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

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"Are those people still alive? Can they still stand up?"

"I...I can't stand up..."

The man in the white suit lay on the ground and raised his hand with all his might to wave.

"We've burned out..."

"Oh ho, you're plagiarizing here now?"

"What you said is indeed quite interesting, so I'll borrow it."

The man in the white suit first replied with a smile, then said weakly.

"We are indeed quite exhausted. We should be able to recover our mobility after a rest, but we probably won't be able to fight for a while."

Asagiri walked over slowly and saw that the four members of the white-suited team all looked exhausted and unable to continue. She shook her head and said.

"Sigh, really, just one battle and you're all this exhausted? I'm so disappointed."

Sensing that Asagiri was clearly teasing them, the woman in the fox demon mask couldn't help but retort.

"You four are just too overpowered, aren't you? This is the hidden boss of the third phase of the dungeon. After defeating it, you were still able to move around, and you weren't even seriously injured. After a short rest, you were able to continue fighting. In my opinion, you are much more terrifying than that Thousand-Faced Stone Statue."

"The Thousand-Faced Stone Statue..."

Seeing Asagiri walk back to the location of the eerie entity that had been burned to ashes, the four members of the white-suited squad couldn't help but tense up, and a terrifying thought surfaced in their minds.

Does this mean... it's not over yet?

But the eye icon app has clearly issued a warning. Has this player in black discovered some dangerous signs again?

Just as the four were filled with apprehension, Asagiri stared at the pile of ashes and spoke slowly in an extremely serious tone.

"A very interesting battle. I may never forget you, Parasitic Fleshball."

The man in the white suit and the others: "..."

The woman in the fox demon mask removed her mask and looked at Asuna Yuuki and the others standing there, her expression complicated.

"Is your captain... always this abstract?"

"yes……"

Asuna Yuuki sighed softly, looking helpless.

"It's been a long time since we've had a segment where enemies are given nicknames... but that's just how he is."

"The nickname 'Parasitic Fleshball'... isn't that a bit too abstract..."

"What do you know?"

Kotoko Iwanaga glanced at the female player and said confidently and forcefully.

"This is a humiliating moment for the enemy! The strong should thoroughly humiliate the weak!"

The female player and her three teammates: "..."

The four people are now confirmed.

The opposing team's personalities were the epitome of abstraction.

Could it be that……

Is becoming so abstract the price one has to pay to become a strong person?

Or maybe we could try it ourselves and play some abstract games while exploring the dungeons?

34

Chapter 34 A Desperate Situation.

After the four members of the Morning Mist Squad and the four members of the White Suit Squad went to the staff lounge on the 25th floor and retrieved about four or five chargers of each model, they arrived at the player meeting point, the buffet restaurant on the third floor of the hotel.

During this process, they discovered something.

The hotel's temperature has begun to return to normal.

Based on theoretical knowledge of dealing with strange events, and combined with the fact that the White Suit Squad once said that "gods" are a phenomenon, Kotoko Iwanaga put forward a bold hypothesis.

The "deity" that caused the high-temperature changes is actually like the human immune system, and the thousand-faced stone statue that controls the "parasite" is the virus recognized by the immune system.

The temperature gradually rose because the deity, acting as the "immune system," sensed the strange entity's unusual activity and spontaneously began to retaliate. After the strange entity was eliminated by the morning mist, it was as if the virus in the human body had been completely cleared away, and the immune system returned to normal.

However, there are still many doubts. For example, the Thousand-Faced Stone Statue is clearly a strange creature born in this hotel. As a kind of earthbound spirit, this hotel should be considered its territory. However, it was forced to stay on the 24th floor by the outside "god". Its main body does not even dare to leave the area of ​​the 24th floor. It can only affect other floors by "parasitizing". And in terms of that so-called "god", are these players also considered to be an outside invading "virus"?

According to the system's prompts, a new challenge will begin when half of the dungeon's time limit remains, which is 36 hours after entering the dungeon.

only……

Asuna Yuuki looked at the player teams whose faces were ashen and whose eyes had lost their sparkle, gently tugged at Asagiri's sleeve beside her, and whispered.

"Judging from their condition... I'm afraid they won't make it in time."

"Yes."

Asagiri nodded, showing no emotional fluctuation, and simply said...

