In the anime, people are in everyday Tokyo, but they are playing the reincarnation game

Holding one person in each hand, they climbed so many stairs in just a few seconds, but Asagiri didn't show any sign of effort. She looked relaxed and spoke with a smile in her voice.

"At this moment, they're resorting to this one-time-use tactic. This shows the source of this hotel has sensed a threat. Haha, they're giving it their all. A cornered dog is about to jump over the wall, fighting stubbornly, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. They're stubborn and stubborn. I think they won't give up until they see the coffin, and they're not going to give up until they see the Yellow River. It seems they want to be severely attacked by my Shura."

Yuuki Asuna suppressed the urge to complain and sighed slightly.

"However, the difficulty of this dungeon is indeed completely different from the rookie dungeon..."

Compared to the new player dungeon Giant Mountain Mental Hospital, which can be passed no matter what, it just depends on what level rating you can get. You don't need hands, as long as you can walk or even crawl, you can pass it. The difficulty of this hotel dungeon has indeed increased a lot.

With the means of that strange source, as long as one player has drunk the water in the hotel, then when the players gather together, it can control the player who drank the water to explode, splattering blood and flesh, and infecting its own weirdness to the other players.

Even if players realize through some means that "water" can spread weirdness, they are still human beings after all. As long as they are human beings, they will want to survive. It is very likely that a player will drink the water in the hotel, but hide the fact that he drank the water because he does not want to be targeted or even killed by other players.

The numerical disadvantage mentioned in the special tip that Asagiri received was not actually the comparison between the number of evil spirits and players, but the comparison between the number of "players who have not been infected by the weirdness" and "players who have been infected by the weirdness and may be controlled and exploded by evil spirits at any time."

But this time, the source of the weirdness in this hotel has been completely exposed.

Not only did Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna know the important information that "water" can transmit monsters at the beginning of the copy, but among the players, there is also Iwanaga Kotoko who can directly sense the strange aura and see at a glance who has been possessed by the monster.

What is this? How do you play this?

What was originally a weird copy that was intended to be a mental torture and internal consumption for the players, and a test of their caution and psychological endurance, was directly turned into a game of hide-and-seek by these three people.

and...

It's not the players who are hiding, but the source of the weirdness. Once Asagiri finds it...

It will have delicious juice to eat.

039 Exorcist's Long Sword

Fifteen minutes later, the heavy fire door leading to the stairwell had been opened, and the water accumulated on the floor had been drained, except for the ground which was still a little wet in the staff lounge on the fifth floor of the hotel.

"What a shame, those two guys' phones were also destroyed in the explosion."

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

"But we've found the most valuable stuff."

Then, Iwanaga Kotoko looked at the weapon hanging on the wall, which was placed in a black scabbard and exuded a strange aura, and said thoughtfully.

"Hmm... Based on my feeling, this thing is indeed a true spiritual object that can harm monsters. Although it's not on the level of some famous sword handed down from generation to generation, it is more than enough to be placed in an ordinary shrine and serve as a treasure of the shrine."

"A sword-type weapon... no wonder it was a special tip for me..."

Asuna Yuuki took down the long sword hanging on the wall, took out her mobile phone with her other hand, and clicked on the APP with the eye icon. Sure enough, the introduction information about the long sword was displayed.

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

The Exorcist's Sword: When a series of guests drown in the bathtubs of this hotel, the hotel manager hires a young, inexperienced but confident exorcist. He checks into the hotel with his family's heirloom sword, vowing to slay the evil spirits within. But before he does, he follows tradition and performs a ritual called "purification." Simply put... he not only takes a bath, but also rinses his mouth with hotel water.

This equipment can cause additional damage to spirit creatures.

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

"A spiritual object passed down from an exorcist... I didn't even see the evil spirit, and it was already contaminated by its curse. How careless!"

Asagiri's focus is different from Iwanaga Kotoko's.

"There have been multiple cases of guests drowning in the bathtub. It seems this is the source of the bound spirits in this hotel. But most importantly, we've discovered a hidden pattern not mentioned in the app. Not only can you clear levels, but you can also obtain logically matching equipment in corresponding dungeons. For example, in this weird dungeon, there's a chance you'll get this kind of spirit weapon."

Yuuki Asuna pulled the long sword out of the black scabbard, stroked the blade that reflected the cold light, and murmured.

"Well, this sword is really good..."

Then, she handed the sword horizontally to Asagiri.

"Leader, I'll give it to you. After all, you have the strongest fighting ability."

"That's not necessary."

