Chapter 31: Dangerous Water Source
Hearing her speak, and seeing the red clothed… no, the white clothed female ghost trembling like that, Asuna was left speechless.
Something like this was actually possible?
Was the Diplomat profession's passive really that absurd? It could turn a hateful Banshee, one that had been drenched in bloodstained malice, into something meek and obedient, like a frightened kitten. Even the ominous red clothes that screamed malevolent spirit had faded away.
No. That wasn't the full story.
Asuna glanced at Asagiri's profile and silently corrected herself. A passive skill was still just a passive skill. If she had that same ability, she was certain she wouldn't have shattered the ghost's defenses in a few minutes the way he did.
The effect depended on the user.
And there was another reason she could never replicate what he'd just done.
This guy genuinely enjoyed it.
The more the ghost struggled, the more it feared him, the more amused he became. He wasn't simply cruel. He was a chaotic, thrill seeking monster in human skin. Even Asuna, watching from the side, felt a chill creep down her spine.
"Good. You can talk."
Asagiri looked satisfied. He didn't waste time on pleasantries. His questions came out like bullets.
"How many Banshees are in this hotel? How are they formed? Is there a weapon somewhere inside that can eliminate them? Is there any important information in the first floor lobby? Under what conditions will Banshees attack humans? And is there any way to completely avoid them?"
The ghost froze, stunned by the sheer number of questions.
But facing the person who had just been about to drown her, a human more demonic than any demon, she didn't dare hesitate.
"I don't know exactly how many Banshees there are, and I don't know how I was born…"
"Heh." Asagiri's smile didn't reach his eyes. "So you're trying to play stubborn with me?"
He grabbed her hair again, lifted her clean off the floor, and held her over the bathtub like he was about to dispose of trash.
"Then I'll send you off."
"Don't! Don't!"
The ghost's voice turned shrill with panic. "I don't know those things because I can't leave the seventh floor! But I can answer the last two! If you enter the seventh floor, I can attack you. But I can't leave this floor, so as long as you don't come here, I can't do anything to you!"
"It's lying."
Asuna stepped forward, frowning. She stared straight into the ghost's eyes.
"If that's true, then why were you crying in the stairwell, and scratching the wall with your nails? If you really wanted to ambush us, you should have stayed quiet and waited."
"I… I…"
The ghost's expression twisted. Confusion surfaced in her gaze, as if she honestly didn't understand herself.
"I don't know why… I just felt… you absolutely couldn't go down any further…"
Asuna fell silent, thinking.
Then she looked at Asagiri.
"If it's telling the truth, then it's like an earth bound spirit from folklore. And its role isn't to hunt humans who enter this hotel. It's to stop anyone from going down."
Her eyes sharpened.
"Combine that with your special hint, and it's basically confirmed. The first floor is the key point of this Dungeon."
She understood why Asagiri had asked about a weapon that could completely eliminate Banshees. If such a weapon existed in the hotel, and she could obtain it, then the special hint she received upon entering would have real value.
That app didn't give useless information.
"Going down is dangerous…"
Asuna muttered, piecing it together.
"Then is the condition to clear this Dungeon to stay put? Or is it to go up instead? No… this isn't a beginner's Dungeon. It can't be that simple…"
She pulled out her phone and checked the time.
Less than ten minutes remained before their agreed meeting time.
Asuna looked up at the ghost still in Asagiri's grip and asked the question that suddenly felt most important.
"Why are you so afraid of water? Is it because you drowned when you were alive, or is it… because the water in this hotel is strange?"
"Water…"
The ghost's lips parted.
Then her pupils widened, as if she'd seen something far worse than Asagiri.
Her body swelled.
"Look out!"
Asuna's vigilance snapped into motion. She flung open the bathroom door, shoved Asagiri out first, followed him out, and slammed the door shut.
Two seconds later, a muffled sound exploded from inside, like a water balloon bursting.
Bang!
Something heavy crashed into the bathroom door. The floor trembled slightly beneath their feet.
Then silence.
Only a slow, tapping drip remained, like water falling onto tile.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Did it… explode?"
Before she'd closed the door, Asuna had seen the ghost's body inflate. It immediately reminded her of a term she'd once seen online, "giant corpse," a phenomenon where a body bloats from gases produced by rapid bacterial growth after death.
The sight had been revolting.
But that wasn't the point.
Asagiri stared at the bathroom door, voice low.
"It didn't want to answer that question, so it self destructed."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Which means there really is something wrong with the water in this hotel. And there's a Banshee here, something stronger than that one, powerful enough to control it whenever it wants."
...…
A few minutes later, Asagiri and Asuna returned to the suite door on the twenty second floor, the top floor of the hotel.
When they arrived, Iwanaga Kotoko was already standing there, waiting.
Seeing that she was still alive, and that her white dress wasn't stained even a little, Asuna finally let out the breath she'd been holding.
Asagiri's earlier judgment had been right.
Iwanaga Kotoko, as a Player, either possessed an extremely powerful talent, a special profession, or both.
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