are the root of their suffering.

It is your choices that have led to the current situation; you are now the real villain.

The distorted sounds amplified the screams and wails.

"Buzz!!!!"

Then, amidst a powerful electric guitar riff, a golden flash, like an electric current, tore through the sky, striking the [Internal Medicine Doctor] hidden within and knocking it down with a deafening roar.

"I don't care about anything else, all I want right now is to defeat you!"

The pink-haired girl, who had been completely ignoring the other party's ramblings and focused solely on her target, had already rushed towards the monster's figure and launched a swift second attack.

Chapter Sixty-Three: The Rematch Between Yili and the [Internal Medicine Doctor] and the Power of Concepts.

Ichiri had already made a general summary in his mind about the powers possessed by the two "doctors" who had appeared so far.

The "Psychologist," which Miko and Takami have already figured out, primarily possesses the following abilities: guaranteed to hit humans, only effective once per type of attack within a short period, ignoring self-healing, causing sustained psychological damage, mind control over those with severe psychological damage, forced memory reading, and immunity to conventional damage. Conversely, the "Psychologist" also exhibits several other characteristics: unable to ignore patient requests, unable to avoid common tragedies, a tendency to grant euthanasia to victims, susceptibility to having their judgment influenced by specific environments such as funeral homes and cemeteries, and the ability to be remotely controlled by the "Hospital."

In contrast, although the power that the [Internal Medicine Doctor] has shown so far is not yet complete, Ichiri has already been able to summarize a portion of the power of its rules.

Among them, the first ability of the [Internal Medicine Doctor], which Iri originally understood as the power to manipulate space, was finally revealed to her true nature after this second contact. It was not a power to control space, but a conceptual immunity to damage and detection targeting humans.

To put it more precisely, when the [Internal Medicine Doctor] is fighting against humans, the [Internal Medicine Doctor] can conceptually be immune to attacks launched against itself by objects with human characteristics. Furthermore, when enemies with human characteristics attempt to search for and locate the [Internal Medicine Doctor], the [Internal Medicine Doctor] can completely prevent the opponent from detecting it and avoid being discovered.

Just like the forced hit of the [Psychotherapist] ability, the [Internal Medicine Doctor] ability's overbearing damage immunity mechanism is extremely unreasonable. Moreover, because its external manifestation is too similar to spatial abilities, if Gao Hai hadn't strengthened Ichiri before severing the connection, and if it weren't for the blessing of [Anchored Chains], which forces both sides to be in the same spacetime plane, allowing her to more accurately investigate the other party's situation, she doubted how much time she would need to decipher the truth of this ability, or even whether she could solve the mystery at all.

However, Ichiri has now found the flaws in this ability, and identified the areas that cannot be covered by the inherent rule power of the [Doctor].

boom!

A dazzling burst of sparks spread in an instant.

In the blink of an eye, brilliant sparks burst forth from the area centered on Ichiri Goto, rapidly spreading in all directions.

Like detonating a small missile, this relentless attack instantly engulfed several buildings. The figure of the [Internal Medicine Doctor], who was originally impossible to hit or even find from a distance, was forced to reveal itself under this attack, falling in a disheveled state amidst the scattered rubble.

This doesn't make sense... How did you find my location?!

The unexpected situation startled the monster, causing it to speak and making the sticky, writhing sounds on its body even clearer.

"Disgusting……"

Upon seeing the other person's appearance, Yili shook his head and said.

Like the [Psychiatrist], who has an abstract appearance resembling a stick figure with a TV head, the [Internal Medicine Doctor] is also not human in appearance at all. Furthermore, compared to the [Psychiatrist], who at least has a human-like form, the [Internal Medicine Doctor's] appearance is extremely sanity-draining, even to veteran players like Ichiri Goto.

It was a cluster of pustules and tumors that had gathered together.

Or rather, it was a mixture of various forms of rotten flesh and human cysts, pustules, parasites, tumors, and other growths—a flowing mass of black, red, and green slime. In some ways, it was very similar in appearance to a hydatidiform mole, but it was a hundred times more disgusting, and the odor it emitted was so terrifying that a single whiff could kill an ordinary person.

I feel nauseous as soon as I walk.

[You can see... ah... yes... you see me... how... how happy I am...]

The sticky, rotten flesh was speaking.

The severed hand of the dead infant churned with wriggling intestinal worms. An eyeball emerged from a huge yellowish-black pustule, staring intently at a distance of about 1 li. A mouth that emerged from the excrement opened, revealing black, corroded teeth crawling with worms and a tongue made of rotten intestines. The densely packed, blackish-red human skin covered with huge fat granules was forced to squeeze out large clumps of yellow fat as the monster wriggled, and then dark yellow pus flowed out from under the fat.

