bookbashuk Page 174
Page 174
"Let's go together."
Asagiri, still holding hands with Kato Megumi, looked at Yuuki Asuna, who was also holding Kato Megumi's hand on the other side, and said softly.
"She did not fall into confusion, and the connection between her mind and body was not severed, which is also proof that she was not in danger. She knew that she had found some kind of clue, so she walked in the illusion, guiding us who are in reality."
"I see... No wonder."
Kotoko Iwanaga, who was tugging at the hem of Megumi Kato's clothes, walked alongside her and suddenly realized what was going on.
“No wonder none of the three of us received any special instructions. It’s because Phantom’s mental strength is lower than ours that she fell into the illusion while observing the pattern on the carpet. However, her mental strength is higher than that of ordinary players, so she has a chance to stay awake in the illusion and then activate her unique talent to get rid of the attention of the object controlling the illusion… As for those who are completely trapped in the illusion, although their bodies do not change, they are ‘parasitized’ because their minds are corrupted.”
"Yes."
Asagiri nodded and said softly.
"There are two ways to 'parasitize' players. For players with extremely high mental strength who may be able to resist the illusion, the fleshy tentacles will complete the parasitism by splitting off a part of their own body during the dangerous period when the player cannot move freely and the carpet turns red. For players with relatively low mental strength, it only needs to put the other party into a state of confusion for a certain period of time to complete the parasitism directly on a mental level."
25
Chapter 25: Boss Battle Guide
Led by Kato Megumi, the four-person team entered the fire escape and walked from the seventh floor all the way to the twenty-fourth floor.
"Huh... so hot..."
Because she had to hold Kato Megumi's hand with one hand and hold a long sword with the other, Yuuki Asuna couldn't even fan herself with her hand.
From the seventh to the twenty-second floor, it was alright. Although it was still stuffy, the temperature remained close to 40 degrees Celsius and did not rise. However, when going up from the twenty-second floor, the surrounding temperature suddenly increased, feeling like being in a sauna, reaching over 70 degrees Celsius.
Even Kotoko Iwanaga, who always wore a long dress and dressed like a delicate Barbie doll, and once said that outward beauty was life, finally behaved herself under the high temperature and changed her "phantom clothes" into hot pants and a sleeveless top.
When Asuna saw that Asagiri, despite wearing black trousers, a hunter's trench coat, and a dark gray mask, remained unmoved, she couldn't help but ask her with concern.
"Aren't you hot?"
Asagiri shook her head, speaking in a profound and enigmatic manner.
"A calm mind brings coolness; if you feel hot, it's because your mind isn't calm enough."
"Are you an enlightened monk who has grasped some kind of Zen wisdom...?"
Asuna Yuuki shook her head helplessly, and just then, Megumi Kato finally stopped and stood at the entrance to the fire escape on the 24th floor, not taking another step.
"Looks like this is the place."
Asagiri looked at Alice, who was following behind the four of them and holding a teddy bear that kept telling dirty jokes, and said softly.
“Pull her out.”
"Okay, big brother~"
Alice nodded obediently, then walked up to Kato Megumi, gently poked her with her small, white hand. Immediately afterward, the confusion in Kato Megumi's eyes gradually disappeared, and her mind left the illusory underwater world, returning to reality.
After regaining consciousness, Kato Megumi pointed to the door of the fire escape on the 24th floor and said softly.
"The scene in the illusion was a wooden door, and the red light was seeping out from the cracks in the door..."
Seeing that Kato Megumi, Yuuki Asuna, and Asagiri were all looking at her, Iwanaga Kotoko, an expert on the supernatural, smiled and said.
"It seems it's time for the God of Wisdom to give us a lesson. Judging from what the Phantom saw, this should be the location of the real body of the strange creature that controls the parasite."
Noticing Kotoko Iwanaga's eager expression of "Come ask me, come ask me," Asuna Yuuki shook her head helplessly, but still asked the question according to the other party's plan.
"Is that so? But why did that strange thing make us discover its traces?"
"Hmph, you just don't understand~ How stupid of you..."
"boom."
"Well……"
Asagiri reached out and gently tapped Iwanaga Kotoko's head, smiling as she spoke.
