040 Justice Descends
Five minutes later, on the first floor of the Hotel, in the front desk reception hall.
The floor paved with smooth marble tiles could even reflect a clear reflection under the light of the huge crystal chandelier.
The hall was empty, and there were no reception staff at the front desk. Only a telephone receiver connected to a landline was slightly swaying in the air, emitting a beeping busy signal. Other than that, there was no sound, the silence so profound it was chilling.
Just then, a loud bang suddenly came from above the lobby.
"Boom!!!"
A humanoid black shadow, over two meters tall with reddish glowing patterns on its body, plummeted from a height of nearly ten meters. The moment it hit the ground, cracks spread across the surrounding hard marble tiles, accompanied by a trembling roar.
"Bang!!!"
Amidst the scattered debris, a voice with a smile rang out.
"How about that? Didn't I say this is the quickest shortcut, where we won't encounter any enemies?"
Iwanaga Kotoko jumped down from the Human Asura's shoulder, landing lightly on the ground. She didn't seem flustered at all, and even tidied her clothes first, raising a hand to adjust her white beret before replying with a smile.
"The other party probably didn't expect us to neither use the stairs nor the elevator, but instead directly smash through the ground from the Fifth Floor."
"We certainly didn't encounter any obstacles, but..."
Seeing Asagiri immediately dispel the Human Asura's summon after landing, Yuuki Asuna couldn't help but purse her lips, looking slightly worried.
"Summoning a Persona consumes a lot of mental and physical strength, doesn't it? And you even smashed through four floors in a row, plus the buffer when landing... Are you okay right now?"
"Completely fine."
Asagiri first replied with a smile, then typed a line of text on his phone, flipped it over, and showed it to Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna.
"A little tired, used about thirty percent of my physical strength. Mental strength is fine. Don't talk about this. If the source of the anomaly can hear us, it might seize this opportunity to attack. Pretend everything is normal and try to buy me some more time to rest."
Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko nodded upon seeing this, indicating they understood.
Asagiri had no intention of acting tough or cool. After all, this was a dungeon, an extremely dangerous bizarre dungeon where two Players had already died, not a game of make-believe. Deliberately hiding his condition would only mislead his teammates' judgment of the situation.
"Let's go to the reception area first. Didn't the special hint say so? There, we can get valuable information."
Although Yuuki Asuna was somewhat worried about Asagiri's condition, there was no other way. If they were to go down the stairs through the normal route, not to mention how many Banshees they might encounter, fighting in the narrow stairwell could easily lead to accidents and would also consume the three of them's physical and mental strength.
In comparison, smashing through the ceiling connecting the floors and descending directly was indeed the most reliable option.
As she walked towards the reception area not far away, which was the Hotel front desk, Yuuki Asuna had already gripped the Exorcists Longsword in her hand. She expended a small amount of mental strength to apply the "Wind Blessing" which could make her body lighter. At the same time, she walked in the front, ensuring that if a Banshee suddenly sprang out from there, she could block it immediately.
Fortunately, no terrifying-faced Banshees suddenly jumped out.
Yuuki Asuna breathed a sigh of relief, but just to be safe, she still held the Exorcists Longsword tightly in her hand and, together with Asagiri and Iwanaga Kotoko, began searching for the so-called "valuable information" mentioned in the special hint.
"Guest registration form... employee ID... sanitation certificate... these are useless."
Just as Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna couldn't find anything valuable, Asagiri walked to the staff position nearby and picked up a newspaper placed there.
"Valuable information, found it."
"You found it already? Let me see..."
Yuuki Asuna leaned over to take a look and found that most of the newspaper was stained with inexplicable black marks, making the content completely indistinguishable. Only one section remained, containing a news report.
"Kyozan Mental Hospital Patient Riot Incident... Kyozan? Isn't that where we did the novice dungeon?"
Yuuki Asuna first muttered this, then looked up at Asagiri, puzzled.
"This... An out-of-control riot incident involving patients occurred at Kyozan Mental Hospital. We pretty much guessed that already, didn't we? After all, the plot in that game was roughly like that. This doesn't count as valuable information, right?"
"No, the so-called valuable information isn't about the incident itself."
Asagiri shook his head, his tone calm.
"The news about Kyozan Mental Hospital appearing in this Hotel's newspaper proves that the location of this dungeon and the location of our previous novice dungeon are from the same world. Moreover, both of these dungeons are of the bizarre type. Since the APP gave a special hint saying this is valuable information, it can't be a simple coincidence. For now, we can assume that all the bizarre type dungeons arranged by the APP are located in a certain place in this world, and this world... let's call it the Bizarre World."
"Bizarre World..."
Yuuki Asuna's curiosity was also piqued, and she couldn't help but ask.
"Then, knowing this information, what can we do?"
"Nothing."
Asagiri's answer was unexpected by Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko.
"Although it's interesting, this information is temporarily useless. It seems it only provides us with the satisfaction of uncovering part of the truth as Players."
"Satisfaction... huh?"
Yuuki Asuna sighed, shaking her head slightly helplessly.
"Compared to this kind of thing, I'd rather have something like the Exorcists Longsword, something that can provide substantial help in clearing the dungeon..."
When Iwanaga Kotoko heard this, just as she was about to say something with a smile, she suddenly sensed a bizarre presence. The smile on her face instantly disappeared, and her expression became serious.
"Wait, something... is approaching."
As her voice fell, a strange sound, like a mixture of footsteps and dripping water, a "pitter-patter," broke the silence in the Hotel lobby.