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

No, it doesn't seem to be either.

That intense malice seemed to originate from within some deep barrier, or perhaps from some distant place.

The other party seems to exist nowhere.

It seems as if it actually exists everywhere.

Gao Hai shivered.

He felt himself being locked onto by something.

The thing first spotted the rescue team members standing under the night sky at the Red Nut Gray Hole scenic area.

Then, directly through the summoned object of that obsession, it instantly locked onto itself as the user.

You are being watched.

This feeling intensely overwhelmed all of Gao Hai's senses in an instant.

He immediately took off the badge.

He hadn't even seen what it was yet.

But a strong premonition of death had already told Gao Hai that when he actually saw that thing, he would have no chance of survival.

The summoned rescuer had disappeared, and Gao Hai had severed his visual connection with it.

"Ugh... Where is it this time? Gao-kun, ah, we've finally run into each other again."

A mournful cry rang out from behind.

The girl, wearing an ill-fitting rescue suit, slumped down in the mud and struggled to her feet. After uttering a complaint, she spotted Gao Hai not far away and her face lit up with surprise.

Having struggled in this eerie cave for so long, the girl has developed some trust and dependence on Gao Hai, and can relax when she sees him.

But Gao Hai could no longer pay attention to what Qian Hua was saying.

Because that intense gaze had completely enveloped him at that moment.

"found it……"

Gao Hai murmured softly.

He found the exit.

The red nut gray hole where the security guard is located, the floor of that cave, that's definitely the exit point for this dungeon.

Once players reach that location, they will be able to leave the instance and complete the level.

The reason Gao Hai failed to pass the level was because what he "arrived" there was a strange entity summoned by the object of his obsession, so it cannot be considered that he himself passed the level.

However, even if he himself arrived at that place, he would not be able to complete the instance.

Because at the exit, at every place that can leave the Red Nut Gray Hole, there is something watching.

And that thing had already noticed its own attempt to escape.

slam-la-

The water flowing underfoot gradually spread over my calves without me even realizing it.

Gao Hai raised his head.

He saw "people" standing almost filling the entire cave.

All the floating clothes disappeared.

Instead, there were pale figures dressed in clothes, things that had long since died but had reappeared and were now watching him.

Not far away, in the direction of the large slide, some bulky rescue workers and firefighters slowly crawled out from the collapsed gap in the wall.

Suppressed wails and cries came from the direction of the gentle slope, as if something was struggling there, inching closer to it in its struggle.

All eyes were on Gao Hai.

At this moment, intense malice completely enveloped Gao Hai.

"This is truly unreasonable..."

Faced with this rapidly deteriorating situation, Gao Hai could only sigh and show a helpless expression.

Chapter Seventeen: Friendly Assistance from Players and the Next Identity

Rumbling--

The sound of the water flowing inside the cave had changed from a rapid current to a raging flood.

Large amounts of rainwater mixed with mud and sand, along with railings, signs, and all sorts of garbage, as well as inexplicable things like tree branches, pillows, stockings, etc., all swirled and rolled around inside the cave.

In such a violent current, ordinary people simply cannot stand firm and would easily be swept away by the turbulent water.

Wang Gui was swept away and knocked to the ground almost immediately as the water rose, but was caught by Gao Hai who reacted quickly. Fujiwara Chika, who was also unable to stand, reacted very quickly and immediately grabbed Gao Hai's shoulder, practically hanging on him.

Gao Hai himself stood steadily in the water, showing no sign of being swept away.

The blessings and empowerment he received gave him physical abilities that surpassed human limits. Although the turbulent water was powerful, it was still unable to shake Gao Hai himself.

Why is the world where the security guard's identity exists the right exit?

This question surfaced in Gao Hai's mind and he couldn't suppress it for a long time.

The mission's objective is to reach the "real ground." Gao Hai has pondered what this "real" ground represents many times, and his final conclusion is that there are many false grounds here, and only one ground is real, allowing escape. According to Gao Hai, that "real ground" should exist in the world furthest back in the timeline.

If we follow this line of thinking, shouldn't the world where the security guard is located be the exit?

The large slide was properly sealed off.

Although there are various strange aspects to the security rules, it is clear from the rules that the security guards at the time the rules were written could safely enter and exit the Red Nut Gray Hole. It was a period before the disaster that truly caused the power of the supernatural to erupt occurred.

Why is the ground at that point in time considered "real"?

Could it be that the condition of "the real ground" is actually based on a specific person's perspective?

Gao Hai couldn't immediately answer these questions.

But now is not the time to think about these issues.

Because all the tourists, and those things that stood up from the water, had gathered around.

The thing that crawled out of the hole behind them, wearing a bulky rescue suit, was also getting closer.

Gao Hai has been targeted by a mysterious entity that has yet to reveal itself.

The malice of that thing was incredibly strong. Even though it seemed to be blocked by some kind of barrier and unable to truly exert its power on Gao Hai, the intensity of the malice brought by the blessing alone was, in Gao Hai's opinion, already greater than that of Li Zhaodi's beastly parents in Baichuan Apartment.

