69novels Page 128
Page 128
However, having already expended a great deal of mental energy, Asagiri would not give it a chance to escape.
Asagiri's golden eyes grew even brighter, and the dark red symbols around him began to spin rapidly. A jet-black beam of light, mixed with dark red lightning, appeared and instantly covered the entire corridor in front of him.
"Supreme Magic Bullet".
Sakuragawa Rikka, who was inside the dark pillar of light, looked terrified but was not harmed. However, when the dark pillar of light touched Chris Walker, the situation was completely different.
Chris Walker didn't even have time to scream before his massive, muscular body rapidly dissolved into pure black light, as if he had been completely annihilated, leaving not a trace behind.
Standing behind Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna and the others discovered that after the Supreme Magic Bullet destroyed Chris Walker, it did not disappear immediately. Instead, it suddenly turned and passed directly through the ground below the corridor. It only slowly disappeared after nearly five seconds.
"What on earth is that..."
After the Supreme Magic Bullet disappeared, Rikka Sakuragawa finally reacted, her legs went weak and she collapsed to the ground, her bright yellow eyes revealing a look of confusion and disorientation.
Having eaten mermaid flesh and possessing an immortal body, she was not afraid of death. In fact, Rikka Sakuragawa originally thought that she was born without the emotion of fear and would not feel fear for anything.
However, she was wrong.
Rikka Sakuragawa couldn't describe the feeling she had just experienced in those few seconds, and...
Sakuragawa Rikka looked at the man standing there, wearing a long black trench coat and a dark gray mask, his eyes turning from gold back to black like morning mist, and a thought involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
The opponent's target wasn't even her, but even so, even though she was just an avatar here, she was still instantly overwhelmed by that fear and despair.
Are there really such terrifying monsters among the current players?
"Leader, are you alright?"
Upon hearing Yuuki Asuna's question, Asagiri raised her hand and waved it, deliberately letting Yuuki Asuna and the others see the ring she was wearing.
"Yeah, no problem."
【Ring of Conversion (Purple Quality, Excellent): When wearing this equipment, you can consume your own mental energy to replenish your physical energy, or consume your own physical energy to replenish your mental energy】
Using the Supreme Magic Bullet consumed about 70-80% of Asagiri's mental energy, which was close to his limit. However, he had already converted his physical energy to replenish his mental energy. If he was willing to pay the price of completely losing his ability to fight, he could even use the Supreme Magic Bullet one more time. This is the powerful effect of the Conversion Ring.
"What, are you sitting there waiting for us to help you up?"
Hearing Asagiri's smiling voice, Sakuragawa Rikka finally reacted, forced herself to stand up, gave Asagiri a deep look, and then looked at Iwanaga Kotoko beside her, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, her body just turned into a cloud of black mist and drifted away into the distance of the corridor.
70
Chapter 70 The most terrifying existence in the deepest part.
After confirming that Rikka Sakuragawa had left, Asagiri sighed and slowly spoke.
"Sigh, trying to look cool is so tiring."
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki, who had been looking worried, couldn't help but roll her eyes and said irritably.
"I wondered why you were sighing. I was just worrying about you for nothing."
"If I don't pretend to be in control, what if Rikka Sakuragawa decides to attack us?"
Asagiri smiled and explained in a matter-of-fact manner.
"After all, neither of us is in good condition. Although I can use the Supreme Magic Bullet again, the dungeon has only just begun. It would not be a wise choice to use up all our trump cards now."
"That's true."
Yuuki Asuna nodded first, then asked curiously.
"By the way, why did the Supreme Magic Bullet turn downwards after it destroyed Chris Walker?"
"Oh, it's nothing serious."
Asagiri waved her hand and, in a relaxed and amused voice, uttered a surprising statement that left Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi completely astonished.
"It went to find the source of the strangeness that made Giant Mountain Mental Hospital become like this."
"what?"
Seeing the bewildered expressions on the faces of the three women in front of her, Asagiri explained in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Isn't this normal? The Supreme Magic Bullet is an attack that severs the enemy's 'immortality.' Chris Walker is not an independent individual, but a monster born from the source of the eerie. In order to prevent it from reappearing like that chef, the Supreme Magic Bullet will naturally follow Chris Walker's aura and directly attack the source of the eerie nature of this instance, erasing the part of the eerie power that created Chris Walker."
"Ah? This..."
Even the well-informed Kotoko Iwanaga was somewhat dumbfounded after hearing Asagiri's words.
