bookbashuk Page 133
Page 133
Who should I lead?
What about the remaining one?
The simplest way is to summon either Shura or Mita and let their Persona hold the remaining person back, but doing so will present an extremely serious problem.
Shura field.
No matter whose hand he takes, the remaining person will inevitably feel a sense of loss after regaining their senses.
"This is really too tricky..."
If the mastermind behind all this knew that Asagiri not only hadn't fallen into the illusion, but even had the leisure to struggle with such a problem, he would probably be so angry that he would vomit blood.
"Hmm...it seems this is the only way..."
Meanwhile, Asuna Yuuki, who was trapped in the illusion, suddenly felt her neck being grabbed. When she turned around, she saw a hideous and terrifying blood face come into view.
"ah!!!"
The sudden appearance of the terrifying blood-red face made Asuna Yuuki tremble with fear, unable to maintain her composure any longer, and she instinctively let out a cute scream.
The next second, she felt a warmth in her hand. Just like Iwanaga Kotoko, Yuuki Asuna immediately realized that it was Asagiri's hand and instantly felt relieved. However, Asagiri then used the method of writing on her palm to say something to her that made Yuuki Asuna blush and feel embarrassed and at a loss for words.
"I finally got to see my lovely girlfriend scream in fright and tremble with fear."
Asagiri's other hand was drawing on Iwanaga Kotoko's palm.
"I'm going to carry you on my back."
Kotoko Iwanaga responded in the same way.
"Quickly! I can't wait!"
Asagiri thought to herself, "As expected of Kotoko Iwanaga." First, she carried the petite woman on her back, then, holding Asuna Yuuki's hand, she walked to Megumi Kato, who had a blank look in her eyes, and slowly extended her hand.
Kato Megumi's pupils contracted in surprise. Like Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna, she must have seen some kind of terrifying illusion when Asagiri approached. Needless to say, this was definitely the work of the mastermind, whose purpose was to make them stay away from Asagiri.
However, what the other party never expected was that although they were girls, and although Asuna Yuuki and Megumi Kato were somewhat afraid of ghosts and monsters, neither of them, along with Kotoko Iwanaga, were stupid, and...
Even though she couldn't see or hear, she could tell from the touch that the person holding her hand was Asagiri, and she trusted them completely.
“Persona…”
With Asagiri holding Yuuki Asuna's right hand and Kato Megumi's left hand, and with Iwanaga Kotoko constantly rubbing her cheek against his neck and taking the opportunity to flirt with him, Asagiri summoned his Persona. But this time, it wasn't the human Shura.
"Alice."
Alice, dressed in a dress, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and an adorable appearance like a little girl, slowly appeared, a simple and sweet smile on her face, and whispered.
"What's wrong, big brother?"
"Do you ever have that kind of..."
After thinking carefully for a while, Asagiri finally found the most suitable word.
"Is there a Spinosaurus mode that goes all out? The one where you feel most terrifying?"
"The scariest moment?"
Alice tilted her head, a look of confusion on her face. After a while, she cautiously spoke.
"Although I don't quite understand what you mean, big brother, I can give it a try."
After saying this, Alice hugged the teddy bear in her arms even tighter, her eyes turning into the bright golden yellow that Asagiri had turned when summoning Shura, and her long, pale golden hair began to move without wind.
Meanwhile, the three women—Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi—who were trapped in the illusion, suddenly saw cracks appear in their vision, like glass about to shatter, before exploding a few seconds later.
"boom."
After the image shattered, their senses of touch, smell, hearing, and sight were restored.
"Phew...it's out..."
Asuna Yuuki first breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the warmth in her palm. She subconsciously turned her head, but the scene that came into view made her burst out laughing.
"Pfft... What kind of pose is that... It's hilarious..."
Asagiri's posture at this moment was indeed somewhat comical, with Kato Megumi in her left hand and Yuuki Asuna in her right.
If it were just that, it wouldn't be a big deal; it would even look like he's having two women on his back. But the key point is that he also has the petite Kotoko Iwanaga on his back.
The art style suddenly became strange, transforming him from a handsome Tokyo guy with a harem into a tired old father with three daughters.
"You three are so embarrassing."
