69novels Page 169
Page 169
Let's summarize.
Asagiri looked at the three women in front of her—Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko—and slowly began to speak.
"It has been about two and a half hours since we entered the instance. Because we need to turn off our phones to avoid wasting battery, we can only estimate the time roughly. There are several key questions about this instance."
"First, the carpet in the hallway contains some clues, but before we can deduce why only the Phantom received the special instruction to observe the carpet, let's try to avoid observing it for too long. Many horror movies are like this: staring at something strange for too long can easily lead to a dangerous hallucination or attract terrifying and eerie beings."
"Secondly, this instance has a very long time limit and no clear objective is given. It only asks players to survive. Why should they stay in this instance for a full 72 hours? The initial judgment is that as time goes by, players' mental and physical strength will be depleted. In addition, with the scarcity of food and drinking water, their strength will gradually decline. As for whether the danger of the strange phenomena will gradually increase, we will have to wait and see how things develop."
"Third, what are the conditions for 'parasitism'? Besides acting alone, if one's mental strength is insufficient, is it possible to be parasitized by observing the corridor through the peephole in the door during the dangerous period when the carpet turns red? Why is it necessary to keep quiet, and what kind of impact does sound have?"
"Finally, and this is what Necro just mentioned, the number of players in this instance is abnormally high. Is it because of the characteristics of this instance that it can only create a sense of oppression when there are a large number of players? Or is it that the 136 players currently counted are not all normal players?"
Upon hearing Asagiri's last words, Kato Megumi paused for a moment, pursed her lips, and hesitated.
"You mean... among the 136 players, some have already been infected? But they're not solo players, and the dungeon has only just begun. It's impossible that even those in groups have been infected..."
"You've fallen into a cognitive trap."
Asagiri waved her hand and explained with a smile.
"The start time of the instance is from the perspective of us players. The eeriness of this hotel already existed before we entered the instance. It doesn't need to wait for the system to determine the start of the instance before it can take action. Moreover, the parasite can disguise itself as a player, so the parasitized player can lie and say that they also just entered the instance. But in fact, they were already parasitized before we entered the instance and became part of the eeriness of this hotel. This possibility also exists."
Hearing Asagiri's long analysis, Kato Megumi nodded as if she understood, and then said softly.
"Okay, I understand. I'll give up thinking about it and leave it to you."
Upon hearing this, Asagiri chuckled and teased.
"Huh? Casual? Check your KDA!"
Kato Megumi raised her hand and tucked a strand of her long black hair behind her ear, speaking softly.
"I shot an arrow and threw an axe; my KDA is at least third."
"Then who's fourth?"
"You."
Kato Megumi smiled, resting her chin on her hand playfully.
"Leader, you haven't made a single move since entering the instance. Your KDA is probably the worst, right?"
"Hey, that's wrong."
Asagiri raised her hand and waved it, speaking in a serious tone.
"Putting aside my important contribution of setting the rules for the players, I am the pillar of our team. Phantom member, how dare you question the captain's KDA? I think you are not loyal enough."
"You guys are really relaxed."
Asuna Yuuki realized that Megumi Kato had also been infected by Asagiri and Kotoko Iwanaga, or rather, Megumi Kato's unusually calm personality originally possessed an abstract potential.
Ultimately, she was the only normal person.
"Looking gloomy won't help."
Asagiri lay down directly, resting her head on Yuuki Asuna's soft thighs, and looked up meaningfully.
I can't see your face anymore.
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki blushed and said with a mixture of embarrassment and anger.
"You idiot... we're still in a dungeon, be serious."
"Do you feel..."
Kato Megumi took off her coat and placed it on the sofa, then raised her hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead.
"It seems to be getting hotter and hotter?"
"Huh? It seems that's true."
Hearing what Kato Megumi said, Iwanaga Kotoko belatedly realized that the temperature was rising and muttered to herself.
"I initially thought it was because of the scene between Leader and me in the hotel's king-size bed that I was aroused and had aroused my desire, which was a misconception. But it turns out that's not the case..."
"You're really consistent."
Yuuki Asuna shook her head helplessly, took off her crimson cloak, and while raising her fair hand to fan Asagiri, she said thoughtfully.
"When we came here last time, the temperature also rose, but we cleared the border early, so we weren't greatly affected. But this time we have to stay for a full 72 hours, and only three hours have passed, yet the temperature has already risen so noticeably. If this continues... I'm afraid it will be hard to endure."
