"The public hints and special hints are different..." Asuna Yuuki murmured, looking thoughtful. "The difference in dungeon hints should be due to the difference in our strength. In other words, according to the app's assessment, if I were to fight a vengeful spirit with my current strength, I would likely not win, but your strength is enough to eliminate a single vengeful spirit, so it gave different hints? This app is quite user-friendly. As for the special hint..."
Just as Asuna Yuuki was halfway through her sentence, Asagiri Utsunomiya suddenly grabbed her feet. This sudden attack caused Asuna Yuuki to freeze for a moment, then her pretty face instantly turned red.
"You... why did you suddenly grab my feet..."
"Wrapping them with athletic tape and bandages."
Asagiri Utsunomiya seemed to have switched from his usual abstract mode to professional mode. He didn't say anything outrageous but spoke in a calm tone.
"Professional athletes use athletic tape and bandages to stabilize their ankles before a match to reduce the risk of sprains. Although the Survival Game rules say no defensive gear of any kind, this shouldn't be included."
"Oh, oh... I see..." Asuna Yuuki stuttered as she raised her hand and smoothed her long flaxen hair. Seeing Asagiri Utsunomiya place her feet on his lap, then tear open the bandages and athletic tape with both hands, carefully wrapping them, her face was slightly red. She said softly in an apologetic tone, "Sorry... I just thought... I thought you had some strange ideas about me, that's why..."
"No need to apologize." Asagiri Utsunomiya said frankly, "If you say I'm doing this preparatory work for you purely out of lust, then you're wronging me. But if you say I'm doing it out of absolute rationality with no lewd thoughts at all, then you're overestimating me."
"You... you guy..." Asuna Yuuki muttered with her ears turning red. Her teeth bit her lower lip lightly and she whispered, "Per... pervert... to have such thoughts while touching someone's feet... You're really a pervert..."
Asagiri Utsunomiya replied, "Don't make false accusations here. It's not just anyone, it's when I touch Asuna Yuuki that I have some thoughts based on human nature. The qualifier is you."
Asuna Yuuki lowered her head, seemingly showing no reaction, just giving a soft "Mm." In reality, she felt her cheeks burning, and steam was almost coming out of her head.
Direct attacks, terrifying indeed.
◆—⊰✧⊱—◆
['Player: Asagiri Utsunomiya is about to enter into the dungeon. Start Countdown: 10, 9, 8... 1, 0.]
At the moment the countdown reached zero, a thick, blood-red mist appeared in his vision. By the time the mist dispersed, Asagiri Utsunomiya was in a completely unfamiliar room that looked like a high-class Hotel suite.
Just as he had guessed, something like wrapping his ankles with athletic tape and bandages to prevent sprains and injuries would not disappear when entering the dungeon. This was reasonable; after all, a Player's ability to think of this and prepare cautiously for clearing the dungeon was also a reflection of their personal capability.
After confirming this, Asagiri Utsunomiya began to look around. He saw that there were not only him and Asuna Yuuki in the room, but also three other people who seemed to be Players.
One was a young man in an expensive suit, wearing a tie, with slicked-back dark brown hair, and a rather handsome appearance, and standing beside him, very close, almost leaning on him, was a young woman with heavy makeup.
Let's call these two 'Man in Suit' and 'Woman with Heavy Makeup' for convenience.
From the Woman with Heavy Makeup's actions, Asagiri Utsunomiya and Asuna Yuuki could tell at a glance that these two must have known each other before entering the dungeon; perhaps they were a team?
The attire of the last Player, however, looked a bit strange.
"That is..." Asunia Yuuki couldn't help but whisper as she checked the last Player's appearance discreetly.
The last Player looked to be a girl with a very petite figure; her height seemed to be only about 1.5 meters, and she was wearing a white Gothic Lolita dress, paired with white stockings, exquisite black leather shoes on her feet, a white beret, and holding something like a cane in her hand.
The most peculiar thing was that although the app's hint stated that Players could not use things from the real world to disguise their appearance when entering the dungeon, yet the other party was wearing a luxurious white half-mask that covered the upper half of her face, like something from a masquerade ball.
For this girl, let's call her 'Gothic Lolita Girl' for convenience.
Seeing that the other Players in the room were looking at her, the Gothic Lolita Girl showed no nervousness. Instead, she gently lifted her skirt with one hand and performed a very standard curtsy. Her voice was soft as she said, "Good evening, everyone."
The Man in Suit looked at the Gothic Lolita Girl, his brow furrowed, and said, "Hey, that mask you're wearing and the cane you're holding, are they equipment?"
The Gothic Lolita Girl nodded and replied frankly, "Yes."
"Hmph, already having two pieces of equipment when entering the second dungeon. It seems you got a good evaluation in the novice dungeon as well."
Seeing that the Man in Suit only glanced at the Gothic Lolita Girl's cane and mask before looking away, Asagiri Utsunomiya and Asuna Yuuki both realized that this person didn't know that after killing another Player, as long as you could get their phone, you could randomly draw one piece of their equipment or item.
This was normal; after all, this was a hidden rule that Asagiri Utsunomiya had verified in the novice dungeon by killing a Player who had cleared dungeon and taking his phone.
There were definitely more than just Asagiri Utsunomiya who killed people in the novice dungeon, but there were probably very few Players who could discover this hidden rule directly in the novice dungeon. It was even possible that at this stage, only Asagiri Utsunomiya and Asuna Yuuki knew this hidden rule.
After all, to verify this hidden rule, the primary condition was to obtain another Player's phone. Secondly, the Player who owned the phone must have cleared the dungeon and been promoted from a Novice Player to an Official Player. The last condition was to kill the other party, take their open, and touch the app with the eye icon three times within 24 hours since their death.
In the novice dungeon, it was almost impossible to meet so many conditions and, most importantly, to have the idea of verifying the hidden rule.
"Tch... a little girl, and you two... look like high school students?" The Man in Suit glanced at Asuna Yuuki and Asagiri Utsunomiya as he said this first, with arrogance shining on his face, then he continued speaking in a deep voice, "I'll be direct. In this dungeon, you must follow my orders. Whatever I tell you to do, you do it, and I will lead you to clear it."
Hearing this, the Gothic Lolita Girl replied with an amused voice, "Follow your orders? We are all Players, so why should we do that?"
"Hmph, isn't that simple? Because my ability is the strongest." The Man in Suit said first, then folded his arms across his chest and declared ostentatiously, "I forgot to tell you, in the novice dungeon... I received a high-level rating of B+."