Chapter 247: The Team vs the Parasites

After saying that, Asagiri smiled and continued before Yuuki Asuna or Kato Megumi could ask anything.

"Of course, the Players who are suspected of being parasites on the surface have already agreed to stay on the seventh floor during the danger period, when the corridor carpet turns red. That naturally leads to one question. In this Dungeon, what is the significance of the different floors? During the danger period, are only normal Players unable to move freely, or are parasite Players also restricted in some way, unable to leave their current floor?"

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"The current situation is actually very simple. Our team and the White Suit team are the ones leading the Players in this Dungeon. I can move freely during the danger period, and I am immune to mental influence. That makes me the target they want dead the most."

"The White Suit Man realized the same thing, which is why he lied and claimed he had a method to distinguish parasite Players from normal Players. Since there were definitely parasite Players present among the ones gathered there, that made him a priority target as well."

"As for what happens next, assuming parasite Players cannot move between floors during the danger period, then the development should be this."

"The parasite Players on the seventh floor will unite and try to kill me, even at the cost of exposing every single one of them, in order to regain control of the situation. Meanwhile, on the White Suit Man’s side, they can only rely on the hidden parasites who had not yet drawn suspicion to make a move and attempt to kill him."

"If both our team and the White Suit team die, then every remaining Player will fall into panic. For the Cursed existence controlling the parasitic phenomenon, that would be checkmate."

After Asagiri finished, Iwanaga Kotoko added from the side,

"This can also be seen as the White Suit Man using his actions to prove that he is trustworthy, can it not? Players from different teams can never trust each other completely. So he is using this method to show that he believes our team members are all normal Players, and in return, he hopes our team will believe that his side is also made up of normal Players."

Kato Megumi nodded, looking like she half understood and half did not.

"So complicated..."

"Then let me simplify it for you."

Asagiri smiled.

"If we can find a way to distinguish parasites, or identify the Cursed existence controlling the parasitic phenomenon, before all the Players are taken over, then the Players win. On the other hand, once the number of parasite Players reaches a certain threshold, then we... well, we would not necessarily lose, but at that point, we would have to fight all the parasite Players and the Cursed existence at the same time. That would be pretty dangerous."

He spread his hands slightly.

"So the key to this Dungeon is exactly what I said earlier." 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

"If they cannot kill me, then the thing controlling the parasites cannot win."

Hearing that, Yuuki Asuna let out a faint sigh and could not help retorting with a laugh,

"Listening to you say it like that, you sound more like the boss of this Dungeon than the actual boss. That Cursed existence is really unlucky to run into a Player like you, someone who is completely immune to mental influence and cannot be parasitized."

"It actually had a chance."

Asagiri pulled a document pouch from an open cabinet, searching through it for anything useful as he answered with a smile.

"It is impossible for me to casually show my Player panel to strangers, so technically, I cannot prove that I am absolutely incapable of being parasitized. The system’s hint telling even me not to act alone was actually meant to make it harder for the other Players to suspect me."

He gave a small, amused shrug.

"But we seized complete control of the discourse among the Players almost immediately. Given the current situation, if someone were to suddenly accuse me of being a parasite Player, no one would believe it. They would only think that person was an infiltrator trying to disrupt the entire situation."

"Hmm, so the advantage is on our side now."

Yuuki Asuna nodded first, but then a worried crease appeared between her brows.

"But how exactly are we supposed to distinguish parasitized Players? Besides resisting with mental strength, there should be another way to resist parasitism, right? Otherwise, if we go by the logic that ’the system will not create an absolutely impossible dead end,’ then there must be a survival method even for Players whose mental strength is not especially high."

"Stay quiet... Why do we have to stay quiet...?"

Iwanaga Kotoko murmured to herself, turning over the words in the public hint again and again.

"Judging from everything we know so far, avoiding acting alone is meant to help the Players as a whole. But the instruction to ’keep quiet’ has nothing to do with the act of parasitism itself. Some Players fell into confusion without making a sound at all. If making noise is not a prerequisite for being parasitized, then why is that instruction there?"

Her thoughts sped up as she connected the information with her own experience dealing with Cursed phenomena.

"Perhaps those flesh tentacles are extremely sensitive to sound. Even with the doors closed, any noise still attracts them. And when something has a heightened sense in one area, it often has a corresponding weakness in another."

Her eyes brightened slightly.

