Watching the anime from Madoka Magica and writing the rules

"That's right. Because it appeared in reality, it gradually became like a real person."

"I know, it's a doppelganger, right? Once the other person looks like me, they'll replace me or something."

"If that's the case, then the killer has been replaced? And the programmer and the biker gang have also changed. Did they replace the real person as well?"

"Although we have tried many times, we still haven't figured out the reason for this."

"But if the outside world is in a state of collapse, then it means that they are being transformed into reality because they do not fit their own image."

"Why did this result come about? Is there any connection between them?"

"In fact, in that world, areas that aren't visible to surveillance cameras are clearly demarcated. In other words..."

"The mastermind behind this fratricide is broadcasting the situation here to the outside world."

"In other words, there's no one left to maintain order in the outside world. So the mastermind isn't just broadcasting live to a few people, but to a much wider audience? How did you come to this conclusion?"

"We were in the swimming pool and didn't see the [fan fiction writer's] body."

"Ah, didn't you just say you didn't see any bodies?"

"I see. Well, let's just assume your judgment is correct for now."

"Why is it just like that? Did I miss something?"

"Idiot! This kind of thing must not be said here. You actually questioned Lord Bai Ye's judgment. How dare you!"

"So, over there, do you see the [Bystander]?"

"Although we wanted to find him, we searched all three floors and couldn't find him."

"Then it must be on the fourth floor, right? After all, he's hidden in the stairwell before. In the world over there, there shouldn't be these things blocking him, right?"

"In fact, there's also a barrier on the stairs leading to the fourth floor, and... compared to the real railings, it looks more... magical?"

In the dim room, Zhi Xing faced the screen projecting images and silently wrote down his thoughts on the world on the paper in front of him:

Notes on Understanding the World

1. The power of an individual is weak because this world is built up by countless individuals.

2. Concentrated will can temporarily influence the surrounding things because the world is so big.

3. If you want to maintain your influence, besides long-term companionship, only a house that can shelter you from wind and rain can do it.

4. If you are the one being affected, it is easier to break free from the influence of others when you are physically weak.

5. The bonds between people are so strong that the influence of one individual cannot completely affect another, unless the connection with the other person is severed and the person is isolated and helpless.

6. Things that are not connected by any ties do exist, and this is the only thing that can make a temporary outburst of will have a lasting impact.

7. Establishing connections is independent of each other, but exerting influence is unilateral.

8. The deeper your connection with others, the further you will travel into their world.

9. The greater your influence on others, the bigger your house and the more companionship you will have.

10. Connections and influences can be transformed.

It is said that whether you have mastered a piece of knowledge depends on whether you can teach it to others in an easy-to-understand way.

Zhixing agreed with this very much, but thinking about it in the mind is one thing, but putting the ideas into words and writing them down would naturally become stuck.

Holding the piece of paper with some cryptic writing on it, Zhixing felt sorry for his ability to organize language.

"Ah, it's all technical terms, like 'Cognitive World', 'Palace', 'Community', 'Impression Space', and 'Shadow'. If I could make a game, it would be much easier to describe."

Although he said this, Zhixing still handed the paper to the person in front of him.

"So, you mean to say that the black and white bear down there is using this cannibalistic display to try to influence the students and get closer to this world?"

My classmate understood it quickly at a glance.

"While this is possible, the impact in the real world shouldn't be enough to support the other party's climb up. After all, there are only six... halls now?"

Zhi Xing suddenly hesitated, but Laozi didn't miss this point and quickly incorporated his knowledge into his own.

"Aside from the two who escaped so far, and the six who are publicly dead—the idol, the baseball player, the programmer, the biker gang, the fan fiction writer, and the disciplinary officer—if we add the fighter, that makes seven people, right?"

"Speaking of the number seven, it really is the seven deadly sins."

"First, there's the [bosozoku] brother who committed the sin of jealousy, and then there's the [baseball player] who committed the sin of anger. The only ones who meet this criteria are the gluttonous [gambler] who tries to hedge his bets and always win, and the lazy [fighter] who uses the power to disrupt the status quo but can't do anything about it, right?"

"It doesn't look like it fits the seven deadly sins. Is there anything you're concerned about?"

Zhixing was silent for a moment, then added:

"[Fanfiction writers] who commit sexual acts against their beloved characters, vain [programmers] who choose to cross-dress to avoid being noticed, and... arrogant [discipline officers] who are fiercely committed to the rules and look down on those who disregard them."

