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

A young girl with dyed blonde hair, wearing a tank top and shorts, and with a heart tattoo on her arm ran out of the house, fell to the ground, her eyes wide with terror, and screamed incoherently, "Dead! Dead! Dead!"

The piercing scream was extremely loud. Her screams were already loud enough for the entire floor to hear when she was inside the house, and now that she had run into the corridor, Gao Hai had no doubt that her screams were loud enough for the entire floor to hear.

Well, let's observe appearances. If we rate looks out of 100, I'd give her a maximum of 60, no more. By the way, Kaguya Shinomiya scores 95, while Maki Shijou scores 96. The reason is probably that the latter is more approachable and therefore more pleasing to the eye.

In short, he doesn't look like a character from any anime, comic book, or movie. He's probably an original extra.

Under normal circumstances, would a minor character making such a huge commotion be the primary cause of a party wipeout? I feel a bit uneasy; maybe I should just go back to my room?

At the same time that Gao Hai was having a moment of hesitation, Sun Dajun and the short-haired black guy who were standing nearby had already stepped forward and helped the woman up. She was trembling, and it was unclear what she had seen that had frightened her so much.

"Hey, are you alright? You said there's a corpse inside the house?"

Sun Dajun, who was supporting the woman, broke out in a cold sweat and glanced timidly at the open door of room 205.

Is there a dead body hidden in this room? Damn it, why did I end up in this godforsaken place? What on earth is going on here?!

Sun Dajun's frustration was clearly visible on his face, while Gao Hai, who had taken a step back and was ready to return to his room at any moment, noticed that Shinomiya Kaguya, who was standing not far away, slightly turned her head and tilted her ear to the right side of the corridor, as if she had heard something.

At the same time, Shijou Maki, who had remained silent not far away, and the kind-looking middle-aged man with the bag both made subtle reactions. Shijou Maki, like Shinomiya Kaguya, slightly turned her head, clearly having heard something, while the man's movements were much more subtle, with only a slight shift in his pupils. If Takahashi hadn't had a rather unusual way of thinking, immediately treating this man as a veteran player from an infinite flow story and paying special attention to him, he would never have noticed the man's actions.

Is anyone coming up the stairs on the right from downstairs or upstairs?

Gao Hai, who doesn't have superhuman hearing, can only guess the possible situation based on the performance of others.

The air seemed to have gotten a bit colder.

For some reason, I felt a slight stinging pain in my left hand.

Looking down, Gao Hai glanced at his left hand, at the strange black watch he hadn't taken off because he was in a hurry to investigate the situation.

Just now, it felt like a needle inside the watch pricked him, causing him a slight, barely noticeable pain.

What's the situation?

The blond woman who had been helped up was still muttering things like, "There's a dead person in the house, under the bed." Because she was wearing a tank top, her arms were exposed to the air, and you could see that they were covered in goosebumps.

At this moment, Shijou Maki, who was standing closer to the stairs on the right, hesitated slightly before taking a step and moving closer to Shinomiya Kaguya.

The kind-looking middle-aged man with the backpack had completely turned his attention to the stairwell on the right, making no attempt to hide his wary posture.

"Oh God, what's wrong with this lady? She smells so strongly, it's like my ex-girlfriend's dreadlocks that haven't been washed in six months. If you threw them in the pool, they could catch a whole bunch of aliens. What the hell is going on in this place?"

At this moment, the black guy started muttering something strange. He seemed to be mixing Chinese and American English. So even though this strange place gave everyone present the ability to understand all languages ​​and read any written language (or any recognizable written language), this guy's odd way of speaking still made everyone feel a little uncomfortable.

“Let’s help her to my room. My room, 210, is quite large and not damaged much, so she can rest there for a while. Does anyone want to come with me to the room this lady ran out of? We’re all trapped here now, and we need to figure out what’s going on.”

At this moment, Lao Guo turned around, took a few steps, and opened the door to his room.

Up until this moment, nothing seemed particularly strange about the situation in the corridor.

But Gao Hai had already realized that while Lao Guo said he would have others help the panicked woman to his room, he was actually just using that as an excuse to return to his room. Gao Hai saw that the room Lao Guo was standing in was room 210, the one closest to the right-hand staircase and the one closest to the footsteps approaching that floor.

Did he run there to find out what the footsteps were all about as soon as possible?

