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

"Ah, Ikuzuo!"

Cat Brother whispered something, then rushed into the darkness ahead.

The chaotic instance space rippled slightly for a moment, then returned to its previous state, with no discernible difference whatsoever.

Here are the pictures, which can be viewed after the updated version.

Chapter 44 Cat Brother Steps into Unknown Territory and the Timeline of Progress.

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The piercing noise kept ringing in my ears.

In the darkness, Cat could feel himself passing through something, something like a curtain or a veil, and then falling into an extremely violent place.

The wind continued to howl, fiercely swirling and clashing, forming invisible spirals and turbulent currents.

Cat felt himself fall first, then rise up, then be pulled toward something to his side, and finally his sense of direction became a mess in the continuous changes, he had no idea where he was going, and he was unable to control his body in this chaotic spatial flow.

Rumble, rumble, rumble——

The violent tremors were like the roar of a monster.

"Huh...huh..."

And in all of this, Cat Brother could hear his own breathing and feel his own slightly fluctuating heartbeat.

Despite being unable to control his body amidst the violently turbulent air currents, he managed to remain calm and maintain steady breathing, continuing to search for a way out of this completely chaotic spacetime.

My senses are severely blocked, but not to the point that I can't feel anything at all. If I concentrate, I should still be able to find my way.

Physically, there's no immediate danger, but this is because Gao Hai's power is protecting Cat Brother. With the golden divine power transmitted from that being forming a shield around his body, Cat Brother doesn't need to worry about being torn apart by spatial turbulence. Of course, even without this protection, Cat Brother's own abilities are sufficient to protect himself for a certain period. However, doing so would consume an astronomical amount of power, and even if he escaped the chaotic space, he would temporarily lose his mobility. Therefore, given the choice, Cat Brother would never do that.

So, concentrate fully.

This is not the time for carefree jokes. If I really die here, not only Mr. Gao, but also my slacker teammates will laugh at me for years to come.

With his eyes closed, Cat Brother focused all his senses on this moment.

Strong winds swept in from all directions within the chaotic space, accompanied by sharp explosions one after another, as if one had fallen into a terrifying hell.

Little by little, discard these chaotic sounds from your perception.

Then, those rational, regular, and understandable things began to slowly become clear.

Guided by his senses, Cat adjusted his body while simultaneously gaining more precise perception.

We were pretty lucky; the nearest exit was not far away, and it was a very stable spatial node.

Given my current state, I should be able to seize the opportunity to reach this exit and then use it to escape the spatial turbulence area and return to the stable instance environment.

I wonder where I'll end up after I get out. If I run into the core obsession or the hospital's henchmen right away, that would be terrible. But my luck has improved a lot lately, so theoretically, there shouldn't be any major problems, right?

A jumble of thoughts flashed through my mind.

Playing cards appeared in Cat Brother's hand, and blood-stained paper money spun around him, shielding him from the distorted gale and pulling his body toward that stable spatial coordinate.

The process was not particularly smooth. For some reason, this distorted dark space was extremely chaotic, and the powerful winds inside it exceeded the natural winds anywhere on Earth, almost to the point that they could tear an ordinary human being apart alive.

However, relying on his superhuman physical abilities and the powerful force of his obsession, Cat Brother eventually regained control of his body, landed steadily on that stable spatial node, and successfully escaped this dark world.

hiss--

There seemed to be some kind of voice coming from behind.

Cat Brother didn't turn around or make any unnecessary reaction.

But he did sense something had appeared behind him. An extremely dangerous, unidentifiable, unknown entity, seemingly a strange creature, yet not quite a normal one. It had appeared in that dark space for some unknown reason, approaching from behind just as Cat Brother was about to leave the area, and nearly grabbing him.

What the hell?

The unexpected incident left Cat Brother somewhat bewildered.

Why would there be strange creatures in such a place?

That area must be a chaotic space created by the merging of multiple copies, a boundary point resulting from the disorder of rules, right? According to Mr. Gao, if this chaotic space were to collapse further, it could potentially form a dangerous zone called "disorderly chaos." In other words, practically speaking, this chaotic space is completely unsuitable for anything to move within, including strange creatures.

If it's a native monster born from a dungeon, it shouldn't be able to stay in this area for long. Even if it accidentally wanders in, it should be quickly transferred to another space. Just like the monsters that Xiong Mi and I threw at each other during that mix-up, these things can't stay in chaotic spaces for long; they will definitely be thrown out by the space itself.

