"Don't be envious," Kotoko said, "although my exclusive talent is very strong in strange dungeons, it also has many restrictions."
She then smiled at Asuna. "Besides, you deserve much credit for eliminating the source of the anomaly this time. You acted without hesitation or mercy. No wonder Leader teamed up with you."
Asuna was about to reply when Kotoko spoke softly again. "But, next time, can you not act like a pervert, doing something as abnormal as standing on the water tank and softly chanting the Leader's name?"
Asuna's face instantly flushed. She hadn't realized Kotoko had overheard her quietly calling Asagiri's name. At the time, she'd simply felt a subconscious urge to protect Asagiri, knowing she had to steel herself, even if it meant plunging into a foul, corpse-filled water tank.
"I...You're the pervert! By the way, are you really the same age as us?" Asuna instantly retaliated, scrutinizing Kotoko's petite, one-meter-five frame and delicate, cute face that didn't look like a high school student at all. "Your figure... It's practically like a middle schooler's..."
"What!? Are you saying a certain part of me is small!?" Kotoko's gaze followed Asuna's to her own chest and then back to Asuna's chest, which was quite outstanding for a high schooler. Her bravado faltered, but she still forced out astonishing words.
"Heh heh, I'm just developing later, and I've heard that if you often massage with skilled techniques, you'll undergo secondary development!"
She then looked at Asagiri. "Leader, caring for team members' mental health and helping team members' physical growth is also your responsibility as a Leader, right? Then I'll leave it to you."
Asuna was mortified, her face slightly red, her voice hinting at jealousy. "You, can you not say such vulgar words here? Please don't say such... such... such shocking words with that cute and innocent face, okay?"
"Tch..." Kotoko made a sound of dissatisfaction, rolling her eyes at Asuna. Like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, she was determined to say something shocking or die trying. "I'm not asking you to massage, mind your own business."
"You..."
"That's enough," Asagiri interrupted, his expression serious. Looking at both of them, he slowly stated, "Just a heads up, I have two hands, I can massage both of you at the same time."
Asuna froze, then her face turned red. She gritted her teeth. "Who... who wants you to massage them! How did you get infected by her too..."
She paused, then sighed, supporting her forehead. "I forgot if we're talking about how crazy someone is... you're probably even worse than her... What kind of people did I team up with..."
"Alright, let's get down to business." After a brief moment of abstract relaxation, Asagiri steered the conversation back. "The APP gave us the function to leave early? I didn't expect it, this APP icon looks quite scary, but as an external system for the game, it's quite user-friendly."
Asuna nodded. The dungeon's objective was to survive for twelve hours. Now that the source of the hotel's strangeness was gone, the Earth-Bound Spirits created by the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit should have vanished too. There were no longer any dangers that could affect their clear, which must be why the APP unlocked the early exit function.
Still, Asuna mused, "What exactly did Necro's special instance hint mean..."
Kotoko, like Asagiri and Asuna, had also achieved a high-level clear in the novice instance, an S-. When she entered this instance, she too received a special hint from the APP:
The Most Dangerous Anomaly Is Not The Strongest Anomaly
"Interpreting it literally, the most dangerous strangeness should be the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit that we just eliminated,"
Kotoko analyzed softly, sitting on the reception counter like a child, her legs dangling, hands supporting her cheeks.
"But, although it is the most dangerous, it is not the strongest. Plus, the APP just said that we have eliminated all 'hostile' Banshees in this Hotel. Thinking this way, it means that in this Hotel, there exists a strange entity that is more powerful than the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit, and unlike those Earth-Bound Spirits, it was not created by that Floating Corpse Evil Spirit, but was born due to other factors, yet it does not have any hostility towards us."
"A strange entity without hostility... Does such a thing really exist?" Asuna was skeptical.
"Of course." Kotoko shrugged, explaining with a smile. "In fact, most strange entities in the real world belong to this type. They just want a peaceful life and have no desire to harm humans. The extremely small portion that will harm humans, frequently appear before humans, and also those like the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit, who kill due to excessive resentment and interfere with the Banshees that maintain order, need to be eliminated to maintain the boundary of non-interference between strange entities and humans."
"I see." Asuna looked at Asagiri. "But... since that strange entity has no hostility towards us, we don't need to provoke it, right? You've already consumed a lot of mental strength and physical strength. I suggest that this operation ends here..."
Mid-sentence, a tender little girl's voice suddenly chimed, "Big brother, big sister, where...where are you going?"
Not only Asuna, but even Kotoko trembled. She looked towards the source of the voice: a little girl, dressed in a dress, with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a very cute appearance, standing quietly nearby. A hint of shock crossed Kotoko's eyes. Kotoko, who possessed the talent of 'Goddess of Wisdom,' hadn't sensed the girl's presence at all until she spoke, at which point she belatedly felt a...terrifying aura that made her shudder.
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