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

tread--

Footsteps sounded from the darkness.

Gao Hai raised his head and looked into the darkness ahead.

The next moment, he pulled Qianhua's arm and took a slight step back. Then he told the girl, "Don't talk later," and looked in the direction of the sound with a serious expression.

"Hello, are you also explorers here?"

A figure stepped into the light, revealing a young, Caucasian face.

"...We are all explorers."

After a brief silence, Gao Hai looked at the man and answered.

"Since you're all explorers, why aren't you wearing explorer gear? That's not very appropriate."

The other person asked with some curiosity, their expression showing a hint of doubt.

"Our equipment broke down, and we're about to change into spare equipment here."

As Gao Hai spoke, he took off the backpack, unzipped it, and revealed various adventure equipment such as a helmet, elbow pads, and a searchlight inside.

"I see. We really need to take good care of our equipment. Where are you from?"

The young white man looked enlightened and then asked another question.

"We are explorers."

But Gao Hai simply repeated the same answer, glancing at Qian Hua and warning her again not to speak.

"Okay, then are you interested in traveling together? I'm getting quite bored here by myself."

The man chuckled, scratched his head, and asked with some curiosity.

"I'm not interested. You can leave now. We don't want to talk anymore."

Gao Hai's tone became even colder, and he was quite impolite.

"That's such a terrible attitude... Oh well, have fun, there are quite a few tourists here for adventure today."

The man wiped the blood from between his fingers on his pants, shrugged, and turned to leave.

At this moment, Chika originally wanted to say something to figure out what the current situation was.

But before she could speak, Gao Hai, who had been watching her, reached out and covered her mouth, preventing the somewhat dazed girl from uttering a sound.

It also swallowed back the scream that was about to burst out of her throat.

Gollum-

A thick, dark red liquid mixed with white tissue flowed down from the hole at the back of the head.

The man who left with his back to the two had his entire back of his head completely opened, revealing his collapsed and shattered skull and his churned brain tissue.

Gollum-

It's like a bowl of Mapo Tofu that's been stirred.

As the man moved, it swayed gently, occasionally leaking out and falling towards the ground.

It wasn't until they saw the wound, the bloodstains, and this most direct scene that the unbearable stench finally reached their nostrils.

Chika's body trembled slightly.

Her eyes widened, and she instinctively reached out to clutch the hem of her clothes, unable to hide her fear.

Gao Hai remained silent, a silence that showed no surprise.

Before the man emerged from the darkness, before he stood before them and spoke, he had already realized, through the intense stimulation of the blessing, what that approaching thing was.

Only after the man's figure completely disappeared into the darkness, and until he was no longer in Gao Hai's perception, did he release his hand from Qianhua's mouth, and then speak softly:

"I hate horror games where the initial safe period is too short."

Chapter Two: The well-behaved and sensible Fujiwara Chika understands very well

"So... are we currently in a live-action battle royale game?"

Put on the slightly ill-fitting, close-fitting protective clothing that has anti-cut and anti-slip properties to protect the wearer from scratches while climbing, and pull it up.

As Chika spoke softly, she put on the helmet with the embedded light and tied her long hair up to avoid interfering with her movements.

The supply box next to them was already open, and the adventure suit the girl was wearing was taken out of it. Other items, such as portable food like energy bars and signal flares, were packed into Gao Hai's large backpack, which was placed on the ground.

"Pretty much, but it's worse than battle royale. At least in battle royale games there's usually a chance to fight back, but in games with weird rules, we have no choice but to try our best to escape. And those weird stories are bizarre; they kill us in all sorts of ways. Sometimes it's just because you said the wrong thing, and the next second you'll be torn to pieces and die. Or a group of pretty little kids will stop you and ask you why you're not going home, and then you'll be locked in a small box and drowned in boiling water."

With a blank expression, Gao Hai put on his protective suit, turned on his headlamp, and then looked around at the dark cave.

This is definitely not the original Red Nut Gray Hole.

Gao Hai clearly remembered that every player who cleared the Red Nut Gray Hole said that this dungeon had very few branching paths, basically resembling a straight path. Even players who recklessly sneaked into dangerous areas and survived reportedly didn't encounter many branching paths.

But right now, next to this supply box, Gao Hai saw three openings in different directions, each very narrow. At 1.8 meters tall, he could only bend over slightly to move forward. Basically, he and Fujiwara Chika could block one of the openings by standing side by side. It was extremely gloomy and oppressive.

Where am I right now?

Gao Hai was eager to figure out the answer to this question.

"I...I understand now. Kaguya and Shijou-kun are really here too?"

Chika, taking deep breaths, was trying to process the worldview shock she was experiencing, while Takami, no longer intending to linger, decided to take action.

He had a very bad feeling about this godforsaken place.

Leaving aside the ghostly thing that had its head pierced earlier, although nothing seems to be appearing around him now, the blessing Gao Hai has received—the one that can distinguish between good and evil, between humans and non-humans—is frantically warning him, and the direction of these warnings is... in every direction.

It was as if everyone was watching him from all sides, observing his every move, waiting for something to happen.

Gao Hai didn't know why this blessing would elicit such a strong reaction, but he was certain that in the world of strange rules, everything abnormal must have its explanation and its origin. Therefore, the strangeness he was feeling must be because something was constantly watching him.

Kaguya and Maki shared the same blessing as me. I wonder if they feel the same way, and how they are doing now, whether they can proceed smoothly. If the anomaly in this instance is truly my fault, then I'm afraid I've dragged them down this time...

A feeling of frustration flashed through my mind, but quickly subsided.

Knowing that this was not the time to let his mind wander, Gao Hai took a step forward and gestured for the pink-haired girl behind him to follow.

