Hearing Asagiri Utsunomiya's words and seeing the seriousness in his eyes, Asuna Yuuki's face instantly flushed, and she stammered.
"Su-suddenly... saying that... how unfair..."
Soon after, Asuna Yuuki mustered her courage. Although she didn't dare to look directly into Asagiri Utsunomiya's eyes, she extended her left hand and said in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
"There are no more Infected visible in the hospital, and there are no other Players present now, so... do you want to hold hands..."
Before Asuna Yuuki could even finish speaking, Asagiri Utsunomiya had already taken her hand, and just like in their shared novice dungeon, it was in that more intimate way of interlocking fingers.
"Of course we should hold hands."
Feeling the warmth from his hand and hearing his voice, the blush on her face became even more prominent, but Asuna Yuuki gripped Asagiri Utsunomiya's hand more tightly.
At this moment, even this scene, with corpses of the Infected everywhere, under the dim sky that made the hospital buildings appear even more eerie, giving a sense of suffocation and terror, didn't seem so scary because of her current blossoming maiden heart.
◆◇◈◇◆
Meanwhile, in the real world.
"Woohoo~ A new skill~ And a piece of equipment~"
Seeing Kotoko Iwanaga cheering and full of energy, Megumi Kato, who was lying on the sofa with a somewhat tired face, sighed slightly and said in her trademark flat but gentle tone.
"Iwanaga-san, you have too much energy. I'm so tired now I barely have the strength to talk..."
Kotoko Iwanaga sat on the sofa, her two legs in white sheer stockings and garters dangling, her petite body bouncing on the soft sofa. She said, "After all, my skill consumes mental energy, not much stamina, while your exclusive talent consumes both stamina and mental energy. Plus, you killed quite a few zombies, so it's normal to feel tired~"
When they cleared the dungeon this time, Kotoko Iwanaga received an S rating, while Megumi Kato received an A+. Although they were both in a team with Asagiri Utsunomiya and Asuna Yuuki, the four of them acting together, the actions that contributed to their clearance scores were different.
Kotoko Iwanaga 'collected information and deduced part of the truth about the disaster that occurred in the city of the zombie apocalypse', while Megumi Kato 'cleared some of the Ordinary Infected in the hospital'.
Clearly, in the Survival Game's evaluation, although Kotoko Iwanaga didn't personally kill zombies, her performance in this dungeon was better because she collected information from the white-coated spirit and deduced part of the truth about the disaster.
After clearing the dungeon, the rewards Kotoko Iwanaga received, in addition to the Physical Ability Enhancement like Megumi Kato, included a piece of equipment that was very suitable for her, and a new oddity-type Skill.
[Equipment Name: Odd Brooch
[Equipment Quality: Extraordinary (Blue)
[Equipment Information: When wearing this brooch, it slightly increases your mental energy recovery speed, and can switch to different colors according to your thoughts.]
The value of this equipment was actually just average, as it was only a blue-quality accessory-type equipment and couldn't have any overly overpowered effects. However, the part of this accessory-type equipment that Kotoko Iwanaga liked the most was that it could switch colors according to her thoughts.
This way, there would be no color clashes.
However, although Kotoko Iwanaga liked this brooch very much, the main focus of the rewards obtained after clearing the dungeon this time was actually the oddity-type Skill.
[Skill Name: Netherworld Grip
[Skill Information: Consumes a large amount of mental energy, after about two seconds of charging, summons a giant Pale Spectral Hand from the void to perform a terrifying attack on the target, dealing damage with both curse and physical attributes. The charging time is shortened as your mental ability grows.]
An offensive Skill that can directly cause damage was exactly what Kotoko Iwanaga needed at this moment.
Although Netherworld Grip requires a long charging time of two seconds before it can be activated, and consumes a large amount of mental energy that it will also affect her own state, but she is not alone; there were Asagiri Utsunomiya and Asuna Yuuki in the team, who could completely buy her time to charge the skill during combat, and she didsn't have to worry about being unable to resist if she encounters enemies after consuming a large amount of mental energy.
Simply put, it provided a very powerful output method for the team.
And Megumi Kato, who obtained an A+ rating, in addition to the Physical Ability Enhancement, also unlocked a unique Job and an exclusive Skill corresponding to her Talent.
[Job Name: Shadow Dancer
[Job Information: An assassin-type unique Job that lurks in the shadows, hides its presence, and delivers a fatal blow to enemies. Upon delivering a fatal blow to an enemy without being discovered, stamina and mental energy will be restored.]