"The fact that they are too weak and powerless has broken their spirits. In the next 24 hours, if they can regain their courage, they may still be of some use, but most of them have completely broken down and there is no possibility of recovery. Even if they are stronger than those ordinary players, they will not be able to successfully pass the level in the end."

The excessively high-pressure environment and tense atmosphere from the moment they entered the instance, coupled with the powerful mental influence of that eerie entity, had driven most of the player teams that were traveling with the Morning Mist Squad to a state of despair and mental breakdown.

The only reason they were able to force themselves to leave the 24th floor and return to the buffet on the 3rd floor was because they harbored the illusion that after Asagiri and the white-suited team eliminated the strange entity controlling the "parasite," the system would announce the early end of the dungeon, allowing the players to clear it and leave ahead of time.

However, after Asagiri actually eliminated the strange entity and the system issued a new notification, things didn't go as planned, which became the final straw that broke their spirits.

"Ahem, everyone."

Sensing the increasingly somber atmosphere, the man in the white suit glanced at the Asagiri Squad and the others sitting there. Noticing that they didn't seem to have any intention of giving an encouraging speech, he stood up and forced a smile to comfort them.

"Don't worry too much, everyone. Based on my experience, the system won't set up obstacles that players are guaranteed to die. Since we are all qualified to enter this instance, every player here definitely has a chance..."

Before the man in the white suit could finish speaking, a player with a sallow complexion and empty eyes muttered something.

Is there really still hope...?

"yes……"

One of the male players looked up, first glancing at the man in the white suit, then fixing his gaze on Asagiri, his eyes filled with resentment, and he gritted his teeth as he spoke.

"In the end, it's all your fault. If you hadn't insisted on destroying that strange entity, none of the hidden main storyline would have been triggered. So what if the 'parasitic' phenomenon continued to exist..."

Just as the male player was about to continue his accusations, Asagiri, who had been sitting a dozen meters away from him, suddenly stood up and appeared at his table almost instantly.

"Persona, Mita".

As soon as Crazy Metta was summoned, she used a chainsaw to decapitate the male player. His two teammates were about to get up when Asagiri conjured an ice spear that pierced through one of their heads. Then, she quickly thrust her sharp rope dart into the other's forehead.

After doing all this, as the dull thud of the corpses falling onto the carpet rang out, Asagiri picked up a napkin from the table, casually wiped the blood-stained rope dart in her hand, took the phones from the three players' corpses, and then slowly spoke as she looked at the stunned, trembling players with expressions of fear and dread.

"Does anyone else have any objections?"

The entire arena fell silent. Upon seeing Asagiri and Crazy Mita standing there, all the players stopped breathing and dared not utter a sound.

The four members of the white-suited squad, along with Asuna Yuuki, Megumi Kato, and Kotoko Iwanaga, could all understand why Asagiri so decisively killed the dissatisfied player and his two teammates.

It's very dangerous; the situation is getting out of control.

According to that player's logic, if Asagiri hadn't eliminated the Thousand-Faced Monster that controlled the parasites, perhaps the hidden main storyline wouldn't have been triggered. Perhaps the process of this dungeon would have been to guard against the parasitic players until the dungeon time limit expired and then clear it. But that's just a possibility. A more likely scenario is that the players would become mentally exhausted from guarding against the parasitic players, and even players with high mental strength would waver, ultimately being taken advantage of.

Alternatively, even after players have been in the dungeon for 36 hours and half of the time limit has been reached, new enemies will still appear, forcing players to face both new enemies and the Thousand-Faced Mystery simultaneously, significantly increasing the difficulty.

Therefore, that player's accusations were completely illogical and were simply an emotional outburst. However, under such high pressure, most players were unable to maintain calm and rational thinking and were likely to blame everything on Asagiri and the others due to momentary emotional outbursts.

The four members of the white-suited squad are still able to move, but they are too weak to continue fighting. The four members of the Asagiri squad can still fight, but due to the depletion of their mental and physical strength, their ability to exert force is also very limited.

If a violent conflict were to actually break out, the consequences would be unimaginable. Even if Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi were able to kill most of the players, it would still result in a huge drain on their resources, and they might even be seriously injured.

Therefore, even though Asagiri was still in a weakened state, he had to act decisively and immediately kill the complaining player and his teammates, using the fear and awe caused by pure power to control the increasingly unstable situation.

And with the bonus from the "Unruly Tyrant" class passive effect, he did indeed succeed in doing so.

"Is no one else going to express their opinion? Okay."

