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

“We haven’t left the hospital yet, and the problems here haven’t been completely resolved. I’m going to provide you with some insurance measures now to ensure that you have a certain ability to protect yourself in critical moments.”

As the lawyer spoke, he pressed his finger against the man's forehead.

The power of blessings is mobilized silently.

The lawyer's own "actor's blessing" infused Tajii Yu's body with his personal power at this moment. Through this power, the lawyer can actively control Tajii Yu's body at crucial moments, granting him strength greater than that of ordinary people.

In a sense, the power of this blessing can be seen as replacing the personality of the affected person with the lawyer's erosion of their own. However, the lawyer himself never truly exerted the full power of this blessing; those affected were generally stripped of its influence by the lawyer before the erosion was complete. The reason wasn't because he had high moral standards and couldn't accept such a thing, nor because he looked down on ordinary people; it was simply that the lawyer felt it was wrong to do so.

"This one is fine, next one."

After infusing the blessing with power, the lawyer released his grip and spoke earnestly to the rescue team members.

"No, wait a minute, what's going on—"

Completely unaware of anything amiss, Tajii Yu was still shouting for an explanation. However, the lawyer clearly didn't have time to explain, and immediately signaled to the rescue team to pull out the next survivor. So, before Tajii Yu could finish speaking, he was pulled back into the rescue team member's body by a force, and then Katakai Kikue's head, looking completely bewildered, emerged.

If it were any other player here, they might have made a few comments about the rescue team's strange behavior. But the lawyer wouldn't do that. He simply and indifferently infused the second survivor's spirit with blessing power, then the third, the fourth... until all the survivors sealed inside by the rescue team had been infused with power, and only then did he finally stop.

In this way, even if they encounter real danger later, these ordinary people will have the ability to protect themselves.

After completing all this, the lawyer showed no emotional fluctuation whatsoever. He acted as if he had finished a trivial task and immediately turned his attention to the next one.

crunch--

Push open the door to the doctor's lounge.

As the lawyer, carrying heavy books, stepped into the room, he noticed a shadow creeping in from the corner.

An attack is coming.

Even though the enemy had not yet been seen, and their presence could only be vaguely sensed, the lawyer was certain that an attack was imminent.

Has Cat Bro's side finished? If it's my turn so quickly, either he easily defeated the enemy, or he was taken down by a single flare. Considering the strength difference, it should be the former. In that case, this strange creature shouldn't pose much of a threat, nor is it the manipulator of the current spatial anomaly. It's probably just some random monster wandering around this area, easy to deal with.

Thinking this, the lawyer took another step forward, and then his eyes suddenly became serious.

No, in a Red Moon-level dungeon, especially an unusual one like this, such underestimation is unacceptable. Any creature appearing here is certainly not simple; even if it's not particularly strong, there could be various special reasons why. For example, the creature might have a history of unusual events that rendered it less aggressive, becoming withdrawn after being attacked. Missing crucial clues because of such reasons would be disastrous; we must treat this with the utmost care.

zizi——

The lights had dimmed.

The temperature is starting to drop gradually.

Indistinct footsteps sounded from my side, as if some unseen thing was pacing around me.

Heresy, heresy is approaching!

The lawyer himself stood silently in place, but the rescue team member who had been obediently following behind him became agitated, looking as if he might rush out and start a bloodbath at the slightest provocation. However, since the enemy had not yet appeared and the target could not be locked, the rescue team member could only stand there and rage without taking any actual action.

coming.

The originally ethereal aura solidified in an instant.

A long, thin, dark figure appeared, hunched over, reaching out towards the lawyer. The strange posture made it seem as if the lawyer had just been punched.

So the lawyer, who seemed to have been standing still, also started to move in that instant.

Snapped!

The lights in the lounge went out and then came back on.

In the crimson dim light, in the shattered house, the shadow that had appeared had its head grabbed by the lawyer with one hand, its slender body lifted into the air, and then slammed hard to the ground.

Bang! ! !

The next second, the lights returned to normal, the strange creature vanished, leaving only the lawyer standing there with a frown, facing a shallow crater in the ground.

