A crossover anime/manga story, set in everyday Tokyo, but within a loop of a game.

Asagiri shook her head, looking enigmatic.

There's a reason I'm carrying you on my shoulders like this.

Kotoko Iwanaga, who was being carried on his shoulders, and Asuna Yuuki, who was standing next to him, were both very curious.

"What reason?"

Asagiri explained in a very serious tone.

“Think about it, since Necro possesses such a unique talent, perhaps her constitution is also quite special. Even without any external force, she can inflict fatal damage on evil spirits.”

Asuna Yuuki asked, slightly puzzled.

"But... Necro's physical defects and the negative effects of her talent mean she's not suited for direct combat."

"That's right, that's exactly why..."

Asagiri smiled slightly and slowly began to speak.

"If we suddenly encounter an evil spirit and I don't have time to summon my Persona, I can just throw Necro out and use her as a human cannon to catch the evil spirit off guard!"

Upon hearing this, Kotoko Iwanaga's expression stiffened, and she spoke cautiously.

"Um...can you put me down...I suddenly don't find going down the stairs so difficult anymore..."

...........

In the end, Asagiri did not put Kotoko Iwanaga down, but carried her all the way to the corner between the sixth and fifth floors of the stairwell with Asuna Yuuki.

From this angle, the three people can directly see the man in a suit and the woman with heavy makeup standing in front of the fire door.

The man in the suit reached out his trembling hand and carefully grasped the doorknob, just as he was about to try to turn it, Kotoko Iwanaga frowned slightly, raised her cane, and shouted.

"Wait a minute, don't open the door yet."

The man in the suit froze upon hearing this, and cold sweat instantly streamed down his forehead.

"What's wrong? Is there something wrong?"

Upon hearing Asuna Yuuki's question, Kotoko Iwanaga stared directly at the fire door, a look of vigilance appearing in her dark purple eyes.

"There seems to be a strange aura behind this door."

038 Strange Things in the Water

"A strange aura..."

Asagiri stepped down the stairs, gesturing for the man in the suit and the heavily made-up woman standing there to move aside. She then walked to the sturdy fire door, observing the situation as she asked Kotoko Iwanaga.

"Necro, when you came here before, didn't you notice anything strange at the entrance?"

"No."

Kotoko Iwanaga shook her head, speaking calmly.

"It's just that the fire door couldn't be opened. I didn't have the means to break such a thick fire door, and at that time, I wasn't sure what was on this floor, so I didn't make any rash moves."

"Was there a strange aura emanating from behind the fire door that couldn't be opened...?"

Asuna Yuuki walked to Asagiri's side, observing the fire door in front of her, and said thoughtfully.

"Is it possible that the source of the strangeness in this hotel is intelligent? Did it know we might come to this floor and enter the hotel corridor, so it deliberately arranged for evil spirits to ambush us?"

Before Asagiri could reply, Asuna Yuuki shook her head, rejecting the idea she had just proposed.

"No, that shouldn't be the case. The red-clad female ghost we encountered before was a bound spirit unable to leave its floor. The evil spirits in this instance should all be bound spirits unable to leave their own territories. Otherwise, there would be no need for any temperature increase; the evil spirits could simply hunt down the players. The source of the eeriness in this hotel must be some kind of restriction, but... it can also set up ambushes for the players through some means. And from the information we have, the method it can do this is..."

Asuna Yuuki approached the fire door connecting the stairwell and the hotel corridor, observing it carefully and muttering to herself.

"There wasn't a single gap between the wall and the floor... I see..."

At this point, Asuna Yuuki looked towards Asagiri.

"Leader, I suspect that behind this fire door is water, water that covers the entire hotel corridor. The source of this hotel's strangeness is not only the ability to manipulate evil spirits and spread strangeness through water, but also the ability to manipulate the water contaminated by its strangeness to ambush players, just like the bottled mineral water that these two people drank. If we open the door directly, the water that was originally blocked by the fire door will rush out instantly. Even if they barely survive under the pressure of the water, they will definitely be contaminated by that guy's strange water and enter their bodies."

Upon hearing this, the man in the suit standing nearby couldn't help but look on with suspicion.

"Water covering an entire hotel corridor? Is that really possible...? It'd probably explode..."

"It is a strange phenomenon in itself, and it goes against common sense. That is the common sense."

Standing on the steps, Kotoko Iwanaga raised her cane, tapped the ground gently, and spoke with a smile.

"But as long as we can find the common sense behind the strange, no matter how strange the phenomenon is, it will be solved."

Just as Iwanaga Kotoko finished speaking, she suddenly seemed to sense something, and a look of vigilance appeared in her dark purple eyes. She immediately spoke up.

"Leader, Violet, watch out!"

The next second, the bodies of the man in the suit and the woman in heavy makeup swelled up like water balloons filled with water, their skins bulging as if they were about to burst.

