"Come."
Next, Asagiri did something that surprised Asuna.
He took two steps forward, bent down, picked up the blood-stained cleaver from the ground, and then threw it in front of the man, speaking softly in an emotionless tone.
"Pick it up."
The man clutched his pierced, bleeding wrist, gritting his teeth and enduring the pain. Hearing Asagiri's words, he first glanced at the cleaver on the ground, then raised his head to look at the tall black humanoid creature behind the other party. Fear showed in his eyes, and he immediately knelt on the ground with a thud, his forehead pressed against the hard floor, continuously begging for mercy.
"No... no, I was impulsive just now... Please, please spare me..."
"Begging for mercy? At this moment? Are you trying to make me laugh?"
After saying this, Asagiri suddenly changed the subject, walked over to the man, and extended his hand.
"However, if you hand over your phone, I can consider sparing your life."
The man, kneeling on the ground and trembling, heard this. He shakily took out his phone from his pants pocket and offered it to Asagiri with both hands.
"This... this is my phone... no password..."
"Hmm, very sensible."
Asagiri smiled, then whispered softly.
"I've seriously considered it, but you still have to die."
"A killer should be prepared to be killed himself. This is the simplest truth in the world, one even a child understands."
As Asagiri's words fell, Human Asura had already extended an arm, its massive hand completely gripping the man's neck, lifting him directly into the air.
The man's face turned crimson and purple. Out of the instinct for survival, his hands continuously slapped Human Asura's arm, but he couldn't even make Human Asura's arm tremble, let alone make it release its grip.
A few seconds later, the man's eyes began to roll back, the strength in his hands gradually diminished, and finally, they dropped weakly.
"Thud."
With a dull thud, Asuna saw Human Asura casually throw the unconscious man onto the ground and couldn't help but hesitate.
"He..."
"He's not dead yet, just fainted."
Asuna visibly relaxed, exhaling in relief.
"Right, there's no need to kill him. If we just leave him here, he'll die for sure after the clear time limit anyway..."
"Huh? What are you saying?"
Asagiri looked puzzled, as if he didn't quite understand. He walked over, bent down, grabbed the unconscious man's ankle with one hand, then looked at Asuna and smiled.
"Haven't you read web novels? The plot where you leave an enemy with a breath, thinking they'll surely die, but then they escape death and come back to cause trouble for the protagonist again, is truly toxic. Although I'm not some web novel protagonist, I won't leave such a hidden danger. Besides..."
At this point, Asagiri, still holding the unconscious man by the ankle with one hand, dragged his body towards the staircase.
"There are still ways to use him. Wouldn't it be a waste to just let him die?"
"A waste...?"
Asuna didn't quite understand what Asagiri wanted to do, but she quickly followed him.
"Thump, thump, thump, thump..."
Because he was being dragged on the ground, every time Asagiri went down a step, the man's head would hit the step, making a dull thud that sounded painful just to hear.
When they reached the courtyard, Asuna couldn't hold back anymore and asked, puzzled.
"Utsunomiya, what exactly do you want to do?"
"Do what?"
Utsunomiya Asagiri's smile was kind and benevolent, and even his tone was gentle.
"Of course, I'm taking him through the clear. I'm a great benevolent person."
"Huh? Are you serious? This is too..."
Asuna originally wanted to say that, setting aside the fact that this guy killed another player in the same room, the mere fact that he tried to hack Asagiri with a cleaver was absolutely unforgivable, right?
Yet Asagiri still wanted to guide him through the clear? Repaying kindness with enmity? Was he having a moment of excessive compassion?
But then, on second thought, Asuna felt that Asagiri couldn't be that kind of person. The other party had just said that this man was definitely going to die.
At this moment, Asagiri had already dragged the man and brought him out of the courtyard gate.
"Hmm... this should count as clearing, right?"
Saying this, Asagiri opened the man's phone. As expected, on the main screen, there was a strange APP with an eye icon, identical to the one on his and Asuna's phones.
The moment he touched the APP icon, a line of dark red text suddenly appeared on the phone screen.
["Player" identity verification failed]
"There really is a confidentiality mechanism. Aside from oneself, even if someone gets the phone, they can't open this APP? What if the phone is lost, or rather..."
As he said this, Asagiri once again summoned his Persona, Human Asura.
The moment Human Asura appeared, it immediately covered the man's head with its massive hand, then clenched its five fingers. With a sound like a watermelon bursting, blood seeped from between Human Asura's black fingers.
Seeing this, Asuna instinctively felt a little nauseous and immediately averted her gaze.
After killing the man, Asagiri touched the APP icon on the other party's phone again. This time, it opened successfully, revealing the man's stats panel and the clear prompt he had received when he was still alive, all laid bare before him.
[Player Name: Noguchi Kazukawa]
[Physical Fitness Level: Normal]
[Talent: Not yet unlocked]
[Profession: Not yet unlocked]
[Congratulations, "Player" Noguchi Kazukawa, you have cleared the Novice Dungeon and obtained official player status]
[Clear Rating: C]
[Reward: Item "Bottled Medical Disinfectant Alcohol"]
[Bottled Medical Disinfectant Alcohol: 300ml bottle of medical disinfectant alcohol]
Asagiri didn't avoid Asuna when he was checking the app. Standing beside him, she saw the information displayed in the app and the clearance reward obtained by the player named Noguchi Wakawa. She pondered thoughtfully, "The C-rank clearance reward neither unlocked a profession nor a talent, only a barely useful item. It seems that after wasting so much time to clear it, one can only obtain this level of reward. Its only purpose should be to make players realize that this app truly involves supernatural phenomena through its instant access and storage functions, shattering their last remaining illusions and naiveté."