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

Gao Hai was unable to come up with the correct answer.

In conclusion, the two successfully arrived at the location of the "Heart," confirmed that there was no second entrance, and found the sign for this area. Unlike the signs in the larger space, this sign only listed the name "Heart" without any further explanation.

"Why are so many people's clothes here...?"

Fujiwara Chika cautiously observed the clothes, muttering to herself as she took a step back, showing no intention of getting any closer.

"Don't worry about it. As explorers, we have already achieved our goal and reached the Heart. We'll rest for a bit and then head back immediately."

Gao Hai casually remarked, standing still for a short rest, showing no intention of approaching the clothes.

Looking around, Gao Hai realized that this so-called heart was really just an ordinary-looking cave with nothing special about it. The same stalagmites and stalactites, the same jagged stone pillars—there was absolutely no connection between this place and the name "heart."

Chika, however, was quite perceptive and noticed some fossil traces on the stone wall, even recognizing them as fossils of prehistoric fish. She was quite excited about this and wanted to take some photos as a souvenir. Gao Hai admired the girl's optimism, but considering that this wasn't a normal place, and what if they took photos and found a bunch of people staring at them in the pictures? In the end, he stopped Chika from doing so.

"With so many fish fossils, what must this place have looked like before?"

"Who knows? Whatever it was like before, it's definitely not a good place now. Alright, it's about time we went."

Gao Hai and Qian Hua did not linger in the cave and quickly chose to leave.

The clothes scattered on the ground gave Gao Hai a bad feeling, especially after he looked closely and found that they were all casual clothes such as t-shirts, shirts, shorts, and jeans. He increasingly felt that there were people standing everywhere in the cave, silently staring at him.

We cannot stay here for long.

A sense of crisis spurred Gao Hai to take swift action.

"Ugh... Am I leaving again? It feels so tiring..."

Chika let out a low moan. Crawling through the narrow cave was extremely tiring, and even with protective clothing and a helmet, Chika's face was still scraped against the rock wall several times, leaving several bloody marks on her cheek.

Despite her complaints, the girl acted without hesitation, immediately crawling into the tunnel with a broken safety rope and speeding up her ascent.

"As long as I haven't completely left this place, I can't put my mind at ease. There's nothing I can do about it."

Gao Hai, who was following behind, casually said something and squatted down to prepare to crawl into the cave.

Ugh, it feels like the sweat on my body is sticking to my clothes, it's really uncomfortable.

Thinking this, Gao Hai tugged at his clothes, but couldn't budge them. He wondered if it was because of the stickiness from the sweat, but he felt that the already fitted clothes were clinging tightly to his body, so tightly that he could hardly take them off.

Why are these clothes so tight?

A fleeting sense of doubt crossed my mind, but I quickly dismissed it.

The more important thing right now is to leave this place as soon as possible. Gao Hai could already vaguely sense that some people's footsteps were already being heard in this cave.

He lay down, grabbed his backpack with one hand and held it in his arms, and slowly crawled into the cave, which was only about forty centimeters high, and began to crawl into the darkness ahead.

Where am I?

I think I heard a confused voice coming from the cave behind me.

I was clearly still driving, so why am I here?

What happened? How did I end up here after waking up from a nap?

What's going on? Hello, is anyone there? Help!

More and more people are shouting and yelling all sorts of things, every voice filled with confusion and fear.

Gao Hai ignored the sounds and continued crawling forward.

[Is this the only way out?]

[We're trapped here with no signal, so we can't call for help. We can only try to climb out first.]

Hurry up, something feels off about this place.

The sound seemed to be getting closer to him.

The rustling sound of crawling followed behind him.

Gao Hai vaguely sensed that this situation might be different from before.

He had no way to turn around at this moment, so he could only continue crawling forward, trying to speed up his pace and move faster into the dark cave.

Meanwhile, Kaguya was hiding behind a stone pillar, cautiously observing the building in front of her.

That was a guard post.

It was a guard post located on the plains, blocking the entrance to the giant slide. At this moment, the light from the windows revealed someone sitting inside, and music could be faintly heard. Next to the guard post, where the entrance to the giant slide should have been, was now sealed off with cement, almost blending into the surrounding rock walls.

Dirty clothes were scattered on the ground.

From the moment Kaguya stepped into the cave entrance, through the stone forest path, until she arrived at this place called the Plain, she saw many clothes scattered on the ground along the way.

They were all dressed casually, some even in pajamas, which didn't seem like what someone exploring a cave should wear.

Among these clothes, she also saw a yellow striped garment similar to hers, except that this type of clothing was badly damaged, as if it had been torn by something... no, more like scratches or scrapes.

Were there many explorers who took off their uniforms here before her?

[The "guard post" has been confirmed. Entry is not advisable now. C1, lead your team back to the entrance.]

New instructions came through the headset.

Since this was her first time using these devices, Kaguya Shinomiya had not yet found a suitable opportunity or method to destroy the communication equipment, so she was still under the control of the command center.

Yes, I will lead the team back immediately.

Kaguya answered as she turned around.

