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

Princess Zhenfei tried her best to maintain a calm tone, otherwise her voice would tremble.

Before the girl lay a scene of utter chaos in the living room: overturned sofas, shattered tables and chairs, and blood splattered everywhere.

As for the two members of the "Female Face Gang" who had infiltrated, one of them was reduced to only half a body after being devoured by the faceless head, while the other was sitting against the wall not far away, with a cleaver half-cut into her head.

There were also her parents, huddled on one side of the house, their expressions numb, watching their daughter engage in a B-movie-style fight with two strange women who had broken into their home.

"I'm coming to find you now, be very careful."

Gao Hai had already hung up the phone. While contacting Shinomiya Kaguya, he quickly ran out of the alley and hailed a taxi.

I looked up at the night sky.

Gao Hai couldn't help but think to himself that tonight might be a sleepless night.

By the way, did you forget something?

Having already moved far away from the alley, Gao Hai naturally had no way of hearing the knocking from inside the ramen shop.

Interlude 1-16: A brief respite with Princess Maki and admission tickets

When Gao Hai arrived near Zhen Fei's residence, the police had already surrounded the area.

As such a heinous incident occurred in the most upscale villa district in Tokyo, the police arrived quickly. They cordoned off the scene, which was in complete disarray and showed signs of a fierce struggle, and took Maki and her family away from the villa temporarily to calm them down, preparing to question them about the specific details of the incident later.

It's easy to imagine that this will be a major, sensational case.

It might even become a major case that attracts national attention. After all, the area attacked is inhabited by many people of high status. They would never tolerate their heavily invested security being breached by two people who stormed into a house and caused chaos.

The premise is that the police officers present do not have occasional moments of mental inattention.

And the neighbors who should have been indignant soon began to think that this matter was not worth paying attention to.

Ultimately, no one will remember this incident anymore, nor will anyone pay attention to it. Even if they occasionally come across information related to it, they will only care for a short while before forgetting about it again, as if nothing had happened.

Besides the players.

When Takami arrived near the Shijo family's house (having already obtained their address), the police were still maintaining the cordon, but the intensity of the cordon had clearly decreased, allowing Maki to secretly change her clothes and slip out, quickly meeting up with Takami.

"You're not hurt, are you?"

Upon seeing Zhenfei, Gao Hai immediately asked, his gaze sweeping back and forth over the girl to confirm her specific situation.

Thankfully, it doesn't look like there are any serious injuries.

However, there were scratches on his fingers, which looked like cuts from glass.

"I had already spotted those two before they came in. They were very arrogant, probably because they had their own obsession objects and thought they could get away with anything. I... went to the kitchen beforehand and got a cleaver, then locked my parents in the bedroom and removed the doorknob. Those two were very powerful, each possessing one or two obsession objects, but their combat skills weren't too strong. It took me some time, but I still managed to defeat them. However, my father broke down the bedroom door and saw what I had done."

Maki gave a brief account of her battle with the two invading members of the "Female Mask Gang".

Although the girl herself tried to describe the events in a brief manner, judging from her still shaken expression, the battle must have been extremely dangerous.

"Their flesh-and-blood artifact... probably has some kind of strange effect. Although these people aren't strong, their unity and fanaticism are unimaginable. But as long as everyone is safe in the end, we shouldn't worry too much about them. Let's go. You definitely won't be able to rest at home tonight, right? How about we find a hotel for the night? Or come to my place? Don't worry, everything will be fine. If nothing unexpected happens, your parents won't care about this anymore tomorrow. After all, you used an artifact during the battle, and under the influence of an artifact, ordinary people will gradually forget about related events."

Gao Hai reached out and gently patted Zhenfei's shoulder. After thinking for a moment, he simply hugged her in his arms.

The girl's warm body temperature was especially clear at this moment.

Faced with Gao Hai's bold actions, Zhen Fei trembled slightly at first, but then quickly relaxed and leaned against Gao Hai for a while.

"Becoming a player... I really hope that doesn't happen to me."

Gao Hai could hear the heavy tone in Zhen Fei's words.

"It's okay, it's okay."

