Chapter 235: The Strange Beginning

"Alright, let’s mark that down as our first point of uncertainty."

Asagiri gave a slight nod, then continued,

"Based on the special hints Necro and I received, we can preliminarily conclude that looking through the peephole into the corridor while the carpet is gradually turning red may trigger danger. Only those with sufficient mental strength can resist it. It is likely some kind of mental attribute attack, or something similar."

"The carpet gradually turning red, and Phantom’s hint is to examine the carpet..."

Iwanaga Kotoko sat to the side with her cane resting horizontally across her legs, a thoughtful expression appearing on her face. As she organized her thoughts, she murmured,

"So is the carpet the key to this Dungeon? Turning red indicates danger, but... Phantom’s observation ability is not the strongest in our team. Her mental strength is not the highest either, and she does not have a detection ability like mine that can sense cursed auras. So why did she receive this special hint? That’s very strange."

Judging from their past experience clearing Dungeons, public hints usually varied slightly depending on certain special factors tied to the Player. Special hints, however, were different. They were basically tailored specifically to the Player who received them.

For example, Yuuki Asuna was a melee oriented class, so the special hint she received was [Please do not remain in close contact with "them" for too long]. Never mind what "they" actually referred to for now. The important thing was that this special hint perfectly fit the system’s usual logic.

Given that, why had Kato Megumi, whose observation ability was not the best in the team and who possessed no detection skills at all, received such a hint?

That was highly abnormal.

"It is a third stage Dungeon, after all. It might be different from the ones before. We still need to be careful."

Yuuki Asuna said that first, but then worry surfaced on her face.

"And this Dungeon requires us to stay here for seventy two hours. That’s three whole days. We need to figure out the problem of food and drinking water."

"Exactly."

Kato Megumi nodded, then softly asked,

"But what if not eating or drinking for three days is itself a test set by the system?"

Hearing that, Asagiri let out a short laugh.

"Don’t talk nonsense. This is a Dungeon, not some wilderness survival camp. Even if the system wanted to test the Players’ willpower, it would never use something as boring as making us see who can endure hunger longer. So there must be food and drinking water somewhere in this Hotel. It’s just..."

At that point, Asagiri paused for a moment before continuing slowly,

"The amount of food and water is very likely insufficient for all Players."

Iwanaga Kotoko immediately understood what he meant and said thoughtfully,

"In other words, Players may end up fighting each other over resources. That really is..."

Before she could finish, someone suddenly knocked on the room door.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

The moment Yuuki Asuna heard the woman’s voice from outside, she instantly drew her rapier, [Gleaming Light], and stared at the door with a solemn, guarded expression.

Meanwhile, Asagiri walked to the door and looked outside through the peephole.

Standing in the corridor was a woman in her twenties. She wore a white tracksuit and a pair of glasses. She was not particularly pretty, and there was a timid, cautious look on her face.

Judging purely from her appearance, nothing about her seemed unusual.

But...

Was there really nothing unusual about her?

Less than five minutes had passed since entering the Dungeon, yet this young woman already dared to come alone and knock on another room’s door. Even if she believed that doing so would not trigger danger in this Dungeon, shouldn’t she at least remain wary of other potentially hostile Players?

Was it confidence?

Or foolishness?

Or perhaps...

"Who goes there? State your name!"

The moment Asagiri suddenly barked that out like some general challenging an enemy army, Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko all showed speechless expressions.

This was clearly supposed to be a tense and terrifying Dungeon, yet Asagiri’s opening line instantly turned it into something that felt like a battlefield from a war game. The atmosphere became strangely heated and dramatic.

The young woman outside the door clearly had not expected such a response. She froze for a moment, then her eyes unconsciously darted to the side.

That subtle movement confirmed Asagiri’s guess.

"Hello, I’m also a Player. I wanted to ask if you..."

"Have the person beside you step out."

The moment Asagiri said that, the young woman stiffened. A few seconds later, from the blind spot beyond the peephole’s view, two men in tracksuits stepped out.

One of them looked to be in his twenties, like a college student. The other was in his early thirties, wearing black rimmed glasses and giving off a more mature, steady impression.

