A crossover anime/manga story, set in everyday Tokyo, but within a loop of a game.

Page 170

"Something that first breaks the spirit, then parasitizes the body..."

Upon hearing Asagiri's detailed description of the attack methods of those fleshy tentacles, Kotoko Iwanaga seemed to be deep in thought.

"Some strange creatures in the real world do use this hunting method, but they usually kill humans directly and devour their souls, or they simply enjoy seeing humans panic and be terrified. This behavior of splitting their own body and then parasitizing humans is really too bizarre."

"eccentric?"

"Yes, strange."

Seeing that Asuna Yuuki and Megumi Kato both looked puzzled, Kotoko Iwanaga jumped onto Asagiri's back and let her carry her down the stairs before explaining with a smile.

"There are indeed monsters among us that have no ability to think, cannot be judged by common sense, and only act on instinct. But the main body of that fleshy tentacle does not belong to this category. After parasitizing, it can even continue to disguise itself as a normal player, which means that it has a certain degree of intelligence. So why does it split its own body to parasitize instead of directly eating the player's body or soul? After all, once the player's mind collapses, they lose the ability to resist, right?"

Kotoko Iwanaga was lost in her own reasoning, not giving Asuna Yuuki and Megumi Kato a chance to interject, completely absorbed in her "goddess of wisdom" state.

"What exactly does it want? Why would it go to such lengths, splitting its own body to transform the player into a parasite? Is it trying to fight something? Or is it that the parasite can do something the original body can't? Reach some area it can't access? Wait a minute..."

At this point, a light suddenly shone in Kotoko Iwanaga's deep purple eyes, as if she had grasped some crucial clue.

"The same thing happened last time; after we entered the instance, the temperature inside the hotel kept rising..."

Asagiri continued, picking up where Iwanaga Kotoko left off.

"You mean, something is generating high temperatures to protect the upper floors of the hotel from intrusion?"

"That's right, but it's not necessarily subjective; it might be instinctive."

Kotoko Iwanaga rested her fair chin on Asagiri's shoulder and said in a serious tone.

"It's like... well, for example, a hedgehog. When a hedgehog senses danger, it curls into a ball to protect its soft belly and uses the quills on its back for defense. Or, a peacock will spread its tail feathers when it encounters an enemy, using its patterns to intimidate the enemy. Think about it, whenever strange phenomena occur in this hotel, the temperature gradually rises. Isn't that similar?"

Upon hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's deduction, Asuna Yuuki couldn't help but furrow her brows slightly.

"If that's really the case... then the being that can control the temperature of the entire hotel to keep rising must be incredibly powerful, right?"

"Let's put this issue aside for now."

Asagiri shook her head, speaking calmly.

"The main problem now is how we can survive the remaining sixty-plus hours while the temperature keeps rising and we have to be wary of parasitic players. I have a vague idea that the third phase of the dungeon is different from the second phase. It's no longer a case of not being punished if you don't make mistakes, but rather that you will be in danger if you don't make the right choices in time."

……

After arriving at the buffet restaurant on the third floor, the male player in the white suit counted the number of players.

The results after the inventory was completed plunged the room into a deathly silence.

At the end of the last free investigation period, there were 136 players. After this dangerous period ends, and before the start of the next free investigation period...

The number of players remains at 136.

No one died, no one went missing, but that's the most bizarre thing.

"how could it be possible……"

"Yeah, after the danger period ended, not a single person died? That's outrageous."

"Some of us must have already been infected, right?"

"Since we're all team players, if one player gets infected, shouldn't his teammates also get infected?"

"Hey, you! I felt something was off when you came in. Have you been parasitized?!"

"What did you say?! I think you're the one who's been parasitized! Otherwise, show me your phone!"

"Bullshit! You think I'd hand over my phone?! You really are a parasitic player, aren't you?!"

……

Seeing the players in the arena begin to suspect each other, and the atmosphere becoming increasingly tense, the man in the white suit immediately spoke up to stop them.

"Everyone, please stop arguing and calm down."

Upon hearing this, an agitated male player immediately responded in an unfriendly manner.

"Who wants to listen to you? You might just be a parasite..."

Before the other party could finish speaking, the man in the white suit suddenly raised his right hand, and a white bone needle shot out from the tip of his index finger, piercing directly through the male player's head.

Upon seeing their teammate killed, the male player's two teammates' expressions changed drastically. They immediately took out their weapons from their inventory. However, before they could even stand up, a tall, humanoid black figure exuding a strong sense of oppression suddenly appeared behind them and gently pinched their heads with both hands.