As if she had anticipated this, the moment Iwanaga Kotoko spoke up, Asagiri picked up Yuuki Asuna beside her, instantly leaping over several steps to the corner at the top of the stairs. She also picked up Iwanaga Kotoko with one hand and ran up the stairs.

"boom!!!"

A deafening explosion echoed through the stairwell, accompanied by the sound of pieces of flesh hitting the walls.

As the two players' bodies exploded, Asagiri had already led Asuna Yuuki and Kotoko Iwanaga back to their respective locations on the sixth floor of the hotel, completely avoiding the blood and flesh splattered during the explosion and remaining completely unaffected.

"The Leader's speed of action is indeed very fast."

Kotoko Iwanaga didn't seem flustered at all. After being put down by Asagiri, she straightened her clothes and hat and said with a smile.

"I see. It seems that the source of the strangeness can control the evil spirits or humans who have drunk water to explode at any time. The reason it didn't control them before is that such methods would weaken its power, or it may be that it wanted to wait for us to let our guard down and then strike to defeat us, or it may be both."

"Anyway..."

Carrying a person in each hand, Asagiri climbed so many steps in just a few seconds without showing any signs of strain. She remained relaxed and spoke in a cheerful voice.

"At this point, resorting to a tactic that can only be used once shows that the source of this hotel has felt threatened. Heh, it's a desperate gamble, a cornered dog jumping over the wall, a last-ditch resistance, a mantis trying to stop a chariot, a stubborn mule. I think it won't shed tears until it sees the coffin, it won't give up until it reaches the Yellow River. One look at Ding Zhen and I can tell it's like it wants to be attacked by a demon."

Yuuki Asuna suppressed the urge to retort and sighed softly.

"However, the difficulty of this dungeon is definitely on a completely different level compared to the newbie dungeon..."

Compared to the beginner dungeon, Giant Mountain Mental Hospital, which can be cleared no matter what and only depends on the rating you get, and doesn't even require hands—you can clear it as long as you can walk or even crawl—this hotel dungeon is indeed much more difficult.

Using the methods of that bizarre source, as long as one player drinks the hotel's water, when the players gather together, it can control the player who drank the water to explode, splattering blood and bits of flesh, and infecting the other players with its own strangeness.

Even if players realize through some means that "water" can spread strange phenomena, players are still human beings. As long as they are human, they will want to survive. It is very likely that a player will drink the hotel's water but will hide the fact that they drank the water because they don't want to be targeted or killed by other players.

The numerical disadvantage mentioned in the special notification that Asagiri received did not refer to the number of evil spirits versus players, but rather to the number of "players who have not been tainted by the supernatural" versus "players who have been tainted by the supernatural and could be controlled by evil spirits to explode at any time."

This time, however, the source of the hotel's strangeness has been completely exposed.

Not only did Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna know the important information that "water" can spread strangeness from the beginning of the dungeon, but among the players, there was also Iwanaga Kotoko, who could directly sense the strange aura and could tell at a glance who had been possessed by the strangeness.

What are we playing? How do we play this?

What was originally a bizarre dungeon designed to mentally torture and test players' caution and psychological resilience was turned into a game of hide-and-seek by these three people.

and...

What's hidden isn't the player, but the source of the strangeness. Once Asagiri finds it...

Then it will have some good juice to eat.

039 The Exorcist's Longsword

Fifteen minutes later, the heavy fire door leading to the stairwell was opened, and all the water that had accumulated on the floors had been drained. The staff lounge on the fifth floor of the hotel was still a little damp.

"It's a real shame that those two guys' phones were also destroyed in the explosion."

Hearing Asagiri's slightly regretful sigh, Iwanaga Kotoko smiled and comforted her.

"But we have found the most valuable thing."

Immediately afterwards, Kotoko Iwanaga looked thoughtfully at the weapon hanging on the wall, sheathed in a black scabbard, emanating a strange aura.

"Hmm... Based on my intuition, this thing is indeed capable of harming strange and genuine spiritual beings. Although it can't be described as a legendary sword, it's more than enough to serve as a treasure of an ordinary shrine."

"A sword-type weapon... no wonder it was a special hint given to me..."

Asuna Yuuki took down the longsword hanging on the wall, took out her phone with her other hand, and opened the app with the eye icon. Sure enough, it displayed information about the longsword.

Equipment: Exorcist's Longsword (Blue Quality: Excellent)

"The Exorcist's Sword: When a series of guests drown in the bathtubs at this hotel, the hotel manager hires a young, confident, and inexperienced exorcist. He arrives with his family's heirloom sword, determined to slay the evil spirits within the hotel. But before taking action, he follows tradition and performs a ritual called 'purification,' which, simply put... involves not only taking a bath but also rinsing his mouth with the hotel's water."

This equipment deals bonus damage to spirit-type creatures.

