bookbashuk Page 15
Page 15
"Oh...oh, okay."
Once Asuna Yuuki was equipped with her rapier and approached, Asagiri pointed at the red-clad female ghost.
"Stab her, but don't stab her in vital spots, I'll need her later."
Yuuki Asuna felt that what he said sounded a bit strange, but she still followed Asagiri's instructions and quickly stabbed the red-clothed female ghost into her body with her rapier.
The next second, when she drew her rapier, she found that the other person's wound was not bleeding and had healed completely in the blink of an eye. However, the severed arm that had been torn apart by the Asura showed no signs of recovery.
"I see, so weapons made of ordinary materials can't completely destroy evil spirits, that's what it means..."
Asuna Yuuki thought to herself that her rapier, while seemingly unable to completely destroy the evil spirit, could still inflict damage on it. Although it would recover in the blink of an eye, at least if she encountered the evil spirit alone, she could quickly sever its legs with the agility boost from the Wind's Blessing and then escape during the opening.
"Uh huh..."
"You're still here? No, you're not allowed to!"
At this moment, Asagiri, who was stepping on the female ghost's head, looked like a real evil spirit.
He first released his foot, then squatted down, reached out and gently stroked the red-clad female ghost's hair, and then leaned in to smell it.
Seeing Asagiri's actions, Asuna Yuuki was dumbfounded, recalling what the other had just said—he would later use the female ghost's words...
No, isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?
Could it be that Asagiri rushed down the moment he heard the crying because he had... a peculiar fetish for controlling female ghosts?
"The smell of shampoo, and water droplets still on my hair... Is it a drowned ghost? If I'm not mistaken..."
Asagiri looked directly into the eyes of the woman in red and spoke slowly.
"You drowned in the bathtub before you died, didn't you?"
Upon hearing these words, the resentment in the red-clad female ghost's eyes lessened slightly, but she still stared at Asagiri with great vigilance, unsure of his intentions.
Asuka Yuuki, however, already knew what Asagiri was planning to do.
Diplomat, it's time to begin diplomacy.
030 Torture is also a form of diplomacy
Upon hearing the word "bathtub," the female ghost in the blood-stained pajamas suddenly narrowed her pupils, and even her shoulders trembled slightly.
"That's true..."
Asagiri noticed the change in the other person's emotions, smiled slightly, and said softly.
"If that's the case, then things will be much easier."
As soon as she finished speaking, Asagiri grabbed the red-clad female ghost's wet, long black hair, dragged her along, and pushed open the stairwell door, entering the hotel corridor.
Seeing this, Asuna Yuuki looked up at the floor number displayed above the stairwell and, after confirming that this was the seventh floor of the hotel, quickly followed.
"boom!!!"
With one hand, Asagiri grabbed the female ghost by the hair and, after entering the hotel corridor, found the nearest room, kicked open the door, and dragged the struggling red-clad female ghost inside.
"Violet, go to the bathroom and fill the bathtub with water."
Upon hearing Asagiri's order, and seeing the red-clad female ghost being pinned to the ground by the demon, struggling incessantly but only able to utter barely audible sobs because her mouth was gagged by that arm, Yuuki Asuna nodded without hesitation, then stepped into the bathroom and turned on the bathtub faucet.
With the sound of rushing water, the water level in the bathtub gradually rose.
While waiting, Asuna Yuuki didn't sit idle. She carefully observed the environment of the bathroom, not wanting to miss any detail that could yield useful information.
Just as she had guessed, the hotel was indeed a very high-end type. Not only the suite where the players were initially placed when they entered the instance, but even this ordinary double room had a bathroom with a wet and dry separation, consisting of a bathtub, shower, and toilet, separated into three cubicles by opaque frosted glass.
Asuna Yuuki tried turning the faucet, but only cold water came out.
"Is the hot water supply system broken...?"
As a young lady from a wealthy family, Yuuki Asuna knew that high-end hotels like this wouldn't install household water heaters in the rooms. Usually, they would use large gas boilers, and then use water tanks and pipes to deliver hot water to the rooms on each floor of the hotel.
Asuna Yuuki silently kept this information in mind. After all, forty minutes had passed since she entered the instance. If you exclude the red-clad female ghost who was "captured" by Asagiri, this place was just like a normal, still-operating hotel.
