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

The children were laughing happily.

The children are inviting you to play.

"..."

The body reacted before the mind could process it, and then took action.

Gao Hai grabbed Zhenfei's shoulders almost instantly, lifted her up, and threw her toward a cabinet on the side of the corridor.

Realizing what was happening, Zhenfei suppressed the eerie sounds that kept echoing in her mind, trembling as she climbed up the cabinet and hid on the top shelf.

Then Gao Hai suddenly jumped up and flipped over, landing on top of the cabinet. He was panting heavily, trying to distract himself from the laughter and chatter below.

Hahaha--

Everyone is a good kid—

Hehe—good kids should play together—

Don't play with bad kids.

Ha ha--

Hee hee hee--

Those laughs, which sounded like the voices of ordinary children, were filled with a strong sense of eeriness at this moment, as if they were about to completely crush Gao Hai's thoughts.

He turned his head and looked towards the inside of the cabinet against the wall.

He saw the printed paper stuck to the wall, saw the contents on it, and saw the sawn-off top of the cabinet below the paper, as well as some scattered items in this small, separate space.

1. Don't look down, don't make eye contact, that's how you survive.

2. You are safe here and will not be harmed, so don't panic and stay calm.

[3. There are usually supplies on one side of the cabinet, such as food, water, disinfectant alcohol, and gauze. You can take them if you are injured or thirsty.]

4. If it is nighttime in the corridor, please stay until it is completely light.

[—Xu Sheng]

It's that person again. They're so thoughtful...

Gao Hai lay motionless on the cabinet, while Zhen Fei on the other side remained equally quiet.

The children's laughter gradually faded into the distance.

One by one, they quickly disappeared on the other side of the corridor.

However, Gao Hai had no intention of going down.

He simply continued to lie quietly on top of the cabinet, remaining motionless and silent.

Ugh, how boring.

How boring! How boring!

Bad kids don't dare come.

The bad kids don't dare to come.

Bad kids just hide from everyone.

Because she's not a good girl, hehehe—

Hehehe—I'm not playing with her anymore—

Hehehe—then I won't play with her!

Hehehe—Good kids don't play with bad kids—

Hehehe—Hahaha—

Then, the children's voices began to fade away once again.

Accompanied by the sound of hopping footsteps and giggling laughter.

Only after the children's voices completely disappeared, until they vanished at the end of the corridor, did Maki, who was perched on top of the opposite cabinet, close her eyes and pause carefully for a long while before finally letting out a sigh of relief and revealing a lingering fear on her face.

She had just noticed that the laughter of the children when they arrived and when they left did not overlap completely. It was very likely that some of the children had silently stayed behind and were therefore leaning on the cabinet to warn Gao Hai. That's why the two of them didn't move and waited for a while.

"What is this thing...?"

After confirming that the items had indeed left, Gao Hai and Zhen Fei jumped down from the cabinet. Zhen Fei then sighed heavily and whispered, still somewhat frightened.

"This is one of the things we will have to face next."

Before coming down, Gao Hai casually pulled out a chocolate bar from a hidden compartment on top of the cabinet, which was specially left by Xu Sheng's group. As he ate it, his expression gradually became serious.

He had to admit that he might have gotten a little carried away.

After successfully eliminating two troublesome veteran players and working in perfect harmony with Zhenfei to solve the biggest problem at the beginning of the dungeon, he felt a little too relaxed and even began to feel that there were no problems that could bother him anymore.

But the reality is that he is still trapped in this apartment, and none of them have been able to leave yet.

"It's far from time to relax..."

With a sigh, Gao Hai could only say this in the end, then gestured for Zhen Fei to return to the house with him, leaving the narrow and gloomy corridor.

Chapter 45: The First Exploration Mission with Kaguya Begins

"Then, the first round of exploration on the third floor will be carried out by Ms. Shinomiya and me."

In the living room of room 206, Gao Hai, sitting at the table, gently tapped the tabletop and announced the results of the discussion among the group in a calm tone.

"That's right, let's decide on that. How about we set the operation time for 10 minutes from now?"

Kaguya, sitting on the other side, nodded gently and spoke in a calm tone.

"That's settled then. I'll stay here as a backup in case of an emergency. You two be careful, that's not a good place."

Princess Zhenfei, propping her head up with one hand, also spoke up, her eyes full of seriousness.

The exploration of the final area of ​​Shirakawa Apartment, specifically the third floor, which is currently the most important task, has been basically finalized.

While Takayuki himself preferred to act with Maki, given their mutual understanding, Maki objected, subtly reminding him that Kaguya was somewhat uneasy and anxious about the current situation. She suggested that he act alongside her at least once to ensure Kaguya could understand Takayuki to some extent in this loop. Furthermore, considering the intricate structure of the third floor as described by Takayuki, Kaguya, with her superior neurological and motor skills, would indeed be a better fit.

Gao Hai suspected that Maki was hesitant to be alone with him due to their earlier conversation in the corridor, but her reasoning made sense, so he accepted the suggestion. As for Kaguya, she didn't refuse either. After Gao Hai and Maki's coordinated attack that resulted in the deaths of two people, this proud and arrogant genius girl was honestly a bit confused. Now, having a chance to act herself would alleviate her anxiety.