Knowing that saying too much at this point would be useless, Gao Hai simply hugged Zhen Fei gently and quietly stayed by her side, waiting for her emotions to calm down.

In the battle against the two veteran players at the Shirakawa Apartment, Takami himself was the one in control. While Maki played an important supporting role, she wasn't the one who truly faced the enemy directly or personally engaged in combat. However, in tonight's conflict, she personally eliminated two living people. Moreover, due to that bizarre flesh-and-blood obsession, she actually needed to kill each of them twice to truly eliminate them, which naturally brought even greater psychological pressure.

Even so, this girl is quite impressive; a girl from a peaceful era taking down two veteran players. However, considering the veteran player disguised as Maeda Miwa, and the skill level of the two players she encountered, it can only be said that the overall strength of the [Female Mask Gang] is indeed not high. After all, even without any blessings, Shinomiya Kaguya was able to fight the traitorous woman when she was ambushed in the Shirakawa Apartment. As for veteran players, the Female Mask Gang can probably only show off in front of ordinary players who have little power and cannot obtain A-rank Twilight Dungeon evaluation items.

Clearly, Gao Hai didn't realize at this moment how overwhelmingly powerful his own S-rank buff with double blessings, and Maki and Kaguya's A-rank buff with single blessings (the blessing from Xu Sheng was only given to Gao Hai), were compared to other players. However, considering he hadn't interacted with many serious players, such a cognitive bias was understandable.

I wonder if they've rid the player community of a bunch of pests.

"Okay...okay, that's enough. Stop hugging me like that."

Having recovered, Zhenfei's complexion became rosy, and she somewhat embarrassedly broke free from Gao Hai's embrace.

The feeling of warmth disappearing from my arms left me with a strange sense of loss.

However, now was not the time to dwell on such issues. Gao Hai and Zhen Fei walked along the street for a while and came to a deserted path by the river. They sat down together on a roadside bench and began to discuss what would happen that evening.

"In short, if there are only four of these guys left, as Ms. Goto said, then this can be considered resolved. However... that flesh-and-blood obsession is far too bizarre; it actually completely devours its host after death..."

As she said this, Maki opened the pocket she carried with her, and then Takahashi saw a dark red substance inside, wrapped in several layers of plastic bags.

Even now, this thing is still wriggling.

"Could this be the flesh and blood that they cling to?"

The unexpected situation caused Gao Hai to show a surprised expression.

“I used Lao Guo’s faceless human head. That thing ate one of the people and spat out this lump of flesh. I felt there was something wrong with it, so I wrapped it up and didn’t let it touch me at all.”

Zhenfei nodded slightly and informed Gao Hai of the situation.

Old Guo's head-shaped artifact seems to be a pure weapon used in player-versus-player warfare. However, the fact that it was able to bring out an artifact that would normally go out of control upon the death of its host suggests that this head might be more useful than expected.

“Give it to me. My watch can be used to store this thing. I suspect that this obsession is different from other obsessions we have seen. Perhaps it has some kind of strange property.”

Despite his surprise, Gao Hai immediately received the two women's objects of obsession that Zhen Fei had seized during the battle from her, especially the lump of flesh and blood.

As items imbued with bizarre obsessions, it's best for Gao Hai to possess them until their effects and costs are fully understood. After all, the mysterious watch he wears currently appears capable of completely suppressing all obsessive objects in containment mode, eliminating any concerns about it going out of control.

After finishing their business, Gao Hai shifted the focus to another topic.

"Why don't you stay at my house for the night? My house is quite big, with many rooms."

Gao Hai began to speak in a serious tone.

"...After what happened before, do you think I'll still go to your house?"

However, Maki was not fooled at all and showed great vigilance towards Gao Hai, choosing to refuse on the spot.

"Let's find a hotel to rest here. By the way, can high school students check into hotels and inns in Japan?"

So Gao Hai offered a second option.

"So you're planning to stay in the same room as me for one night, right?"

Zhenfei merely glanced at Gao Hai and asked in a calm tone.

"Yes."

Gao Hai's answer was incredibly honest.

"What do you mean, 'yes'? I don't want to! You were so proper at first, how come you're starting to look more and more like a lecherous, sexually frustrated person?"