"Shut up, everyone."

Asagi, who had summoned the Asura, surveyed the players who had finally quieted down and spoke slowly and deliberately.

"Without solid evidence, who is stirring up an atmosphere of mutual suspicion here..."

"I'll kill whoever comes my way."

19

Chapter 19 Proof of Strength.

After saying this, Asagiri and the man in the white suit exchanged a glance. Although they had never met before entering this instance and had not communicated privately, they had clearly reached a consensus at this moment.

We must control the situation.

If the battle royale devolves into a war of mutual distrust among players, then even a very strong player team... no, it is precisely because they are very strong that they will be feared by other player teams.

Unraveling the truth of the dungeon and completing it while remaining wary of all other players is incredibly difficult.

Just then, a dagger suddenly slipped from the sleeve of a silent male player. He then turned on his heels with a fierce look in his eyes, stood up, and stabbed at the neck of a female player sitting at another table.

The next second, a deep red afterimage flashed by, followed by the thud of the dagger in the male player's hand, along with his severed wrist, falling to the ground.

"Sword skills..."

After severing the player's wrist, Asuna Yuuki didn't hesitate at all and unleashed her most powerful sword technique at full speed.

"Stardust flew everywhere."

Eight beams of sword light flashed by, instantly slicing the male player's body and the fleshy tentacles that were trying to escape from his abdomen into pieces.

It wasn't until Asuna Yuuki slowly returned the shimmering light to the scabbard at her waist that most of the players present reacted. Looking at the mysterious swordsman beside them, whose face was obscured by the deep red cloak and the equipment, they couldn't help but show expressions of shock.

That's way too fast!?

From the moment the parasitized player took out the dagger to the moment Yuuki Asuna killed him, less than two seconds had passed. Yuuki Asuna and Asagiri were sitting about ten meters away from the scene of the incident.

This speed is terrifying! It turns out that there are already players in the game who are so strong that they are not even in the same dimension as them?

"I wonder if any of you have ever played Werewolf."

While the room was silent, Asagiri suddenly spoke with a smile.

"Of course, it's okay if you haven't played before. The logic is very simple. Among the players here, some have indeed been parasitized, but I can confirm that the number of parasitized players is far less than the number of normal players at this stage. If we attack other players based on unfounded suspicions without solid evidence, even if we are lucky enough to eliminate a few parasitized players, the final result will only be a sharp decrease in the number of normal players. Furthermore, we will no longer be able to hold any discussion meetings on strategy dungeons together like we do now. Do you understand?"

Upon hearing these words, the two teammates of the player killed by the man in the white suit, whose heads were gently grabbed by Shura, showed fear on their faces. One of them trembled and said...

"But...but our teammates weren't parasitized, so why..."

"Is it enough that he's an idiot who likes to stir up trouble and is a terrible teammate?"

Asagiri spoke without any hesitation.

"This guy is of no help in clearing the dungeon, can't think calmly, and only contributes to the parasites. Even if he himself wasn't parasitized, he would only be an obstacle for normal players to clear the dungeon. He deserved to die. We're all players who have survived to the third stage. Don't say such naive and stupid things."

After saying this, without any movement from Chaowu, the person behind the two players, Shura, disappeared.

Looking at the two players' faces, they were covered in sweat. They breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that they had escaped with their lives, but their eyes also showed fear. They didn't dare to look in the direction where Chaowu was sitting.

The atmosphere in the arena finally eased up a bit. In fact, the most crucial factor in stabilizing the situation was not the astonishing strength displayed by Asagiri or the player in the white suit, but rather the actions of Yuuki Asuna.

If the parasitic player had successfully killed the normal player, given the atmosphere just now, even if the players were afraid of the power that Asakura had displayed, they would definitely have chosen to leave immediately to avoid being in the same room as the parasitic player.

Through her actions, Asuna Yuuki made the players present realize that even if a parasitic player wanted to take this opportunity to kill someone, she was able to stop them in time and prevent such a thing from happening.

With security guaranteed, players will be more willing to sit here and share the information they have obtained.

After Yuuki Asuna sat back down beside him, Asagiri glanced at the players present and slowly began to speak.

"Alright, let's start sharing the information."

……

Fifteen minutes later, the players present had exchanged the information they had obtained.

About a dozen players, like Crazy Meeta, fell into a hallucination that felt like being trapped in the deep sea. They also saw a red area, but the difference was that they didn't hear the sounds made by the meaty tentacles. They were just quietly staying in the room when they suddenly fell into the hallucination. Fortunately, their teammates noticed that something was wrong and pulled them back to reality in various ways.

