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

But at the same time, a sinister aura came from behind. After the police officers restrained the oldest and most terrifying monster, the core obsession formed from the remains of the victims, which had never truly revealed itself, launched an attack on Akira Toyama at the critical moment.

In response, Akira Toyama completely ignored the other party and focused solely on continuing his charge forward.

"Finally caught up."

The sharp pitchfork, accompanied by Ishido Masaaki's relieved sigh, pierced through the approaching shadow in the next second.

"Wang!"

Hu Baoxiong, who was on all fours, roared like a vicious dog at this moment, and with his roar, the shadows around him actually receded a little.

The three members of the Red Knot Society reunited here.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Charging Against a Powerful Enemy and Praising the Great Gao Hai.

Twisted things from the past roared and howled in the darkness, charging towards those who were still alive in this hell.

There was no opportunity for pity, nor any possibility of trying to understand each other.

At this moment, only death and madness are permitted, only the purest confrontation between the living and the dead, and the only possible outcome is survival or death.

Masaaki Ishido felt his heart beating very fast.

Before today, even as a Red Moon-level player, he hadn't continued to attack proactively after being locked onto by a Red Moon-level core obsession, charging headlong into the enemy without any attempt to dodge. After all, this wasn't a rational move. Weak humans could never defeat an opponent like an immortal and indestructible being. So, when faced with being locked onto by such an invincible entity, how to protect oneself and how to safely escape the enemy were often the things players would consider.

But things are different now.

Since then, a player named Gao Hai has appeared and broken through what many people considered impossible to get to where he is today, and the situation has become completely different.

Even seemingly invincible Crimson Moon-level monsters can be destroyed, and legendary Abyss-level dungeons that surpass Crimson Moon-level can also be conquered. Even... players like Ishido Masaaki himself, who have already died in dungeons, can be brought back to life through some unknown means.

Without a doubt, such beings are gods, beings who descended from the heavens, born by divine mandate, and great beings sent to save the world.

Even though he himself refused to acknowledge this sacredness and stubbornly denied his own divinity, Masaaki Ishido was still convinced of it and still silently regarded Takami as a god in his heart, sincerely respecting him.

Especially now, as we officially act as players under the other side, carrying the fate of human civilization on our shoulders.

Therefore, there is only one thing to do now, and that is to fight!

A battle where we risk everything and fear nothing!

fighting!!!

"bring it on."

After a whisper, Ishido Masaaki, whose heart was already ablaze, put on a human skin mask—a mask covered in pustules with a bloody cross drawn on the cheek.

A bloodthirsty aura spread in an instant.

The immense power possessed by only Crimson Moon-level monsters was displayed on Ishido Masaaki at this moment. At the same time, an extremely terrifying mental erosion also took effect on his mind, beginning to ravage his soul.

Undoubtedly, under normal circumstances, Ishido Masaaki would be unable to use this artifact for an extended period. He would have to remove the mask after at most ten seconds, or risk instant death. However, with the increased power invested by Takami, Ishido Masaaki's spirit had become more resilient than ever before, and the artifact's corrosive power could no longer truly harm him. In this way, Ishido Masaaki forcibly controlled this powerful Crimson Moon-level artifact, which was originally intended as a last resort by the Crimson Society, and temporarily elevated his power to the level of a Crimson Moon-level monster.

"Ugh... ahh ...

Amidst the mournful roar, a human skin coat appeared out of thin air on Ishido Masaaki's body, with human faces on the coat constantly wailing and shedding more and more blood and tears.

A chainsaw, modified from a lawnmower and over two meters long, emerged from Ishido Masaaki's flesh as it pierced his arm. The stench of blood continued to spread, and Ishido Masaaki, draped in crimson, charged straight into the darkness ahead, crashing into it violently.

Everything fell silent in an instant.

After the silence came tremors and roars that seemed to come from hell.

The terrifying roar that suddenly erupted caused both Toyama Akira and Kobo Osamu to feel a sharp pain as if their thoughts were being severed, and they had to exert all their strength to keep their minds steady.