Asagiri released Kato Megumi and Yuuki Asuna's hands, letting Iwanaga Kotoko jump off his back. Then he shook his head and spoke frankly.
"To think I could fall under an illusion spell! Luckily, I'm a gentleman, otherwise, what if I took the opportunity to do something untoward to you?"
Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi were both at a loss for words when they heard this, but Iwanaga Kotoko looked excited.
"Forced Play? That's fantastic!"
Upon hearing this, Asagiri couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.
"Wow, you're a complete pervert."
"This is honesty, it's a strength."
Kotoko Iwanaga first made this boastful statement, then smiled slightly. Seeing her expression, Megumi Kato couldn't help but ask curiously.
"Just thinking about doing that kind of thing with the Leader makes you this happy? You're smiling like a pervert."
"Go away, you're the one who's a pervert."
Kotoko Iwanaga replied curtly, then raised her cane and said with great force.
"I laugh at that evil spirit's lack of wisdom, and the Black Watcher's lack of strategy. An illusion? That's the biggest flaw!"
Immediately afterwards, Kotoko Iwanaga looked at Megumi Kato and Asuna Yuuki with a mysterious expression.
"The hallucinations you two experienced were also those bustling scenes with caregivers, patients, and doctors constantly coming and going, right?"
"Yes, are the three of us seeing... the same illusion...?"
"Then why? Why do we see the same illusion? If it were really just to slow us down or make us lose our composure, they could have created a much more terrifying illusion. So I say, this is the flaw."
Kotoko Iwanaga's deep purple eyes shone with confidence. Despite her petite stature and usual tendency to play with abstract concepts, she revealed another side of herself as the "Goddess of Wisdom" at this moment.
"There are generally two reasons why monsters trap humans in illusions. The first is to break the spirit of those trapped in the illusion so that they can hunt them. I initially thought that was the case, but upon closer inspection, the demons here are already powerful enough and can regenerate continuously, so why would they use this method? Therefore, there is only the second possibility."
Kotoko Iwanaga's dark purple eyes flickered as she scanned the doors in the hall before slowly speaking.
"The other side wants to make us go to a place that has been set up with a trap by trapping us in an illusion, or at least not go to a certain place. But if it's the former, why not do it from the beginning instead of having the twin brothers ambush us here? So I think it's more likely that we eliminated the twin brothers guarding this place, which made the mastermind afraid, so he wants to use an illusion to make sure we don't go to a certain place."
"As for what place it is and which route it is, we can tell by comparing the scene in reality with the scene in the illusion we just saw and finding the differences."
"This is the flaw."
77
Chapter 77 Old Huo suffers cruel torture.
"Is this the difference between illusion and reality...?"
Upon hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's words, Megumi Kato recalled the scene she had witnessed earlier and pondered it carefully.
"In a bustling mental hospital... what place do we least want to go?"
"No, the mastermind behind it might be even smarter."
Kotoko Iwanaga first muttered something to herself, then glanced around the hall before her, before suddenly revealing a smile.
“I see. I understand now. The other party knows that a mere illusion is unlikely to completely stop us. It also knows that I am not afraid or terrified and can remain calm even if I am trapped in the illusion. Therefore, the flaws it deliberately exposed are actually traps.”
At this point, Kotoko Iwanaga walked to the wall in the hall and pointed to a certain spot on the wall.
"In the hallucination just now, there was a structural diagram of this floor posted here, but it's not there in reality. It must have been destroyed by a mental patient or something. I remember clearly that there are four areas: A, B, C, and D. The four of us are in area A, and the safety passage to the next floor is in area D. The place we would never go through to get to the safety passage from our location is area C. There are three possibilities."
"The first possibility is that the route to the safe passage is correct. The mastermind behind the illusion wants us to be unaware of its intentions and deliberately makes us discover the correct route in the illusion so that we can leave quickly and not interfere with what it is doing."
"The second type is that the so-called safe passage is not safe at all. After all, the Jushan Mental Hospital has now become a strange area. The so-called safe passage route to the upper level in the structural diagram actually hides dangers."
"The third possibility is that it guessed all my thoughts and that I would make these analyses, so it played a counterintuitive trick, making it seem like the C area, which it didn't want us to pass through, was the most dangerous and terrifying place."