After learning this information, a new problem arose.

Players who were once confused may have already been parasitized. After all, once parasitized, they can pretend to have been awakened, making it impossible to effectively distinguish which players have been parasitized and which players have been successfully pulled back. Moreover, their phones have been checked by their teammates, and when everyone clicks on the eye icon app, the same prompt pops up.

The player who owns this phone is not dead.

The safest method, of course, is to kill all the players who have been in a state of confusion to prevent future troubles. However, the problem is that these dozen or so players belong to different teams. If it is certain that they have been parasitized, it would be fine, but killing them just because they are suspected will inevitably cause panic among the players.

Based on the available information, Asagiri and Kotoko Iwanaga initially judged that one of the prerequisites for "parasitism" is that the player's mind is out of control. This means that if the player panics and their mind fluctuates, the parasite will have a better chance of choosing a target.

Therefore, for players who have been in a state of confusion, we can only focus on them, not kill them directly.

Besides "parasitism," there is another pressing issue: the rising temperature inside the hotel.

When we first entered the instance, the temperature inside the hotel was around 25 degrees Celsius. Now, only four hours later, the temperature has risen to about 35 degrees Celsius.

The rising temperature causes players to consume more stamina when moving around, and also leads to the loss of body fluids.

At this rate, even if they stayed in their rooms without moving, the existing drinking water wouldn't be enough to last until the dungeon's time limit ended. There was a solution, though. Just like when Asagiri and the others entered the dungeon last time, the hotel's water supply system was still functioning normally, but…

Who would dare drink it? What would be the consequences if they did?

Kotoko Iwanaga could indeed sense the strange aura, but when the parasite was hiding inside the human body, she couldn't feel anything unusual. So even if she couldn't sense anything wrong with the hotel's water, it didn't mean she could drink it directly.

To identify parasitic players, a safe water source is essential. These two issues must be addressed, otherwise, as time goes on, the proportion of parasitic players will increase, while the overall condition of the players will continue to decline. Let alone surviving until the dungeon time limit ends, they probably won't even last forty-eight hours before being wiped out.

Just as the players were seriously pondering what to do next, the man in the white suit suddenly smiled and spoke.

"Everyone, I actually have the ability to identify parasitic players."

Upon hearing the man in the white suit's sudden remark, the players present were all shocked, while Asagiri smiled and a thought popped into her mind.

Is he a seer who can identify "werewolfs"? That's interesting.

"Since you have this ability, why..."

"My ability has a cooldown period, and I've already used it after the first dangerous period ended."

In response to a question raised by a player, the man in the white suit calmly replied.

“I can use that ability once every five hours. I certainly can’t verify everyone’s identity, so at the next meeting, I will check the players who have been confused and identify the one I think has the strongest ability. If I find that the player is a parasitic player, I will kill him directly. If not, I will also avoid the player being held back by suspicion. What do you all think?”

"I think it's perfectly fine."

Asagiri immediately expressed her agreement, and said with a light laugh.

"Having that ability would save a lot of trouble. After all, nobody wants their teammates to be caught in a self-defense dilemma, causing the whole team to be on edge, right?"

Hearing Asagiri's words, the players present thought about it seriously and felt that it made sense. Although they were teammates, they would still feel uncomfortable being in the same room with a companion who was suspected of being parasitized during the dangerous time when the carpet turned red. Since there was a way to verify it, that was the best thing.

"By the way, there's one more thing."

Just when the players thought the meeting was about to end, Asagiri suddenly spoke up.

"All players who have been in a state of confusion will leave their original teams and live together on one floor."

20

Chapter 20: The Tacit Understanding of Reaching a Consensus.

As soon as Asagiri said this, the atmosphere in the room, which had eased slightly, immediately erupted into whispers again. However, because of their fear of his power, no one dared to openly express their dissatisfaction, and they only spoke in hushed tones.

"What is this? Making our teammates leave and gather on another floor? How are we supposed to investigate and clear the dungeon then...?"

"Yeah, among the players who have been in a state of confusion, some must have already been parasitized, right? How could those normal players dare to stay with them..."

"Isn't this just a one-size-fits-all approach that sacrifices everyone..."

Unlike those teams where some members had been confused, the normal player teams, after a little thought, expressed their support for Asagiri.

"It seems promising... After all, players who have experienced confusion are an unstable factor."

"Anyway, I don't want to be on edge and guarding against attacks from parasitic players during dangerous times when I need to keep quiet."

"If anyone's to blame, it's their own suspicions, isn't it?"