What's going on?
In that instant, Gao Hai's entire body tensed up, and he was on the verge of leaping to his feet and fleeing the bedroom.
He had clearly escaped from the instance.
Moreover, throughout the entire day, he hadn't encountered anything abnormal. He had been in a safe environment, so why would something like this pop up just as night was about to fall? Could it be that the real world was actually filled with all sorts of strange spirits? Perhaps they normally exist in a state separate from ordinary people and go undiscovered, but because I participated in the rules-based horror game, my 'eyes were opened' in a sense, allowing me to see these things?
Various thoughts flashed rapidly through Gao Hai's mind.
But soon, he furrowed his brow.
He couldn't feel anything from the woman's face before him.
Through the blessing bestowed upon him by the little girl, Gao Hai possessed the ability to distinguish between goodwill and malice, and to identify humans from non-humans.
This ability had no effect on the large, round face in front of him.
It was as if this thing didn't exist here at all, or perhaps it was just a natural phenomenon, devoid of any inclination or emotion.
"..."
After a brief moment of hesitation, Gao Hai stood up, walked over to the desk, reached out, and opened the window.
The woman's face simply stared forward, continuing to float motionlessly.
Gao Hai had already reached out, attempting to touch it.
His hand passed right through the thing.
He didn't touch anything at all.
The object was like some kind of holographic projection, completely lacking a tangible, physical form.
But, what on earth was this? And why was he seeing it?
After a moment of thought, Gao Hai got dressed and left his house.
This time, he saw even more.
Under the dim sky as night approached.
High above, twisted figures floated over the city, suspended in mid-air—sometimes blurry, sometimes clear, sometimes vanishing without a trace, only to suddenly reappear.
Gao Hai saw countless corpses, countless anomalies, countless twisted and grotesque things.
The vast majority of them were still floating high in the sky, but some, like that pale woman's face, had already descended, drifting aimlessly through the city's corners.
People on the street walked past, oblivious to them, and the figures paid the passersby no mind either.
Occasionally, someone would walk right through one of the things, and the things would also pass through pedestrians, vehicles, walls, and other objects. They were like strange glitches in a buggy game that had lost their collision detection and could clip through walls at will, like a malfunctioning program, like a hallucination, floating about unnoticed.
What on earth are these things?
A sense of unease grew stronger in Gao Hai's heart.
A rules-based horror game in the name of sacrifice, restless souls trapped by an unknown existence, anomalies repeating their obsessions, and now... phantoms appearing in the real world. It was like a grand curtain slowly being drawn, and he was merely an actor in the play, unable to know or predict the next act, uncertain where this drama's finale would lead.
"No matter what, I can only take it one step at a time, huh?"
As Gao Hai was lamenting this, he turned his head and saw a girl with long black hair and beautiful, light-golden eyes walking past him, playing with her phone as she went. She was wearing a school uniform and looked like she was either heading home from school or on her way back after hanging out somewhere.
It seemed like she lived next door to him.
The girl's pure, lovely, and fine features were a rare sight even in the 2D world, and she had a touch of pitiable charm.
Gao Hai couldn't help but stare at her for a few extra moments.
To be clear, it wasn't because his dick was doing the thinking. Although Gao Hai was well aware of his somewhat frivolous and lecherous personality, he hadn't reached the point of fantasizing and getting restless over every pretty passerby. It was just that, knowing this was a crossover anime world and having already met Kaguya Shinomiya and Maki Shijo, Gao Hai highly suspected that any beautiful girl he encountered could be the protagonist of another series, so he paid a little extra attention.
As for this one... he couldn't tell. There were far too many long-haired, black-haired girls in Japanese anime. The only thing he could be sure of was that she wasn't Yukino Yukinoshita; the curve of her chest was something the notoriously flat Yukino could never possess.
However, he could take a look at her nameplate... Hmm, Yotsuya? If it's the Yotsuya family... could she be the protagonist of 'Mieruko-chan,' Miko Yotsuya, the one who's tormented by spirits every day and is always on the verge of tears?
If she's here, does that mean these things that normal people can't see will one day become visible, gradually noticed by others, and then...
Forget it. What's the use of thinking so far ahead? I'd be better off worrying about how to survive the next mission.
Gao Hai had no intention of hitting on her just because she was a beautiful girl. Instead, he turned and walked away, searching for a barbershop as he continued to ponder.