The obsession hidden in the darkness, formed from twisted remnants of lingering obsession, was also greatly impacted at this moment. The human skin mask originating from the Tomillo Slaughterhouse, emanating from Ishido Masaaki, was different from Bloodsaw; it was a higher-level obsession artifact. Even though its inherent strength didn't reach the level of a core obsession artifact, it still possessed a strength far beyond that of an ordinary Crimson Moon-level obsession. Moreover, besides the power of this obsession artifact itself, Gao Hai's support was also secretly at work, making the power displayed by Ishido Masaaki even more extraordinary, fiercely suppressing the seemingly invincible shadow.

The spread of darkness was forcibly stopped.

Ishido Masaaki stood firmly in the cave filled with skeletons, forcefully resisting the grotesque creature in the twisted darkness.

"It actually withstood it..."

Having never participated in the Nightfall Mountain Middle School and Infant Cry Village instances, Toyama Akira couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice when he saw that Ishido Masaaki had single-handedly withstood a monster of the Core Obsession level.

As Ishido Masaaki felt the continuous flow of torma surging within him, his confidence grew, and he began to push forward with even greater effort. Roaring, he pushed the struggling dark entity backward step by step.

"Drink!!!"

With his mouth agape, Ishido Masaaki roared.

Mr. Gao! Please bless me!! Witness my efforts!!!

Deep down, Masaaki Ishido was praying earnestly, devoutly, and fervently.

Golden energy was hidden within the blood-red liquid, transforming into extraordinary power to fight against the twisted and insane fragments.

Darkness and bloodshed intertwined, and hysterical, fragmented scenes repeated themselves. Only the person standing in front of the darkness remained unyielding, firmly standing in the storm with the combined power of the object of obsession and the power of Gao Hai.

Damn it, I'm supporting the battle right now, who the hell is praying to me at this time?

Meanwhile, Takami, who was supporting Ishido Masaaki, couldn't help but curse inwardly.

[Sizzle... sizzle sizzle...]

The cacophony of electrical currents seemed to have spread from afar.

At the same time that Masaaki Ishido was fighting against the attacking core obsession, something else began to approach.

The twisted monsters, also exuding an ominous aura but whose origins were uncertain, seemed to be summoned by something after the intense battle between the players and the monsters began. They quickly gathered and rushed towards the players' location.

Akira Toyama, at the very back of the group, had no intention of participating in the battle. After locating the core of the skull's obsession, he turned his gaze to the deeper part of the dark cave, to the area where he had recently hallucinated in the hospital and which was now once again shrouded in darkness.

There must be another core obsession there.

Despite the lack of evidence, Akira Toyama had this intuition, so he did not hesitate to move towards that area, intending to search for the possible core obsession object.

Similarly, without further communication, Masaaki Ishido and Koyoko, both from the same squad, knew that Akira Toyama already had a plan. The former then exerted even greater effort to resist the still struggling dark creature, while the latter charged straight towards another group of strange beings that had arrived.

Even before he had fully approached, from a great distance, Hu Baoxiong, who was on all fours, sensed a terrifying power.

He could sense that these newly emerged entities possessed extremely chaotic auras. They seemed to originate from different regions and eras, sharing little in common. However, under the influence of some unknown and mysterious force, they coalesced and formed this fragmented, distorted form, devoid of any self-identity and defying any discernible rules.

Dozens of hands touched the ground together, dozens of feet were scattered all over the flesh and blood, and dozens of heads opened their mouths at the same time, emitting happy laughter.

Amidst the laughter and chatter, graffiti of all sizes began to appear inside the cave, and viscous liquid dripped down like a light rain of blood.

I didn't sense the aura of a core obsession, but it wasn't far off; it was the most troublesome kind of aggregated core obsession.

As Hu Baoxiong approached the enemy, he carefully analyzed his opponent.

The two core obsessions in this instance area that we confirmed with Toyama Akira before seem to be aggregate-type existences as well. Could it be that all the monsters here tend to be this type? If so, then the third core obsession that has not yet appeared might also be aggregate-type. I guess if we stay here a little longer, we will have gathered them all.

