026 The Girl in the Western-Style Dress
"The dungeon hints and special hints are different..."
Yuuki Asuna murmured, looking thoughtful.
"The difference in dungeon hints should be due to the difference in our strength. In other words, according to the app's assessment, if I were to fight a Banshee with my current strength, I would likely not win, but your strength is enough to eliminate a single Banshee, so it gave different hints? This app is quite user-friendly. As for the special hint..."
Just as Yuuki Asuna was halfway through her sentence, Asagiri suddenly grabbed her fair and tender feet. This sudden attack caused Yuuki Asuna to freeze for a moment, then her pretty face instantly turned crimson.
"You... why did you suddenly grab my feet..."
"Wrapping them with athletic tape and bandages."
Asagiri seemed to have switched from his usual abstract mode to professional Player mode. He didn't say anything outrageous but spoke in a calm tone.
"Professional athletes use athletic tape and bandages to stabilize their ankles before a match to reduce the risk of sprains. Although the app rules say no defensive gear of any kind, this shouldn't be included."
"Oh, oh... I see..."
Yuuki Asuna raised her hand and smoothed her long hair. Seeing Asagiri place her feet on his lap, then tear open the bandages and athletic tape with both hands, carefully wrapping them, her pretty face was slightly red. She said softly in an apologetic tone.
"Sorry... I just thought... I thought you had some strange ideas about me, that's why..."
"No need to apologize."
Asagiri said frankly, "If you say I'm doing this preparatory work for you purely out of lust, then you're wronging me. But if you say I'm doing it out of absolute rationality with no lewd thoughts at all, then you're overestimating me."
"You... you guy..."
Hearing this, Yuuki Asuna's ears turned red. She bit her silver teeth lightly and whispered.
"Per... pervert... to have such thoughts while touching someone's feet... You're really a pervert..."
"Don't make false accusations."
Asagiri replied with a chuckle.
"It's not just anyone, it's when I touch Asuna Yuuki that I have some thoughts based on human nature. The qualifier is you."
Yuuki Asuna lowered her head, seemingly showing no reaction, just giving a soft "Mm." In reality, she felt her cheeks burning, and steam was almost coming out of her head.
Direct hits, terrifying indeed.
.......
[Player Utsunomiya Asagiri, preparing to enter the dungeon]
[Countdown 10, 9, 8... 1, 0]
At the moment the countdown reached zero, a thick, dark red mist appeared before Asagiri's eyes. By the time the mist dispersed, he was in a completely unfamiliar room that looked like a Hotel suite.
Just as he had guessed, measures like wrapping his ankles with athletic tape and bandages to prevent sprains and injuries would not disappear when entering the dungeon. This was reasonable; after all, a Player's ability to think of this and prepare cautiously for clearing the dungeon was also a reflection of their personal capability.
After confirming this, Asagiri began to look around. He saw that there were not only him and Yuuki Asuna in the room, but also three other people who seemed to be Players.
One was a young man in an expensive Suit, wearing a tie, with slicked-back hair, and a rather handsome appearance, and standing beside him, very close, almost leaning on him, was a young Woman with Heavy Makeup.
From the young Woman's actions, Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna could tell at a glance that these two must have known each other before entering the dungeon, perhaps they were a Player team?
The last Player's attire, however, looked a bit strange.
"That is..."
The Player's figure was very petite, her height seemed to be only about 1.5 meters, and she was wearing a white Western-style dress, paired with white stockings, exquisite small leather shoes on her feet, a white beret, and holding something like a cane in her hand.
The most peculiar thing was that although the app's hint stated that Players could not use things from the real world to disguise their appearance when entering the dungeon, the other party was wearing a luxurious white half-mask that covered the upper half of her face, like something from a masquerade ball.
A girl... should be a girl, right?
Seeing that the other Players in the room were looking at her, the girl showed no nervousness. Instead, she gently lifted her skirt with one hand and performed a very standard curtsy. Her voice was soft, with a slight smile, as she said.
"Good evening, everyone."
The Suit Man looked at the girl, his brow furrowed, and said.
"Hey, that mask you're wearing and the cane you're holding, are they equipment?"
The girl nodded without concealment, and replied with a smile.
"Yes."
"Hmph, already having two pieces of equipment when entering the second dungeon. It seems you got a good evaluation in the novice dungeon as well."
Seeing that the young Suit Man only glanced at the girl's cane and mask before looking away, Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna both realized that this person didn't know that after killing another Player, as long as you could get their phone, you could randomly draw one piece of their equipment or item.
This was normal, after all, this was a hidden rule that Asagiri had verified in the novice dungeon by killing a clear Player and taking their phone.
There were definitely more than just Asagiri who killed people in the novice dungeon, but there were probably very few Players who could discover this hidden rule directly in the novice dungeon. It was even possible that at this stage, only Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna knew this hidden rule.
After all, to verify this hidden rule, the primary condition was to obtain another Player's phone. Secondly, the Player who owned the phone must have completed the clearance and been promoted from a novice Player to a formal Player. The last condition was to kill the other party and open the app with the eye icon.
In the novice dungeon, it was almost impossible to meet so many conditions, and most importantly, to have the idea of verifying the hidden rule.
"Tch... a little girl, and two... look like high school students?"
The Suit Man glanced at Yuuki Asuna and Asagiri, arrogance appearing between his brows, then he spoke in a deep voice.
"I'll be direct. In this dungeon, you must follow my orders. Whatever I tell you to do, you do it, and I will lead you to clear it."
Hearing this, the masked girl in the Western-style dress said with a smiling voice.
"Follow your orders? We are all Players, why should we do that?"
"Hmph, isn't that simple? Because my ability is the strongest."
The Suit Man folded his arms across his chest and snorted coldly.
"I forgot to tell you, in the novice dungeon..."
"I received a high-level clearance rating of B+."