If the first mission, Shirakawa Apartments, was Twilight-level, then the next mission should be of a similar difficulty. As long as he acted cautiously, he should be able to get through it safely. Yeah, it shouldn't be a big problem, as long as he doesn't run into any more absolute paragons of idiocy like Lao Guo and the female spy.
With that in mind, Gao Hai's gaze locked onto a barbershop on the side of the street, and he walked right in.
"Boss, I'm meeting my girlfriend tomorrow. Think you can give me a style that's easy on the eyes?"
Gao Hai's words landed with resolute force.
And inside the shop, the staff members all looked up, one by one.
"He's here," one of the young barbers muttered, adjusting his glasses.
"He's here. The kind of rare customer the boss was talking about—doesn't place an order, only gives requirements, hides his preferences, and will even use a punishment spell card if he's not satisfied."
Another, shirtless barber nodded gently in agreement, his expression grave.
"Are you guys sure the boss didn't just play too much Mystia's Izakaya last night?"
The last barber, who looked like a normal person, weakly raised his hand and asked.
Thump—
Finally, a middle-aged man wearing a pink cat apron slowly raised his head, his eyes locking onto Gao Hai as he entered the shop.
"Young man, to dare make such a request of me, the Tiger of the Backstreets, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Tokyo Barbers, Master Fujimura... how truly thrilling. It seems today is the day I return to the world and reforge the name of my 'Demon-Slaying Hand'."
Wait, isn't the comedic setup for you guys a bit too classic? And even for a crossover anime world, you don't have to make it this cringe, do you? Did I just walk onto the set of a manzai comedy show?
Though he desperately wanted to retort, Gao Hai ended up just getting his hair trimmed at the shop, tidying up his appearance to look fresher. Afterwards, he went out and bought a few sets of casual clothes in colors and styles that matched well. While he wouldn't say he was dressed handsomely or stylishly, it was a significant improvement over the mismatched outfit he had thrown on when he went to see Maki.
In the evening, Gao Hai contacted Maki and Kaguya again to ask if they could see the things outside. Both gave negative replies.
It seemed that, even among players, only he could see these things.
"If I had to say what makes me different from other players..."
Gao Hai looked down at the black watch he wore.
Was it this thing that gave him the ability to see them?
The question couldn't be answered.
And now was not a good time to act.
So in the end, Gao Hai just stayed home and played video games, trying out all his consoles and marveling at a life he could never have imagined before. He played cheerfully late into the night before finally going to sleep.
That night, he had a strange dream. He dreamed he was standing in the middle of a straight road.
On one side of the road stood the adorable Maki Shijo; on the other stood many scantily clad, beautiful girls.
Gao Hai started walking toward Maki, only to hear her turn away with a huff.
"Who cares if you choose me? Pervert, idiot, weirdo!"
So Gao Hai turned to look at the other beautiful girls, who beckoned to him with their fingers.
"Master, come and play~"
A hesitant look appeared on Gao Hai's face, so he turned back to look at Maki, who still had her back to him.
"Hmph, if you like them so much, then go. Pervert!"
Then Gao Hai turned his head again, looked back at the beautiful girls, and took a step forward.
"Idiot! Who said you could actually go!?"
An anxious voice came from behind him the next moment.
Gao Hai turned around to see Maki rushing towards him and crashing into his body. The force of the impact was immense, and since Gao Hai was completely unprepared, the two of them fell backward together, landing right in the middle of the group of beautiful girls.
Then, amidst a chaotic commotion that was bleeped out, Gao Hai opened his eyes to find the sky outside already bright.
Ah, it was a dream.
"Why would I have such an abstract dream?"
Gao Hai couldn't figure it out and finally decided to stop thinking about it. He got up, took a good shower, and finished off the bread and milk he had bought before coming home yesterday. Then he checked his phone, confirmed the message Maki had sent him, and prepared to head out to their meeting spot.
Beep beep—
The phone, which was no longer on silent mode, made a noise.
Gao Hai looked down and saw a news alert about a dead woman found in the bathroom of a Tokyo bar. The victim had been disemboweled in a gruesome manner. The article included a censored picture where you could vaguely make out a woman sitting on a toilet.
Wait a minute...
The mosaic only obscured the most critical parts, so Gao Hai quickly noticed the woman's clothes.
That outfit... could it be... Miwa Maeda?
Realizing something was wrong, Gao Hai came to a sudden halt.
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