"Also, there was a special hint given to me and the Leader telling us that we could observe the corridor through the peephole. Why? Even if we look outside, what is the point? Risking mental contamination just to look into the corridor... unless it is meant to verify something through changes in the flesh tentacles themselves..."

She suddenly stopped mid sentence, as if a critical clue had just clicked into place.

"If I remember correctly, the structural map we saw the last time we came to this Hotel mentioned that the building has an emergency alarm system. It can be activated directly from the control room on the first floor. To make sure even sleeping guests can hear it, that alarm should be extremely loud and piercing."

"So you mean we should go to the first floor control room and trigger the Hotel alarm?"

"In any case, it is worth trying."

Iwanaga Kotoko raised a fair finger and smiled.

"Even if my deduction is wrong, keeping the alarm blaring would still interfere with the hearing of those flesh tentacles. That alone would mean we would no longer have to maintain absolute silence inside the rooms."

Asagiri nodded and smiled.

"Alright, let’s go. I am honestly curious what method the Cursed existence controlling the parasitic phenomenon will use to stop us. This is getting interesting."

Looking at the expression on his face, Kato Megumi said in her flat, calm tone,

"Leader, you are smiling like an evil villain."

...

Ten minutes later, at the entrance to the security room and control room on the first floor of the Hotel, Asagiri’s four person team found four Players standing guard in front of the doorway.

The moment those Players saw them approach, they froze for a second. Then one of them quickly stepped forward, forcing a smile.

"Did you come down here to search the first floor too?"

Faced with that overly polite smile, Asagiri replied only with a cold,

"Move."

The Player’s face stiffened.

"Um... may I ask what exactly you intend to—"

"Alright. You can die now."

Asagiri did not even let him finish.

His figure blurred and vanished from where he stood, then reappeared in front of the Player in an instant. The Cursed Rope Dart in his hand had already pierced straight through the center of the man’s brow.

Immediately after that, Asagiri pressed his left hand against the man’s chest.

"Holy Cross."

A brilliant cross of fire and sacred light bloomed from his palm at point blank range, incinerating the Player’s body to ash in an instant.

At the same time, Iwanaga Kotoko cast Netherworld Grip on the Player guarding the doorway, Kato Megumi drew and fired an arrow, and Yuuki Asuna stepped forward at high speed, ready to unleash Stardust Splash.

"Barrier Protection!"

One of the Players at the entrance raised both hands, and as he called out the skill name, a translucent gray barrier appeared in front of him, shielding himself and the other two Players.

At the same moment, another Player raised a hand toward the ground beneath Yuuki Asuna’s feet.

"Roots!"

Several thick roots burst through the tiled floor and whipped upward, wrapping toward Yuuki Asuna’s legs.

Faced with the choice between pressing the attack and risking entrapment or withdrawing and preserving her mobility, Yuuki Asuna chose the latter without hesitation and retreated instantly.

Meanwhile, when Iwanaga Kotoko’s pale spectral hand descended from the void, the last Player took a spear from his inventory, its tip faintly glowing with golden light, and thrust it straight into the palm of the ghostly hand. The holy damage attached to the weapon clearly countered the Curse attribute of the hand, and with a single stab, the enormous spectral hand broke apart and vanished.

"So we were found out..."

The three Players hidden behind the barrier did not so much as glance at the teammate who had already been burned to ash. Their expressions had gone stiff and numb, the act completely dropped.

"As expected."

Asagiri looked at them calmly.

"All of you were Players no one had suspected at all. It seems from the very beginning, some of the parasite Players were already hidden among us."

"You and that White Suit Man really are clever, but..."

The eyes of the three Players began to change, their pupils twisting into tiny interwoven strips of flesh. It was grotesque beyond description.

In the next instant, more writhing flesh tentacles burst from the surrounding ground and walls. They twisted together, forming one humanoid body after another.

Nine of them had the same appearances as the thirteen Players who had previously fallen into confusion.

The other twelve were members of the three Player teams that had never drawn suspicion at all.

"As long as we can kill you, sacrificing these puppets is more than worth it."

"Are you serious?"

Asagiri swept his gaze across the twenty four parasite Players surrounding him and Yuuki Asuna.

There was no fear on his face.

If anything, he looked mildly disappointed.

"Only twenty four?"

He sighed and shook his head.

"It is rare to get a proper PvP section, and in the end we only get eight each before it is over. That is not nearly enough to be satisfying."

.....

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