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

【（4）14:00-17:50，自由活动时间】

[You are free to move around during this period, but please do not go to the game area on the first floor or the massage area on the second floor, especially if you hear any strange noises coming from these areas. Please stay away from these places.]

【（5）17:50-19:00，晚餐供应时间】

[You are free to move around during this phase and may go to the dining area. However, if you smell blood before entering the dining area, or do not see any other survivors besides yourself, or do not see any empty seats, do not enter the dining area. If you do not discover the problem immediately and enter the dining area, please take any food and leave. Do not eat the food; discard it when you are out of sight of others in the dining area.]

【（6）19:00-0:00，自由活动时间】

[You are free to move around during this phase, but do not enter the underground area or approach the first basement level, especially if a staff member asks for your assistance in the underground area. Clearly refuse them and move away as quickly as possible. You may return to the third floor of the resort and go back to your room to rest, but once you return, you cannot come out again, and you must not open the door to anyone knocking, regardless of whether you know them. Also, please be sure to return to your room before midnight; after this time, the danger level within the resort will increase significantly.]

【（7）0:00-1:00，设施关闭时间】

[During this phase, all facilities within the resort will gradually be turned off, marked by the lights being switched off. Do not approach any areas where the lights are off; ensure you are always in light. Ideally, we encourage you to return to your room before this phase begins. However, if you are unable to return to your room in time for any reason, please go to the restroom in the corridor on the 1st or 2nd floor. It must be a restroom hidden behind a wall in the corridor to ensure your safety at this time. Once inside, lock the toilet door from the inside. Then, find an empty stall and lock the stall door from the inside. Do not open the door or look up before 7:00 AM. At 7:00 AM, you will hear a loud noise outside; at that point, you are safe.]

【（8）1:00-7:00，住宿顾客休息时间】

[During this phase, anywhere except your accommodation and the previously mentioned locked toilet is unsafe. Do not attempt anything that might attract attention. Stay in your room, in a safe area, and wait for the loud noise at 7:00 AM. That should be enough.]

[5. In addition to the above, there are some areas within the resort that are off-limits at all times. Do not attempt to enter these areas.]

【(1) Staircase leading to the second basement level and below】

There are no floors deeper than the second basement level. If you find such a staircase, please immediately avoid eye contact and move away from the person. Also, please do not discuss this floor or mention that number inside the resort; it is a non-existent floor.

(2) Construction site next to the resort

The side door on the first floor of the resort can be opened, leading to a construction site. Some survivors think they can escape through this route, but those who choose to do so appear in the dining area every night. Don't do it; you don't want to know how they get there.

【(3) Pool No. 3 on the basement floor of the resort】

This pool is safe most of the time, but it has killed survivors who entered it more than once, and we haven't yet been able to figure out the underlying reasons for this. Therefore, for safety reasons, we recommend that you do not attempt to enter this area for the time being.

6. The terrain within this resort sometimes changes and distorts; some areas may disappear or shift locations. Therefore, do not rely solely on the resort's maps and carefully observe the area before opening each door. It's worth noting that despite the changing environment, the signage for each area remains clear and accurate. Don't panic if you find blurry signs; blurry signs are usually only found in public areas where you can directly observe your surroundings, making any potential danger immediately apparent.

7. At any time, if you hear gunfire, you must immediately take cover. As long as the door in your accommodation is properly locked, you will be safe. In the resort, immediately go to a small, concealed area such as the toilet, massage room, or private cinema room, where the door and wall are seamlessly integrated and difficult to spot. Once inside, immediately lock the door and wait there until an announcement is made. Only then can you safely leave the room.

8. Sometimes you'll notice that the lights in certain areas have turned red. Don't approach these areas at this time. However, if you find these red-lit areas moving towards you, don't try to run away. Instead, crouch down facing a wall, cover the back of your head with your hands, close your eyes, and press your forehead against the wall. You are safe when you feel footsteps passing by and moving away from you.

9. The resort's walls contain many hidden doors, most of which lead to the resort's entertainment facilities. However, some hidden doors lead to places we shouldn't go. If you open a hidden door and find it completely dark inside, do not attempt to enter, and do not try to use any lighting tools to illuminate the interior.

[10. The upscale dining area on the second floor is accessible only with a VIP card. Regardless of how you obtained the card, it can only be used by you. Do not attempt to bring others into the upscale dining area after swiping your card; you will endanger them.]