But my perception just now should not have been wrong.

So what exactly am I perceiving?

Cat was deep in thought when a light suddenly appeared ahead. He knew he had entered a stable spatial region, so he carefully sensed his surroundings and only opened his eyes after confirming there was no danger.

Then he found himself in an extremely dark building area with no light source other than a few dim lights.

Judging from the humidity in the air, Cat Bro guessed he might have entered some kind of underground parking lot, but the abandoned structures of the surrounding buildings made him unsure of where he was. The only thing he was certain of was that this was definitely an artificial environment, since naturally, an air conditioner unit wouldn't be mounted on a wall.

"Putting the outdoor unit of an air conditioner in the indoor area is some kind of crazy idea. Which renovation team came up with this?"

Cat Bro stared at the external bot in front of him for several moments, and finally couldn't help but complain.

In short, first figure out where you are right now.

"Mr. Gao, can you still hear my voice? Hello? Hello? Moshi moshi?"

[I can hear you. It seems you've safely escaped the chaotic space. However, I can't quite sense your location... You might no longer be in the instance area, but rather in some edge space region. I can't pinpoint your exact location right now, nor can I teleport you out of that area.]

The communication went smoothly; it seems the signal here isn't too bad.

As for not being able to leave, that's a minor issue. After all, he's only been a [Doctor] for a short time, and in Cat Brother's opinion, it's safer to separate from his teammates for now.

"Since we're separated for now, I'll act alone for a while. Is there anything I need to do around here? If not, I'll try to get out of this area first. This place feels a bit strange to me; there might be something of the Crimson Moon level hiding around here."

Cat Brother took out a flashlight for illumination and, while talking to Gao Hai, began to carefully explore the surroundings.

[Yes, a Dark Night-level player squad went missing 26 minutes ago in this unpredictable area. The squad was originally tasked with evacuating survivors, but encountered a strange entity with spatial manipulation abilities while entering an underground mall. After a battle, three players and fourteen survivors disappeared from the real world. The last coordinates displayed by the Crimson Domain fragments they carried before running out of energy were in the area you are currently in.]

Gao Hai naturally wouldn't stand on ceremony with a veteran player like Cat Brother, and immediately mobilized the data to assign a new task.

The team leader's name is Gong Xianwu, and his team is the local Japanese team "Construction Club," a team that has cleared the Dark Night level dungeon and is quite strong.

There isn't much information available about the architecture team itself; aside from team leader Gong Xianwu, the others aren't particularly outstanding. In the previous evacuation mission, this squad performed adequately, completing each task with decent efficiency.

[Miya Kenjiro is the captain and strongest member of this squad. He's actually a Chinese student studying in Japan who stayed after graduation. After several years of hard work, he married the daughter of the owner of his construction company, changed his surname, and became the new boss. After becoming a player, he used some shady methods to expand his company's influence. In this operation, he did assist the Hayasaka family; several shelters were built by his company. Anyway, he's not bad, so we should save him if possible.]

Gao Hai gave a brief explanation of the situation of Gong Xianwu's team. After hearing about the team, especially the team leader, Cat Brother couldn't help but shake his head, a slightly disdainful expression on his face.

"A live-in son-in-law, huh? I don't want to say much, but how can a man change his surname and go with someone else? It's so distasteful to succeed through such tricks. Tsk tsk, I don't really like this guy. I hope we don't make things too awkward for me."

As he spoke, Cat Brother glanced at the location map Gao Hai had sent. Because this anomalous spatial region could not be precisely located, the location Gao Hai provided was very rough, only marking out a general area.

It looks like it will take quite a while to find the person.

Thinking this, Cat Brother looked back at the spatial rift where he had come from, and as expected, he found that the rift had disappeared and he could not go back.

Since we're going to stay here for the time being, we might as well do something here.

"Leave this to me."

Cat Brother stretched his arms and legs and began to move forward into the dark area ahead.

Oh, and there's one more person you need to keep an eye on. If he's still alive, I personally hope you can save him.

However, at this moment, Gao Hai, who should have ended the communication, hesitated for a moment and then suddenly spoke again. It seemed that he had just discovered some new information, and his tone was somewhat incredulous.

"Oh, there's someone I know here?"

Cat stopped walking.

