Chapter 244: Controlling the Situation

Listening to the pitiful plea coming from the fleshy tentacle, neither Asagiri nor Crazy Mita showed the slightest reaction.

They could clearly see the thing’s main body. Even if it really transformed into a little girl and begged for help, neither of them would believe it.

This was a Dungeon. Where would a little girl even come from?

Asagiri stood up and walked toward the fleshy tentacle while Crazy Mita moved to the door.

"Help me... help me..."

Then Asagiri suddenly reached out and grabbed the fleshy tentacle that was still crying and begging in a little girl’s voice. The voice stopped abruptly the instant he caught it.

The moment it was seized, the tentacle began to writhe violently, like an animal that had run into a predator and was desperately trying to escape.

Crazy Mita pulled a dagger from her inventory and drove it straight through the tentacle, pinning it firmly to the Hotel room wall.

A mouth split open on the surface of the fleshy strip and let out a sharp, piercing scream.

The next second, the sound of tentacles slithering through the corridor rang out. Dozens of fleshy tendrils squeezed in through the narrow crack of the door. Several mouths split open on each one, shrieking in all kinds of voices, children, women, men, and the elderly, all mixed together.

"So noisy."

Hearing that piercing sound, which felt like it was tearing at his eardrums, Asagiri frowned.

Then he noticed that Crazy Mita’s expression had turned strange.

Her eyes had gone slightly vacant, and her lips parted as if she wanted to say something.

Asagiri did not hesitate. He immediately canceled Crazy Mita’s summoning.

The moment Crazy Mita disappeared, the room fell silent again.

Because her summoning had been canceled, Asagiri was now technically alone.

The dozens of fleshy tentacles writhed at once. One of them suddenly broke off and dropped to the floor, bouncing a few times on the soft carpet like some grotesque snake. Then it sprang up, the tip aimed straight for Asagiri’s eye socket.

"Smack."

Asagiri dodged to the side and casually slapped it away like he was swatting a fly.

At that moment, he had only one thought.

That’s it?

Are you kidding me?

He had imagined all kinds of possibilities for how parasitism might work, but he had never expected it to be this crude and direct. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

The tentacles simply tried to drill into a person through openings such as the eyes or mouth.

The most ridiculous part was that the split off tentacles were not even that fast. Even an ordinary person with decent reflexes could dodge them, let alone a Player who had survived several Dungeons and reached the third phase.

The tentacle he had slapped onto the floor also seemed stunned that Asagiri had avoided it so easily. A mouth split open on its surface and emitted a weak, distorted sound.

"Let me... let me..."

Before it could finish, the tendril suddenly twitched, then rapidly shriveled up just like the ones he had seen before, turning into a dead gray husk.

The other fleshy tentacles in the room seemed to sense that the attempt had failed. They quickly withdrew through the gap in the door, slithering away as though fleeing for their lives.

"That’s all?"

This time Asagiri did not think it silently. He said it out loud, openly breaking the rule about staying quiet.

Just as he had expected, nothing happened.

"Persona, Meta."

Then he summoned Crazy Mita again. Seeing that her expression had returned to normal, he immediately asked, "What happened just now? Be specific."

"I..."

Crazy Mita still looked shaken and answered blankly, "When I heard those voices, it felt like... like I was being dragged into a deep abyss full of seawater. The water kept crushing my body, and all I could see... was red. Endless red... I do not know why, but I felt that if I merged with that sea of red, I would be saved..."

"So that’s the effect."

Asagiri nodded slightly.

Now he understood.

Those shrill cries from the fleshy tentacles could cause intense mental interference. Crazy Mita was especially vulnerable after her collapse because her distorted core caused mental attacks to affect her twice as strongly, yet even then, she still possessed extremely high mental resistance.

For something to break through Crazy Mita’s mental defenses was enough to prove how dangerous those things really were.

Unfortunately for them, Asagiri had Human Asura, which functioned like a cheat. He was completely immune to all forms of mental interference.

...

After the one hour danger period ended, Asagiri returned to Room 7012. Then he headed down the stairwell to the Third Floor with Yuuki Asuna and the others for the roll call, recounting what had just happened along the way.

"So it first breaks the mind, then invades the body..."

After hearing his detailed description, Iwanaga Kotoko fell into thought.