As Gao Hai was thinking this, he saw Lao Guo standing at the door facing the stairs, one hand in his pocket. He paused for a moment, then opened the door and went inside, closing it behind him.

"Hey, what are you doing? You want us to help you in and then you want to close the door. What do you mean by that?"

"what?"

Sun Dajun, who was supporting the woman, started shouting in dissatisfaction, and the black guy also looked confused.

Seeing this scene, Gao Hai felt that the chill around him seemed even stronger than before.

He still didn't hear any footsteps on the stairs, but judged that someone was approaching the stairwell by observing the reactions of the only three people present who seemed to notice.

Who is that person? Is it male or female? What does it look like? What is it...?

He knew absolutely nothing about any of this.

But at that moment, upon seeing Lao Guo's decisive reaction, who seemed to be a veteran player, he immediately felt a sense of impending doom and knew that the thing he had to do right now was to go back to his room.

The closest room to Takami and Kaguya Shinomiya is currently is room 204, where the lock is broken and the door cannot be locked. And across the hall is room 209, where the seemingly unapproachable white man has gone, and which is now locked from the inside.

Room 204 couldn't be locked anymore; it was only slightly ajar. If that unknown thing heading to this floor was dangerous, there was a risk of it breaking in. Room 209 was locked from the inside, and the tall man inside looked like a hardened criminal—he didn't seem like someone to be trifled with. Even if they knocked on the door for help now, it wouldn't be a good idea.

Next to room 204, in room 205, a terrified and disoriented woman had just escaped.

Then we can only consider rooms 203 and 208, which are also very close to each other in the other direction.

Gao Hai suddenly turned around, his gaze sweeping over rooms 203 and 208, and quickly locking onto room 208, which was relatively close and whose door was ajar, unlike room 203 which was tightly closed.

In the past, or perhaps in his previous life, he was often described as someone who indulged in excessive fantasies. He enjoyed observing and letting his imagination run wild based on what he observed, which led to him being ostracized as an oddball during his school days. However, back then, he was well aware that he was merely indulging in fantasies, so he ultimately chose to write novels and engage in creative writing, using his talent in this way.

At that time, he was well aware that his delusions were just delusions, not reality.

But now he has no way of knowing whether he is just delusional or has actually observed signs of impending danger.

However, the only thing he could believe was that he didn't have a second life to gamble on whether this delusion was real.

"you……"

Kaguya Shinomiya, who heard the unusual sound, did not take any action because she was unaware of the situation and did not have the same thought process as Takami.

When Kaguya Shinomiya saw Takami run towards 208 without hesitation, she was immediately surprised and didn't quite understand his reason for doing so.

But the next moment, remembering Lao Guo's equally strange behavior, the already exceptionally intelligent girl's pupils contracted slightly, realizing a possible ominous situation. Without hesitation, she looked up at Shijou Maki not far away, gave her a meaningful look, then turned and immediately ran towards room 208, reaching the door even faster than Gao Hai. Her speed left Gao Hai speechless.

"Go in."

Kaguya Shinomiya, having pushed the door open by the handle, didn't immediately enter the house. Instead, she spoke to Takami. Meanwhile, Maki Shijou was already running quickly towards them, clearly Kaguya was waiting for her to come in together.

In that case, even if she ran into the house, Kaguya Shinomiya obviously wouldn't close the door immediately.

Admittedly, although he has always considered himself an otaku who likes otaku-themed works and anime girls, at this moment, Takami did consider whether he should push Kaguya Shinomiya away, hide inside alone, and lock the door.

But this thought lasted for less than a tenth of a second. Then, without the slightest hesitation, Takami strode past Kaguya Shinomiya and ran straight into the house without doing anything.

Well, firstly, she's faster than me. She could have easily done that villainous thing before me, but she didn't. Instead, she made way for me. If I did that, it would be really unfair of me, not because I might lose. Secondly, she's a beautiful girl, and she seems calm and rational, not like the typical burdensome woman in horror movies. Having her help would definitely increase my chances of survival, not because I might lose. Furthermore, my dream has always been to be the male protagonist of a harem novel for otaku, not some dark protagonist. Let whoever wants to be that kind of protagonist be it; I'm not going to be one, not because I might lose.