"How can we understand if you don't explain? Hurry up."
"Tch... So my boyfriend has sadistic tendencies...?"
Kotoko Iwanaga first muttered a complaint under her breath, then immediately resumed her serious demeanor, raising her fair index finger. It's unclear why she was shaking her hand while speaking; perhaps she thought it looked cool.
"Have you ever heard of those stories about being trapped in a maze? You wander around in one place and can't seem to leave. After a long time, you suddenly find yourself still in the same spot. It's actually similar to this situation. When people are trapped in an illusion, their mind and body are separated. Their mind thinks they are moving, but their body is still in the same place. However, because Phantom remained conscious in the illusion and used her abilities to evade the strange creature's attention, her mind, although trapped in the illusion, did not separate from her body. The strange creature was completely unprepared for this situation, which is why we discovered its true location."
"I see."
Yuuki Asuna nodded first, then reached out and gently stroked Iwanaga Kotoko's head, smiling tenderly.
"Luckily you're here."
"Hmph, of course, I am..."
Just as they were talking, Kotoko Iwanaga realized something was wrong, slapped away Asuna Yuuki's hand that was stroking her head, and said angrily.
"I'm not a child, why are you talking to me like that? Don't do that!"
Asuna Yuuki smiled.
"Mmm, okay, okay."
Kato Megumi looked at Asagiri and asked.
"Leader, should we... attack next?"
"No, let's go back first."
Asagiri glanced at the door to the fire escape on the 24th floor and said in a calm tone.
"Although the four of us might be able to destroy that strange source, it will definitely consume a lot of physical and mental energy. I might even have to use the Supreme Magic Bullet. Don't forget, besides the four of us, there are more than a hundred other players surviving in the dungeon. If we destroy the strange thing that controls the parasite on our own, we can indeed monopolize the system's level bonus, but it will also cause our condition to decline. So it's better to team up with those strong player teams to fight together. This will reduce our consumption while also making them consume physical and mental energy, maintaining a relative balance in strength."
"What if someone deliberately causes trouble? Like a parasitic player hiding in the shadows?"
Hearing Kato Megumi's concern, Asagiri smiled and waved her hand.
"It's not that complicated. When we headed to the equipment room, they had already deployed all their freely moving pieces to stop us. Unless they could foresee that we would discover their main body's location, and anticipate that we would seek cooperation with a powerful player team, and then risk using their own main body as bait to set up such a trap whose effectiveness is uncertain, the uncertainty is too high, and I feel..."
"It doesn't have that high an IQ either."
……
When the four members of the team returned to room 7012 on the seventh floor of the hotel, it was just in time for the dangerous moment when the carpet began to turn red. However, this time, the information about the strange thing that controlled the parasitic phenomenon had been almost completely deciphered, and Asuna Yuuki and Megumi Kato were no longer as nervous as they had been when they first entered the instance because they knew nothing.
"Assuming the first puzzle has been solved..."
Having learned of the strange entity's ability to manipulate parasitic phenomena, the four members of the team no longer needed to remain silent. With Asagiri and Alice, the other party's Persona, present, the other party simply couldn't do anything to them.
Kotoko Iwanaga rested her chin on her hand, seemingly lost in thought.
"Only seven hours have passed so far, which is less than a tenth of the seventy-two-hour time limit for the instance. But we have almost figured out the meaning of the special and public hints. After eliminating the strange thing that manipulates the parasitic phenomenon, will the hidden objective of the instance be achieved, just like when we came here last time, and we can end the instance early and leave? Or... will new dangers appear later?"
"You'll find out then. 厃"
Asagiri lay on the sofa, ignoring Asuna Yuuki's slightly shy expression, and casually twirled the other's smooth, flaxen hair with her fingers as she spoke.
"Let's take care of that guy first, then we can think about resupplying."
……
This dangerous period lasted a long time, a full three hours, before the carpet in the hotel corridor returned to its normal color. Just like the previous two times, all the remaining players gathered at the buffet restaurant on the third floor.
The man in the white suit roughly counted the remaining players. The Morning Mist Squad had killed 24 parasitic players, leaving 112 normal players. Just like last time, there were no apparent casualties.
Has anyone ever felt lost or confused?