"Don't expect me to protect you, Miss Fujiwara. Everyone here is struggling to survive. Unless you can truly demonstrate that you are worthy of my protection, I will not hesitate to abandon you if danger arises."

A little worried that the girl behind him might not realize the situation, Gao Hai said seriously to Qian Hua, his voice carrying a hint of warning.

"I know, I know. Anyway, we need to figure out our location now, right? Since this is a game based on rules, we must determine our location: the giant slide, the cliff, the blood vessel, the turning point, the stone pillar plaza, the large space, the artery, the heart. After looking at the rule sheet, I was wondering if these locations are connected in this order. The rules require us to go to the deepest part of this cave first, which is the location of the 'heart,' so our first priority is to determine our current location and then figure out a way to find the route to the 'heart,' right?"

Next, Gao Hai saw the radiant young girl giving him her analysis.

"You've already memorized all 19 rules and started summarizing them?"

Fujiwara Chika's reaction surprised Takahashi.

"Well, just treat this like a tabletop role-playing game. I've memorized the rulebooks for Clash of Clans and Dungeons & Dragons from cover to cover, so it's no problem. Also, this rulebook seems to place a lot of emphasis on our identities. It feels like the identity of 'Explorer' is even more important to us than ourselves. That scary thing from earlier was the same; it left quickly after we explained our 'Explorer' identity. Is it only those who stick to their chosen identity who can survive in this game?"

Taking a deep breath, the girl continued speaking without hesitation, quietly explaining her thoughts to Gao Hai.

After the initial confusion and timidity, the girl named Fujiwara Chika adjusted her state very quickly, and even seemed to be full of energy and eager to try. Gao Hai felt that there was a flame in the child's eyes, like an ultimate old ass who had prepared to clear the magic ring without sitting on the fire.

Hopefully, her enthusiasm will increase her chances of survival.

“What you said makes a lot of sense, so it seems I can raise my opinion of you a bit. But after all, you're a newbie who hasn't participated in the game before, and your physical abilities and reaction speed aren't as good as the veteran players, so you can't make decisions on your own when you encounter any problems, understand? Also, every 10 minutes, we'll confirm with each other. I'll tell you, ‘I'm an explorer, my name is Gao Hai, I'm going to explore the Heart, and then leave the Red Nut Gray Hole,’ and you'll repeat the same sentence to me, of course, saying your own name, understand?”

Gao Hai, whose opinion of the girl had slightly changed, spoke seriously again.

“I know, I know, there are things here that can make people lose their minds, right? The kind of things that pollute the spirit without you even realizing it. So we must constantly confirm the identities we play, confirm our names and our purposes, lest we lose ourselves. I will make sure to confirm them carefully.”

Chika nodded vigorously, immediately understanding what Gao Hai meant.

How come this girl knows so much?

Gao Hai was somewhat taken aback by her.

Unlike Kaguya and Maki, who struggled for a long time to gain each other's trust (mainly Kaguya), Fujiwara Chika went from being confused and bewildered to understanding the current situation very quickly. She accepted the world setting of the supernatural horror survival game almost immediately and could even understand Takami's thoughts very quickly, making him feel like he was leading a sensible and cute newbie.

Even so, if he encounters an unavoidable danger, he will still abandon the girl and run away.

The cave ahead stretched out in a winding path.

The stench of blood spread through the darkness.

Gao Hai and Qian Hua carefully passed through a low tunnel, and then came across another supply box under a dim light. However, this box had been opened, the rule sheet had been taken away, and the exploration equipment and portable food inside had been taken away.

"It seems there are other players in this area besides us. They might be veteran players, which is why they were able to react in time and know what to do."

Gao Hai spoke in a low voice, secretly becoming wary.

The sudden fixation of the instance is unpredictable. The veteran players who came to participate in this instance probably came with the idea of ​​passing it easily. Now that the situation has changed drastically, it is unknown what they will do. It is best to take it as an example of Lao Guo and the traitorous woman.

There are also several different cave entrances here, each very narrow, each stretching into the darkness, with no known destination.

Gao Hai chose a direction where he didn't smell much blood, but he still came across a corpse not long afterward.

He was a young man wearing a casual t-shirt and glasses, holding half a keyboard in his hand. I wonder if he was arguing with someone before entering the dungeon.

All the bones in his body were broken, as if he had fallen from a great height and crashed into different rocks one after another, so that his hands and feet were twisted beyond recognition, his chest was slightly caved in, and a large hole was punched in one side of his head, from which a bright red color could be seen seeping out.

Chika, who had just been somewhat emboldened, was naturally frightened again. But this time, without Gao Hai covering her mouth, she covered her own mouth, preventing any screams from actually coming out.

"The time of death was very short, as if he had just fallen from somewhere."

As Gao Hai said this, he looked up and saw only the rock wall that he could reach out and touch.

Is this the effect of some kind of strange force?

The guy with the brains splattered in front looked like his head had been smashed open, while this one looked like he fell off a cliff. Did he die here and transform into a strange being, giving his death to the players who entered the game?

Thinking about it carefully, dying from a fall seems much gentler than dying from being boiled in water; it's not entirely unacceptable.

"Come on, we're not here to investigate a case."

"Oh, okay, okay."

Although various random thoughts were swirling in his mind, they did not affect his actions. He simply muttered something under his breath and then quickly left the area with Chika.

This place is like a maze.

Countless caves intertwine with each other, seemingly endlessly repeating the cycle.

More supply crates were found, most of which had already been opened. A few showed no signs of being disturbed, and some had bloodstains and pieces of clothing around them, as if to say that a terrible thing had happened here not long ago.