"Hello, Player inside the room."

The older man with glasses adjusted the frame on the bridge of his nose, his expression calm and his tone steady.

"We have no ill intentions. We were merely taking basic precautions because we did not know what kind of Players you were. I hope you can understand."

"Of course."

Asagiri replied while taking out and putting on his dark gray mask. At the same time, the black hunter’s windbreaker appeared over his body. Metal chains coiled around his right forearm, and the [Cursed Rope Dart], which radiated an eerie aura, swayed faintly at the end of it.

Seeing that, Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko also changed into their own equipment and entered combat stances. Kato Megumi took the [Bloodstained Nightingale Bow] from her back, drew an arrow, and while activating the effect of her exclusive talent, aimed directly at the door.

Only then did Asagiri remove the security chain and slowly open the room door.

The instant the door opened, the pupils of the three Players standing outside contracted in shock.

The older man with glasses, in particular, showed a clear trace of apprehension in his eyes.

He had never expected that the very first room they knocked on would contain Players of this level.

A swordsman draped in a dark red cloak, wearing white ornate armor, holding a crystal rapier, with his face obscured.

A girl in a white Western style long dress, wearing a half mask like one from a masquerade ball, leaning on a cane, small in stature but radiating a mysterious sense of pressure.

And most striking of all, the one who had opened the door. A mysterious figure in a long black windbreaker, chains wrapped around his right arm, wearing a dark gray mask, with black hair and black eyes.

The older man with glasses could clearly feel that the three Players inside were very strong.

In fact, he did not even need to feel it.

Just compare the art styles. The three people inside looked as though they had stepped straight out of an anime, while he and his two companions were still dressed in ordinary tracksuits. Judging from appearance alone, they were obviously not on the same level.

He did not believe anyone would specially buy clothes like that just to enter a Dungeon. The equipment worn by the three inside must all be powerful items certified by the system.

And beyond that...

The mysterious black clad figure standing before him gave off an aura of absolute composure, the kind that only came from real strength.

This was a monstrous Player team.

"Um..."

The older man with glasses carefully chose his words and tried to keep his tone calm and gentle.

"I’m very sorry that we did not reveal ourselves from the start. It’s just..."

"It’s normal to be wary of others."

Asagiri waved a hand dismissively, then glanced at the timid looking young woman and the young man beside her, whose jaw was clenched tightly in obvious tension.

"But what I don’t understand is this. None of you look particularly strong, nor do you seem to have fearless personalities. So why did you dare leave your room and start knocking on other doors so soon after entering the Dungeon?"

"We..."

"Think carefully before answering."

Iwanaga Kotoko’s voice was light and sweet, with a lively smile in it, yet her words made the expressions of all three people in the corridor stiffen instantly.

"We can tolerate the cautious probing you showed at the beginning. But if you lie in front of us, then we can only regard you as enemies with hostile intent. For your own sake, tell the truth."

Even though she sounded cheerful, the three Players standing in the corridor broke out in cold sweat.

For some reason, they could all tell that the girl in the Western style dress was absolutely not joking.

"It’s like this. Since you also seem to be high level Players, you should know that high level Players receive special hints upon entering a Dungeon, right?"

The older man with glasses said that first, then immediately chose honesty.

"In our team of three, I’m the only high level Player. The special hint I received upon entering this Dungeon was [The first hour of the Dungeon is safe time]. So I wanted to use that one hour window to see whether there were any Players nearby we could cooperate with."

"Ah, then you really are fortunate today."

As soon as he finished speaking, Asagiri had already placed a hand on the older man’s shoulder.

The two companions behind him immediately showed expressions of shock.

Both of them had been on high alert the entire time, yet even so, neither the young woman nor the younger man had seen Asagiri move at all. Even the older man with glasses, the one directly involved, had failed to react.

As he stared at the hand now resting on his shoulder, fear and apprehension finally surfaced in his eyes.

Because if Asagiri could place a hand on his shoulder that easily, then it also meant...

He could have snapped his neck before any of them even had time to react.

.....

[If you don’t want to wait for the next update, read 50 Chapters ahead on P@treon.]

[[email protected]/FanficLord03]