It seems that because of that thing's gaze, my existence has also been marked, making it easier for various strange entities in the cave to lock onto me.

However, it's far from the point of despair and giving up.

Snapped--

The black umbrella suddenly opened, enveloping Gao Hai and partially obscuring Wang Gui and Qian Hua's bodies.

This black umbrella, a personal item generously sponsored by the [Female Face Gang], has a very simple function: simply opening the umbrella will conceal the aura of the person beneath it.

Neither humans nor supernatural beings can easily detect the umbrella-bearer unless there is physical contact; otherwise, it's practically impossible. Of course, this thing cannot resist the effect of the blessing, because the umbrella-bearer's own emotions cannot be concealed. Therefore, Gao Hai was able to discover this hidden person, whom he would not have been able to find otherwise, when he encountered the players of the [Female Face Gang].

At this moment, all those things that were originally approaching Gao Hai stopped, unable to accurately locate Gao Hai's presence.

"Go, get out of here."

With that, Gao Hai took a step forward and struggled to move forward in the swift current.

"Gao Jun, where do we go next? Is there a way out from here?"

Hanging on Gao Hai's back, Chika struggled against the rushing water and asked him a question.

"No, the place where the rescue team uniforms are located is a closed loop. Once we leave the cave, it will only trigger a restart, and we will once again play the role of rescuers and relive the process of entering the cave to carry out a rescue operation. We can't leave."

Gao Hai shook his head, giving a negative answer to Qianhua's question, and handed her the rescue team's rule sheet.

The girl took the rule sheet and struggled to steady herself amidst the rushing water as she read the contents.

To maintain her balance, she had to press herself even closer to Gao Hai, to the point that the softness almost completely overwhelmed the sensation behind Gao Hai.

Unfortunately, Gao Hai simply didn't have the energy to enjoy it. Although the "tourists" couldn't see him after he opened the umbrella, the presence of Qianhua and Wang Gui still attracted their attention. At this moment, as Gao Hai led the two forward, the surrounding creatures gradually gathered around. However, it seemed that the rescue team uniforms themselves had some special properties, so these tourists, who had completely transformed into monsters, didn't actually come up to make contact; they simply followed them step by step.

"The rescue team's rules... are related to the explorers' rules, but why is there water everywhere here? There wasn't any water here when we were down there. The timeline doesn't make sense, does it?"

Qianhua had quickly read through the rescue team's rules and leaned close to Gao Hai's ear to ask a question.

"Who knows? The clues are all scattered and fragmented, so I can't draw any conclusions right now. Maybe there were two rescue teams that entered the cave to carry out the rescue? We only arrived at one of them. In short, the only thing we can be sure of right now is that we can't get through by being a rescue team."

Gao Hai continued forward, glancing back as he spoke. Only then did he notice the swollen rescue team members approaching him. Unlike the dazed, wandering tourists, these creatures, climbing up from the bottom of the giant slide, seemed somewhat immune to the black umbrella's concealment, allowing them to pinpoint Gao Hai's location. Of course, it was also possible they intended to attack Wang Gui and Qianhua, who were with him.

The three have now reached the Stone Forest Road area, and the water inside the cave has risen to their thighs, making movement increasingly difficult.

The rescue team behind them did not slow down at all, and the distance between the two sides was being closed little by little.

"We need to change our clothes, to clothes that are not for rescue teams and explorers, but not for tourists."

As Gao Hai spoke, he looked around. Although the rules emphasized that one should not pay attention to things in the water when the water level is rising, it now seemed that it would be very difficult for them to return to the ground safely. Gao Hai had to start considering changing his identity here.

Although the tourists' clothes had disappeared and they had turned into pale figures standing in the water, Gao Hai still saw some clothes floating on the surface of the water as he walked along.

There's still one more thing to try... staff uniforms, tourist uniforms... No, he wasn't sure what the staff uniforms looked like. Gao Hai hadn't yet met the person playing the role of "staff," and as for tourists, it seemed even more dangerous. The existing rules clearly showed that the "tourist" identity was heavily targeted and extremely dangerous...

"Let's try changing into the yellow striped uniform. After I put on the security guard uniform, I vaguely saw several figures wearing yellow striped uniforms, one of whom looked a bit like Kaguya. The yellow striped uniform might be of some use, and maybe it can help us reunite with Kaguya."

At this moment, Chika spoke up and told Takahashi the information that she had not written down in detail before because she was not sure if it was true or false.

The rescue team members behind are getting closer and closer.

Gao Haixin steeled himself, grabbed Wang Gui's shoulder, took a deep breath, bent his knees and bent over, and with a sudden burst of strength, threw Wang Gui several meters away, causing him to land in front of the spacious cave in Shilin Road.

"Run away. These things aren't targeting you right now. Go back to the ground and reboot. That way you'll be safe."

Gao Hai shouted at Wang Gui, and then pulled a yellow and white striped shirt out of the water.

Is this the one?

In a daze, Gao Hai saw that the clothes seemed to have changed, and appeared to be just an ordinary yellow t-shirt and yellow trousers.

Ah, that's right.

At this point in time, those yellow and white striped clothes shouldn't exist.