The corridor lights were on, indicating that the power supply had not been interrupted. There was no bloodstains or anything like that on the carpet or the walls of the corridor. To be honest, the atmosphere of terror was far less than that of the last instance location, the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital. The only suspicious point that might be a clue was the small detail that there was no hot water in this hotel, which seemed to be operating normally.
"Has the water been put away?"
Upon hearing Asagiri's voice, Asuna Yuuki turned around, looked at her opponent who was holding the female demon's long hair with one hand, and nodded with a slightly complicated expression.
"Well, it's almost there."
"Okay, let's get started."
Asagiri dragged the woman in red inside, then glanced at Yuuki Asuna and smiled.
"Are you going to watch, or go outside and wait?"
"You're underestimating me far too much, aren't you?"
Asuna Yuuki crossed her arms over her chest and frowned slightly.
"Isn't it just soaking it in water and then interrogating it? It's not human, so don't worry, I won't feel any pity for it."
"With your words, I feel relieved."
Asagiri first replied with a smile, then walked to the bathtub, grabbed the red-clad female ghost by the hair, and slammed her head hard against the edge of the bathtub. Then she squatted down and looked directly into the ghost's eyes, which were filled with fear and trembling the moment they saw the water in the bathtub. She seemed to want to say something, but then shook her head.
"Forget it, it's come to this point, I'm too lazy to continue this verbal negotiation with you. I'm too lazy to talk, and you don't deserve to listen. You'll understand after you suffer a bit, but even if you don't understand, I don't care. I can just experiment to see if water can drown evil spirits, and if it can, how long it would take."
At this point, Asagiri stood up, while his human-like figure entered the bathroom. The tall, black shadow was extremely oppressive. Then, to Asuna Yuuki's shocked gaze, the human-like figure tore off the red-clad female ghost's other arm and legs as if tearing a rag doll.
Seeing this, Asuna Yuuki felt physically uncomfortable, but she knew that this was the safest method, so she didn't say anything. She just watched Asagiri cancel the summoning of the human demon, and then, holding the red-clothed female ghost by the hair with one hand, slowly immersed the other's body into the bathtub.
"Uhhhhh!!!"
The moment her body touched the water, the woman in red suddenly let out a hiss from her throat, as if she wanted to scream, but her arm was still stuffed in her mouth, so she could only make a barely audible whimper.
"There will be no pain, and it will be over soon."
Asagiri said that first, then added with a smile.
"Of course, I don't care if you're in pain. The more pain you're in, the more fun I'll find it. So keep going!"
"Uhhhhh!!!"
Just as Asagiri was about to shove the red-clad female ghost's head directly into the water, his phone suddenly vibrated.
With one hand holding the limbless, red-clad female ghost, Asagiri took out her phone from her pocket with the other and opened the app with the eye icon.
[The diplomat's passive skill has been activated; diplomatic tactic type: Intimidation of Fear]
[Diplomatic effect: Outstanding]
"The app's notification saved you."
After reading the prompt, Asagiri smiled, picked up the red-clad female ghost again, threw her to the ground, reached out and removed the arm that was stuffed in her mouth, revealing a kind smile.
"Since that's the case, I'll give you a chance. Can you even speak?"
The red-clad female ghost trembled, trying to curl up backward, but her limbs had been torn off by the Asura, making even such a simple movement impossible.
Facing the gazing gaze of the high-ranking woman, her body trembled like a leaf. After a few seconds, the bloodstains on her red nightgown gradually faded, turning into a somewhat yellowish-white, and she emitted a hoarse sound.
"Yes...I can talk..."
031 Dangerous water source
Upon hearing this and seeing the red-clad... no, now white-clad female ghost trembling in fear, Yuuki Asuna was dumbfounded.
Is there such a thing?
Is the passive skill of the diplomat profession really this powerful? It can transform a vengeful spirit originally dressed in blood-red clothes into this timid, obedient cat-like creature? Even the red robes that symbolize a vengeful ghost are gone?
No, that's not right.
Asuna Yuuki glanced at Asagiri's profile and thought that if she had the passive ability of a special professional diplomat, she definitely wouldn't be able to break down the female ghost's defenses in just a few minutes like Asagiri.
Passive skills are passive skills, but how effective they are depends on the user.
Although Asuna Yuuki said that she would have no pity for non-human evil spirits, there was one thing that Asagiri could never do.
This guy really thinks he's having a lot of fun.
