Chapter 02: Mental Hospital Room
"Instead of standing there in a daze, why not search this room for mental patients and see if you can find any clues that might help clear the level?"
Hearing Asagiri's words and watching his movements near the window, Asuna still felt cautious, but she couldn't help asking, "Mr. Naruto, how do you know this is a room for mental patients?"
"Isn't it obvious at a glance?"
Asagiri stepped back two steps and pointed at the window. Asuna followed his gesture and saw that the window was barely thirty centimeters long and wide, fitted with thick steel bars.
"The hint says this is a sanatorium, but looking at this window, it's clearly more like a cell. And there's also this..."
Asagiri walked over to the hospital bed, placed his hand on the iron railings, and rubbed them carefully before speaking in a calm tone.
"These railings aren't the kind installed in normal hospital rooms to prevent patients from falling out of bed. They're fixed, unable to be lowered, and there are clear signs of wear near the head and foot of the bed. That means when someone was restrained here, they struggled constantly, leaving these marks."
"The edge of the bedsheet also has traces of dried blood, which fits what I just said—it proves someone's wrists and ankles were abraded from struggling."
"Judging from these clues, this is either a room for mental patients—those with violent tendencies who can't be left unrestrained even when sleeping—or the site of a sadist's crime. But a sadist wouldn't set up a hospital bed for their victim to lie on. Since the app described this place as a sanatorium of unknown name, the first possibility is more likely."
Asuna was surprised by his detailed analysis. It wasn't his intelligence or insight that startled her—any observant person could have noticed the same things—but rather how quickly he'd adapted to the situation.
Isn't he getting into this too fast?
Most people suddenly appearing in a strange place would panic, maybe try to contact the police. But he? He checked his phone once, confirmed something, and immediately started analyzing the scene?
Is this guy... mentally sound?
"That... there seems to be something padded inside your clothes?" she asked cautiously.
Hearing her question, Asagiri waved his hand nonchalantly. "It's nothing. I just stuffed some magazines and books under my clothes, wrapped a few layers around my arms and legs with tape. I'm entering a dangerous dungeon, so basic protection is necessary."
Asuna was speechless.
From the time the app appeared to now, there had only been ten minutes of preparation. If his situation was the same as hers, that meant in just ten minutes, he managed to armor himself with books, grab an electric drill and saw, and enter the Dungeon?
How fast does he react? Didn't he even consider that this could just be a virus?
Her doubts were valid—but Asagiri's circumstances were unique.
At sixteen, the same age as Asuna and due to start high school today, Utsunomiya Asagiri was a transmigrator. For him, after experiencing a literal world jump, something like the sudden appearance of a game didn't seem that unbelievable.
"Instead of wondering about me, why not think about how to escape using what we've already learned?"
His calm reminder brought Asuna back to her senses. Though still confused, she forced herself to think clearly.
First of all, she was certain the man's real name wasn't Naruto. If he was concealing his face, there was no reason he'd give his true name so easily.
Moreover, when she'd refused to tell him her own name earlier, he had said, "You're quite vigilant, good."
It was clear he had been testing her.
Even so, in this situation, whether he was mentally stable or not, cooperation was the smartest choice. There was no way she could face a tall man armed with an electric drill and a saw using only a fruit knife.
Thinking of this, Asuna recalled the red text that had appeared before entering the dungeon and murmured softly, "Escape within sixty minutes—that's the mission objective. But it doesn't say what happens if we fail. Is there no penalty? Or maybe escaping within one hour is the only way to survive, so no penalty is needed..."
Her gaze shifted to the barred window, then to the saw beside Asagiri, but she quickly shook her head.
"No, that won't work. Even if the saw could cut through the bars, that window's too small for us to fit through. The only way out is the door. But what exactly are the 'caregivers'...?"
Before she could finish, her peripheral vision caught movement near the door.
Her blood froze instantly. Fear gripped her body so tightly that she could barely breathe.
The door had a small, transparent observation window—like those in ordinary hospital rooms.
And behind the glass...
A bloodstained, ferocious face was pressed tightly against it, staring straight at her with bloodshot eyes.