Chapter 188: The Terrifying Existence in the Deepest Part
After confirming that Sakuragawa Rikka had left, Asagiri finally let out a sigh and spoke slowly.
"Ah, acting cool is really tiring."
Yuuki Asuna, who had been worried just a moment ago, immediately rolled her eyes and said in exasperation,
"I thought you were sighing for some serious reason. I was worried for nothing."
"If I didn't act like I was perfectly fine, what if Sakuragawa Rikka decided to attack us?"
Asagiri smiled and explained as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Neither side is in great shape right now. Even though I can still use [Supreme Magic Bullet] one more time, the Dungeon has only just begun. Blowing every trump card this early would be idiotic."
"That's true."
Yuuki Asuna nodded, then asked curiously,
"Right. After [Supreme Magic Bullet] erased Chris Walker, why did it suddenly turn downward?"
"Oh, that? Nothing major."
Asagiri waved a hand and casually said something so shocking that Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi all froze.
"It went to look for the source of the supernatural force that turned Kyozan Mental Hospital into this."
"Huh?"
Seeing the three girls' blank expressions, Asagiri explained in a matter of fact tone,
"Isn't that normal? [Supreme Magic Bullet] is an attack that severs an enemy's 'immortality.' Chris Walker wasn't an independent lifeform. He was a monster born from the source of the supernatural corruption here. To stop him from reappearing like that chef did, [Supreme Magic Bullet] naturally followed his aura and attacked the source directly, erasing the part of its power that had produced him."
"Wait..."
Even the well informed Iwanaga Kotoko looked dumbfounded after hearing that.
"So [Supreme Magic Bullet] isn't really a bullet. It's a self tracking cruise missile? Does that mean the source of the supernatural corruption in this Dungeon has already been destroyed by you?"
"No."
Asagiri shook his head.
"Even if it has special properties, power is still power. Erasing Chris Walker's existence and cutting off the possibility of him reviving again was already close to its limit. The source that turned Kyozan Mental Hospital into this hasn't been destroyed, but..."
He paused, then changed the topic.
"From the direction [Supreme Magic Bullet] traveled, we can confirm that the source lies below us."
"Below, huh..."
Yuuki Asuna leaned against the wall to rest as she thought aloud.
"The clear condition this time is escaping Kyozan Mental Hospital, but the source of the supernatural corruption is several floors underground. That means we can't escape outward while also investigating the hidden truth of this Dungeon..."
She looked at Asagiri, lightly pursed her lips, and asked in a soft voice,
"Leader, this time... are we still going for the perfect clear?"
"Not this time."
For once, Asagiri did not give his usual immediate yes. His answer was decisive.
"According to normal game design, hidden objectives always come with enemies stronger than the ones in the main route. Escaping Kyozan Mental Hospital is the main objective, and the strongest enemy on that route should already be Chris Walker. I don't know what's underground, but whatever is there has to be even worse than him. That's beyond what we can safely handle at this stage. The risk is too high."
"Mm, I agree."
Iwanaga Kotoko nodded.
"This time is completely different from last time. In the last Dungeon, even if things went bad, we could still choose to clear at any time. But here, even if Leader uses his reversal ability and gives us another chance, we still can't instantly fulfill the clear objective if we're trapped underground. We can't gamble on that."
"Then it's settled. We're not going underground."
Kato Megumi clearly let out a sigh of relief.
Chris Walker had simply been too terrifying.
From the system's perspective, a monster like him probably was never meant to be defeated at all. He was the type of existence Players were supposed to flee from the moment they saw him, something placed in the Dungeon purely to create pressure and terror.
It was only because Asagiri possessed [Supreme Magic Bullet], a skill that completely exceeded the strength scale of Players at this phase, that he had managed to erase him. It was basically the equivalent of bringing a cheat weapon into a forced death scene and instantly deleting the boss.
A unique beauty born from overwhelming stats and a broken mechanic.
"Now then, let's take a look at the diary Sakuragawa Rikka gave us."
Hearing Asagiri say that, Iwanaga Kotoko suddenly remembered something and quickly asked,
"Right. Why do you know her?"
"I don't know her. I just know what she looks like and what her name is."
"...That's such a perfunctory answer. Forget it. Let's just read the diary."
The topic was swept aside in only a few words.
Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi were just as curious as Kotoko about how Asagiri knew Sakuragawa Rikka's identity, but it was only curiosity. If he wanted to explain, he would. If he did not, then they would not pry. It was not important.
They had already gone through enough life and death together to entrust each other with their lives and their absolute trust.
"Let's see..."
Asagiri opened the black covered diary. The edges of several pages were stained with dried blood, but it was still readable.
[Today, another two experiments were conducted, but both failed. Why are those idiots upstairs sending down waste that does not even meet the minimum experimental standards? Did they seriously think any random mental patient could withstand this burden?]
The moment she read the first paragraph, Iwanaga Kotoko's expression changed. Her earlier question surfaced again.
"So that's it..."
She frowned and muttered to herself,
"The experiments failed. What exactly counts as the qualification for this experiment...? Could it be..."
Asagiri turned the page.
[The first successful subject has finally appeared. I truly never expected that sickly cannibal lunatic would possess a soul with this level of toughness. Even after being twisted to the extreme, it still did not collapse, and it could even speak. Even though all it said were meaningless curses, there is no doubt that this is the first true breakthrough toward success.]
Seeing this, Iwanaga Kotoko finally confirmed her suspicion, and disgust appeared plainly in her eyes.
"They're actually creating evil spirits by force..."
"Creating evil spirits by force?"
Kato Megumi looked startled.
"Can something like that really be done?"
"Of course."
Iwanaga Kotoko sighed, her expression growing grave.
"The Entity we encountered in that Yokai request Leader and I handled before was also an artificially created existence. It was just that the serial killer responsible for that case had no real idea what he was doing, and a lot of accidental conditions lined up by chance. That's why it succeeded."
She paused, her eyes cold.
"But here, under Kyozan Mental Hospital, they were deliberately trying to create supernatural entities through something resembling scientific experimentation. They're disgusting."
"Keep reading."
Asagiri flipped to the next entry.
[Headquarters sent someone down today. They injected Subject One with some kind of reagent. Strange. Weren't we supposed to twist this bastard's soul to the limit and then kill him so he would become a true evil spirit? Still, that doesn't matter. That reagent improved Subject One's physical functions, which will make continuing the torture much more convenient.]
[Subject One, Subject Two, Subject Three... There are nearly ten successful subjects now. However, the one I find most satisfactory is still Subject Two. Among all of them, he looks the most normal, but it turns out he can control that thing, and his soul is unimaginably resilient. Even after enduring so much torment, he still retains a basic level of reason. Truly extraordinary experimental material.]
[Subject Four's combat ability is terrifying. He was already monstrous while alive, and his soul was twisted enough from the start. Headquarters sent someone to inject him with that mysterious reagent as well, then ordered him to be sealed inside the anesthetic chamber. Every time I pass by it, I can't help but sigh. How could a thing like that ever be born among human beings? I heard even small caliber firearm rounds can't penetrate his body. He is a complete monster.]
When Asagiri turned to the next page, the writing changed.
The previous pages had all been written in black ballpoint pen. But here, the letters were dark red, as though written with a finger dipped in blood.
[Heh. We were all fools. So this is the final step of the experiment. Those people at Headquarters never intended to create a mere supernatural being from the start. They wanted...]
The sentence ended there.
Asagiri turned the next page.
On it, in dark red lettering far messier than before, were only a few lines.
[Don't go to the fifth underground floor! Don't go near that place! Absolutely do not go there!]
That was the end of the diary.
After reading everything, Iwanaga Kotoko showed no pity for the writer at all. Her expression remained cold and analytical.
"If the contents of this diary are real, then we can roughly confirm something now. The 'mental patients' wandering this hospital are not pure evil spirits. They are monsters whose bodies were modified after being injected with some kind of mysterious reagent."
She looked up at the others.
"The hospital riot recorded in the news was most likely the final step. Those mental patients broke free, slaughtered the staff and the other patients, and then became contaminated by supernatural power, turning into the things we are seeing now."
She paused.
"But the most important point is this."
Her eyes grew darker.
"Subject Four refers to Chris Walker. We've already seen for ourselves how terrifying he is. Yet in the diary writer's eyes, Subject Two was even more satisfactory than Chris Walker."
She slowly finished the thought.
"So what exactly... is Subject Two?"
.....
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