"How did you know..."
"It's that simple, right?"
Asagiri Utsunomiya interrupted the middle-aged male Player's question.
Seeing the shocked expressions on the faces of the two middle-aged male Players in front of him, Asagiri Utsunomiya spoke in a relaxed tone.
"It has only been a little over three hours since the dungeon started. In such a short time, you were able to leave the starting point, find the route to Mercy Hospital, and arrive here. This shows that you're a very capable Player. And if calculated based on real world time, today is a weekday, Wednesday. If you have only completed one novice dungeon, and according to the rules of this Survival Game that require you to enter a dungeon within a month after clearing the novice dungeon, you should have chosen a rest day on the weekend when you don't have to work to enter the dungeon."
The level-headed middle-aged male Player frowned, then asked curiously, "Just based on this?"
"Of course, not just this." Asagiri Utsunomiya said and shook his head first, then calmly explained, "If you were someone who didn't have a job in the real world, or had relatively flexible working hours, you might have entered this dungeon today. But as I just said, being able to arrive here at this time shows that you're a capable Player. You must have decided from the moment you entered this dungeon that you didn't want to muddle through for ten hours, but rather to take the initiative, complete the clear secondary objective, and not waste time on hesitation and procrastination.
"Since it's been confirmed that you're the type of ambitious Player who takes the initiative, this isn't your second dungeon. Time-wise, it's been a total of sixteen days since the start of the Survival Game until today. Even if you actively registered on the first day after clearing the novice dungeon, due to the three-day queue and one-week cooldown, it's impossible to enter the fourth dungeon at this time. Therefore, you can only be a Player who has cleared two dungeons, including the novice dungeon, and this dungeon is your third."
Hearing this, the two male Players exchanged glances. Then, the level-headed one turned to look at Asagiri Utsunomiya and nodded without hesitation as he said, "Yes, this is indeed our third dungeon. And I also agree with what you said. Exchanging items or equipment for the antibody reagents in your hands is indeed a mutually beneficial transaction."
If they were not stupid, they would certainly be smart enough to think that since Asagiri Utsunomiya said he had already swept the hospital's interior, wouldn't that mean he had mostly removed the dangerous factors inside? Why would they still need to exchange items or equipment? Just go in and take a look, and if they didn't find the antibody reagent, wouldn't it be better to go back and make a deal with him?
But these two middle-aged male Players didn't think so.
Was there still danger inside the hospital? It was impossible to say for sure now, but one thing was certain...
This mysterious Player in front of them, dressed all in black and wearing a gray mask, definitely possessed formidable strength, and might even be able to kill them both easily.
After all, if he didn't have complete confidence in his own strength, why would he do something like block the hospital entrance and actively seek out other Players to make a deal?
Taking a small advantage of this mysterious Player? If they enraged this mysterious Player later and he killed them immediately, then it would truly be too late for regrets.
However...
The two exchanged glances, and they realized they had the same idea in mind.
They were going to bring out valuable items and pieces of equipment, but the mysterious Player in front of them didn't know what they had. While they certainly couldn't deceive the other party with junk, there was no need to bring out the best items, right?
As they were thinking this, Asagiri Utsunomiya seemed to understand their thoughts and added calmly, "Oh yes, if the pieces of equipment and items you bring out are valuable enough to satisfy me, I can share the information about this dungeon I know with you. Even if it's not something you explored and deduced on your own, just hearing it from me will definitely increase your clearance rating by at least two minor levels, and perhaps even one major level."
Hearing this, the two male players couldn't help but be moved.
In their previous dungeon clearance settlement, there was indeed a message indicating that they had learned a certain rule of the instance, thus gaining bonus points for their rating.
And this mysterious Player in front of them said... he could share the information about this dungeon with them?
This was truly too tempting.
Just then, Asagiri Utsunomiya said with a sharp smile, "But... Although sharing such important information with you won't cause me any loss, I'm not the kind of good person who likes to help others for free, and my patience is also limited. Therefore, you only have one chance. If you can't take out an item or a piece of equipment that satisfies me, let alone the information, you won't even get the antibody reagent."
The two middle-aged male Players were silent for a while, and then the more level-headed male Player slowly extended his right hand. In his palm, a sharp dagger with both the handle and the blade being dark purple appeared, looking like it emanated an ominous aura. His face showed unconcealable reluctance as he took out this dagger.
"This is the best piece of equipment I have."
"Is that so?"
Asagiri Utsunomiya walked forward, lightly touched the flat side of the dagger with his index finger of his right hand, and took out his phone with his left hand, then started to check the specific information of this weapon.