They still managed to get away.

It seems to possess the ability to transform between reality and illusion; with such a technique, it is indeed not easy to catch.

However, even so, it doesn't mean there were no gains at all.

A pale woman's arm suddenly reached out from behind the lawyer and reached into his pocket.

The lawyer, without even glancing at it, immediately grabbed the hand, pried open the fingers of the object, and revealed a piece that looked like a scrap of fabric hidden inside.

Clearly, the severed hand of this pale woman is an object of obsession, named "Thief's Arm" within the Lazybones gang. This object is automatically triggered; it activates whenever it's taken out and will actively steal any valuable items within a three-meter radius. Players haven't yet figured out a universal rule for judging the value of stolen items, but generally, it will steal items deemed high-value by normal people and by players. After the theft, regardless of the item's size, it's stored in the palm of the arm, and can only be retrieved by prying open the palm.

Incidentally, if you don't retrieve something stolen by this arm within 10 minutes, the item will be teleported directly to the instance the arm belongs to and then disappear forever. Therefore, if you're not careful when using this thing, it might actually cause terrible results.

This fragment must have been stolen from that strange creature. It doesn't seem to have any information attached to it. Does that mean the fragment itself has special significance?

As the lawyer pondered, he stuffed the still-struggling arm back into his spatial bag, then picked up the piece of fabric and examined it closely.

It feels stiff to the touch, unlike the fabric used for clothing.

The color is dark gray; it's unclear whether this is its original color or if it turned this way after being stained with dirt.

After thinking for a moment, the lawyer picked up the small piece of cloth and licked it.

...It smells like oil paint.

"This fragment comes from a piece of the canvas."

The moment the lawyer realized this, he recalled the medical record of patient A-1107, and the section about "the paints and canvases he wanted."

Could it be related to this? Is that thin, black monster the patient's doctor or nurse? Or is it a byproduct of the patient himself?

We need to find a way to contact other people.

Sizzle...sizzle...

While the lawyer was thinking, he heard a commotion beside him.

He turned his head and saw that the television set on the wall of the doctors' lounge had been turned on at some point, and there were blurry figures flickering in it.

One group of players turned on the TV.

The lawyer quickly realized that although they were divided into different spaces, these spaces were essentially split off from the original medical staff activity area, so the different areas could affect each other. For example, when the television in the doctors' lounge in one space was turned on, the lawyer in another space could also see the television being turned on.

In that case, we can convey some information.

Knowing that the other party must have turned on the TV because of him, the lawyer did not hesitate. He immediately walked to the TV, took out the [Law Core] in his hand, released its power, and began to interfere with the TV screen.

Soon, the blurry picture on the TV screen became clear, and Xiong Mi and Jian Bing appeared on the screen.

"It's connected now! I knew it would work on your end, lawyer. What's the specific situation now?"

After seeing the lawyer's unchanging indifferent expression, Xiong Mi breathed a sigh of relief and immediately asked.

“We’ve been separated into different spaces. I’ve roughly figured out which teams were divided, but I haven’t fully investigated the specifics of the situation here yet…”

The lawyer calmly recounted what had happened after Xiong Mi disappeared, including the other separated teams, the black humanoid monster he had just encountered, and the canvas fragments he had obtained.

"I see. It's not particularly surprising; there are always all sorts of baffling things in dungeon worlds. Anyway, let's leave that aside for now. We've also encountered some issues here and found some new things..."

Xiong Mi nodded slightly as she listened to the lawyer's words, and then began to recount her experience.

After discovering she had been separated, Xiong Mi didn't rush to leave the women's changing room. Sensing something strange moving around, she deliberately stopped to test it, but strangely, it didn't actually attack after a while. Instead, Jian Bing appeared out of nowhere, and the two teamed up. After finding no clues in the women's changing room, they went to the doctor's lounge for a thorough examination.

