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

During the process, the three also tried to replicate the tactics that Gao Hai used on the first floor, trying to put themselves in the identity of the rescue team to call for help, but no rescue team members responded.

In contrast, the three of them had encountered the two "parents" who roamed this area many times before.

Moreover, each time, the two things seemed to be getting closer and closer to the three of them.

Even if they keep a great distance from them, it won't be long before those two things slowly wander back to their vicinity.

It's as if they have some way of locating themselves, some way of perceiving their position.

Perhaps it's because that thing is in their hands?

At this moment, there is still about half an hour before the light completely disappears and we enter the darkness of night.

After nearly an hour of intensive searching, no results were obtained.

Later, Kaguya even came up with the idea of ​​using the Blood Key to open a door and connect it to a large door on the first floor, hoping to summon the rescue team. However, this attempt not only failed to open the door but also attracted the "Parents," forcing the three of them to flee in a sorry state.

It seems that due to the significant conflict between the first and third floors, forcibly opening the door on the first floor from the third floor would only attract the attention of the strange entity.

Gao Hai had considered that things wouldn't be so easy, but when faced with this predicament where he couldn't find a solution, he had to admit that he was more or less anxious.

"Wearing the rescue team's uniform allows entry into 309 because Xu Sheng is the team's captain. After the entire apartment became shrouded in ghost stories, he connected with the rescue team's supernatural elements and maintained his sanity for a long time until Sanchez destroyed everything... Tsk, the first floor is the rescue team, and the third floor is the root. Perhaps it's because we're on the third floor that the rescue team on the first floor has difficulty reaching this place. If there were any way to establish a connection between the third and first floors..."

"Based on my experience from the previous playthrough, if the transformation is advanced enough, it is possible to summon the rescue team directly from the third floor. To break the power clash between the third and first floors and bring the rescue team here, there must be an individual who has basically completed the transformation in this location. But this requires a very high level of willpower, and I think only I can do it. Only I can retain my self-awareness while undergoing almost complete transformation."

After careful consideration, Gao Hai put forward this opinion.

“I disagree. If we’re going to leave, we should leave together. Now is not the time for playing the sacrifice game.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Princess Zhenfei immediately expressed her absolute opposition.

“I disagree. It’s not time to sacrifice someone yet. We need to think again about which clues we’ve overlooked.”

Although Kaguya has a cold personality, she also chose to oppose it at this moment. After all, she is not truly cold-hearted, and given that she still has a choice, it is impossible for her to completely give up Takami's life.

"Okay... let's keep this as a backup plan."

Gao Hai nodded slightly, without saying anything more.

He had genuinely considered whether to wear the badge directly and try to forcibly retain consciousness to summon the rescue team during the complete transformation process.

However, the existence of the rollback cheat means that once he makes a self-sacrifice, the final result will inevitably be starting all over again, which is meaningless.

Therefore, we need to think of another way.

How about we put a badge on Maeda Miwa and completely convert her, then make her summon rescue team members?

No, that won't work. Summoning rescue team members requires a certain degree of initiative, and the rescue team members who have been completely transformed will definitely go to the first floor. Even if I wear a rescue team member badge, I may not be able to get their attention. The risk is too high and the chances are too low. It's not worth trying for now.

Is there really some clue that has been overlooked, something they could use now, something they need, but they've ignored or failed to think of?

clue……

The message from the virtual life pointed to 109, and the key to 304 found in 109 led them to Sanchez's last words, and finally to the present.

These clues and intelligence are interconnected, truly paving a way for their survival. There's no reason for things to go wrong at this final, crucial step.

So, the clue that they didn't use was... the magnetic tape?

Something long forgotten suddenly resurfaced at this moment.

“Open a door, a door leading to a tape recorder, which we overlooked. Mediation tapes from residents of 309 and 304, that thing might hold clues.”

Suddenly snapping out of his daze, Gao Hai hurriedly spoke to the two people beside him.

Maki and Kaguya showed signs of momentary disorientation, but quickly regained their senses. Kaguya almost immediately walked to a nearby door, inserted the blood key into the lock, and gently turned it to open the door. Maki, meanwhile, retrieved the stack of cassette tapes that Takami had left with her from her backpack and followed Kaguya, ready to enter.