Asagiri nodded noncommittally, then looked at the man in the white suit sitting there and said calmly.

"Give them the phone chargers."

"it is good."

While the man in the white suit and his teammates were distributing phone chargers to the other players, Asagiri walked to the front of all the players, scanned them, and then spoke slowly in an unquestionable tone.

"You should all have seen the system's special notification. After 24 hours, new dangers may appear, which is equivalent to another instance opening."

At this point, Asagiri paused slightly, then said softly.

"Follow my instructions, and you might still be able to clear the dungeon successfully. To be frank, my teammates and I are aiming for the highest possible completion rating. Based on the current dungeon situation, the number of players we, as the strongest player team, can ultimately lead to a clear is a crucial factor in the system's decision regarding bonus levels. However…"

Immediately afterwards, Asagiri changed the subject and said in a calm tone.

"More important than the points gained from completing the level is whether you can successfully complete it. If any unstable factors like those just now appear again, I will eliminate them without hesitation. Do you understand?"

None of the players present dared to speak; they all lowered their heads, not even having the courage to meet Asagiri's gaze.

"Yes, that's right~"

Asagiri's tone changed instantly. She sat back down next to Yuuki Asuna and the others, and said with a smile.

“I could have used the phone chargers as leverage to blackmail you, or I could have just killed all of you, taken your phones, and started a lottery, but I didn’t do it. I’m just too kind. Sigh, my moral standards are too high; it’s a constraint I impose on myself.”

Upon hearing Asagiri's words, the players present were unsure how to react, but they all grasped the key point in Asagiri's words.

Could the other party simply kill everyone present if they wanted to...?

After all, this player was the one who eliminated the most bizarre boss in the dungeon. Perhaps... this player in black wasn't just putting on an act, but simply stating a fact.

No one dared to question it, because if they did, they would have to pay with their lives, just like the three players who lay lifeless on the carpet.

Under the control of a powerful tyrant, this extremely dangerous game of death continues.

35

Chapter 35: Astounding Wisdom.

After returning to room 7012, Asagiri took out the three players' phones, placed them on the table, and said calmly.

"To draw or obtain a player identity, you need to click the eye icon app on the corresponding phone within 24 hours. Only 13 hours have passed since entering the dungeon, and there are still 59 hours left. There's no way to take it out now, so just draw items or equipment directly."

Kotoko Iwanaga nodded and picked up one of the phones.

"Well, it's good to draw it. The equipment of players at that level might not be of much use, but we might get some useful items. In the previous battle, we used up our hand sanitizer and music box, and we also ran out of sniper rifle bullets. That thing without bullets is just a heavy piece of scrap metal. Let's see if we can get the corresponding type of bullets later."

"According to your previous plan..."

Asuna Yuuki stared at Asagiri's profile and tentatively asked.

"If we obtain equipment that's useless to us, we can hand it over to Ashikaga-sensei, right?"

"Well, actually I would prefer to directly transfer the phone of the deceased player to her. After all, compared to a piece of equipment or an item, registering a new player identity is obviously more valuable. Besides, it can inherit all the items and equipment that the original player owned. It's just a pity that more than 24 hours have passed since the end of this dungeon's time limit."

As Asagiri spoke, she tapped the eye icon app on her phone screen.

To be honest, he didn't have high expectations for the items or equipment he could obtain through random draws. After all, only powerful players had the opportunity to obtain powerful items and equipment. Even though he was in a weakened state at the time, the three players he was able to kill easily were obviously not particularly strong, and the items and equipment they possessed were probably not of much value to players of the team's level.

However, to Asagiri's surprise, what he drew was actually quite good.

[Acquired Equipment: Night Mother's Gift]

【Ring of the Night Mother (Purple Quality, Excellent): A ring bestowed by a being known as the "Night Mother" by an assassin organization. When wearing this ring, it will greatly reduce the power fluctuations when the player uses various abilities and completely conceal the player's aura, greatly reducing the possibility of the player being detected by perception skills.】

"Phantom, your gear."

Seeing the pure black ring that Asagiri handed her, the material of which was unclear, and the ring band with a small skull on it, Kato Megumi extended her left hand, but instead of taking the ring, she used her other hand to tuck a strand of black hair behind her ear and smiled.

"Could you help me put it on?"

"That won't work."

Asagiri shook her head and said with a smile.

"That's another price."

What is the price?

"Give me a kiss."