"Finally... the most greedy one, seeking her own despair and choosing to bring everyone else into uncertainty, is [Super High School Level Despair] Enoshima Junko."

"Isn't it Enoshima-san who's not here? As expected, if the mastermind is known to even the 'Murderer', how could he not tell that the 'Soldier' ​​and the 'Girl' are two different people? But Enoshima Junko still appeared in the vote. This is tantamount to admitting to a disguise. So, is she referring to herself?"

Zhi Xing sighed weakly, realizing that the cognitive beings who were monitoring the cafeteria exchanging information were reaching out to ask for it:

"I don't know if it's related, but in the history I know, there was a case where a guy who existed at the bottom of the cognitive world brought the entire world into reality after the Seven Deadly Sins were defeated."

"Although he was quickly defeated, that's enough. Using my phone to threaten me into changing the deal is really unlike you, [Disciplinary Officer]."

"Yeah, this is indeed a dangerous part of the world. Please put away your phone."

Zhixing took phone No. 3 back, opened the screen, and couldn't help but take a breath.

"Sorry, I'm out of battery because I need to gather intelligence!"

My classmate said with confidence.

Chapter 358: Hope of Changing Destiny

"Ah~"

Zhixing didn't know what to say, so he could only put his phone back into his pocket silently, then looked at the surveillance screen in front of him and asked:

"So, how far can you go here?"

My classmate folded his arms, pretending to be watching a surveillance camera and replied:

"There aren't many things I can do. It's just that after seeing the classmates who were born because of you, I roughly understand how to reproduce them."

"If you could tell me everything, I should be able to do more. But! I think as long as I work hard, I can still learn these skills through hard work."

Zhixing glanced at his classmate Laozi and sighed more in his heart.

Originally, after Zhixing arrived at Lucky's room, he entered the image space and prepared to retrieve the mobile phone that he had placed aside for safety reasons.

As a result, the mobile phone had disappeared. After searching around here and there without finding it, the paper bank began to suspect that real objects could not be stored in the cognitive world.

Zhixing returned to his room and lay on the bed to rest, feeling very bored.

It was during this break that Zhixing remembered [Despair] who had demonstrated the ability to enter the impression space not long ago.

With the bonus of [Sightseeing], [Witch's Barrier], and the resurrection that came from either [Reset] or [Cognitive World], Zhixing still felt that he could meet [Despair].

So after returning to reality, Zhixing went all the way to the 3rd floor, and used the [Wall Passage] to enter the stairwell on the 4th floor. Then, Zhixing entered the impression space again, ready to see whether the phone was inside or in reality.

Then Zhixing saw that there was a hole in the corridor not far away.

After walking over and taking a look, Zhizhao determined that this hole was most likely the entrance for the black and white bear to pass through.

Zhixing knew that in the space of impressions, mechanical creations had no place.

Even the robots in the hall are actually the same as the cognitive entities used by the paper bank to replace cases. They only look like robots, but in fact they are just pre-planned changes in appearance. If they hit places where wounds should not appear, they can still cause damage.

What really drives things is the shadows hidden within.

Of course, in addition to the shadows, there is another result in the hall, which is the mechanism.

This mechanism does not require a completely mechanical structure, as long as the appearance is suitable and there is a corresponding switch, it can make the giant axe swing quickly, the terrain change on a large scale, or even make it look like the scorching sun in the desert or a raging flood.

You only need to erect a screen to connect directly to the corresponding monitoring without the need for complicated line support.

Telerobotics, however, is another matter.

Even the master of the hall cannot know the movements of his subordinates clearly, so there are differences in alert values.

Other mechanisms are needed to trigger the alarm remotely. Once the alarm fails to be triggered, the Lord of the Hall will not be able to find out even if the Phantom Thieves and the Shadows fight several times.

Zhi Xing looked at the passage that could only accommodate the body of the black and white bear, and then looked at the floor tiles that were turned over on the side. He realized that there seemed to be some changes here. He couldn't help but stand still and make a sound, ready to launch a [Sightseeing] evacuation at any time.

But the one who responded to the paper bank was not [Despair] who should have been on the 4th floor, but Laozi who came following the sound.

After some communication with Zhihang, we learned that because the 4th floor was not open, my classmate chose to go to the 4th floor through the passage that the black and white bear took, but he couldn't go back.

Because this is the delivery port going down from the 4th floor, and the position corresponding to the delivery port cannot be opened by manpower, it can only be opened briefly by the control room on the 4th floor.

