Asuna and Kotoko returned to the hotel lobby, relieved to find no sign of the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit.
Kotoko's experience with strange phenomena had immediately clued her in that the spirit battling the Human Asura wasn't the true anomaly; only destroying the body in the water tank would eliminate the Banshee.
Just as Asuna began to relax, she spotted Asagiri leaning against the reception desk. Rushing over, she asked.
"Asa...Leader! Are you okay?"
"I..." Asagiri's voice was faint, his usually smiling black eyes dull. His gun-shaped summoner lay beside him. "It seems this is as far as I go..."
Asuna's face fell, panic and helplessness in her eyes. "No... this is impossible... How could something like this happen? Just hold on a little longer... I, I will never let you die!"
"Huh? What death?" To their surprise, Asagiri suddenly smiled, waving his hand with a relaxed tone. "You misunderstood, I'm far from dying."
Asuna blinked. "Eh? Then why were you just now..."
"I just suddenly felt like saying that line." Asagiri stood, surveying the floor, corroded beyond recognition by the dark green liquid from the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit.
"Truly a strong opponent, I'm afraid I'll never forget you, Elastic Water Balloon."
Asuna rolled her eyes, a mix of anger and helplessness. "What Elastic Water Balloon... If someone who didn't know heard that, they would think the enemy we just faced was some creature from a children's cartoon..." After complaining, she turned, wiped tears from her eyes, and then faced Asagiri with a serious expression.
"From now on, you are not allowed to make jokes like that again!"
"Okay," Asagiri replied with a smile, then thoughtfully added, "Killing a Boss outside the normal clear process should be a bonus point in the APP's evaluation, right? It seems this time, all three of us can get at least an S-level or higher clear rating."
Asuna checked her phone, sighing. "Although it felt like a long time, it's only been less than three hours since we entered the dungeon until now..."
Just then, all three of their phones chimed with a notification:
[You have eliminated all hostile Banshees in this dungeon and uncovered the truth of the Hotel's strange event. You can choose to leave the dungeon at any time using the APP function]
Asagiri's phone received another:
[Your Persona "Human Asura" has grown and unlocked a new characteristic]
He scrolled through, noting the changes to Human Asura's stats:
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Human Asura: Facing the fear of death head-on, the Persona born from within your heart
Strengths: Strength, Endurance, Defense, Speed, Agility
Weaknesses: No ranged attack methods
Human Asura's Passive Effect: When switching to this Persona, your physical abilities will be enhanced, and because the Human Asura represents unwavering determination, you will be immune to attacks of all mental types, such as illusions, brainwashing, and hypnosis
Current Characteristic: Regeneration
Regeneration: Every time the Human Asura is completely destroyed in a true battle, its basic abilities will grow, and its resistance to the corresponding attribute attacks will increase (no upper limit). You yourself will also gain the resistance enhancement provided by the Human Asura. Currently enhanced resistances: Corrosion, Curse
Corresponding Tarot Card: The Emperor (Upright)
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Asagiri understood the newly unlocked characteristic: each complete destruction in a true battle would increase Human Asura's resistance to the type of attack that destroyed it, with no upper limit. For instance, the Floating Corpse Banshee's corrosive and cursed water had granted resistance to those attributes. He also sensed that these improvements only came from genuine battles, not from deliberately trying to "farm" enhancements.
He showed his phone to Kotoko and Asuna, smiling. "My Human Asura has unlocked a new characteristic."
"New characteristic?" Asuna took the phone, reading it with Kotoko, both looking disbelieving. "Regeneration of the End? Growth of basic abilities? Unlimited resistance increase? And it can share the gained resistance growth with you? This..."
Asuna handed back the phone, her expression complex. "Honestly... isn't this exclusive talent of yours, called a Persona, a bit too strong? This is already at cheat level, isn't it?"
Asagiri chuckled. "Oh, you know about cheats, too?"
Asuna rolled her eyes, annoyed.
"Didn't you say? Let me learn more about games, learn to put myself in the Player's shoes, and think about these dungeons from a game perspective. I'm not the kind of person who knows they need to learn but doesn't change because of laziness."
She glanced at Asagiri, then Kotoko, softly muttering,
"Sigh...both of you have unlocked exclusive talents, only I haven't... Although most Players at this stage haven't unlocked either a profession or a talent, being in a team with you two cheat-level Players, it's really hard not to feel a sense of disparity..."
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