Upon hearing the words of the man in the white suit, the players present exchanged glances, but no one spoke.
"Ok?"
The man in the white suit frowned slightly upon seeing this, wondering if this was too strange.
He did consider the possibility that some players might have been in a state of confusion, but neither they nor their teammates reported it. But would everyone do that? That's impossible.
"Not a single one?"
"That guy's strength isn't enough, is it?"
In the silence, Kotoko Iwanaga suddenly spoke.
"The power of this strange entity is not inexhaustible. The twenty-four... no, one of them was killed in the last meeting. All twenty-five parasitic players were eliminated. Although they were puppets created by the split of the main body, the death of the parasitic players would still have some impact on the main body. This time, the danger lasted for three hours, which may be the reason why it was using this time to recover..."
At this point, Kotoko Iwanaga couldn't help but sigh, looking slightly regretful.
"Sigh, it's true, I only realized this now. I actually gave that guy time to catch his breath and recover. I should have just attacked directly. Unfortunately, I was too cautious."
"attack……"
The female player wearing a fox demon mask next to the man in the white suit hesitated.
"Where should we attack?"
"We have located the other party's main body."
Asagiri tapped her fingers lightly on the table, and with a relaxed smile, she addressed the players present, who were staring at her in astonishment.
"Next, we need to eliminate it. Who wants to come along?"
Upon hearing this, the man in the white suit immediately raised his hand and spoke without hesitation.
"My teammates and I are willing to participate."
Players who have survived to this stage know very well that defeating a BOSS, or even just assisting in defeating a BOSS within a dungeon, will definitely earn a very considerable bonus to the completion level. So what if there are risks? Nobody wants to miss such an opportunity.
"We want to go too!"
"And us!"
"Count us in too!"
Seeing the players in the arena signing up one after another, Asagiri simply raised his right hand and pressed it down. With this action, the originally noisy arena immediately quieted down. After all, from the perspective of the other players, this black-clad player and his teammates were terrifying beings who could eliminate more than twenty parasitic players without suffering any damage.
"Not just anyone can go."
Asagiri glanced at the players present and slowly began to speak.
"Only players with the strength are qualified to participate in our operations."
26
Chapter 26 The Weeping Wall.
Hearing Asagiri's words, the players didn't show any dissatisfaction. After all, only high-level players whose strength far exceeds the average level of players at this stage are qualified to participate in dungeon boss battles. If weak players who are not strong enough are invited to join, it will only affect the performance of the other players.
Everyone was hoping that the player in the long black trench coat would choose them to join the mission to defeat the BOSS.
"First and foremost, it's this team."
When Asagiri pointed at the team of the male player in the white suit, the players present were not surprised. Anyone could see that these two teams were the strongest in this dungeon, and it was only natural that they would attack the BOSS together.
"Then there are these four teams."
Next, Asagiri pointed to three three-person player teams and one four-person player team. Kotoko Iwanaga and Asuna Yuuki, who were sitting next to him, knew very well that in the four teams that Asagiri had chosen, there were members who had discovered Megumi Kato when the players first gathered at the cafeteria.
Being able to spot Kato Megumi in her special talent state is proof of her strength.
"As for the rest..."
Asagiri glanced at the players she hadn't selected and spoke with a smile.
"Alright, next is the self-recommendation session. Anyone who thinks they have high enough mental resilience and a special skill can contact them privately."
"what?"
Seeing that Asagiri was pointing at him, the man in the white suit was taken aback for a moment, then immediately nodded.
"Yes, yes, you can come and chat with me privately. Even if you are not selected, I will not reveal your abilities."
After arranging this matter, Asagiri asked.
Has anyone already eaten or drunk any of the hotel's food or drinking water?
"We've already had our drinks."
"We are too, it's so hot, we'll get dehydrated if we don't drink soon."
Seeing that most players had already drunk the hotel's drinking water and eaten the food they found in the hotel's buffet restaurant, Asagiri nodded and then said calmly.
"For one hour, while the player in the white suit is reviewing the information, all players who are going to participate in the battle should replenish their water and food and adjust their condition to the best. If they are not in enough condition, they should ask the players who are not participating in the battle to give up their supplies."