"Big brother, big sisters, why aren't you talking to me?" The blonde little girl said softly, tilted her head, and looked a bit wronged. Then she added: "You killed that aunties and uncles... I'm the only one left in this place... How about, big brother and big sisters, you just stay here forever and always be with me?"
Seeing the girl's cute and innocent expression saying such eerie words, Asuna Yuuki couldn't help but pull Kotoko Iwanaga's sleeve and said with a low voice, "You, aren't you an expert at dealing with oddities? Think of a way to negotiate with her! You shouldn't be actively attacked by an oddity..."
"This guy isn't an ordinary oddity, no... I'm not even sure if she's an oddity."
As she said that, Kotoko Iwanaga tried hard to stand on her tiptoes and leaned close to Asuna Yuuki's ear, as there was a fifteen-centimeter height difference between them.
Then she continued, saying, "The only thing I can be sure of is that she really doesn't have any hostility towards us. To her, keeping us here forever and always being with her is actually protecting us."
"This big sister is right." The blonde little girl took two steps forward and looked very worried as she said, "The outside world is too dangerous. If you go out, you will definitely die. It's better to stay here with me."
Kotoko Iwanaga shielded Asuna Yuuki behind her, looked directly into the blonde little girl's blue eyes, her expression showing no fear or panic, still maintaining a sweet smile, and asked in a gentle tone, "You know the outside world is very dangerous? Have you ever left this Hotel?"
The blonde little girl shook her head and answered very obediently, "No. I can't leave here."
"I see." Kotoko Iwanaga first said, then signaled Asagiri Utsunomiya and Asuna Yuuki with her eyes not to speak yet and continued to guide the little girl with a gentle attitude: "What else do you remember? Were you a guest in this Hotel before?"
"Hmm... I don't remember. I just remember I seem to have always been here... Those aunties and uncles often played with me."
Kotoko Iwanaga had already guessed that the aunties and uncles the little girl referred to were the Vengeful Spirits in this Hotel. However, the other party's situation seemed different from those Vengeful Spirits, and she didn't disappear with the Vengeful Spirit of the Drowned Corpse being eliminated.
"Then how did you know the outside world is very dangerous? Besides us, have others been here?"
Perhaps it was due to Kotoko Iwanaga's Talent, the blonde little girl didn't hide anything, nor did she show any hostility towards her, and answered very honestly, "Well, some people came before... but it seems like a long, long, long time ago. They were all dressed very strangely, wearing black clothes and black helmets. They looked very scary, not friendly and kind like you all. I didn't dare to appear in front of them."
"People wearing black clothes... Did they appear here suddenly, just like us?"
Hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's question, the blonde little girl shook her head and said, "No, they came in from outside. After coming in, they went to look at the water tank over there, and then they left."
The amount of information contained in the blonde little girl's words was simply too great.
Someone else had been here before? People wearing black clothes and black helmets? Were they Players?
No... the little girl said those people came in from outside.
Having already experienced two dungeons, Asuna Yuuki felt that just as Asagiri Utsunomiya said, she, Asagiri Utsunomiya, and Kotoko Iwanaga were the first batch of Players in this mysterious Survival Game.
Adding the previous newspaper, it could be temporarily assumed that this entire world, including the Mount Massive Asylum and this Hotel, was a world of oddities.
If that were the case, there couldn't be any rewards obtained through the game that were powerful enough to move freely in this world, or so-called veteran Players with more experience than her, Asagiri Utsunomiya, and Kotoko Iwanaga.
If they weren't Players...
Were they natives of this world? The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, FBI, or something similar?
What were they acting for? Since those people went to the room with the water tank, they should have found the source of the oddities. Why didn't they eliminate it directly? Instead, they just left?
There was too little information available now, Asuna Yuuki couldn't come to a reasonable conclusion.
"So that's how it is..." Kotoko Iwanaga nodded noncommittally and looked at Asagiri Utsunomiya who was standing there, clearly implying for him to make a decision, whether to use the app's function directly to leave this dungeon before the blonde little girl launched an attack, lest it be too late later.
But Asagiri Utsunomiya didn't respond. Instead, he walked up to the blonde little girl and said, "Little missy, if we leave, will you be very lonely staying here by yourself?"
The moment she heard this, Asuna Yuuki reacted.
The Diplomat, was he starting again?
"Yes... So big brother, can you stay here with me?"
Hearing the blonde little girl's question, Asagiri Utsunomiya didn't answer directly but guided her patiently.
"Hey, little missy, that's not right. If we stay here with you, we can only stay for a little while, not too long. Besides, do you think this place is fun?"
The blonde little girl shook her head, saying, "Not fun."
"That's right. It's so boring staying here." Asagiri Utsunomiya first replied with a smile, then slowly spoke, saying something that neither Kotoko Iwanaga nor Asuna Yuuki had expected: "So, do you want to come with me?"
"Huh? Come together...?"
The blonde little girl looked very tempted, but in the end, she still shook her head and her face showed distress as she said, "But big brother, I can't leave here... I've tried, I can't leave..."
"No, maybe others can't, but I can take you away from here, come..."
Suddenly, a fluffy teddy bear suddenly appeared in Asagiri Utsunomiya's hand. He offered it to the blonde little girl, then pressed the start button on the back of the teddy bear, followed by a sound that made Asuna Yuuki feel utterly speechless.
"Oh~ Yeah~ Oh~ Yeah~ Give it to me~~~"
Accompanied by these words that sounded very improper, making movements that suspiciously looked like pushing and pulling its hips, which, combined with its appearance, looked incredibly funny.
"Funny isn't it?"
Seeing the blonde little girl staring at the teddy bear, her eyes sparkling, Asagiri Utsunomiya reached out his free hand and gently stroked her head, then spoke in a relaxed tone.
"Come be my Persona."