Chapter 32: Staff Manual
"You two made it back safely…"
Kotoko removed her beret and pressed it lightly to her chest, moving with the graceful composure of a sheltered young lady. Not that she was pretending. She really was one.
"Also, I picked something up," she added, voice bright. "I wonder if you two would be interested."
Asuna's brows knit slightly as Kotoko produced what looked like a thin booklet.
"What is that?"
"A work manual for hotel staff," Kotoko replied calmly. "It records the locations of every facility in this hotel, along with the structural floor plans for each level."
Asuna's eyes widened before she could stop herself.
In a horror Dungeon, inside an unfamiliar environment, something like that was priceless.
For ordinary Players, it might not matter much. Their goal was simple, find a safe place to hide, then wait out the twelve hour time limit. Clear the Dungeon, get the rewards. That alone would be enough.
But Asuna and Asagiri were different.
Neither of them was the type to muddle through an Dungeon and call it a day. To them, a low evaluation was the same as wasting the cooldown for entering.
"Are you asking for the information we obtained in exchange?" Asuna asked carefully.
Kotoko shook her head, a small smile appearing.
"No. I just want to ask you, oh… no…"
Halfway through, she glanced at Asagiri, and a faint blush seemed to creep across her cheeks.
"I just want to ask you one question. If you answer, I'll give you the manual."
Asagiri's expression didn't change. "Go ahead."
Kotoko's face lit up, and then she asked something so unexpected that Asuna almost doubted her own hearing.
"Um… do you have a girlfriend?"
What?
Asuna stared at Kotoko, mind filling with question marks.
You brought out a staff manual, something this valuable, just to ask that?
In the real world, Asuna wouldn't have been surprised. Asagiri was handsome enough that girls striking up conversations was normal.
But they were in a Dungeon right now.
What kind of top tier romance brain was this?
"No," Asagiri answered simply.
"That's wonderful."
Kotoko beamed, then immediately handed the manual to him.
"As promised. It's yours."
Asagiri had only just taken it when two figures appeared from the corner of the corridor.
"Hm? Did those two finally arrive?" Asuna said quietly.
The man in the suit and the woman with heavy makeup walked over together. Neither of them looked injured.
But before they could get close, Kotoko's expression sharpened. She lifted her cane and pointed it at them, voice turning cold.
"You two… are possessed by the oddities in this hotel."
"Possessed? What are you talking about?" The woman blinked, completely confused.
The suit man's face twisted with annoyance. "We didn't even run into a Banshee. Where is this possession nonsense coming from?"
"Don't come any closer!" Kotoko snapped.
That shout finally made the suit man realize she wasn't joking. His displeasure only deepened, his tone growing harsher.
"Hey, what's with your attitude? You're the one claiming we're possessed, based on nothing. For all I know, you're the one possessed. You two stay away from her. The four of us can discuss things together. Ignore her."
Asagiri didn't even look at him.
Seeing that, Asuna also remained silent.
The suit man's face stiffened with embarrassment. Then he raised his voice, trying to sound like a superior giving orders.
"Didn't you hear me? I told you two to come over…"
"Shut up."
Asagiri cut him off mid sentence.
Then, under the horrified gaze of the suit man and the woman, Asagiri reached into his pocket and produced a black handgun. The dark muzzle pointed straight at the suit man's chest.
"Shh," Asagiri said softly. "Quiet down. I'm deciding whether I should just kill you two right here."
"A gun…?" The suit man's face drained of color. His legs began to tremble.
What was going on?
When entering a Dungeon, weapons were forbidden. So why did this guy have a gun?
Equipment? A reward from clearing the novice Dungeon?
Unfair. Completely unfair. He had gotten a B+ evaluation and only received a golf club as equipment. How could someone get a handgun as a Dungeon reward?
Kotoko's eyes widened slightly too, but she didn't retreat. Instead, she looked almost intrigued.
Among everyone present, only Asuna knew the truth.
That gun wasn't a real weapon. It was a summoner for Persona, and it couldn't fire bullets at all.
But when faced with a carbon based creature cooler, unless someone believed they could dodge or tank gunfire, no one dared move.
"Alright," Asagiri said, smiling faintly. "Let's begin your honest confession session."
He tilted the muzzle a fraction higher, like a casual reminder.
"Tell me everything you did after you split from us. Every detail. Otherwise, I'll play the suona and send you off nice and happily."
At the threat, the suit man swallowed hard. He exchanged a shaky glance with the woman, then spoke with trembling honesty, all his earlier arrogance gone.
"W when we separated… we searched this floor first… then we went down and searched the twenty first… and then… and then we saw there didn't seem to be any Banshee there, so we kicked open a room door, and then… and then…"
"And then what?" Asagiri's voice stayed calm.
The suit man hesitated, lips quivering.
The woman raised her hand timidly, like an elementary school student answering in class, and whispered in a shaking voice.
"And then… he told me… told me to do that… just bite…"
Asuna's face instantly flushed.
Kotoko, on the other hand, looked like she'd just heard the juiciest gossip imaginable, eyes sparkling with curiosity.
Asagiri fell silent for a few seconds.
Then he spoke slowly.
"You two…"
His smile turned thin.
"Are you brain dead?"
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