043 Regeneration of the End
When Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko returned to the Hotel lobby together, they didn't see the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit, which made Yuuki Asuna breathe a sigh of relief.
Indeed, no matter what Iwanaga Kotoko's identity was in the real world, it was clear that she had very rich experience in dealing with strange events. In that situation, she immediately saw that the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit fighting the Human Asura was not the true body of the anomaly in this Hotel.
Only by using a spiritual weapon to destroy the body in the water tank could that Banshee be completely eliminated.
Just as Yuuki Asuna was slightly relaxing, she saw Asagiri sitting there, leaning against the Hotel reception desk. She quickly ran up and asked with concern.
"Asa... Leader! Are you okay?"
"I..."
Asagiri's voice was very soft, as if it could dissipate at any moment. His black eyes, which usually held a smile, had lost their luster, and the gun-shaped summoner lay quietly by his hand.
"It seems, this is as far as I go..."
"How could that be..."
Yuuki Asuna's face changed upon hearing this, her eyes showing panic and helplessness.
"No... this is impossible... How could something like this happen, just hold on a little longer... I, I will never let you die!"
"Huh? What death?"
To Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko's surprise, Asagiri suddenly smiled after hearing this, waved his hand, and spoke in a very relaxed tone.
"You misunderstood, I'm far from dying."
Yuuki Asuna was stunned for a moment, muttering.
"Eh? Then why were you just now..."
"I just suddenly felt like saying that line."
Asagiri stood up from the ground, looked at the mess on the floor not far away, which had been corroded beyond recognition by the dark green liquid that burst from the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit's body, and slowly said.
"Truly a strong opponent, I'm afraid I'll never forget you, Elastic Water Balloon."
Yuuki Asuna looked both angry and helpless upon hearing this, rolling her eyes.
"What Elastic Water Balloon... If someone who didn't know heard that, they would think the enemy we just faced was some creature from a children's cartoon..."
After complaining like that, Yuuki Asuna turned her head, raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corner of her eyes, and then turned back, staring at Asagiri with a serious expression, her tone incomparably earnest.
"From now on, you are not allowed to make jokes like that again!"
"Okay."
Asagiri first replied with a smile, then said thoughtfully.
"Killing a Boss outside the normal clear process should be a bonus point in the APP's evaluation, right? It seems this time, all three of us can get at least an S-level or higher clear rating."
Yuuki Asuna took out her phone and glanced at the time, letting out a sigh of relief.
"Although it felt like a long time, it's only been less than three hours since we entered the dungeon until now..."
Just as Yuuki Asuna finished saying this, her, Asagiri's, and Iwanaga Kotoko's phones simultaneously sounded a notification.
[You have eliminated all hostile Banshees in this dungeon and uncovered the truth of the Hotel's strange event. You can choose to leave the dungeon at any time using the APP function]
And on Asagiri's phone, there was another notification.
[Your Persona "Human Asura" has grown and unlocked a new characteristic]
When Asagiri scrolled through it, he found that, as expected, the Human Asura's stats had changed compared to before.
[Human Asura: Facing the fear of death head-on, the Persona born from within your heart]
[Strengths: Strength, Endurance, Defense, Speed, Agility]
[Weaknesses: No ranged attack methods]
[Human Asura's Passive Effect: When switching to this Persona, your physical abilities will be enhanced, and because the Human Asura represents unwavering determination, you will be immune to attacks of all mental types, such as illusions, brainwashing, and hypnosis]
[Current Characteristic: Regeneration of the End]
[Regeneration of the End: Every time the Human Asura is completely destroyed in a true battle, its basic abilities will grow, and its resistance to the corresponding attribute attacks will increase (no upper limit). You yourself will also gain the resistance enhancement provided by the Human Asura. Currently enhanced resistances: Corrosion, Curse]
[Corresponding Tarot Card: The Emperor (Upright)]
Asagiri already knew what the Human Asura's newly unlocked characteristic meant.
Simply put, every time it was completely destroyed, its resistance would increase, and the specific resistance that increased depended on the attribute of the attack that destroyed the Human Asura.
For example, just now, it was melted by the Floating Corpse Banshee's corpse water, which had both corrosion and curse attributes. The resistance gained was corresponding to these two attributes, and furthermore, the growth had no upper limit.
However, even without the APP's notification, Asagiri could feel that the Human Asura could only gain improvement through true battles like the one just now with the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit.
Trying to deliberately be destroyed to farm enhancements, like exploiting a bug, wouldn't work.
After reading it, Asagiri handed his phone to Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna, smiling as he spoke.
"My Human Asura has unlocked a new characteristic."
"New characteristic?"
Yuuki Asuna took the phone and, after reading it with Iwanaga Kotoko beside her, both of their expressions were somewhat disbelieving.
"Regeneration of the End? Growth of basic abilities? Unlimited resistance increase? And it can share the gained resistance growth with you? This..."
Yuuki Asuna returned the phone to Asagiri, pursed her lips, her expression complex.
"Honestly... isn't this exclusive talent of yours, called a Persona, a bit too strong? This is already at cheat level, isn't it?"
Asagiri smiled and teased upon hearing this.
"Oh, you know about cheats too?"
Yuuki Asuna rolled her eyes, annoyed.
"Didn't you say? Let me learn more about games, learn to put myself in the Player's shoes, and think about these dungeons from a game perspective. I'm not the kind of person who knows they need to learn but doesn't change because of laziness."
After saying this, Yuuki Asuna looked at Asagiri, then at Iwanaga Kotoko, and couldn't help but mutter softly.
"Sigh... both of you have unlocked exclusive talents, only I haven't... Although most Players at this stage haven't unlocked either a profession or a talent, being in a team with you two cheat-level Players, it's really hard not to feel a sense of disparity..."