Behind the opened door was a room clearly located on the second floor, with a shallow layer of water on the floor.

The three of them couldn't immediately recognize which room it was, because the furnishings were somewhat different from the rooms they had visited before. This room contained an old radio, and in the corner glass cabinet were musical instruments like the suona and erhu. A small cassette player sat on the table.

Enter the room and close the door.

Before Kaguya could even get her hands on the cassette player, the door behind her suddenly opened, and the old man's corpse from room 201 burst out.

If Kaguya hadn't reacted quickly and thrown out the blood puppets, causing those fleshy puppets to entangle the old man, one of the three would likely have been injured.

"So, Room 201 wasn't explored because the corpses were too active? Tsk, come to think of it, aside from this playthrough, I never had the chance to explore this place without my obsession. I subconsciously treated it as a death trap and didn't even consider it..."

Gao Hai, who only realized what was happening when he saw the old man's corpse, curled his lip, and then couldn't help but think of Lao Guo and that traitorous woman.

If those two weren't mentally challenged and deliberately causing trouble, but instead could have guided newcomers through the game like normal, experienced players, things wouldn't have turned out this way.

But despite the resentment in his heart, now that he had the tape recorder, the focus returned to the information carried by the tape.

Since the blood puppet couldn't hold the corpse on the second floor for long, the three decided to return to the room where the others were. They left the room, the last one retrieved the blood puppet, and then slipped out the door before the old man's corpse got up. The person outside closed the door, then reinserted the blood key into the lock, and gently knocked on the door. Only after receiving a response did they open the door, thus returning to the room where Sun Dajun and the others were hiding.

"How's it going? Did you find anything?"

Green, who was most anxious and afraid of being left behind, quickly asked.

"Quiet down, there's an important clue here, we need to confirm its contents."

As Gao Hai spoke, he moved a table to the middle of the room, followed by Kaguya, who walked over, put down the cassette player with the tape inserted, and then pressed the play button.

There was no sound, no movement.

Is it broken?

Kaguya was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding what was going on.

Did you forget to turn the power on?

Zhenfei, standing beside her, glanced at her and looked at her electronically illiterate great-aunt with some confusion.

"Well... it seems I'm not particularly good with these old-fashioned electronic products."

Kaguya coughed lightly to brush off the awkwardness. Meanwhile, Takahashi had already picked up the cassette player, found the power button, and turned it on. As expected, although the device had been in Shirakawa's apartment for at least a year or two, the battery was still very strong, and it immediately began playing the cassette.

zizi——

The first thing that came out was a chaotic and meaningless noise.

Then, after the noise lasted for several seconds, a middle-aged man's cough began to echo from inside.

[This is XX Police Station, the time is... (after a standard official statement) We will now mediate between the two parties. So, who would like to explain the situation first? After one party finishes speaking, the other party should speak. Let's not interrupt or argue; let's try to remain calm and peaceful, okay? We should strive to turn conflict into friendship; that's the harmonious approach, right? So, let's have this young man speak first...]

The middle-aged man who opened the show spoke slowly, with a somewhat bureaucratic tone, which made people a little impatient.

But then, after the middle-aged man's voice fell, another young man's voice followed, causing Gao Hai to look up in slight surprise.

Could that voice be...?

Chapter 57: The Echoes of Despair and Obsession Engraved Here

Should I say it?

In my opinion, this mediation is completely unnecessary. What you should do is revoke the parents' guardianship and send the child to an orphanage. In her current state, anywhere would be better for her than staying with her family.

[Young man, calm down, calm down. Let's talk this out. Why would they send a perfectly healthy family of four to an orphanage?]

"Are you alright? Have you seen the injuries on her body? Do you know how badly she was beaten?"

[What business is it of yours how I discipline my kid? He looks like an idiot, huh? Still not convinced? Try glaring at me again and I'll beat you to death!]

[Don't get agitated, let's talk this out.]

[You want to fight, huh? Then come on, you old geezer, you're not afraid of me!]