His posture and actions, which were completely relaxed and not nervous at all even when he got closer, instead convinced the two male Players that the combat power of this mysterious Player was definitely far above theirs, and he wasn't afraid of the two of them taking the opportunity to launch a sneak attack.
[Equipment Name: Ominous Dagger
[Equipment Quality: Extraordinary (Blue)
[Equipment Information: A dagger made of unknown material, more durable than ordinary daggers. Due to the ominous aura attached to it, when dealing damage to biological enemies, it will intensify the pain of the wound and cause mental interference to the enemy.]
After reading the dagger's description, Asagiri Utsunomiya nodded and remarked in a calm tone.
"A blue-quality weapon-type equipment, it's indeed quite good."
Hearing this, the expression of the level-headed middle-aged male Player couldn't help but become somewhat complicated.
The best piece of equipment he owned... could only receive a quite good evaluation in the other person's eyes?
What kind of background did this mysterious Player have?
He was clearly the same as himself, just a Player who had cleared two dungeons, right?
It couldn't be that the other party achieved the highest level of clearance rating in both of those dungeons, could it?
What the level-headed middle-aged male Player didn't expect was that his random guess was hitting the truth.
Indeed, the mysterious Player, Asagiri Utsunomiya, obtained the highest rating both in two dungeons he had cleared.
"What about yours?"
Hearing Asagiri Utsunomiya's question, the other male Player sighed, and then with an expression of open reluctance, took out a small bottle.
[Item Name: Magical Hand Sanitizer
[Item Type: Disposable
[Item Quality: Rare (Purple)
[Item Information: A blood-replenishing item most frequently used by a certain fatherly warrior, possessing a power so magical it defies logic. When the hand sanitizer is poured onto a wound, it will immediately eliminate the pain caused by the wound and make the wound heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. The only drawback is that this bottle of Magical Hand Sanitizer seems to follow some strange causality; once opened, even if only a drop is poured out, it cannot be used again.]
"Oh, I didn't expect you to have this kind of item?"
Hearing Asagiri Utsunomiya's praise, the male Player who took out the Magical Hand Sanitizer felt pain in his heart, but he was not the kind of person who couldn't see the situation clearly.
It was the early stage of the game, and for Players like them, what in most valuable?
Jobs, Talents, and Skills. These three are the highest priority, equipment is second, and items are last, while disposable items have an even lower priority.
Is the effect of the Magical Hand Sanitizer amazing? Very amazing indeed.
If used in case of serious injury, this item might save a life.
But correspondingly, it also has the limitation of being a disposable item.
In combat, there is simply no time to use this thing, and even if there is a chance to use it, it will disappear after use.
Players of their level do not need insurance with harsh usage conditions that they don't know when they can use, but rather rewards like Jobs, Talents, Skills, and pieces of equipment that can be repeatedly used and often provide actual practical values.
In other words, he was taking out this purple-quality disposable item, whose value was essentially zero before actual use and he didn't know when he could use it, to exchange for the opportunity to obtain the more valuable rewards mentioned above after clearing this dungeon.
In his opinion, this transaction was very worthwhile.
"Okay, deal made."
Asagiri Utsunomiya took the Ominous Dagger and the Magical Hand Sanitizer, put them away first, handed the two vials of reagent to the two Players, and then spoke with a smile.
"The truth of this dungeon is actually..."
◆◇◈◇◆
After the two Players confirmed their dungeon clearance and their figures disappeared, Asuna Yuuki, who had been staying behind a wall without showing herself but had heard the entire process, walked out and looked at Asagiri Utsunomiya, and then half-seriously and half-jokingly spoke.
"I thought you would take their items and equipment, then directly kill them, or directly force them to hand over all their things."
Hearing this, Asagiri Utsunomiya retorted, "Why would you think I would do something like that? What kind of image do you have of me in your mind?"
Her lips curved upwards, her tone relaxed, and with a bit of playfulness, Asuna Yuuki teased, "With your personality, I think you might actually do that~ Don't you need to reflect on yourself?"
"If I were a lone wolf Player, perhaps I would do that," Asagiri Utsunomiya replied, then looked straight at Asuna Yuuki's eyes and said solemnly, "But now I'm with you. If I did something like that, you wouldn't be happy, right? If there is a serious divergence in our action styles, it will affect our tacit understanding, and in a more serious case, it may lead to us eventually parting ways. Compared to the so-called items and pieces of equipment, your position in my heart is much more important."