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

Finding the target is enough.

Everything else is unimportant!

My life is the same!

bang——

Akira Toyama's eyeball shattered.

His breathing stopped, his brain was cooked, and his consciousness was destroyed along with his body's death.

But the next second he came back to life, regaining his vitality under the power of the restorative obsession, although Toyama Akira had to endure some unpleasant side effects for it.

However, this is not important.

The important thing is that the information was refined at this moment.

Finally, a comprehensible voice entered his ears and his mind.

It was a voice that was indistinguishable in gender and age, distorted and out of tune due to its weak, hoarse tone.

It was a painful, desperate, and bewildered final cry before death.

【Mother……】

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Irrationality of the Imprisoned and Another Hidden Core.

found it.

Before falling into a complete coma and losing consciousness, Akira Toyama cried out from the depths of his heart.

The first core obsession of this resort instance has already been revealed to Akira Toyama.

The other party came from an unknown era. Judging from the clothing of people at that time, it must have been neon from hundreds or even thousands of years ago, in an ancient environment where technology had not yet developed.

An unknown plague spread, killing many people. The rulers then made a decision to drive the sick into a cave, seal the entrance, and let them starve to death inside.

Those who didn't die quickly struggled to survive in the cave, eventually resorting to cannibalism. Even so, unable to escape the cave, they endured longer than others before finally meeting a tragic end. The core obsession of this instance area originated from these dead, from those who desperately tried to live but ultimately suffered greater torment and despair.

What are their regrets, their obsessions, and their desires?

Escape the dark cave?

For those imprisoned in this predicament until their deaths, this must have been their greatest wish.

...No, that's not right.

If it were truly such a simple wish, things wouldn't have developed to this point.

Centuries later, the cave had sunk underground, and the entrance was gone. The victims had long since turned to bones, perhaps even completely decomposed into sand and soil. The lingering resentment of these dead wandered for years in the exitless underground world, until a resort was built above the cave, and until, to expand the resort, a man named Fumio Asakawa, the resort's manager at the time, dug through the rock layers, exposing the cave.

According to previous records, after the cave was excavated, paranormal events began to occur within the resort, with people disappearing and dying. These continuous anomalies forced the resort's board to halt development plans and close part of the facilities. This measure somewhat prevented the spread of the anomalies, but something unusual continued to exist within the resort. When fanatical cultists stormed the resort with guns, everything spiraled out of control.

Leaving aside the events that ultimately occurred, the things that happened after the resort's expansion and the excavation of the cave clearly don't align with the obsession of "escaping the cave." If the victims truly wanted to escape the cave, then that obsession should have dissipated with the fulfillment of their desire when the cave was actually dug open. However, the monsters not only didn't disappear, but also caused enormous trouble for the resort. This suggests that the original core obsession that originated there wasn't about escape, but something else entirely.

I'm a little confused. If it's not escaping, then what is it?

For a group of poor people imprisoned in endless darkness until they starve to death, if escaping such a situation is not even a strong desire, then what kind of yearning must remain in their souls?

What's the problem...?

I had exhausted all my senses to seek information, and Mr. Gao had also helped me. At that moment, my perception had exceeded my limits; what I saw couldn't be fake, so I must have missed something, something I hadn't noticed, something I had overlooked. Those things were actually the most crucial and important parts, but at that time, I was already struggling to even maintain my consciousness, and I failed to realize it, resulting in me looking in the wrong direction.

Yes, at that time, I had great difficulty just maintaining consciousness, so I overlooked some things and ended up passing out...

I... passed out...

I must have... passed out at that time...

In the last part of my memory... I sensed the aura of the core obsession. I was certain that the core obsession was among those people. I was extremely excited about this, and my previously tense nerves relaxed, resulting in me losing consciousness...

Yes, I did indeed pass out.

However, one of Mr. Gao's rescue team members was right beside me at the time. With that being whose strength faintly surpassed the core obsession of the Red Moon level protecting me, and with Mr. Gao's power remotely monitoring my condition, my body could not be threatened. I should have been taken to a safe place, where I would wake up and regain consciousness, and then contact my teammates to find a way to reunite.

So where am I now?

"..."

I can still think; I've been thinking all along; my mind is clear.

"..."

But if I am already awake, then why can't I see anything? Why is it pitch black all around me? Why can't I feel my own body?

"Huh...huh..."

Is that my breathing? Or... is there something else right beside me, in front of me?

The current situation is by no means normal.

This strange feeling—that you are fully awake but unable to feel your body, as if your soul has left your body—is absolutely abnormal.

To understand the cause of the current situation, Toyama Akira only needed a moment to think before immediately concluding that he had triggered the rule power of the core obsession and had been pulled into the spiritual realm of a certain Red Moon-level core obsession.

Did Mr. Gao's mental protection fail to work?

Could it be that the defense itself has malfunctioned because it had already withstood too much mental erosion?

clam down.

We need to calm down now.

An abnormal situation has already occurred, whether known or unknown, and panicking will not solve the problem. What I need to recall now is the point at which I was affected, the things I overlooked, and the strategies that can help me truly understand and break free from the current situation.

Another memory.