"Some entities in the real world also hunt like this, but they usually either kill people outright and devour the soul, or simply enjoy watching humans panic in fear. This behavior, splitting its own body apart just to parasitize humans, is far too strange."

"Strange?"

"Yes. Strange."

Seeing Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi’s puzzled expressions, Iwanaga Kotoko hopped onto Asagiri’s back and let him carry her down the stairs. Then she continued with a smile.

"There are some monsters that cannot think, that cannot be judged by common sense at all, and simply act on instinct. But the main body behind those fleshy tentacles is clearly not one of them. After parasitizing someone, it can even continue disguising itself as a normal Player. That means it possesses a certain degree of intelligence. So then the question becomes, why does it bother splitting itself apart to parasitize humans at all? Why not just devour the Player’s body or soul directly? Once a person’s mind collapses, they have no ability to resist anymore."

Iwanaga Kotoko had already entered full God of Wisdom mode. She kept reasoning out loud without giving Yuuki Asuna or Kato Megumi any chance to interrupt.

"What exactly does it want? What is the purpose of turning Players into hosts, even at the cost of splitting itself apart? Is it trying to fight something? Or does a parasitic host allow it to do something its main body cannot? Reach some place it cannot enter? Wait..."

At that point, a bright light flashed through her deep purple eyes, as if she had suddenly caught hold of a crucial clue.

"The last time we came here, the same thing happened. Once we entered the Dungeon, the Hotel’s temperature kept rising..."

Asagiri followed her line of thought at once.

"You mean there’s something producing the heat, and the purpose is to keep the upper floors from being invaded?"

"Exactly. Although it might not be deliberate. It might just be instinct."

Iwanaga Kotoko pressed her fair chin against Asagiri’s shoulder and continued seriously.

"Think of it like a hedgehog. When it senses danger, it curls into a ball, protecting its soft underside while presenting its spines. Or a peacock, which spreads its feathers to intimidate an enemy. If you look at it that way, the constant rise in temperature every time strange activity appears in this Hotel feels very similar."

Yuuki Asuna frowned slightly after hearing that deduction.

"But if that is true... then the thing capable of controlling the temperature of the entire Hotel must be incredibly powerful, right?"

"Let’s not worry about that yet."

Asagiri shook his head.

"The main issue now is how we are supposed to survive the remaining sixty plus hours while dealing with rising temperatures and guarding against parasitized Players. I already have a rough idea. The third phase Dungeons are different from the second phase. It is no longer about not making mistakes and avoiding punishment. Now, if we fail to make the correct choice in time, danger will come for us."

...

When they reached the buffet restaurant on the Third Floor, the man in the white suit counted the Players present.

The result plunged the room into dead silence.

At the end of the previous free investigation period, the total number of Players had been one hundred and thirty six.

After this danger period ended and before the next free investigation period began...

The number was still one hundred and thirty six.

Not one was dead.

Not one was missing.

And that was exactly what made it so bizarre.

"How is that possible...?"

"Exactly. Not a single person died during the danger period? That’s ridiculous."

"So some of them must already be parasitized, right?"

"But they were all in teams. If one person in a team got parasitized, wouldn’t the others know?"

"Hey, you. I thought you looked suspicious the moment you walked in. You’ve already been parasitized, haven’t you?!"

"What nonsense are you talking about?! I think you are the parasitized one! If not, hand over your phone and let me check!"

"You expect me to give you my phone?! So you really are the parasitic Player!"

...

Seeing the atmosphere collapse into mutual suspicion, the white suited man immediately tried to stop them.

"Everyone, quiet down first. Calm down."

But an emotional male Player immediately snapped back at him.

"Who wants to listen to you? Maybe you’re one of the parasitic..."

Before he could finish, the white suited man suddenly raised his right hand.

A white bone needle shot from his fingertip and pierced straight through the man’s head.

Seeing their teammate killed, the other two members of his team changed expression at once and pulled out their weapons from their item slots.

But before they could even rise from their seats, a tall humanoid black shadow exuding overwhelming pressure appeared behind them, its two hands gently resting on their heads.

"All of you, shut up."

Asagiri stood there with Human Asura summoned, scanning the Players who had finally fallen silent. Each word came out clear and cold.

"If any of you stir up this kind of atmosphere again without actual proof..."

"I will kill you."

.....

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