Chapter 26: The Girl in the Western Style Dress
"The dungeon hints and special hints are different…"
Asuna murmured, her expression turning thoughtful.
"The difference in the public hints should be because of our strength gap. In other words, the app is judging that with my current strength, I probably can't win against a Banshee, but you can eliminate one, so it gave us different guidance. That's surprisingly user friendly. As for the special hint…"
She was only halfway through the sentence when Asagiri suddenly grabbed her fair, delicate feet.
The sudden contact made Asuna freeze. Then her face turned crimson almost instantly.
"Y you… why did you suddenly grab my feet…?"
"Wrapping them with athletic tape and bandages."
Asagiri seemed to switch from his usual bizarre mode into a calm, professional Player mindset. His tone was steady, with none of his earlier nonsense.
"Professional athletes tape their ankles before a match to stabilize them and reduce the risk of sprains. The rules say no defensive gear of any kind, but this shouldn't count as that."
"Oh… oh, I see…"
Asuna lifted a hand and smoothed her hair, trying to regain composure. Asagiri placed her feet on his lap, tore open the bandages and athletic tape, and started wrapping them carefully and methodically.
Seeing how focused he was only made her face burn hotter. She spoke softly, apologetic.
"Sorry… I just thought… I thought you had some weird ideas about me, so…"
"No need to apologize."
Asagiri answered bluntly.
"If you say I'm doing this preparatory work purely out of lust, you're wronging me. But if you say I'm doing it with absolute rationality and zero lewd thoughts at all, you're overestimating me."
"Y you…"
Asuna's ears went bright red. She bit her teeth lightly and whispered as if the word itself was dangerous.
"P pervert… having those thoughts while touching someone's feet… You really are a pervert…"
"Don't make false accusations."
Asagiri chuckled while continuing to wrap her ankles with careful precision.
"It's not just anyone. It's when I touch you that I have thoughts based on human nature. The qualifier is you."
Asuna lowered her head and only managed a small, quiet, "Mm."
Outwardly, she looked like she had no reaction at all. In reality, her cheeks were burning so hard she felt like steam might start rising from her head.
Direct hits. Truly terrifying.
.......
[Player Utsunomiya Asagiri, preparing to enter the dungeon]
[Countdown 10, 9, 8… 1, 0]
The moment the countdown hit zero, a thick, dark red mist swallowed Asagiri's vision.
When it dispersed, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar room, furnished like a hotel suite.
Just as he had guessed, the athletic tape and bandages around Asuna's ankles hadn't vanished.
That was reasonable. If anything, a Player's ability to think ahead and prepare cautiously was part of their capability. The dungeon wasn't going to erase real preparation just because it looked like "gear."
After confirming that, Asagiri immediately scanned the room.
Besides him and Asuna, there were three other people.
One was a young man in an expensive suit, tie perfectly arranged, hair slicked back, face handsome enough to look smug even when silent. Standing beside him, pressed close enough to almost lean on him, was a young woman with heavy makeup.
Just from the way she clung to him, it was obvious they knew each other before entering. A Player team, most likely.
The last Player, however, looked strange.
"That is…"
She was petite, maybe only around one point five meters tall. She wore a white western style dress with white stockings, exquisite small leather shoes, and a white beret. In her hand was something like a cane.
But the most peculiar part was her face.
The app's hint clearly stated that Players couldn't use real world items to disguise their appearance when entering a dungeon, yet she wore a luxurious white half mask that covered the upper half of her face, like something straight out of a masquerade.
A girl…
She should be a girl, right?
Noticing everyone looking at her, the masked girl showed no nervousness at all. Instead, she lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand and performed a perfectly proper curtsy.
Her voice was soft, carrying a faint smile.
"Good evening, everyone."
The man in the suit frowned and stared at her.
"Hey. That mask you're wearing, and the cane you're holding… are those equipment?"
The girl nodded without hiding anything, still smiling.
"Yes."
"Hmph. Coming into the second dungeon with two pieces of equipment already," the suited man said, tone dripping with judgment. "Looks like you got a good evaluation in the novice dungeon too."
Asagiri and Asuna immediately realized something from that reaction.
The suited man didn't know.
He only glanced at the cane and mask, then looked away, completely unaware of the hidden rule: if you kill another Player and obtain their phone, you can randomly draw one piece of their equipment or item.
That ignorance was normal. After all, it was a hidden rule Asagiri had only verified in the novice dungeon by killing a clear Player and taking their phone.
There were definitely other people who had killed in the novice dungeon, but very few would have been able to discover that rule so early. At this stage, it was entirely possible that only Asagiri and Asuna knew it.
To verify it, you first needed another Player's phone. Then, the owner of that phone had to have cleared the dungeon and become a formal Player. Finally, you had to kill them and open the eye icon app.
In the novice dungeon, meeting all those conditions was already difficult.
Having the idea to test it in the first place was even rarer.
"Tch… a little girl, and two…" The suited man glanced at Asuna and Asagiri with open disdain. "High school students?"
Arrogance crept into his expression as he spoke in a low voice.
"I'll be direct. In this dungeon, you follow my orders. Whatever I tell you to do, you do it, and I'll lead you to clear it."
The masked girl responded immediately, still smiling.
"Follow your orders? We're all Players. Why would we do that?"
"Hmph. Isn't it obvious?" The suited man crossed his arms and snorted. "Because my ability is the strongest."
He lifted his chin slightly, as if expecting awe.
"I forgot to tell you. In the novice dungeon…"
"I received a high level clearance rating of B+."
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