Asagiri shook his head and replied with a smile.

"I'm not a swordsman. I'm a diplomat who loves peace and fears violence. Besides, I'm not the kind of dungeon-dwelling person who'll just go after the good equipment I see."

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

"OK."

Seeing that Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna decided the distribution of equipment in just a few words, Iwanaga Kotoko thought that it was indeed the right choice to team up with these two people.

Even when they obtained the "Exorcist's Longsword", a high-quality weapon that was extremely valuable in the early stages, there was no dispute. On the contrary, Yuuki Asuna, who was a swordsman, was willing to give up the equipment, and Asagiri, as the leader, did not abuse his power. Instead, he considered the overall strength of the team and made the most correct choice.

This is the real team.

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

Asagiri opened the hotel staff manual and spoke as he flipped through the floor plan.

"The information we know now is as follows."

"1. The source of this hotel's strangeness possesses the ability to transmit its own strangeness through water. This means that while we're fighting, we absolutely cannot allow water containing its strangeness to enter our bodies. Therefore, eyes, mouth, and nose—we must protect everything, just like doctors performing surgery on AIDS patients."

"2. It can't directly create evil spirits. Instead, it can only transform residents into earthbound spirits that can only stay on a certain floor by drowning them. Judging from the hotel's floor plan, this hotel is structured like a normal hotel, with no residential units on the first floor. Therefore, it's highly likely that there aren't any earthbound spirits like the red-clothed female ghost on that first floor."

"3. Like those earthbound spirits, it's bound by some kind of restraint, unable to move freely within this hotel. It can only spread its strangeness through the medium of water."

"4. The strange source possesses a certain degree of thinking ability, even using the spiritual weapons on this level as bait to set an ambush for us. But from another perspective, this action also reveals its fear of us. Its true strength is not that strong. Otherwise, it would have done nothing, allowing us to obtain the spiritual objects smoothly, so that we can confidently reach its true location, and then it would kill us personally."

After Asagiri finished speaking, Iwanaga Kotoko muttered with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Although weird things go against common sense, they also have common sense that they need to follow. The weird ability of this hotel is obviously related to water. So... will all the water in this hotel be directly controlled by it? No, if it is an evil spirit of that level, it is too powerful. Just like the fourth point you just mentioned, if it is that powerful, it should deliberately lead us to its hiding place. So, if it wants to integrate its own weirdness into the water, it needs certain conditions. According to my experience, the most likely one is that it can contact those water places through some medium connected to itself..."

Before Iwanaga Kotoko could finish her words, Yuuki Asuna had already gently pointed her slender white index finger at a certain spot on the floor plan of the first floor of the hotel 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 body is right here."

Iwanaga Kotoko nodded slightly and then asked.

"But now that it knows we've obtained the exorcist's sword, it certainly won't sit idly by. I don't know how many earthbound spirits are still in this hotel, but if we want to reach the equipment room on the first floor, we have to go down four floors. The guest rooms start on the third floor, so the third and fourth floors should have corresponding earthbound spirits. And according to normal logic, the closer the floor is to the guy's body, the stronger the earthbound spirit should be. The stairwell is too narrow and not very conducive to fighting..."

"So, in order to avoid unnecessary risks and consumption, we can't take the normal route."

Asagiri interrupted Iwanaga Kotoko's words, looked at the hotel's floor plan, then looked up at Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna with a smile.

"My suggestion is that we give that guy..."

"Let's go for a big one."

040 Justice from Heaven

Five minutes later, at the reception hall on the first floor of the hotel.

The floor, paved with smooth marble tiles, can even reflect clear images under the light of the huge crystal chandelier.

There was no one in the hall, and no receptionist at the front desk. Only the receiver connected to the landline was shaking slightly in the air, and a busy tone was emitted from it. Apart from that, there was no other sound. The silence was so quiet that it was even chilling.

At this moment, a loud noise suddenly came from above the hall.

"boom!!!"

A humanoid black shadow, over two meters tall, with reddish glowing lines growing on its body, fell from a height of nearly ten meters. The moment it landed on the ground, cracks appeared on the surrounding hard marble bricks, and a shaking roar was emitted.

"boom!!!"

Amidst the chaos of flying gravel, a laughing voice rang out.

"Well, I told you this is the fastest way without encountering any enemies, right?"

Kotoko Iwanaga jumped off Renshura's shoulders and landed lightly on the ground. She didn't look panicked at all. She even straightened her clothes first, raised her hand to adjust her white beret, and then replied with a smile.