After saying this long speech, Kotoko Iwanaga looked up at Megumi Kato, Asuna Yuuki, and Asagiri in front of her, and smiled.
So, what are everyone's opinions?
"Um……"
Kato Megumi looked like she was thinking seriously, and after a few seconds, she honestly shook her head.
"My head is spinning, I didn't understand."
"You didn't fail to understand, you just weren't paying attention at all, were you?"
Kotoko Iwanaga pursed her lips and looked at Asuna Yuuki.
"Violet, what do you think?"
"It feels... pointless, doesn't it?"
Asuna Yuuki pursed her lips and cautiously offered her reminder.
"The special tip Leader received was about the location of caregiver Old Huo, wasn't it? He's in area C on this floor. If that's the case, then we definitely need to go to area C to find him. No matter which possibility it is, our choice won't change, right?"
"That's a bad word."
Hearing Asagiri use such literary language to refute her idea, Asuna Yuuki frowned slightly, wondering if she had overlooked some important detail. But the next second, she realized she was overthinking it.
“If Necro doesn’t analyze things, how can she demonstrate her wisdom? And when we see through their thoughts, choosing to go to Area C is different from blindly rushing into Area C like headless flies. Although they seem to be doing the same thing, the former is clearly cooler.”
"That's right~"
Kotoko Iwanaga nodded and said with a smile.
"Those who truly understand me are my leaders."
"As expected of the two of you, your strange thought processes are still connected here."
Asuna Yuuki sighed helplessly, then looked at Kotoko Iwanaga and asked earnestly.
"Do you remember the details of the structural diagram in the illusion? Can you be sure the route to Area C written on it is real? After all, the illusion was created by an evil spirit; what if it made some modifications to it..."
"Haven't you figured it out yet, Violet?"
Before Iwanaga Kotoko could explain, Asagiri spoke with a smile.
"Although the three of you were just trapped in an illusion, it wasn't a pure illusion. The other party merely pulled you into the illusion, but it itself doesn't have the ability to create or modify illusions. Think carefully, what is the real source of all this strangeness? Is it Chris Walker, the groom, the twins, and those people? No, it's the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital itself."
Following up on Asagiri's words, Kotoko Iwanaga explained to Asuna Yuuki and Megumi Kato.
“My mental strength is very high, and I am resistant to all kinds of strange phenomena. I can also sense strange auras. But before I fell into the illusion and while I was in it, although I knew that the scene in front of me was fake, I did not sense anything wrong. If the evil spirit on this level has such powerful and strange power, would it need to play these tricks on us? Impossible. The only reasonable explanation is that it has mastered the strange laws of the ‘Giant Mountain Mental Hospital’. It does not create illusions, but only makes us fall into illusions in some way. And the specific scene and the source of power of the illusion are the ‘Giant Mountain Mental Hospital’ itself.”
"This……"
Upon hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's words, Asuna Yuuki felt a chill run down her spine and cautiously replied.
"The Giant Mountain Mental Hospital itself is eerie, could it be that this area... is sentient?"
"Oh, that's unlikely."
Asagiri shook her head and said with a smile.
"Leaving aside the second phase of the dungeon, is it possible that the difficulty is too high, and the entire area is consciously targeting the player? Think about it from another perspective, climbing those high mountains is also dangerous, free climbing is also dangerous, crossing turbulent rivers, and sailing at sea. Don't we have many dangerous areas like that in our world? But even if it's dangerous, even if many people die, does that mean that the mountains, rivers, and oceans have their own consciousness? No, it's not like that."
"Oh?"
Upon hearing Asagiri's words, Kotoko Iwanaga seemed somewhat surprised and exclaimed in astonishment.
"I didn't expect you to have such a good understanding of strange phenomena, Leader. You're absolutely right."
"Of course."
Asagiri nodded without hesitation and smiled.
"After all, I am the boyfriend of the princess of the monsters, how can I not do some related homework and research?"
Upon hearing this, Kotoko Iwanaga couldn't help but smile. She ran over and hugged Asagiri's arm, rubbing her fair cheek against it, her voice soft and adorable.
Hehe, I knew it, you love me~
"You two, stop being so mushy."
Asuna Yuuki said irritably, gripping her rapier tightly, and slowly began to speak.