"Just like last time, is the solution to go downwards...?"
Kotoko Iwanaga pondered a solution to avoid the high-temperature area, a serious expression appearing on her lovely face.
"The seventh floor we're on is already one of the lower guest room floors, but we can still feel the temperature rising. The system's public notification says that we must enter a 'guest room,' which means that the fourth floor, the executive conference room floor, which doesn't have guest rooms, isn't a safe zone. Is the intention to gather all the players on the lowest fifth floor in this way? If all the players are gathered on one floor, then it's even easier for conflicts to break out..."
At this point, Kotoko Iwanaga looked up at Asagiri and gave her a sweet and lovely smile.
"Well then, Leader, I'm counting on you."
"it is good."
Seeing Asagiri stand up from the sofa, Asuna Yuuki frowned slightly.
"Where are you going? The carpet could turn red at any moment, it's best not to go out unnecessarily..."
"I need to be alone."
"what?"
Seeing that Yuuki Asuna was stunned for a moment, and then looked anxious as if she wanted to say something, Asagiri just waved her hand and smiled.
"Don't worry, I'm not looking for death. It's just that at this point, I need to test whether I'll be considered alone if I'm in a room with Mita, who is my Persona, or whether I'll be targeted by the supernatural beings, just like when I'm in a room with the players. Only by verifying this can we better decide on our next move."
"So that's it..."
Upon hearing this, Yuuki Asuna first breathed a sigh of relief, but then stared at the smiling Asagiri with a suspicious look.
"You wouldn't have taken advantage of the fact that we weren't watching... to deliberately not summon Mita and stay alone in the guest room, would you?"
"I'm not brain-dead."
After Asagiri finished speaking, he noticed that Asuna Yuuki, Megumi Kato, and Kotoko Iwanaga were all staring at him with somewhat meaningful looks. He couldn't help but roll his eyes and shrug as he explained.
"It's true that I enjoy the thrill of being a gamer, but if the system clearly warns me that doing something will be dangerous, and I still deliberately do it, wouldn't that be just plain crazy? This dungeon has a time limit, so speedruns are out of the question. At least I'll aim for a no-damage run and a high rating. My beloved consorts, please don't worry, I'll be right back."
Kato Megumi spoke calmly, yet her comment was incisive.
"Excellent, the emperor personally leads the expedition."
……
After checking the seventh floor once again, Asagiri confirmed that there were only two player teams on this floor: himself and Mr. Ichikawa. It wasn't that he did this on purpose; it was just that most ordinary players preferred to go to floors with more people rather than come to the seventh floor.
That's understandable. After all, who would want to be on the same floor as a mysterious player who wears a mask, exudes a suffocating sense of oppression, behaves strangely most of the time, and shows a cold-blooded and ruthless side during meetings? Judging from Asagiri's image, who knows if he might start a massive purge of his floor just because he's in a bad mood?
Compared to Asagiri, the player teams on the other floors all seemed friendly and approachable.
Crazy Mita, who was following behind Asagiri, looked slightly impatient and pouted.
"This is so boring. Why didn't we just let those guys do this? Why did we have to call me out here? I thought I was going to have some fun fighting."
"Maybe we'll get to have some fun fighting later."
Asagiri replied with a smile, then looked at the carpet that was gradually turning red and opened the door to room 7014.
When he, Asuna Yuuki, and Kotoko Iwanaga visited this hotel last time, they had already noticed that this hotel was different from ordinary hotels. It did not avoid the number "4" or "13". They didn't know if it was originally designed this way or if the hotel's structure had changed due to the strange invasion.
……
Fifteen minutes later, Asagiri, who was sitting on the sofa in room 7014, suddenly heard a noise coming from the door.
"Squeak..."
The door was pushed open from the outside by something, and the security chain in the bolt tightened, making a very obvious sound.
"Is anyone there...?"
A fleshy tentacle extended through the crack in the door and stopped near the bathroom door. A mouth appeared on the surface of the tentacle, opening and closing and emitting a cry like that of a crying little girl.
"It hurts so much...it hurts so much...someone help me..."
18
Chapter 18 Taking Control of the Situation.
Hearing the pitiful cries for help from the meaty tentacles, Asagiri and Crazy Mita remained unmoved. Not only could they clearly see the creature's true form, but even if it had transformed into a little girl and was begging for help, they would never have believed it.