"So the Supreme Magic Bullet's flick wasn't a bullet, but an auto-tracking missile? Does that mean the source of this dungeon's strangeness has been destroyed by you?"
"Do not."
When asked by Kotoko Iwanaga, Asagiri shook her head.
"While the Supreme Magic Bullet possesses a unique power, it is ultimately just a power. Erasing Chris Walker's existence and preventing its reappearance is already its limit. The source that turned the Giant Mountain Asylum into a bizarre area has not been eliminated, but..."
At this point, Asagiri changed the subject.
"By observing the trajectory of the Supreme Magic Bullet, we can determine that the source of the strangeness in this instance lies below."
"Below..."
Asuna Yuuki leaned against the wall, resting and seemingly lost in thought.
"The objective of this mission is to escape the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital, but the source of the strangeness lies on an unknown number of levels below. In other words, we cannot explore the hidden truth of this instance while escaping..."
Asuna Yuuki looked at Asagiri, pursed her lips, and asked softly.
"Leader, this time... should we strive for a perfect clear again?"
"Let it go this time."
This time, Asagiri did not give a definite answer, but instead made a decisive statement.
"According to the design of a normal game, hidden missions will definitely encounter enemies that are stronger than those in the main missions. Escaping the Mountain Asylum is the main mission, and the strongest enemy that players will face in this main mission is Chris Walker. I don't know what else is underground, but there must be enemies stronger than Chris Walker. This is beyond our current capabilities, and the risk is too high."
"Yeah, I agree."
Kotoko Iwanaga nodded in agreement.
“This time is different from last time. Although there were risks last time, we could choose to pass the level at any time. But this time, even if the Leader uses that ability and gets a second chance, we still can’t complete the level immediately while we are underground. We can’t take that risk.”
"Then it's unanimously decided that we won't go underground."
Kato Megumi visibly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Chris Walker was such a terrifying monster. In the system's positioning for this instance, he was probably not an enemy that had to be defeated, but rather an obstacle that players would run away from upon seeing, adding tension and impossible to eliminate, only able to avoid.
However, Asagiri possesses the skill "Supreme Magic Bullet," which far surpasses the strength of players at this stage. It's like having a cheat code, allowing her to instantly kill the boss in the story-driven battle.
It has a unique aesthetic appeal due to its combination of bizarre numerical values and strange mechanics.
"Now, let's take a look at the diary provided by Rikka Sakuragawa."
Upon hearing Asagiri's words, Kotoko Iwanaga suddenly remembered something and quickly asked about it.
"By the way, how do you know her?"
"I don't know her, I only know what she looks like and what her name is."
"Um... that's a rather perfunctory answer. Let's just look at the diary instead."
In just a few words, the topic was skipped over. Not only Iwanaga Kotoko, but also Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi were curious about why Asagiri knew Sakuragawa Rikka's name and appearance, but that was all they were curious about.
Given Asagiri's personality, she would say what she wanted to say, and if she didn't want to say it, there was no need for them to ask, since none of that mattered anyway.
The four members of the team had been through countless life-and-death situations together, and they could entrust their lives to each other and completely trust one another.
"Let me see..."
Asagiri opened the black-covered diary. Although the edges of some pages were stained with blood, it did not affect reading.
Two more experiments were conducted today, but both failed. Why are those guys upstairs sending over such substandard, worthless samples? Do they think any mentally ill person can handle the workload of experiments?
Upon seeing the first paragraph, Kotoko Iwanaga couldn't help but recall her earlier question, and muttered to herself with a slight frown.
"An experiment failed? That's strange. What exactly are the standards for this so-called experiment... Could it be..."
[The first successful experiment has occurred. It's truly unexpected that the emaciated cannibalistic madman possesses such a level of soul resilience. Even when twisted to the extreme, it remained undamaged and could even speak, albeit uttering meaningless curses. But without a doubt, this is a major breakthrough and the first step towards success.]
Upon seeing this passage, Kotoko Iwanaga's suspicions were confirmed, and a strong look of disgust appeared in her eyes.
"These guys are actually creating evil spirits by human hands..."
"Man-made evil spirits?"
Kato Megumi looked surprised upon hearing this and asked softly.
"Is it still possible to do something like that?"
"Of course."
Kotoko Iwanaga sighed, her expression somewhat heavy.