There were no screams, no wails.

Amidst such horrific and disgustingly distorted images, Ichiri felt only a sense of peace.

Is that so?

At this moment, the girl gained a deeper understanding of the essence of an "internal medicine doctor".

It is the acceptor, the tolerant, and the wanderer.

All diseases originating from the human body are its constituent components, but what truly shapes it is the despair of those who accept the disease.

Perhaps they are people suffering from serious illness and extreme poverty, who have chosen to give up treatment out of desperation; perhaps they are people who, knowing the likely outcome, still abuse their bodies in a self-destructive way; perhaps they are special individuals who, from birth, are unable to live a normal life due to incurable disabilities, and cannot even understand what "normal" means.

The true source of this is all those who are trapped in despair, all those who are powerless to change the status quo and give up on changing it, choosing to accept everything.

If a psychologist is the embodiment of all those who choose self-destruction to escape their true selves, then an internist is the embodiment of those who, out of despair, choose to accept their pain and await death in hopelessness.

No, the truly despicable aspect of this monster is completely different from that of the "psychologist." If the "psychologist" is an abnormal being born from extreme and biased emotions, someone who genuinely brings what they consider to be the beautiful and blissful act of "euthanasia" to others, then the "internist" is someone who, knowing the root of their own despair, forcibly links the concept of "despair" with "happiness," and is obsessed with harming more individuals—a purely evil act.

It is an extremely evil thing that deliberately equates evil with good and creates tragedy by spouting nonsense, under the premise that it clearly understands what it is doing and can understand the values ​​of normal people.

So this is what a monster is like? No, not entirely. Ah, I see. Its twisted nature ultimately stems from the fact that it also represents the twisted nature of those in despair, thus inevitably seeking to amplify that twistedness?

"We are already so desperate, why should others be able to continue living happily? Why shouldn't others be tormented by terminal illnesses, or by sudden natural or man-made disasters? Why shouldn't others experience moments when they have no choice but to give up treatment and their own lives? So, as the crystallization of this twisted malice, you will bring all the victims the most painful torment, tormenting them until their personality and consciousness collapse completely, and only after they fall into absolute 'peace' will you give them death, is that right?"

Standing atop the shattered ruins, Goto Ichiri gazed at the [Internal Medicine Doctor] slowly wriggling within the rubble below and spoke calmly.

[You can see... So you can see it... Such a beautiful thing... If you can see it clearly... that would be wonderful... wonderful... I can already see happiness embracing you...]

The monster's voice seemed to reveal a hint of surprise, but then it became even more distorted and excited, without denying its own nature in the slightest.

The very next moment, as a clone appeared and disappeared beside the girl, Ichiri frowned. Unbeknownst to him, damage was gradually accumulating within his body, and his senses and internal organs began to malfunction.

That's right, this is the second ability displayed by the [Internal Medicine Doctor], a power to forcibly inflict any disease or physical injury since the dawn of human civilization on an enemy through a "phenomenon." Even with a level of resistance, this attack is difficult to resist, and even if a clone is used to take the hit in her place, she will still be injured even if she isn't actually struck. Moreover, like the [Psychiatrist's] attack, the injuries caused by this attack are almost impossible to heal, resulting in extremely nauseating and recurring torment.

However, Ichiri has already successfully found a way to counter this move.

Reach out.

A small cardboard box printed with "Perfectly Ripe Mango" appeared in Ichiri's hand, and she put it on her head, looking out through two small holes that had been left in the box.

Then, the [Internal Medicine Doctor]'s subsequent attacks could no longer be launched, and there was no way to find a target.

[The power of a mere obsession... how could this be...?]

The unexpected situation caused the monster to show a rare hint of surprise.

"I don't know, I'm a cardboard box."

The girl spoke earnestly, and the power of blessing surged from her body.

At this moment, Ichiri is using a Dark Night-level artifact from the Market to support this operation. Its function is simple: to rewrite the holder's cognition and overwrite their identity.

In short, this small cardboard box artifact makes the wearer genuinely believe they are not human, but a cardboard box. Furthermore, while rewriting their perception, this artifact also distorts the user's identity, causing others and supernatural entities to see them as a cardboard box rather than a living person. It's a simple artifact, but it might prove surprisingly effective in crucial moments, as seen in Ichiri's current confrontation with the "Internal Medicine Doctor."