[Skill Name: Ethereal Touch
[Skill Information: Able to be activated when touching others. By consuming your own stamina and mental energy, the other party temporarily gains the effect of your active Talent, Low Presence. The specific duration of the effect depends on the stamina and mental energy you choose to consume when activating this skill. (Note: Similar to when you yourself use your exclusive Talent, the slower the other moves, the longer this skill effect lasts. The faster and more noticeable they move, the shorter the duration of this skill effect, with a maximum duration of thirty seconds.)]
When Megumi Kato saw her newly acquired Skill, many uses for this Skill appeared in her mind.
For example, before starting a battle, first apply an Ethereal Touch to Kotoko Iwanaga, who is not good at frontal combat. This can not only prevent her from being targeted by enemies, but also buy Kotoko Iwanaga the charging time required to activate Netherworld Grip.
Another example is when needing to pass through certain potentially dangerous areas, use this skill on Asagiri Utsunomiya, Kotoko Iwanaga, and Asuna Yuuki to ensure the team is not targeted by enemies and that the team has the initiative in combat.
"Ah, it's so boring." Kotoko Iwanaga suddenly exclaimed as she lay on the sofa, resting her face in her hands and looking bored. Then she muttered to herself, "What are Asagiri-san and Asuna-san doing in the dungeon right now... I knew I should have stayed and not left, *Sigh!*, I still couldn't refuse his request."
Hearing this, Megumi Kato cautiously spoke: "Iwanaga-san, can I ask you a question?"
Kotoko Iwanaga replied with a smile, "No need to be so reserved, just ask~"
"Do you... really like Utsunomiya-san?"
"Otherwise?"
"But... why?"
Hearing this question, Kotoko Iwanaga looked puzzled and asked back, "What why?"
"It's just..." Megumi Kato tried to organize her words, then said softly, "Why did you fall for Utsunomiya-san?"
"Hmm..." Kotoko Iwanaga sat up from the sofa, picked up the saucer and teacup from the coffee table, first took a small sip of the black tea in the cup, and then slowly, with a smile, said, "Although I don't think falling for someone needs any special reason, by normal standards, Asagiri-san is very handsome, has a good physique, excels in both academics and sports, and as for his personality... although it's a bit eccentric and abstract, you could never be bored when you're with him. No matter how you look at it, it's quite normal for me to like him, right?"
"Is that so..." Megumi Kato nodded noncommittally; after all, she had never been in love or liked any boy.
"Instead of this, why don't you go to your room and sleep for a bit?" Kotoko Iwanaga asked as she stood up, stretched languidly, rubbed her tired eyes, and yawned. "Looking at the situation, those two won't be leaving the dungeon anytime soon. The clearance time this time was also very fast. You can totally sleep, wake up, and then go to school."
Megumi Kato nodded and said, "Yeah, I think that's better too."
Although she had already taken leave in advance, since she could go to school well-rested, it was naturally better to go.
◆◇◈◇◆
Several hours later, at eight in the morning in the real world, inside the dungeon, in the administrative building of Mercy Hospital.
"There's less than two hours left until the dungeon ends..."
Asuna Yuuki's right hand, which was holding the handle of the Exorcist Longsword, trembled slightly.
Looking at the Special Infected, covered in pustules, whose head she had pierced with her sword, and from whose mouth a dark red tongue several meters long extended, she looked at Asagiri Utsunomiya beside her and spoke softly.
"This is the so-called Smoker, right? Among the eight types of Special Infected, only the Tank, described as the most powerful, is one we haven't encountered yet."
Asagiri Utsunomiya observed the Smoker's corpse and spoke thoughtfully.
"Hmm, perhaps within the difficulty setting of this dungeon, Tank-type Special Infected won't appear."
Her expression seemed a bit complex as Asuna Yuuki sighed softly and said, "Even so, besides us, only those two Players completed the dungeon. The other Players... were all filtered out, weren't they?"
Asagiri Utsunomiya glanced out the corridor window at the night sky, which had become completely dark, making it almost impossible to see anything clearly, and said softly, "There's less than two hours left until the time limit ends. If the Survival Game really arranged a way to eliminate those slacking Players, it should be appearing around this time, and..."
Asagiri Utsunomiya paused slightly here, walked to the corpse of the Special Infected Smoker, took out a black tracker from the area near its neck, and then placed it in the transparent plastic bag he was holding in his left hand.
In that bag, there were nearly twenty blood-stained trackers.
Following this, Asagiri Utsunomiya spoke in a voice tinged with an excitement.
"The owners of the trackers, if they see so many coordinates representing Special Infected concentrated in one place, will definitely come to investigate, right? I hope to meet them, and then..."
.
.
.
"Things will become interesting."