Okay, so the truth is he realized that if he actually dared to do that, he would be instantly subdued by a combo. In the world of anime where muscles and weight aren't so important, while this Ice Princess Kaguya's fighting power isn't as outrageous as her maid's, she's still not someone a three-dimensional otaku like him can mess with. He's inferior to her in terms of reaction time, strength, and speed. He'd be asking for trouble by deliberately going against her.

Running through the gate, the layout inside was similar to 204, with a corridor to the left and a toilet to the right, only it looked a bit bigger than 204.

Kaguya Shinomiya stood at the door with a furrowed brow, while Maki Shijou had already run over at an extremely fast speed. Sun Dajun, who was supporting the blonde girl, and the black guy were shocked and confused about what was going on. They were still shouting towards Kaguya, and Sun Dajun had already let go of the blonde girl and walked over to them.

"coming……"

Kaguya Shinomiya said in a low voice, she had already heard the footsteps falling on the second-floor corridor.

Shijo Maki, with her swift steps, had already reached the door and rushed into the house without stopping, almost bumping into Takami who was guarding the corridor.

The moment Shijo Maki rushed in, Shinomiya Kaguya closed the door without hesitation.

Click!

With the crisp click of the lock, the three people inside were thus isolated from the corridor.

"What do you see?"

Gao Hai had been paying close attention to Kaguya Shinomiya's expression. He saw the change in the girl's expression at the last moment before the door closed, so he didn't hesitate to ask.

"..."

Kaguya Shinomiya, who was standing at the door, did not answer.

She simply gestured for Gao Hai to be quiet, then lowered her head, pressed one ear against the door, and remained silent, listening to the sounds outside.

So Gao Hai quieted down and stood motionless against the wall. He was inevitably a little nervous, and even his breathing became slower. Shijou Maki, who was beside him, did the same, but her expression was calmer.

1001 seconds, 1002 seconds...

Gao Hai silently counted down the seconds in his mind.

1051 seconds, 1052 seconds...

Everything around was so quiet that only the barely perceptible breathing of the three people could be heard.

1599 seconds, 1600 seconds... 10 minutes have passed.

Gao Hai silently counted to 600 in his mind, during which he did not hear any sound.

"Not hearing any sound" means that the voices of the people in the hallway that could be heard when the door was closed are now completely gone. Separated by a not-so-thick iron door, the sounds in the hallway have completely disappeared, and for a full 10 minutes, no one has come to knock or ask a single question.

Outside the door, all was quiet.

Gao Hai remained silent.

He could see that Kaguya Shinomiya's body remained tense and showed no signs of relaxation.

Therefore, he wouldn't be unable to resist asking questions just because of a short period of silence; instead, he continued to remain quiet and wait.

But he couldn't help wondering if there was something wrong with the door to this room, and that was why he couldn't hear the sounds outside because the door was closed.

Could it be that we actually chose the wrong room, and shouldn't have chosen this room that can be locked? Is this room the trap, the place we shouldn't have come to?

Once such thoughts arise, they are hard to suppress. Gao Hai was already a person who was somewhat prone to daydreaming, and now, in this almost agonizing silence, he couldn't help but let his mind wander even more.

Until he heard a very clear sound of the door opening.

The sound came from outside, from the corridor. Judging from the location of the sound, it can be confirmed that it came from the direction of the door of room 204, the sound of the door being opened.

Gao Hai turned his head slightly and looked at Shijo Maki, who was standing next to him.

Judging from the slight tilt of her head, she must have heard the door open as well.

Therefore, there was no soundproofing, and they could hear the sounds in the corridor very clearly.

So outside, it's just that things have quieted down.

At that moment, Kaguya Shinomiya pulled an old-fashioned cell phone from her pocket. Despite saying at the beginning that her clothes didn't have pockets, it was unclear where she got this old-fashioned cell phone from. She then pressed a few buttons on it and turned the screen towards Takami and Maki Shijou.

That's a text message being edited; it's very brief.

I didn't see anything.

It's just this one message.

Both Takami and Shijo Maki, who was standing to the side, understood what Kaguya Shinomiya wanted to express.

Just before closing the door, at the last moment, Kaguya Shinomiya looked towards the stairwell. She heard footsteps approaching this floor, but saw nothing coming out of the stairwell.

hey hey...

Gao Hai felt his heart racing.

From the time I woke up and arrived at this place until now, about half an hour has passed.