Of course, a mere Dark Night-level artifact couldn't possibly affect the [Internal Medicine Doctor's] thinking. In this monster's eyes, Goto Ichiri had always been human. However, Ichiri herself didn't resist the artifact rewriting her perception of her, so at this moment, the girl genuinely believed she was a cardboard player who played guitar and had solved the Red Moon-level dungeon, and that she had transformed from a cardboard box into a human-like form because she fell in love with Takami. Now, to fight the enemy, she was revealing her true form.

Whether others believed it or not, Ichiri herself believed it at this moment. And after she chose to believe, the power of the [Internal Medicine Doctor] truly could not affect her. This was consistent with Ichiri's own speculation, since the [Psychiatrist's] ability to forcibly damage was later proven to be such that if the victim deleted their memories of the injury, those unhealable wounds would revert to ordinary injuries that could be quickly healed by the power of the obsessive object. This shows that, in many cases, for these [doctors'] powers to be effective, the victim's own cognition was required to cooperate. If there was a misalignment in cognition, the effectiveness of these abilities would be greatly reduced or even lost.

"call--"

The internist was not given enough time to react.

Knowing full well the vast difference between herself and her enemy, the girl chose to unleash her full power at this moment.

hum!

The initial shock was a mental blast released by the [Anchored Chains].

This blessing can anchor an enemy attacking Ichiri, forcing both parties to be in the same spacetime plane, sealing the enemy's spacetime teleportation abilities, and precisely locking onto the enemy. It is precisely because of this ability that Ichiri was able to forcibly pull the [Internal Medicine Doctor] into the instance. In addition to this ability, because the chains themselves are constructed purely of mental energy, Ichiri can directly detonate the chains to create a mental storm to attack the enemy, and even if the chains are detonated, the anchoring effect will not disappear.

Invisible fluctuations spread in all directions.

Even a monster of the [Internal Medicine Doctor] level was unable to respond immediately after being suddenly hit by a mental shock.

Then a missile fell from the sky, and a burst of fire, even more terrifying than the explosion not long ago, shot up in an instant.

The reason why Ichiri was able to summon this attack was not by relying on Takahashi's blessing, but by using her own blessing power, which is called the "Destruction Essence," and can be said to be another powerful blessing that is no less powerful than the "Mirror Blood Sea."

As the most elite player alongside Gao Hai, Yi Li's formidable abilities imbue her blessing with a conceptual quality. This blessing allows Yi Li to extract the concept of destruction from human civilization, materializing all weapons created since the dawn of human civilization around her. She can also imbue these materialized weapons with effects such as single-target armor penetration, super-strong defense, saturation damage, ecological destruction, and the erosion of consciousness and cultural forms. However, due to Yi Li's own insufficient power, she can currently only summon one weapon at a time, and the special effects granted to a single weapon cannot be stacked. Even so, the blessing's effect remains extremely terrifying; it's just that Yi Li isn't a military enthusiast, and her knowledge of weapon types is not extensive.

Rumble, rumble——

The terrifying explosion spread, blowing large sections of buildings away, but the street where the Sheep Apartment was located remained completely unscathed.

Amidst the raging flames, Yili, armed with an automatic rifle, charged forward towards the location of the [Internal Medicine Doctor] amidst the churning flames.

Chapter 64, Phase Two: The Internal Medicine Doctor and Kita Iku make their appearance.

Boom—da da da—bang bang bang—boom—

The sounds of artillery fire and gunfire mingled together.

The raging flames danced across the ruins, tearing at the enemy with ferocious force.

However, such attacks are not very effective and are unlikely to stop those abominable creatures.

The decay is spreading.

The festering sores gradually grew in the raging fire.

The house rotted away like flesh and blood, even sprouting teeth and internal organs, which then fell off the rotting flesh and landed on the ground.

The stench was accompanied by the buzzing of flies, so dense it was almost ear-piercing. The stench was far more intense than before, and one could even detect a highly toxic substance within it. It was certain that if it weren't a player of her level of skill, but rather a Dark Night-level player, they would likely die quickly from the poison.

However, the stench was no longer a concern for Yili. What was more troublesome for her now was the ability of the "Internal Medicine Doctor" to alter its own form, a ability completely different from that of the "Psychiatrist." In other words, she discovered that this thing had two stages.

Buzz buzz buzz——buzz buzz buzz——

Countless flies rose from the burning inferno, forming a dark cloud that blotted out the sky.

Surrounded by flies, a giant sphere over a hundred meters in size, strung together by black and yellow maggots, was formed. From this sphere hung blood vessels, connected to which floated various human organs such as the heart, lungs, and liver. Each organ was writhing, each a black and rotting sight.

Gulu gulu——

Below the sphere suspended in mid-air, large amounts of flesh mixed with human bones flowed down like excrement, gradually accumulating in the broken ruins.