"In the monster case that Leader and I handled before, there was a man-made eerie entity. However, the serial killer didn't know what he was doing. There were many coincidences in the process, which led to the accidental success. I never expected that the underground of the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital in this world would be constantly trying to create eerie entities in a scientific experimental way... What a twisted and disgusting bunch of guys."
"Keep watching."
[Headquarters sent people over. They injected some kind of reagent into Subject One. It's strange, weren't we supposed to do everything we could to twist this guy's soul, eventually kill him, and turn him into a demon? But it doesn't matter, the reagent they injected has enhanced Subject One's physical functions, which will make it easier for us to continue torturing him.]
[Number one, number two, number three... there are now nearly ten successful test subjects, but the most satisfactory one is number two. Despite appearing to be the most normal of all the test subjects, he actually has the ability to control that thing, and his soul is extremely resilient. After suffering so much torture, he can still maintain basic sanity. He is truly an excellent experimental material.]
[Number Four is incredibly powerful. He was terrifying even as a human, and his soul was already twisted enough. Headquarters simply injected him with that mysterious reagent and then ordered him to be kept in anesthesia chamber. Every time I pass by that chamber, I can't help but marvel at how such a terrifying monster could be born among humans. I've heard that his body can completely defend against bullets from small-caliber guns. He's truly a monster through and through.]
When Asagiri turned to the next page of the diary, unlike the black handwriting written with a ballpoint pen, dark red handwriting, as if written with blood, appeared before the four members of the team.
[Heh, we were so stupid... So this was the final step of the experiment. From the very beginning, what those people at headquarters wanted to create wasn't just some simple, eerie entity, but...]
As they turned to the next page, a line of slightly messy, dark red text caught the eyes of the four members of the team.
Do not go to the fifth basement level! Do not approach that area! Absolutely do not go there!
That concludes the diary entry.
After reading all the information, Kotoko Iwanaga did not feel any pity for the diary's owner's plight. Instead, she maintained her usual absolutely rational attitude and immediately began to analyze.
"Assuming the contents of this diary are true, then we can now roughly determine that the mental patients wandering in this mental hospital are not pure evil spirits, but monsters whose bodies have been modified by some kind of mysterious injection."
"The diary mentions that the final step of the experiment likely refers to the 'riot at Giant Mountain Mental Hospital,' where the mentally ill patients who broke free of control killed all the staff and the remaining patients. They then became tainted by a strange power, transforming into the beings we witnessed. The only noteworthy point is..."
Kotoko Iwanaga raised her head, looked at Asagiri, Asuna Yuuki, and Megumi Kato in front of her, and said calmly.
"Number Four refers to Chris Walker. We've already witnessed his terrifying power. So, in the diary's owner's opinion, Subject Two is even more satisfactory than Chris Walker..."
"What kind of monster is it exactly?"
71
Chapter 71 The Plan to Save Old Huo.
Hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's mutterings, Asuna Yuuki offered a conjecture.
"Is it possible that Billy Hope, the mental patient who fused with the nanoweapon Valrid, didn't appear as an enemy in the original game? Leader and I have looked at pictures online. Compared to Chris Walker and the chef, his appearance is indeed too normal, like an ordinary person, which matches the description in the diary."
"That's possible, but according to the original description, after becoming Valrid's host, that guy possessed almost godlike power."
Asagiri closed the diary, put it into her inventory, and said in a flat tone.
"He's probably being held in the lowest-level laboratory of the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital. Anyway, we're not planning on going down there, so we don't need to think about how to deal with him. Let's think about our current target, like..."
Asagiri took out her phone, opened the app with the eye icon to confirm, and then said softly.
"Go find Old Huo."
"Old Huo? That caregiver?"
Kotoko Iwanaga frowned slightly, puzzled.
"We all roughly guess why Giant Mountain Mental Hospital has become like this, so why bother going to see him again... Oh~"
Halfway through her sentence, Kotoko Iwanaga suddenly realized something, revealing a pure and sweet smile. She exchanged a glance with Asagiri, and the two spoke in perfect unison.
"I think this old Huo is also a good man. Why not use him as a persona mask?"
"Huh? Old Huo can be a Persona too?"
Seeing the surprised expression on Yuuki Asuna's face, Asagiri said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Of course, otherwise why would the system give me a special notification? Besides, don't you want to see our old friend? Speaking of which, Old Huo was our matchmaker."
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki sighed helplessly and couldn't help but complain.
"Your thought process... how can it be so bizarre... If you say it's your old friend, that's one thing, but I was so scared by it that I almost fainted."