The more terrified and struggling the female ghost became, the more pleasure he felt. Chun Chun was a chaotic and evil entertainer. Not to mention the female ghost, even Yuuki Asuna, who was watching from the side, felt a chill in her heart.
"Can talk? That's good."
Asagiri smiled with satisfaction and, without any formalities, asked directly.
"How many evil spirits are in this hotel? How did these evil spirits come to be? Is there a weapon somewhere in this hotel that can destroy them? Is there any noteworthy information in the lobby? Under what conditions will evil spirits attack humans? Is there any way to completely avoid them?"
Hearing this long string of questions, the female ghost was taken aback. However, facing this human who had just tried to immerse her in the bathtub and was even more evil than a demon, she didn't dare to hesitate at all and immediately replied meekly.
"I don't know exactly how many evil spirits there are, nor do I know how I was born..."
"Heh, so you're going to put up a stubborn resistance with me here, huh?"
Asagiri grabbed the female ghost's long hair again, lifted her off the ground, and placed her above the bathtub filled with water, speaking calmly.
"In that case, I'll send you on your way."
"No...no!"
Seeing that Asagiri was about to throw her into the water, the female ghost hurriedly shouted and replied in a hoarse voice.
"I don't know about these things because I can't leave the seventh floor! But I know the answers to the last two questions! If you enter the area of the seventh floor of the hotel, I can attack you, but because I can't leave the seventh floor, as long as you don't voluntarily enter my floor, I can't do anything to you!"
"It's lying."
Upon hearing the female ghost's answer, Asuna Yuuki frowned, took two steps forward, looked directly into the other's eyes, and slowly spoke.
"If it's really as you say, that you can't attack us unless we enter your floor, then why did you cry and scratch the wall with your fingernails? Shouldn't you have remained silent and launched a surprise attack?"
"me..."
Faced with Asuna Yuuki's questioning, the female ghost opened her mouth, a look of confusion appearing in her eyes.
"I don't know why, I just feel... we absolutely can't let you go any further..."
Upon hearing this answer, Asuna Yuuki pondered for a moment before looking at Asagiri.
"Assuming what it says is true, then it should belong to the legendary earthbound spirit, and... its duty is not to attack humans who enter this hotel, but to prevent anyone from going downstairs. Combined with the special hint you received, it can be basically confirmed that the first floor of this hotel is the core key point of this instance."
Asuna Yuuki knew why Asagiri had asked if there was a weapon in the hotel that could completely eliminate evil spirits. Only if the hotel had such a weapon and she had the ability to obtain it would the special prompt she received when entering the instance be valuable.
That app with the eye icon can't possibly provide completely worthless information.
"Going down is dangerous... So, is the condition for clearing the dungeon to stay in place or try to go up as far as possible? No, this isn't a beginner's dungeon; the conditions for clearing it shouldn't be that simple..."
Asuna Yuuki muttered to herself, took out her phone and glanced at the time displayed on the screen. She realized that there were less than ten minutes left until the agreed meeting time. Then she looked up at the female ghost that Asagiri was carrying and asked a crucial question.
"Why are you so afraid of water? Did you drown, or... is there something strange about the water in this hotel?"
"water..."
Just as the female ghost was about to say something, her pupils suddenly dilated, and her body suddenly swelled up.
"careful!"
Yuuki Asuna, who had never let her guard down, reacted extremely quickly. She opened the bathroom door, pushed Asagiri out, followed her out, and then immediately closed the door.
Two seconds later, a muffled sound, like a water balloon bursting, suddenly came from the bathroom.
"boom!"
Asuna Yuuki could feel something slam against the bathroom door, and the entire floor of the room shook slightly.
Then, there was complete silence, broken only by the sound of what seemed to be water droplets falling to the ground.
"This is... bursting?"
Before closing the bathroom door, Asuna Yuuki glanced at the female ghost and, upon seeing her swollen body, instantly recalled a term she had seen online before: "giantism." This term refers to the phenomenon where, after death, putrefactive bacteria proliferate in large numbers, producing gas and causing the corpse to swell excessively.
To be honest, she was indeed disgusted by what had just happened, but that wasn't the point.
The point is...
Asagiri stared at the bathroom door and spoke softly.
"So you didn't want it to answer that question, so you just made it self-destruct? It seems there's something wrong with the water in this hotel, and there's a powerful evil spirit in this hotel that's even more powerful than this female ghost and can control her at will."