Finally unable to hold back any longer, Zhenfei reached out and gently tapped Gao Hai's chest while muttering something.

What do you mean by unfulfilled desires? To be honest, have I ever had my desires satisfied even once?

Gao Hai wanted to answer that way, but before he could say anything, Maki's phone rang. Maki glanced at her phone, then stood up.

"I'll be staying with my parents at a relative's house for the night. You should go back soon too. By the way, what's with that look on your face? Are you really that disappointed?"

As Zhenfei spoke, she noticed the undisguised regret on Gao Hai's face.

"Isn't this a given? How can I not be disappointed? Are you really not going to reconsider? I can assure you I won't lay a hand on you."

Gao Hai just smiled and said that, then stood up to leave.

The talk of going to his house and staying at a hotel was just a joke. Gao Hai was simply using this method to cheer the girl up and prevent her from thinking about what had happened before.

Of course, if that were really the case... no, no, no, that wouldn't be like Maki's personality.

Gao Hai, who had turned away, did not see Zhen Fei's lips, which parted slightly and then quietly closed.

She admitted that for a moment she had considered whether to go with Gao Hai. For a girl who had just experienced a battle, only Gao Hai, who was in the same world as her, could bring her a sense of calm.

But these kinds of things... are still a bit impossible to do, aren't they?

In the end, Maki simply told Takahashi to "take care on your journey" before returning to her parents' house.

The night passed by gradually.

As the sun rose the next day, Takahashi, who had slept soundly and showed no adverse effects from killing the two villains, got out of bed and saw a message he had just received on his phone, sent by Kaguya Shinomiya.

Using the contact information of Goto Ichiri that Takami and Maki had obtained last time, she found a seller who possessed three entry tickets for the same Twilight-level dungeon.

Interlude 1-17: Another veteran girl and market investment

Obtaining three entry tickets to the same Twilight-level dungeon in the same location, ensuring that the three members can team up for their second mission and complete it all in the same place, was one of the strategic goals set from the beginning for Gao Hai's team.

However, while having such a goal is important, its actual execution will undoubtedly be extremely difficult, as Twilight-level entry tickets are highly sought after, and many veteran players require them. Three tickets for the same venue are especially significant for these veteran players.

So when three tickets to the same Twilight-level dungeon appeared at this time, to be honest, Gao Hai's first reaction was that he had been tricked.

"The other party chose a small shop in the downtown area as the transaction location, and the contact was sent around 7 a.m. Judging from their attitude, it seems that because you solved the [female face gang], a seller took a liking to us and decided to 'invest' in us."

Kaguya Shinomiya answered the phone with a cool and aloof voice, tinged with a hint of weariness. Although she hadn't participated in the conflict last night, she clearly hadn't slept well after learning the news.

Because it was already close to midnight, and the curfew was very strict, Kaguya Shinomiya couldn't leave the mansion. So she woke up her personal maid, who took the blood puppet hidden in a box and set off to support Maki. However, before the reinforcements arrived, Maki had already dealt with the two players who had broken into the mansion. Therefore, the blood puppet returned to Takayuki's hands and was personally handed to him by the maid.

Speaking of which, the blonde maid looked quite resentful at the time. After all, she knew nothing about it and was forced by her master to do an urgent delivery job in the middle of the night, and then inexplicably had to change the target halfway through the delivery.

“I will come this time as well. If we stay in the downtown area, the Shinomiya family won’t impose too much of a constraint on me.”

As Gao Hai pondered and recalled these fragmented thoughts, Kaguya Shinomiya's voice continued to ring out on the phone.

"Really? You don't need to be controlled by the Shinomiya family right now, do you? Curfews and all sorts of controls, it just makes me sick. With your current abilities, do those guys really have the ability to control you?"

As he made the bed, Gao Hai asked with some confusion.

"...It's not the right time yet. There are still some things that haven't been clarified. When the time comes to act, I will not hesitate."

The girl's voice paused for a moment on the phone before she answered calmly.

"Well, I was just saying. Every family has its own problems. It really depends on you. As an outsider, I won't offer any advice."

Although the two were only communicating via voice, Gao Hai shrugged as if they were chatting face-to-face.