As he watched the creature approaching from the front, whose body had partially emerged from the darkness, Hu Baoxiong thought of many problems, but none of them could be solved quickly, and he couldn't think of any useful solutions in the short term.

Forget it, there's no need to think about it so much.

Now that Mr. Gao is protecting me, I can just go straight into the fight.

That's right.

This is what I should really be doing.

The bestial instincts brought about by the aftereffects of the dog-transformation mechanism caused Hu Baoxiong to instantly abandon all thought.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch -"

With a series of powerful barks, black fur appeared on Hu Baoxiong's body, and in a short time, he transformed into a large dog covered in black cat fur, charging towards the horde of strange creatures. As he did so, the space around him began to distort, as if countless black dogs were appearing, charging alongside him.

The second collision between the player and the monster was noisier and more ear-piercing than the first, but it lacked the intense tremor of the first collision.

The reason for this lies in the fact that the quantity and quality of the artifacts possessed by the Red Society declined significantly after its reconstruction. They couldn't produce a second powerful Red Moon-level artifact like the Human Skin Mask. Therefore, in order to fight the enemies ahead, Hu Baoxiong had to find a way to overload several Dark Night-level artifacts. This approach, to some extent, distracted the monsters he was fighting, allowing Hu Baoxiong to still fight them despite his weakened strength. This was the key to his ability to hold the line.

Ah, power, golden power, red power, burning power.

As his senses became completely animalistic due to his wolf-like transformation, an abstract perception was transmitted to Hu Baoxiong's mind, allowing him to see the golden-red light burning within his body.

I now undoubtedly possess divine power and am protected by the gods.

Praise be to the great Gao Hai! Praise be to the great God!

Let us continue our fierce battle, you vile monsters!!!

In a sense, the prayer that Hu Baoxiong offered at that moment was even more devout than that of Ishido Masaaki.

Naturally, this made Gao Hai, who was in charge of providing support, even more unhappy.

So who the hell is praying to me right now? Why is he getting more and more excited as he prays? Who is this person? Is he really praying to me seriously?

Gao Hai, who really wanted to yell a few curses, ultimately didn't say anything. Instead, he continued to observe the current situation of the three players and soon turned his attention to Toyama Akira, the only one present who hadn't participated in the battle.

The other person was standing in front of a corpse.

Based on previous intelligence exchanges, Akira Toyama believed that the corpse was Fumio Asakawa, the resort manager who unearthed the underground ruins mentioned in the documents.

The opponent ultimately died in this gloomy underground area, and coincidentally, very close to a core object of obsession. Toyama Akira felt it necessary to verify whether this indicated something, as it was certainly much safer than venturing directly into that unknown region.

A dead person who leaves clear records and whose body appears around the core object of obsession may have an extraordinary identity that can be recognized by ghost stories.

Well then, let's try taking this thing into the dark area.

Please bless me, Mr. Gao.

After much deliberation, Akira Toyama couldn't help but pray for Takami in his heart as well.

【…】

As for Gao Hai himself, who had been the one being prayed to, he had long since lost track of who was praying to him and could only feel various voices running through his head.

Even as time went on, Gao Hai found that the prayers he heard were becoming clearer, and the content was no longer blurry. He still couldn't identify who was who.

This is unavoidable; after all, there's often a subtle difference between the sound of a heartfelt prayer and the voice of a person speaking. And in those sincere prayers, no one adds information like their current address or date of birth to prove their identity. Add to that the current busy state of mind, and clearly identifying each person under such circumstances is simply too troublesome.

[Mr. Gao hums and moans, ahh ...

Please bless me, Mr. Gao!

【I want to single out you, my great god! Aaaaaaahh ...

What's more, there's this stuff that sounds so abnormal and has absolutely nothing to do with real prayer.

Gao Hai was in a bad mood.

Inside the cave, Akira Toyama was dragging Fumio Asakawa's corpse, rushing towards the dark end ahead.

You can feel the slight tremor of a certain restriction being lifted.