This is a dungeon, where did this little girl come from?
Asagiri stood up and walked to the meaty tentacles, while Crazy Mita walked to the doorway.
"Help me, please help me..."
Immediately afterwards, Asagiri suddenly reached out and grabbed the fleshy tentacle that was still crying and pleading with the little girl, and the other party's voice stopped abruptly at that moment.
The moment it was caught, the fleshy tentacles suddenly began to writhe violently, like an animal panicked by its predator and trying to escape immediately.
Crazy Mita took a dagger from her inventory and pierced the fleshy tentacle, pinning it firmly to the hotel room wall. A sharp, piercing wail immediately came from the mouth that had split open on the surface of the fleshy tentacle.
The next second, the sound of tentacles sliding came from the corridor. Dozens of fleshy tentacles squeezed in through the narrow crack in the door. Each tentacle had several mouths split open on its surface, emitting different sounds and colors, like the mournful cries of children, women, men, and the elderly gathered together.
"It's noisy."
Hearing the piercing sound that was almost enough to tear one's eardrums apart, Asagiri frowned slightly and muttered a sentence to himself. But then he noticed that Crazy Mita's expression had become a little strange. The look in his eyes had become somewhat blank, and his lips were slightly parted, as if he wanted to say something.
Without hesitation, Asagiri canceled the summoning of Crazy Metta. The moment Crazy Metta disappeared, the surroundings suddenly became quiet.
Because Crazy Meeta's summoning was canceled, Asagiri is currently in a state of "acting alone".
Dozens of fleshy tentacles began to writhe, one of which suddenly broke off and fell to the ground, bouncing a few times on the soft guest room carpet. Its twisting and writhing appearance was as disgusting and bizarre as some kind of snake. Then it suddenly sprang up, and the tip of the tentacle drilled into Asagiri's eye socket.
"Clap."
Asagiri dodged to the side and casually swatted the tentacle away like swatting a fly.
At this moment, he had only one thought in his mind.
That's it?
Are you trying to make me laugh?
Asagiri had considered all sorts of possible scenarios for "parasitism," but she never imagined that the method of "parasitism" would be so simple and unadorned: allowing fleshy tentacles to burrow into a person's body through the eye sockets, mouth, and other parts.
The key point is that the split fleshy tentacles are not very fast. Even an ordinary person with good motor skills can easily dodge them, let alone a player who has cleared the dungeon several times and survived to the third stage.
The fleshy tentacle that was slapped to the ground seemed to have not expected that Asagiri could actually dodge its burrowing. The mouth on the surface of the tentacle suddenly opened, emitting a weak and eerie sound.
"Let me...let me..."
Before she could finish speaking, the fleshy tentacles, just as Asagiri had seen before, trembled slightly a few times before their skin quickly dried up and turned into a lifeless, deathly gray.
The remaining fleshy tentacles in the room seemed to sense the failure of their parasitism and quickly retreated through the crack in the door, leaving as if fleeing with a wriggling sound.
"That's it?"
This time, Asagiri didn't think to himself, but spoke directly, breaking the rule of "keeping quiet". But as he expected, nothing happened.
"Persona, Mita".
Immediately afterwards, Asagiri summoned Crazy Mita again. Seeing that the other party's expression had returned to normal, she immediately asked.
"What happened to you just now? Describe it in detail."
"I……"
Upon hearing Asagiri's question, Crazy Mita looked somewhat bewildered, his expression still shaken.
"When I heard those sounds, I felt... I felt like I was being dragged into a deep abyss filled with seawater, the seawater constantly squeezing my body, and all I could see... was red... I don't know why, but I felt that if I merged into that red, I could be saved..."
"So this is the effect..."
Asagiri nodded slightly, thinking to herself that now she knew why.
Clearly, the shrill cries emitted by those fleshy tentacles could cause severe mental interference. Although Crazy Metta would suffer double the mental damage after her defenses were breached due to her core distortion, she possessed extremely high mental resistance.
The fact that those fleshy tentacles could shatter Mad Meeta's mental defenses is enough to prove how terrifying they are.
Unfortunately, Asagiri possesses a human-like Shura that is practically a cheat code, making her completely immune to any type of mental influence.
……
After the dangerous hour ended, Asagiri arrived at room 7012 and, along with Yuuki Asuna and the others, walked up the stairs to the third floor of the hotel to take attendance, recounting what had just happened.