"The other party probably didn't expect that we wouldn't take the stairs or the elevator, but would just plummet down from the fifth floor."

“It’s true that there were no obstacles, but…”

Seeing that Asagiri immediately lifted the summons of Ren Shura after landing, Yuuki Asuna couldn't help but pursed her lips and said with a little worry.

"Summoning a persona consumes a lot of mental and physical energy, doesn't it? And you punched through four floors in a row, plus the impact of landing... Are you feeling alright now?"

"completely fine."

Asagiri first replied with a smile, then typed a line of words on her phone, turned it over, and showed it to Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna.

"I'm a little tired. I've consumed about 30% of my physical strength, but my mental strength is fine. Don't discuss this matter. If that strange source can hear us, it might take this opportunity to attack. Act as if nothing happened and try to buy me some rest."

When Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko saw this, they both nodded, indicating that they understood.

Asagiri had no intention of showing off. After all, this was a dungeon, an extremely dangerous and strange dungeon where two players had already died. It was not a game of playing house. Deliberately concealing his status would only mislead his teammates' judgment of the situation.

"Let's go to the reception desk first. Didn't I give you a special reminder? There, you can get very valuable information."

Although Yuuki Asuna was a little worried about Asagiri's condition, there was no other way. If they followed the normal route and went down the stairwell, not to mention how many evil spirits they would encounter, fighting in a narrow stairwell would easily lead to accidents, and it would also consume the physical and mental strength of the three people.

In comparison, breaking through the ceiling connecting the floors and descending directly is indeed the safest option.

As she walked towards the reception desk not far away, which was also the front desk of the hotel, Asuna Yuuki had already grasped the exorcist's sword in her hand. She expended a small amount of mental energy and applied the "Wind Blessing" that could make her body lighter. At the same time, she walked in front to ensure that if an evil spirit suddenly rushed out from there, she could block it in the first time.

Fortunately, no evil spirits with terrifying faces suddenly appeared.

Asuna Yuuki breathed a sigh of relief, but to be on the safe side, she still held the exorcist's sword tightly in her hand, and together with Asagiri and Kotoko Iwanaga, she began to search for the so-called "valuable information" in the special prompt.

"Guest registration form...work permit...sanitation certificate...these are useless."

Just when Kotoko Iwanaga and Asuna Yuuki couldn't find anything valuable, Asagiri walked to the staff seat next to them and picked up a newspaper placed there.

"Valuable information found."

"Have you found it? Let me take a look..."

Asuna Yuuki leaned over to take a look and found that most of the newspaper had been stained with unknown black stains, and the content on it could not be made out at all. Only a small area was left with a piece of news written on it.

"There's a sudden riot among patients at the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital... Giant Mountain? Isn't that where we're doing the rookie dungeon?"

Yuuki Asuna muttered this first, then raised her head and looked at Asagiri, puzzled.

"This... there was an uncontrolled riot among the patients at the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital. We should have guessed this, right? After all, that's pretty much the plot of the game. It doesn't really count as valuable information, does it?"

"No, the so-called valuable intelligence does not refer to this incident itself."

Asagiri shook his head and said in a calm tone.

"The news about the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital will appear in this hotel's newspaper, proving that the location of this dungeon and our last rookie dungeon are from the same world. Furthermore, both dungeons are of the strange type. Since the app gave a special hint, saying this is valuable information, then this can't be a mere coincidence. For now, we can conclude that all of the strange dungeons arranged by the app are located in a certain location within this world, and this world... let's call it the strange world."

"A strange world..."

Yuuki Asuna's curiosity was also aroused, and she couldn't help but ask.

"So after knowing this information, what can we do?"

"Nothing can be done."

Asagiri's answer was beyond the expectations of Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko.

"While it's very interesting, this information isn't very useful right now. It seems to only provide us with the satisfaction of uncovering part of the truth as players."

"Feel...good?"

Yuuki Asuna sighed and shook her head helplessly.

"Compared to this kind of thing, I still want something like an exorcist sword, something that can provide substantial help in clearing dungeons..."

When Iwanaga Kotoko heard this, she was about to say something with a smile, but suddenly she sensed a strange aura. The smile on her face disappeared instantly and her expression became serious.

"Wait a minute, something... is approaching here."

As she finished speaking, a strange sound like a mixture of footsteps and dripping water, "pattering", broke the silence in the hotel lobby.

041 Floating Corpse Evil Spirit

Asuna Yuuki's expression changed, she tightened her grip on the Exorcist sword in her hand, and looked in the direction where the sound came from.