Hey, hey, hey, calm down, you guys—

【Ahhh! Murder! Murder!】

[Come help! Pull this young man away! Hey, stop hitting him! There are security cameras here! Stop hitting him!]

[Hahaha, if you don't beat me to death today, I'll wrap myself in bandages and go to your parents' workplace tomorrow, hahaha, let's see what you can do about it!]

The sound on the tape went from calm to chaotic in just a few words.

The sounds of men's vulgar insults, women's hysterical screams, young men's angry shouts, chairs being overturned, and people tearing and beating each other mingled together in a chaotic cacophony, making it impossible to discern anything of value.

But the sound didn't last long. Eventually, all the sounds subsided, only to rise again. This time, the sounds came from the young man from before, and from another middle-aged man.

You've only been out of the house for less than a month, and you've already gotten into a fight with someone, ending up at the police station and even fighting in the mediation room? You're trying to embarrass me completely!

"I know, but that family, those two people, don't deserve to be parents at all. You have no idea how they treated that girl."

Yes, I don't know. Even if you did know, what could you do about it?

[I just couldn't stand what happened... How could parents be like that? They let their daughter go hungry for a whole day and night, she even had needle marks on her arms. They left her in the stairwell in the middle of the night wearing only a thin shirt, and the temperature was only 6 degrees Celsius. Is this something a human being could do...?]

"Alright, alright, I know you're a kind-hearted person, but I didn't expect you to go this far, causing trouble at the police station for someone you don't even know. Do you know that after you injured that guy in the mediation room, he's been refusing to leave the hospital, getting all sorts of tests and checkups, and he probably won't let this go without trying to extort tens or hundreds of thousands of yuan from our family?"

How can I give him the money back...?

[You started it. Everyone present could see the audio and video recordings, and the medical examination confirms he was injured; you broke his arm, and right there at the police station. Do you realize that if this is handled seriously, not only will you go to jail, but my job will also be affected? Now you're trying to pay more money to cover this up, but once he's healed, he'll really cause trouble at our workplace, and that will be much harder to handle. What am I supposed to do? Abandon this family? I won't support your sister, your grandparents, or your maternal grandparents anymore? Am I supposed to join you in being a knight-errant and killing that guy?]

"...Dad, I'm sorry."

"Alright, I know you're a kind kid, and you did nothing wrong. It's just that some people are awful, and we, with families and burdens, really can't afford to waste time with them. How about this, I'll ask around and try to get you a spot in the city's rescue team. It's tough, but you're the kind of kid who can endure hardship. Work hard there for a few years, and maybe you can become a squad leader or something. Saving lives and accumulating good karma is a good thing for you."

Is that child really beyond control...?

【How can I manage this? What can you do? Don't even think about it. By the way, I've already arranged for someone to cancel the lease on that room, and all your furniture and belongings have been packed up and brought back. You don't need to go to that apartment anymore. Next time you go out to choose a place to stay, make sure you check out the surrounding area carefully.】

【……I see】

It appears to be a conversation between a father and son, a heartfelt talk between the young man and his father.

It seems like we can see this scene.

Seeing the cold night, the young man opened the door and saw the girl shivering in the hallway. He took her home, put a coat on her, and gave her some snacks and hot tea.

The next day, the parents, who had discovered the incident, went to the young man's house in a rage. They wouldn't allow anyone to be kind to their child and had a fierce conflict with him. The young man, who was just starting out in society, was still just a big boy in terms of mentality. After being provoked and fighting back, he ended up being the one in the wrong and left feeling disheartened.

After that, no one opened the door for that girl again.

Until one day, during a flood relief and evacuation operation, the young man, who had grown up a lot, returned to that place and saw that apartment again.

The flood peak has arrived early, and the evacuation of Shirakawa Apartments is not yet complete. We are the closest rescue team. Brothers who still have the strength, follow me!

He returned to that place.

He went to the third floor and organized the evacuation of people from room to room until he arrived at the door of room 304.

He wondered what the girl must be like now. He knew her life would continue to be difficult after he left, but even tigers don't eat their cubs. She should at least be able to continue living until she grew up and had a chance to escape her parents and find her own life.