Just like in the previous playthrough, Sun Dajun was responsible for repairing the two doors to room 204. However, this time, he had two burly men, one black and one white, Green and Mamer, backing him up. They should be able to react better to any dangerous situations. Leaving Green aside, Mamer was even more useful than Gao Hai had expected. He would happily do whatever Gao Hai and the others said, never arguing with anyone in the group, and even had a bit of an adventurous spirit, wanting to take the initiative to undertake exploration tasks. Furthermore, his willpower was quite good; after wearing the badge, he could maintain his independent consciousness for about a minute, and within that time, he could remove the badge at his own will.

If Gao Hai hadn't been hesitant to rely solely on Green to protect Sun Dajun, he probably would have considered bringing the black guy along. Incidentally, after asking around, Gao Hai discovered that this guy, named Mamer, was a waiter and creative chef at a Chinese-style restaurant in America. His specialties were cantaloupe and beef stew with bread and Mapo tofu pizza. According to him, he had recently been trying to make sashimi buns and was struggling with how to cook the buns while keeping the fish inside raw.

He always seemed like a cheerful young man, but it's a real shame that he became a sacrifice to people like Lao Guo in the first two playthroughs.

Maki and Maeda Miwa stayed in one room. Maeda Miwa was in charge of ringing the clock first. Kaguya Takami and Maki agreed to return within 3 hours. If neither of them was able to return to the second floor within 3 hours, then Maki would have to order Maeda Miwa to ring the clock.

As for how to ensure a smooth return from the 3rd floor, we must mention another obsession of Lao Guo: a blood-red key that can open almost any door.

The object of their obsession was not initially obtained by Gao Hai and the others because it fell into room 210. It was dropped when Lao Guo was being brutally beaten by the headless male corpse in that room, and therefore Gao Hai and the others did not get it.

However, Gao Hai had experienced the previous cycle and knew that Lao Guo had this thing. Therefore, after taking stock of his gains, he spent a lot of time searching and finally entered 210. After using the blood puppet to trap the headless male corpse, he obtained the key.

The door opened with this key has a chance of leading to the user's desired destination, or it could lure dangerous things to the person opening the door—it's a double-edged sword and must be used with caution. However, for Takami and Kaguya, who are about to explore the third floor, this is also their only chance to return safely. After all, the structure of the entire third floor is intricate and complex, making it extremely difficult to find a way back to the second floor.

"Don't die up there, Haijun, and your great-aunt."

Before setting off, Zhenfei waved to the two of them and said in a slightly impolite tone.

"Don't worry, I value my life very much."

Gao Hai gave Zhenfei a thumbs up.

"You'd better do that."

Zhenfei did not meet Gao Hai's gaze, but simply snorted in response.

Arrive at the stairwell at the edge of the second floor.

Kaguya ran her hand through her long black hair, her cold gaze sweeping over Takami beside her before turning to Maki, who hadn't returned to her room in the hallway not far away. Her mouth opened slightly, but in the end, she said nothing.

These two people have a very good relationship.

Whether it's the tone of their voices or their expressions when they talk to each other, the atmosphere they have is something only people with a very good relationship can have.

As a branch family of the Shinomiya family, the Shijo family gave Kaguya Shijo a considerable understanding of Maki Shijo. She was certain that Maki wouldn't have come into contact with Takami within Maki's usual social circle. Considering that both Takami and Maki had mentioned the clock's rewind function, they might have lived in this apartment for a long time, but since everyone else hadn't survived and they couldn't find a way to escape, they decided to use the clock to rewind and start over.

Judging from their united front, this seems to be the case.

But Kaguya felt that things might not be so simple. Although there was no concrete evidence, and it was just her intuition, Kaguya believed that Takami and Maki were hiding some kind of secret from everyone else.

It's really worrying, but... that's not the key point right now. How to escape from Shirakawa Apartments and leave this place is the most pressing issue.

"Mr. Gao Hai."

Before stepping onto the stairs, Kaguya turned to look at Takami and spoke earnestly.

"I don't care what Maki's reasons are for trusting you. Now that we're going to work together, I hope you can demonstrate sufficient ability and value."

"If this is truly a dangerous game that can lead to death, then everyone must give their all in order to have any chance of achieving final victory."

"I hope you don't perform too poorly and make me doubt Maki's judgment."

It has to be said that Kaguya's way of speaking is really not cute at all, far inferior to the angelic Maki.

Of course, for Takayuki, who understands the plot, he knows that Kaguya isn't to blame. Ultimately, the Shinomiya family, the financial conglomerate set by Akasaka, is a veritable concentration camp of idiots. Kaguya, raised in such a horrible environment, is fortunate in that she's only unpleasant to talk to and has a cold personality.

Although he could understand, Gao Hai wouldn't be polite to her. He knew very well that he couldn't be subservient to such a proud person, as that would only make Kaguya look down on him even more.

"It's not certain who will disappoint whom, you hothouse flower. If the mission ends prematurely because of you, then I will truly despise you."

So Gao Hai raised his head and adopted a very high-profile, provocative stance.

"Hmph, at least you don't disappoint in terms of rudeness. It's time to go. According to you, this staircase leads to the third floor no matter which way you go, right? In that case, let's get moving and see just how dangerous this third floor you mentioned really is."

Kaguya, her brows furrowing even more, took a step directly forward.

Gao Hai followed closely behind, and the two of them entered the stairwell one after the other.

A chill ran through the air.

Darkness enveloped everything.

Walking through the darkness, Gao Hai couldn't tell whether he was going upstairs, downstairs, or walking straight ahead. It was as if direction and altitude had lost their meaning in the darkness, and he could no longer perceive his true location.

However, this bizarre feeling didn't last long. Soon, Gao Hai's vision cleared, and the chaotic and distorted third floor reappeared in front of him.