Kotoko Iwanaga saw the introduction displayed on Asuna Yuuki's phone and said with a smile.

"Is it a family heirloom of an exorcist...? It was corrupted by the evil spirit's curse before it even saw the face of it. It was really not careful enough."

Asagiri's focus differs from that of Kotoko Iwanaga.

"Multiple incidents of guests drowning in the bathtub seem to be the source of the ghosts binding the hotel. But most importantly, we have discovered a hidden pattern that is not mentioned in the app. Not only can you obtain logical equipment by completing the game, but you can also obtain equipment in the corresponding dungeons. For example, in this case, which is a bizarre dungeon, you may obtain weapons with such spiritual objects."

Asuna Yuuki drew her longsword from its black scabbard, gently stroking the blade that reflected the cold light, and murmured to herself.

"Hmm, this sword is indeed quite good..."

Then, she turned the long sword over and handed it to Asagiri.

"Leader, you can use it, after all, you have the strongest combat power."

"That's unnecessary."

Asagiri shook her head and replied with a smile.

"I'm not a swordsman, I'm a peace-loving diplomat who's afraid of violence. Besides, I'm not the kind of dungeon hog who just picks whatever good gear he wants."

"In that case, I'll give you the rapier."

"OK."

Seeing that Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna had decided on the equipment distribution in just a few words, Iwanaga Kotoko thought that teaming up with these two was definitely the right choice.

Even after acquiring the "Exorcist's Longsword," a highly valuable and high-quality weapon in the early stages, there was no dispute. On the contrary, Yuuki Asuna, a swordswoman, was willing to give up the equipment, and Asagiri, as the leader, did not abuse her authority but made the right choice based on the overall strength of the team.

This is the real team.

"Now that the preparations are complete, let's begin formulating the final battle plan."

Asagiri opened the hotel staff handbook, flipping through the floor plan as she spoke.

"The information currently available is as follows."

"1. The source of this hotel's strangeness has the ability to spread its own strangeness through water as a medium. In other words, when we fight, we must never let water containing its strangeness enter our bodies. So, we must protect our eyes, mouth, nose, and all other areas, just like doctors performing surgery on AIDS patients."

"2. It cannot directly create evil spirits, but can only transform them into earthbound spirits that can only stay on a fixed floor by drowning the guests. Judging from the hotel's floor plan, this hotel has the same structure as a normal hotel, with no rooms on the first floor. Therefore, it is highly likely that there are no earthbound spirits like the red-clothed female ghost on the first floor."

"3. Like those earthbound spirits, it is bound by some kind of constraint and cannot move freely within this hotel. It can only spread its strangeness through water as a medium."

"4. The source of the anomaly possesses a certain degree of thinking ability, and may even use the spiritual weapons on this level as bait to ambush us in advance. But from another perspective, its actions also reveal its fear of us. Its true strength is not that great. Otherwise, it would do nothing and let us obtain the spiritual weapons smoothly, confidently go to the location of its true body, and then kill us personally."

After Asagiri finished speaking, Iwanaga Kotoko looked thoughtful and murmured to herself.

"While these strange entities defy common sense, they still adhere to certain norms. The strange ability of this hotel is clearly related to water. So... does it directly control all the water in this hotel? No, if it were that level of evil spirit, it would be far too powerful. Just like your fourth point, if it were that powerful, it would deliberately lure us to its hiding place. Therefore, for it to integrate its strangeness into the water, it needs certain conditions. Based on my experience, the most likely one is that it can access the water through some medium connected to itself..."

Before Iwanaga Kotoko could finish speaking, Yuuki Asuna gently touched a spot on the hotel's first-floor floor plan with her slender, fair index finger and spoke softly.

"Here, in the equipment room on the first floor, is the water tank responsible for supplying water and connecting all the pipes in this hotel. Its main body is right here."

Kotoko Iwanaga nodded slightly, then asked a question.

"But now that it knows we've obtained the exorcist's sword, it certainly won't just sit and wait to die. I don't know how many earthbound spirits are left in this hotel, but to reach the equipment room on the first floor, we need to go down four floors. From the third floor onwards, it's all guest rooms, so there should be earthbound spirits on the third and fourth floors. And logically, the closer the floor is to its true form, the stronger the earthbound spirit should be. The stairwell is too narrow, which isn't conducive to fighting..."

"Therefore, in order to avoid unnecessary risks and costs, we cannot take the normal route."

Asagiri interrupted Kotoko Iwanaga, glanced at the hotel floor plan, then looked up at Kotoko Iwanaga and Asuna Yuuki, and smiled slightly.

"My suggestion is, let's give it to that guy..."

"Let's go for a big one."

040 Justice from Heaven

Five minutes later, on the first floor of the hotel, in the front desk reception area.

The floor, paved with smooth marble tiles, even reflected a clear image under the light of the huge crystal chandelier.