[11. Don't try to interrogate the staff; they won't tell you how to leave. Also, don't treat anything in the resort other than survivors as if they were alive. They only look like people; trusting them will only lead to dire consequences. But don't try to harm them either, especially don't try to cause fatal damage, as this will also put you in danger.]

[12. If you successfully survive the first day, you can find our people in the dining area during breakfast service on the second day. We have people on duty there every day, and we will give you more detailed answers then.]

[13. Occasionally, very special circumstances may occur: after you have successfully survived the first day at the resort, or perhaps the second day, or many days later, even if you have successfully contacted us and learned about the situation, you may find yourself still alone in the resort when you wake up in the morning.]

When this happens, don't panic. Just continue as usual, and the situation will return to normal tomorrow. So far, we haven't seen this phenomenon occur for three consecutive days. However, please remember that if you notice any trace of activity from anyone other than yourself while in this state, please stay away from them and don't let them find you. We suspect that those who have been found have already disappeared forever.

The message board was almost entirely filled with dense text.

It's clear that the survivors who made their way here used this message board quite well. However, the rule list is rather short. With over two thousand words of dense rules, it's highly unlikely that an ordinary human survivor could memorize such a long rule list after being drawn into the dungeon world.

"A typical high-difficulty dungeon rule table is not meant for people to memorize. Ordinary people without any blessings or obsession items simply cannot memorize such a long rule table and use it proficiently in a short period of time. If they really encounter danger, they will most likely still die."

Looking at the long text on the rule sheet, Masaaki Ishido spoke with a sigh.

"But in reality, for those survivors, whether the rule list is long or difficult to memorize makes no difference in the end. From the beginning to the present, there has never been a case of a survivor surviving in the [Sacrifice Game]. In all the dungeons that players have explored, those survivors who entered the dungeon first and left rule records have all died. They are destined sacrifices, pitiful people thrown into the dungeon to die by unknown beings so that players could explore the environment first."

Akira Toyama also sighed, and said in a somewhat sentimental tone.

Hu Baoxiong, following behind the two, paid no attention to these things. After carefully memorizing the rules, he began to look around and quickly noticed that the corridor they had come from was gone, replaced by a wall. At the same time, a staircase leading upwards had appeared in the open space not far from the wall, and several doors had opened at some point.

The section on terrain changes in the rule table is shown right from the start. As for what the other parts will look like, that will need to be confirmed gradually over time.

"Captain, you make the arrangements."

Yuanshan Ming looked at Shitang Zhengzhao and said.

"We're here to find the core obsession, so when necessary we need to break the rules and put ourselves in danger to lure out the enemy. But breaking the rules right from the start isn't a good choice. The core obsession won't be revealed at the beginning, so we need to selectively follow and break the rules, and gradually seek ways to get closer to the core."

Masaaki Ishido stared intently at the lines of text on the message board and slowly began his analysis.

"If the announcement comes on, do not violate it for the time being. It's unclear how this rule works yet, but it seems to be somewhat biased towards the players."

“Investigate the red light. If you encounter it, take the initiative to approach and take a look. This kind of response is a very clear rule of ghost stories, which usually points to a clear enemy.”

"Also, the underground floor looks very suspicious. There must be some important ghostly creatures moving around in such a specific area. Considering the development records of Asakawa Fumio that Mr. Gao uploaded before, perhaps one of the core obsessions is down there, so if you encounter it, just go in."

"Well... in short, let's first do a general reconnaissance of the overall environment here. We need to determine what's in this place and get a basic impression. Even if the terrain changes, according to the text on the rule sheet, the overall content should still be roughly the same no matter how it changes."

"If we don't encounter any special circumstances, let's go directly to that construction site to investigate. That should be the most obvious place with problems that we can go to at any time. Okay, that's settled then. The three of us will act together for now and split up if needed."

After a brief moment of thought, Masaaki Ishido made his decision.

Both Akira Toyama and Koyoshiro readily obeyed their captain's decision and quickly began their operation. The three of them moved forward together, rapidly traversing various areas of the resort to scout out its facilities and environment.

At this moment, the electronic clock in the resort shows the time as 10:22. According to the rules, you can go anywhere except the 3rd floor.

Soon, after investigation, the three players confirmed on the first floor of the resort a very upscale dining area that could accommodate at least 50 people. They also found a game area located in a low-ceilinged corridor, containing hidden doors and behind them a wide array of gaming equipment, ranging from PS5 and Switch consoles to card games and board games. There was also an indoor viewing area with some plants and seating, and an indoor swimming pool with various facilities. Adding to the shower area and hot spring area they had previously confirmed, the three players had essentially explored the entire first floor of the resort, finding no other areas.