For a moment, she thought she heard a knocking sound.

The sound of something forcefully pounding or banging behind the sealed concrete wall reached her ears in a faint whisper.

Kaguya simply turned and left without saying a word, taking the other two members with her and walking step by step back the way they came.

Chapter Eleven: Who are you playing, or who is playing you?

I heard someone knocking on something.

Gao Hai paused briefly as he crawled forward, then continued on his way.

The sound grew clearer and clearer, like someone was knocking or banging on the wall.

It was incredibly dull, as if the sound was coming from within one's own body.

Faintly, there seemed to be the sound of someone weeping softly, as if buried deep, deep somewhere, or as if it were right next to them, but they couldn't see it.

Gao Hai's breathing became slightly heavy.

The oppressive feeling from the cramped cave was constantly stimulating my nerves.

The rocks scraped against my body, and even with the protective suit, it still caused pain.

Gao Hai was certain that the tunnel was at least a hundred meters long, and crawling through such a cave was no easy feat. Even with the knowledge and robust physique Gao Hai inherited from his virtual memories, he would feel exhausted after crawling for a while. It was truly unimaginable what it would feel like for an ordinary person trapped here.

However, such dangers are inevitable for explorers; they must be prepared from the moment they choose this path.

After all, I am an explorer.

"..."

Gao Hai stopped again.

The same strange feeling as before spread through my heart.

He couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong, but he suddenly felt like something was wrong with him.

Any questions?

Is there anything wrong with my thoughts and my reasoning?

I'm an explorer; I'm here to explore, and there shouldn't be any problem with that...

No, I shouldn't be thinking like that. I need to recall when similar situations have occurred before.

Gao Hai slowly crawled forward. He could no longer see Fujiwara Chika in front of him. Unbeknownst to him, he was now alone in the small cave again.

Calm down and think things through carefully.

That's right, I experienced this kind of abnormal thinking at Shirakawa Apartment.

After I received the rescue team's medal, and after wearing this medal as a symbol of my identity for a long time, I gradually began to forget who I was. I started to believe in my heart that I belonged to the rescue team and identified myself as a rescuer.

Just like now, I firmly believe that I am an explorer, without the slightest doubt about this identity, and I completely identify with it.

Therefore, I am not an explorer.

Gao Hai found it difficult to describe his feelings.

His mind seemed to be simultaneously conjuring two completely separate thoughts, as if one Gao Hai had become two Gao Hais, two people crammed into one body, just like he was being squeezed into this small tunnel at this moment.

One of them, Gao Hai, has been an explorer since birth. He has explored caves of all sizes and accumulated a wealth of experience. He is a cheerful and optimistic young man. He came to the Red Nut Gray Cave, a very simple cave with no exploration difficulties, suitable only for beginners. He led several adventure enthusiasts to explore the cave and gave guidance to these young people who shared his hobby.

The other Gao Hai, a player, is trapped in this place. He wants to escape this cave. He... he's a somewhat frivolous man, with his own bottom line, a moral compass that's not abundant but not nonexistent either, and also a bit lewd... Yes, he wants to find Maki and Kaguya, he wants to clear this dungeon that has undergone a huge change, and get out of this hellish place alive. He's not an explorer at all; he's a player, he's Gao Hai, he's simply Gao Hai.

"call……"

With a slightly tired exhale, Gao Hai felt as if he had just woken up from a sleep, and his whole body felt somewhat dazed.

At this moment, he finally realized that the identity he was playing, and the clothes he was wearing, while giving him the identity of "Explorer" that allowed him to move around in the dungeon, were also transforming his mind and body, gradually assimilating him into the identity of "Explorer".

Was the one who assimilated his memories and identity an explorer who died in this cave?

In any case, this garment must be taken off.

Furthermore, Chika cannot continue wearing this dress.

If even he, whose willpower and mental strength were greatly enhanced by the blessing, could hardly react to this assimilation phenomenon, then Fujiwara Chika, who is obviously inferior to Takami in terms of willpower, would probably not even be aware of the transformation phenomenon within herself, and would unknowingly become part of this deadly cave.

However, taking off one's clothes might lead to other dangers.

Gao Hai knew very well that the reason why those long-dead creatures wandering in the cave did not attack him and Qianhua was because of their identity as "explorers".

Once this identity can no longer be maintained, what will happen next will definitely not be a good thing.

I need to change my identity.

Gao Hai thought of the tourists' clothes scattered on the ground.

Wear tourist clothes? No, that's not right. So far, almost all the weird things we've seen are dressed as tourists. In the Red Nut Gray Hole, the identity of "tourist" seems to be synonymous with the existence of weird things, so we must not change into the identity of a tourist.

Should I change into other explorer's clothes and replace my current explorer's outfit? No, the original cave has disappeared, and the branch path that originally existed in the [Artery] is now nowhere to be found. Without returning to that labyrinthine area within the branch path, there's no way to find new explorer's clothing. Besides, changing explorer's clothes isn't safe either, since the current anomaly is caused by impersonating an explorer; the key issue might not necessarily be the clothes I'm wearing.