[This person is named Sun Dajun, a Twilight-level player who was originally with another team. However, after being attacked by a strange creature, he became separated from his original team. While trying to rejoin his original team, he encountered Gong Xianwu's team. After confirming that he could not return to his original team for the time being, he temporarily joined Gong Xianwu's team, and they were all drawn into this abnormal spatial area.]

"Yes, that's right. He's someone I know. He was a teammate I met on my first dungeon mission. Although he's a bit of a stubborn old guy, overall he's not a bad person. To be honest, I really admire him for volunteering for such a dangerous mission."

In short, if we can save him, let's do our best. Consider it a favor I owe you, Cat Bro.

Gao Hai, without changing his tone, quickly sent Sun Dajun's relevant information to Cat Brother, then said a few more words with a touch of nostalgia, and finally made a joke with Cat Brother.

"Don't call me brother anymore. If you call me brother now, when we get out and meet those survivors, they might turn me into some new god and start praying. Just hearing about that makes me feel uncomfortable, and I really don't want to experience it."

Cat Brother smiled and shook his head, finally ending the call, and began to move forward into the unknown darkness ahead.

Meanwhile, on the Dark Throne, which was unknown to them, Gao Hai's expression became focused, golden light flashed around him, and his aura gradually condensed.

[Uncle Sun, I never expected to see news about him again at this time. It would be such a pity if he really died here. I hope his luck will be better.]

As he muttered to himself, Gao Hai's gaze pierced through the mist and landed in the pit of corpses where Baihechuan Hua was.

The channel has been successfully established.

He could sense Miko Yotsuya and Ikuyo Kita, who were located on the edge of the residential area.

He could also strongly sense the [Doctor], who was also in that edge of space, fiercely fighting against the girls.

I still don't know which doctor it is, haha, finally, the time has come to greet them face to face.

In an instant, the golden light disappeared from Gao Hai's body.

An avatar brimming with immense power was then launched and arrived beside Yurikawa Hana.

Amidst the intense and magnificent roar, the evil entity began to crumble.

At the same time that Gao Hai finally gained the upper hand in the first direct confrontation, somewhere in the Tokyo area, in the Twisted Dungeon Space, a player stopped and frowned as he processed the new information that appeared in his mind.

"Shijo Maki's parents, Shijo Takaaki and Shijo Yoshiko? Are we going to search for and rescue these two? Hmm, they were actually used as a trap to hoax everyone in the shelter? How did they do that? How did they bypass the shelter's rules and mechanisms? Interesting. It seems this [hospital] really has some tricks up its sleeve."

"In that case, I'll take over this matter. The investigation into the obsession here hasn't made much progress, so I'll see if I can find anything here."

Tangyuan, from the well-known player group [Historian], accepted the task without hesitation after reading the information provided by Gao Hai, and showed an enthusiastic smile for it.

Chapter 45: Exploration of Unknown Areas and the Issue of the Living and the Dead.

This doesn't seem to be a type of building that exists in the real world.

As the exploration deepened and more and more unusual things came to light, Cat gradually confirmed the true nature of this unknown area.

Explaining this in detail isn't easy, since Cat Bro isn't a scholar or researcher; he only possesses some experience and a simple, pragmatic approach to summarizing. However, in general, this strange, seemingly underground area appears to Cat Bro to be a place formed from a mixture of certain impressions.

In the world of dungeons, peculiar scenes formed by [Impressions] are not uncommon, after all, this is a world that exists based on the memories of strange creatures. However, generally speaking, the [Impressions] within dungeons exist in a relatively regular form, tending to follow a certain [Consensus]. For example, the first to third floors of the first dungeon that Gao Hai experienced, [The House of Corpses], each presented different forms. The second and first floors, in particular, had very clear rules, showing a state of affairs that conformed to a certain pattern at a specific time, which shows that [Consensus] was at play.

So, just as there is a relatively regular aspect, there will naturally also be a disorderly aspect. Just like the collapsed and distorted state of the third floor of the Shirakawa Apartment, when consensus collapses for some reason, the situation changes. Sometimes, the core conviction is greatly disturbed by some external force; sometimes, individuals who originally played a balancing role in the consensus lose their original effectiveness for various reasons. In short, when the old balance is broken and a new balance cannot be established, this world composed of impressions will exhibit an extremely chaotic and completely incomprehensible strange state.

And this is the situation that Cat Brother is currently facing.