Faced with such a situation, Laozi asked the cognitive existence [Disciplinary Officer] to wear his mask and move towards the passage on the second floor, while Laozi stayed here to open the corresponding passage.

"Wait! Wait! I can guess that the [Disciplinary Officer] has been following you because of my instructions, but how do you mean you're the one commanding him? And... the one down there is the [Disciplinary Officer]? How could he possibly appear in reality?!"

Although he is the actual user of the [Cognitive World], Zhixing discovered that he only responded to [Lucky]'s request in the middle of the night and threw Laozi into the Impression Space to let him rest temporarily, so as not to fall into a negative cycle and to fully exert the strength of the Impossible Man.

But unexpectedly, the Impossible Man did make an effort, but it was not to save the [Programmer] and stop the [Bosozoku], but he seemed to have completed his own death?

"Huh? What's wrong with that? Didn't you also create my brother and [Programmer] this way?"

"I was able to make it because I used strong enough emotional energy and the special relationship of the place I'm in. Normally, things in this world can't come into reality unless they're led by real people. Especially since you're still separated, this..."

"Could it be that something happened in the outside world? Was [Gal] mistaken for a murderer?"

"Outside school referee"

Zhixing briefly told Laozi what happened in reality.

Laozi was obviously angry that he had provoked the class judgment, but he was relieved that the murderer was not executed by Monokuma.

Then, when Zhixing raised his question again, Laozi responded in a question-and-answer exchange:

"Honestly, even though this place is very similar to reality, there are actually quite a few magical things going on here, like the [Disciplinary Officer] who's always been following me... Let's call him that to distinguish them."

"Originally, I had no way to deal with him. But after I realized I was trapped here and couldn't go back, my heart was filled with anxiety."

"When I think about my brother having to endure the process of committing sins over and over again while I'm away, I want to hammer the floor into pieces!"

Zhi Xing glanced at the intact ground and shook his head helplessly.

For something like a maze, instead of following the planned route, it is also a good idea to break through in a straight line once you have the strength.

But things in the cognitive world are as solid as if they were fixed to space.

Even though they have a huge boss that can fight in the final battle of the hall, they can't cause any real damage to the ground or buildings.

This is true even for the boss's counterattack.

It looks like a psychological suggestion experiment. He thought he was dead, so he died, instead of being actually killed by the attack.

Therefore, Zhixing has always felt that the power of the cognitive world is a false power. If it were not for its ability to change one's heart, Zhixing would not have chosen p5.

However, the witch's barrier is different for the magical girl. The magical girl can completely destroy the scene, but in order to preserve her magic power, she honestly explores the code and tries to find the witch's room before her magic power is exhausted by the familiar.

"Perhaps my passion to stop this incident touched the [disciplinary officer], so he took the initiative to propose the idea of ​​saving the situation."

"Although he and I both wanted to save our brother, this stalemate was completely meaningless. So I chose to help him leave the 4th floor and entrusted this powerful mask to the [Disciplinary Officer]."

Zhixing's eyes turned, and he suddenly discovered a situation that he had not thought of before.

Although he is currently unable to force himself to resist, he gains the power of the personality mask and begins on the path of changing his heart.

But in the velvet room, in addition to being able to fuse the masks brought by Amamiya Ren, it also seems to have the function of storing masks.

Since the personality mask can be taken off and put on at any time, does it mean that I have a future as a mask user?

Just as Zhixing was about to be inspired, he heard Laozi continue to speak:

"Although I put him back on the second floor, he ended up in the locker room and had no way to get out."

"I remotely attempted to instruct him to use the power of this mask to return to reality. However, even with knowledge of this world I didn't know, the [Disciplinary Officer] not only failed to complete his mission to return, he couldn't even create the original projection."

"Just when I couldn't think of a solution for this matter and had to seek help from classmates who weren't real people, things took a turn for the better."

"Yamada-san, the [Fan Fiction Writer], responded to my call and came into the locker room. Then the [Disciplinary Officer] disappeared from the surveillance camera."

Zhixing blinked, and after confirming that he had heard correctly, he gestured with his hands and asked:

"You mean, him? The [Fan Fiction Writer] you killed this time can bring your [Disciplinary Officer] back to reality?"

Zhixing frowned, feeling a strange feeling in his heart.

I was clearly feeling desperate because of the deaths of these two people, so why do accidents keep happening one after another?