The path leading to the construction site was also discovered. Unlike most of the hidden doors inside the resort, where the interior was obscured and even finding the door itself required careful observation, the side door to the construction site was very conspicuous and sealed with brightly colored tape, noticeable even from a distance. Akira Toyama even tried to tear off the tape and found that it was extremely strong, almost impossible for an ordinary person to break.

Well, then, Hoshino got the urge to peek and bit off the seal along with the doorknob. If Ishido Masaaki hadn't stopped him, he would have peed next to the door to declare his territory.

"That's weird, why does this door trigger my dog ​​urge?"

Hu Baoxiong, who had been stopped and regained his composure, was not embarrassed. He was used to this kind of mental distortion and was only puzzled by the reason for this episode.

"You'll have plenty of time to study this when you get back. Let's explore this place first."

Knowing full well that this guy wouldn't come to any conclusion no matter how much he pondered, Yuanshan slapped him on the head and continued on his way.

Next, they explored the second floor. During their investigation of the first floor, the three members of the Red Knot Society discovered at least three staircases leading from the first to the second floor, one of which was even located behind a hidden door. It's hard to imagine what was wrong with the people who built this resort to create so many hidden doors. As the three reached the second floor and began their investigation, more areas of this enormous, luxurious venue came into view.

The first area confirmed was the entertainment venue on the second floor, which included a massage area, an ear-cleaning area, a private cinema, and an area with a gambling element. Notably, the three discovered hidden doors within hidden doors in both the massage area and the private cinema, and then found some popular high-end services. However, the players present were not inexperienced naives; they had seen plenty of these kinds of things, both risqué and orthodox, so they didn't react much and quickly moved on to investigating other areas.

Gao Hai, who was secretly observing, saw some toys he had never tried before, and even some high-end custom-made items he had never seen before. He was somewhat shocked and couldn't help but wonder if he should get some similar things to try. Hmm... it's not impossible, but it doesn't seem appropriate to get these things right now, so he'll just write them down for now.

The three members of the Red Guild then found six hot spring pools of varying sizes, labeled as high-end areas, and a pool slightly smaller than the first-floor pool but with more play facilities. This pool was labeled as Children's Pool #2. Also, on a trolley in the second-floor corridor, the players found a report, confirming that the three hot spring pools on the first floor were numbered 1-3, and the six on the second floor were numbered 4-9. Furthermore, the high-end dining area was located behind a glass door; even standing outside, the three could see its luxurious interior. The discerning Ishido Masaaki even spotted many high-end items that wouldn't easily be circulated outside.

The three players found more than one staircase leading to the third floor during this process. It's worth noting that the staircases from the first to the second floor are not the same as those from the second to the third floor. These staircases are hidden throughout various areas of the building, making it difficult for newcomers to quickly reach other floors and easily causing them to lose their way in the somewhat complex layout.

As for the staircase leading to the first basement level, it remained undiscovered throughout the investigation. Even with the help of Gao Hai, the three players were unable to find it, as if the first basement level had vanished. Therefore, Ishido Masaaki decided to hold off for now and explore the other areas first.

Finally, after searching every area on the first and second floors, the players arrived at the last area on the second floor, a small bar with various high-end tea and wine sets, where they sorted out and analyzed the places they had already explored.

"There is no record of contact with the red light area yet, so it seems that triggering that thing is not easy."

Akira Toyama spoke first.

"The announcement has not been made. It seems that our activities in various areas of the room will not trigger any announcements. The announcement is probably only for explaining some basic information to newcomers."

Masaaki Ishido nodded in agreement, saying that this man was more concerned about the broadcast that was highlighted in the rule list.

"What's the next step? Break up?"

Hu Baoxiong, who had already picked up a cup of oolong tea, gulped it down in one go, and then asked the other two.

The conversation between the three seemed rather superficial, consisting mainly of things that everyone already knew and lacked any real depth.

In reality, the three of them were speaking through a temporary mental link established by Gao Hai, exchanging information that they had confirmed with each other within the mental link.

[Ishido Masaaki: There's a bloody smell in both the game area and the massage area. It's not a strong smell, and it's mixed with the scent of air freshener, like it's been cleaned up. Akira, Yasuo, are you sure you really didn't smell anything...?]