Right there, the black humanoid monster suddenly appeared. Although they didn't know why it was hunched over and drooping its head, looking like it had just been badly beaten, Xiong Mi and Jian Bing, being cautious, both used all their strength to fight it. Before it could even launch an attack, it was punched and slashed, then vanished without a trace, seemingly having run away.

After this thing disappeared, Jianbing found a piece of paper on a table on one side of the doctor's lounge, thus confirming a new clue.

At that moment, with the lawyer and Jianbing maintaining communication with the television, Xiong Mi quickly showed the lawyer the record on the paper so he could see the text.

[The hospital is about to close down, and our nightmare will end.]

The newly established research institute will take over all of this; whatever happens in the future is none of my concern.

I'm not sure if I can truly forget the experiences of this period, these nightmares, these surreal things; they have more or less become a part of my life.

Perhaps I wasn't aware of it at first, but now I realize that I seem to have become accustomed to this kind of life, accustomed to living in fear.

Perhaps it's because I saw my own hole, I saw the hole that belongs to me.

I didn't jump. I was scared, I backed down.

But the hole is still there; it's still waiting for me to get through.

I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to muster the courage to be like those patients, like everyone else in the hospital.

All I want is to escape all of this, to return to a normal life.

I kept telling myself this, trying to convince myself, but I kept dreaming about that hole. I just couldn't forget that hole at the nurses' station on the second floor.

That cave is still waiting for me, that place is still calling to me, and I know it belongs to me.

But why can't I get there?

I don't want to jump in.

I don't want to jump into that hole.

Why can't I just leave like this?

Why? Why? Why why why why why...

The writing on the paper was quite messy, becoming increasingly illegible towards the end, eventually turning into a jumble of distorted ink blots. However, the writing itself was still relatively clear, and the content could be discerned.

Is it the nurses' station on the second floor?

The lawyer stared at the only location mentioned on the paper and realized that one of the key points might be right there.

“Jianbing and I will go up to the second floor to take a look. When we looked out just now, we noticed that the elevator door was open. It’s very likely that the elevator opened for us because we obtained the relevant clue. What about you? What are your plans?”

On the television screen, Xiong Mi stared at the lawyer's expressionless face and asked a question.

“I will stay on the first floor to conduct the investigation and will not go too far. The rescue team is with me, and I need to protect the survivors it is carrying. Also, the clues on the first floor may not have been fully investigated yet, so it is necessary to search again carefully.”

The lawyer made his decision without much hesitation, even though his tone and expression were as stiff as a dead man, giving no indication that he had any intention of protecting others.

"Is that so? Then that's fine. I'll trouble you to protect the survivors. But don't take it too seriously. Our primary task is still to find the core obsession."

Xiong Mi was not surprised by the lawyer's words at all. She simply nodded, gave the lawyer a serious warning, and then turned and left the room with Jianbing, disappearing from the edge of the television screen.

Protect the survivors.

This reason might indeed be quite ridiculous in a sense.

The lawyer was aware of the awkwardness others felt around him, but he was indifferent. His humanity had almost completely vanished; he was devoid of emotional fluctuations, experiencing neither anticipation nor pleasure in human interaction, nor sadness or grief at the tragic deaths of innocent people before his eyes. Whether it was himself or others, the lawyer was utterly indifferent and uncaring. In a sense, as the obsession with the "core of the law" continued to erode his humanity, the lawyer could hardly be considered human anymore, gradually approaching the realm of the bizarre and the supernatural.

Nevertheless, when the lawyer stated his intention to protect the survivors' lives, his attitude was genuine. Even if he didn't feel any emotional response to the survivors' fates, he would truly do everything in his power to protect them. The reason for this was that the lawyer remembered what kind of person he was before becoming a player, knew what choices he would make in the past, and therefore would take his duty very seriously.

In a sense, today's lawyers are essentially emotionless robots. All their actions are merely imitations of their former selves, simulations of a personality that has vanished, and even these simulations are riddled with flaws and far from perfect. But the lawyer himself doesn't see anything wrong with this lifestyle. In his view, it's a perfectly normal survival strategy, nothing to question or reflect upon; continuing to maintain it is enough.