In the endless darkness, Akira Toyama's thoughts returned to what he had felt before he lost consciousness.

He felt the pain of the dead, their suffering from imprisonment, their madness from hunger, their cruel acts, and their utter despair after realizing they could not possibly survive.

So, what else is there besides that?

【Mother……】

I heard the sound myself.

It was someone's agonizing murmur, made as they lay dying.

For someone on the verge of death, calling out for their mother is not surprising. Toyama knew that in extreme cases, even children abandoned at a young age who have never seen their parents might call for their mother when they are near death and unconscious. This can be considered akin to a life instinct, and therefore shouldn't be taken too seriously.

But what if not?

At that moment, I was excited to find clues to my core obsession and didn't think much about it. Looking back now, I realize that I instinctively applied the scenario to fit the situation.

But why should the "Sacrifice Game," and the unreasonable monsters and ghost stories, be obligated to abide by the rules of reality?

Those who survived to the end called out for their mother before they died.

They might indeed be calling for their mother.

They might actually be calling out to some unknown thing located beside them.

【Mother……】

For those who are on the verge of death, what they see in their last moments may be their mother.

But that could never be the truth.

Something that could appear in such a place, and remain completely hidden even as those who tenaciously fought for survival were on the verge of death, and even escape detection by Akira Toyama who had fully opened his senses, could not possibly be human. In other words, the anomalous entity may have already existed in that cave at an earlier point in time, and the patients who were driven into the cave were not the true source of this instance; there was actually an earlier and more hidden stage in its existence.

That thing must be the core obsession.

He had successfully sensed a core obsession, but hadn't discovered the other party. This meant that the other party's core obsession was at least at the Red Moon level, and possibly even higher. Considering the inherent patterns of the dungeon, the strongest obsessions were always at the core obsession level. Therefore, he could conclude that this "Mother" was definitely one of the core obsessions in the current dungeon. In other words, he had actually discovered two core obsessions at once, but he was only now realizing the second one.

【Mother……】

Unlike the first discovered core obsession, which arose from the death of an ordinary person, this deeply hidden entity was far more dangerous, more twisted, and more malevolent. It likely discovered me the moment I began using my senses to gather clues and had been silently watching me ever since. Yet, no matter what I did, it remained hidden until the instant I lost consciousness, at which point it launched its attack, plunging my consciousness into an unknown realm.

So, now that I've realized my situation, it's about time the other party took action.

How will it attack me? Since I can't perceive my own body and can only act as a consciousness, there shouldn't be a better opportunity to attack. Since it brought me here, it certainly won't let me go. So, when will the attack begin?

【Mother】

It seemed as if I heard someone's voice, drifting into my ears from a very, very far place.

A chilling feeling instantly washed over Akira Toyama. Even though he couldn't perceive his body, the feeling of being completely frozen was still incredibly clear.

Then, something unseen emerged from the darkness, reaching out toward Akira Toyama, about to touch his body.

Bang! ! !

Amidst the violent tremors, an invisible barrier was released, then shattered rapidly, forcefully blocking the attack.

"Well……"

Yuanshan Ming let out a muffled groan.

At that crucial moment, he activated his only blessing power, the blessing from Chiyo Hachiya.

Akira Toyama initially thought that given his actions during his time at Hayate Elementary School, he shouldn't have received any blessings. However, after returning to the real world and recovering from his injuries, he discovered that he had actually gained a certain degree of blessing power. However, compared to Takami, Kaguya, and Hayasaka, Akira received very little blessing power; it could even be described as a crippled version. This was probably because he hadn't been noticed by Chiyo Hachiya, who was the core of his obsession, and had only received a small amount of unconsciously overflowing blessing power. Even so, Akira considered this power quite considerable.

First and foremost, the crucial Crimson Domain is something Touyama Akira cannot summon. What he can summon is an invisible mental shield, solely for protecting his own mind. The shield's willpower value is roughly half of Touyama Akira's own, making it easily shattered by high-intensity attacks. However, even if shattered, it can indeed block one attack, buying Touyama Akira time to act. Furthermore, because the shield isn't very strong, it regenerates easily, typically resuming every ten seconds or so. When used properly, it can provide a very strong restraining and defensive effect.

In addition, this blessing also grants Akira Toyama the effect of sharing spiritual power, with a sharing radius of 10 meters, connecting the willpower of everyone within this range to resist external erosion. However, if the willpower of the connected person is stronger than Akira Toyama's, the other party can actively refuse the link and cannot be forced. Of course, this effect is currently useless once a single person falls into a trap. Akira Toyama is currently using the power of the blessing to buy time, and his purpose is not at all to escape the enemy by his own strength.

[Mom...Mom...]

From the murmuring sounds, one could sense that thing attacking once again.

Without a body and unable to perceive himself, Akira Toyama had no way to move or evade the approaching dark entity and could only endure its approach.

It was as if I could hear the other person's voice and feel a gentle touch.

The suffering is over.

It felt like someone was gently stroking my cheek.

The suffering is over.

The gentle whispers felt like truly returning to a mother's embrace.

Die in a beautiful dream, die in a blissful dream, and from then on, there will be no more pain.

Unable to resist.