[Yuyama Akira: The voice on the radio has always sounded like that of a child, no more than five or six years old. But you both say you heard the voice of a young, adult woman. It seems the problem with the radio is more serious than we thought.]

[Hu Baoxiong: I observed 17 gun holes on the first floor and 4 on the second floor. These holes have been repaired and disguised, but traces are still visible. Also, I smelled a faint odor of blood around some carpets and found some dried bloodstains that hadn't completely disappeared. But neither the captain nor the vice-captain seemed to be able to see these traces. I don't quite understand what kind of sensory mechanism this is?]

Clearly, all three people present noticed some unusual clues, but strangely, these clues seemed to be visible only to the discoverer; the other two were unable to detect them, even when they were standing right in front of them.

Could this be another case of cognitive blocking-type bizarre rules?

All three players were reminded of the Hayate Elementary School dungeon, which was arguably one of the most disgusting and unpleasant dungeon rule types in the [Sacrifice Game] dungeon. Especially for Hu Baoxiong, just recalling being trapped in Hayate Elementary School for several days, being driven almost insane by the constant disappearance and reappearance of his memories, and finally being turned into a dog, made his lips droop.

In any case, judging from the preliminary investigation results, it seems that we will have to be more aggressive in order to get results.

"Let's split up. The three of us will each choose a direction and see if any new clues emerge after we've dispersed."

With the dual exchange between the spiritual and real worlds concluded, Captain Masaaki Ishido issued instructions, deciding on the team's next course of action.

Please note that the basement levels 1 and 2 are temporarily closed today.

Please note that the basement levels 1 and 2 of this resort are currently under renovation and will remain closed until the renovations are completed.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience or disappointment this may cause. Please also abide by our rules and refrain from entering non-restricted areas.

It was at this moment that the radio, which had been quiet for a long time, suddenly started broadcasting.

The three players, unsure of what was going on, remained quietly in place until the broadcast ended. After a minute or so, they exchanged glances, their eyes gleaming with thoughtful consideration.

As previously speculated, the device on the radio should be able to monitor the three people's movements anytime, anywhere, and know what they are doing.

However, because it is a strange creature, the thing broadcasting is not very intelligent. So, unless certain rules are triggered, it will either not respond to the player's actions at all, or its response will be delayed, and it will not impose any restrictions on the player.

This really makes people more and more curious. Who is behind this broadcast? Could it be one of the core obsessions?

"Take action."

After confirming that the broadcast was not going to be played again for the time being, Masaaki Ishido made another decision.

The time displayed on the digital clock is 10:50.

The first to act was Masaaki Ishido. He didn't leave the small bar, but instead found a place to sit down and took out several small black flying insects. One of the insects flew to Akira Toyama's shoulder, another to Koyoharu, one stayed on Masaaki Ishido himself, and the last one flew towards the corridor to the side, leaving the place behind.

This is one of the Crimson Moon-level artifacts held by the Crimson Society. Its name is simple: [Detecting the Swarm].

At this moment, the mother insect from the Obsession Object was perched on Ishido Masaaki's shoulder, while the other three were the offspring insects. Through this Obsession Object, Ishido Masaaki could check on Toyama Akira and Kobo Osamu's situation at any time, while controlling the third insect to scout the surrounding environment. Toyama Akira and Kobo Osamu could also use the insects on their bodies to communicate remotely with Ishido Masaaki, and as long as they were still in the same instance area, they would basically not lose contact.

Of course, considering Gao Hai's assistance, this artifact had essentially been completely replaced and was no longer necessary. However, given that the monsters active in the instance had been given some form of intelligence by the [Hospital], Ishido Masaaki felt it was still necessary to disguise himself to some extent. Furthermore, after the initial exploration yielded no results, he felt that carrying the Crimson Moon-level artifact on a second exploration might reveal new developments, hence his decision.

"Then I'll start my investigation from here. I'll conduct my investigation on the second floor."

Akira Toyama nodded again, then turned and left.

"Then I'm leaving too, Captain. I'm going to take a look downstairs."

Hu Baoxiong squatted down, scratched his neck with his foot, then stood up to say goodbye to Shi Tangzhengzhao, and then turned and left through another road.

The surroundings became quiet, as if no one had ever come at all, except for Masaaki Ishido, who was sitting quietly in his seat.

However, even though there was no one else besides Masaaki Ishido, the man in this place gradually had a strange feeling that someone was lingering around him. He had a feeling that the surroundings were actually very lively, and that many people were coming and going. Once this thought appeared, he could not get rid of it.

"..."

open one's eyes.