A crossover anime/manga story, set in everyday Tokyo, but within a loop of a game.

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Upon hearing Asagiri's words, several players were taken aback for a moment, then showed dissatisfaction and muttered under their breath.

"We don't even have enough supplies for ourselves, and you expect us to give them away voluntarily... What will we do then..."

"Is your brain not working properly?"

Asagiri didn't tolerate them at all, and said firmly.

"If we die in battle, you will all die too. What will be left then? Or would you rather face me, now a parasitic player, with your own food and water in your arms?"

After Asagiri said this, the small group of players who were originally dissatisfied dared not continue to complain.

As he said, if these skilled players all die in battle, then the remaining players certainly won't survive either, so there's no point in being stingy with their resources.

……

An hour later, in front of the fire escape door on the 24th floor of the hotel.

"Let's go first."

Upon hearing Asagiri's words, the players who were originally crowding the stairs immediately made way, and he, along with Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi, walked straight to the door of the 24th floor under the players' awe-inspiring gazes.

At that moment, the man in the white suit looked at Asagiri's figure, his expression becoming somewhat dazed.

He seemed to realize the differences between himself and the other person.

Although both of them are highly intelligent and capable of remaining calm and guiding the actions of all players in times of crisis, he just now...

Hesitated.

Who knows what kind of scene awaits us after opening that door?

Are there any parasitic players among the players behind me? Could they take advantage of the situation to attack me?

While the man in the white suit was still hesitating, Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna, and the others had already made their decision. When all the other players were hesitant, they took the initiative to choose to open the door themselves.

It's not arrogance, but rather confidence and decisiveness based on absolute strength.

"Zi..."

Whether it was due to psychological factors or not, when Asagiri reached out and opened the fire door, the players heard a faint, eerie sound, like the door hinges lacking lubrication and friction, yet also somewhat like sobbing.

After opening the door, Asagiri glanced around and saw that the 24th floor, which served as the banquet hall, was different from the guest room floors. After pushing open the door, there was a spacious corridor with two corners about ten meters away. The carpet on the floor was also a different color from the guest room floors; it was a bright red, like blood, with gold threads depicting it.

"When the carpet gradually turns red, it's a dangerous time. I see... So the system's public warning has this other meaning too."

As Asagiri spoke, he stepped into the twenty-fourth floor, and the three women behind him, Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko, immediately followed.

Seeing this, the other six player teams, including the man in the white suit, all had only one thought in their minds.

Goodness, that's real courage.

Didn't those four people feel any fear at all?

"Follow them."

Seeing this, the man in the white suit gritted his teeth and immediately called his three teammates to follow. On one hand, he was unwilling to continue to be cowardly and wanted to make as much contribution as possible in the upcoming battle to obtain the system's level bonus. On the other hand, he also wanted to use his team as an obstacle to ensure that even if there were parasitic players in the five teams, they could not attack Asagiri and the others who were walking at the front in the first place.

The other party absolutely cannot die, they must not die.

Only if that person survives will there be any hope of clearing this dungeon, and...

Due to the morning mist, the white-suited man and his three teammates had already entertained the thought that "perhaps we really can kill a god."

After all the players entered the twentieth floor, the once empty corridor suddenly became somewhat crowded. The player team at the back guarded the fire doors of the fire escape to ensure that the kind of door-closing scene seen in horror movies would not occur.

But in the next second, the surrounding walls and the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to tremble.

"What's going on here!?"

Faced with such a sudden and unusual situation, the players immediately became more vigilant, but no one panicked. After all, those who could come here were all high-level players with both ability and mental fortitude.

"It hurts……"

Just then, human faces suddenly appeared on the walls on both sides, and patterns resembling human faces also appeared on the carpet, splitting open like mouths, and emitting mournful cries in unison.

"Help me... help me..."

The mournful cries and the extremely impactful visuals had a strong effect on the players' minds. Some players immediately covered their ears, but the cries seemed to have a magical power, penetrating their ears and reaching their brains.

Upon seeing this, the man in the white suit immediately spoke to the woman wearing the fox demon mask.

"Use that skill..."

"Don't cry!"

Before he could finish speaking, Asagiri, who was at the front, suddenly spoke up with a chilling tone, and the tall Shura instantly appeared beside him.

To everyone's surprise, after being angrily reprimanded by Asagiri, the faces on the walls and carpet actually stopped crying, and each face showed a timid and fearful expression.

"Holy crap, you can do that?"

The players were dumbfounded, wondering if such a thing was possible. The player in black had only reprimanded them once, and these faces actually obeyed obediently?

Which side is truly the strange one?

Of course, what really works is not the reprimand, but the special profession "Unruly Tyrant" after Asagiri's upgrade.

【The Unruly Tyrant: A special class with an upgraded version of the Diplomat's passive skill, whose effectiveness is greatly enhanced when using negotiation tactics such as threats, intimidation, and coercion】

[Special Class-Specific Passive: When you enter combat, you will exert continuous pressure on the surrounding area based on the power you display. All targets, except those you consider friendly, will be subject to a certain degree of mental interference, experiencing emotions such as fear, trembling, and retreat.]

Simply put, the mist that summoned the human demons and entered battle was so terrifying that it frightened these eerie human faces.

"That's more like it, I'm getting a little excited by your crying."

Hearing Asagiri's smiling words, the players present felt a sense of panic.

Dude, are you really mentally sound?

This guy isn't afraid at all. Does he have some kind of weird fetish? Or is he a psychopath?

At this moment, the player team at the back suddenly realized something and quickly spoke up.

"The door...the door has disappeared..."

Asagiri turned around and saw that, as expected, the door to the fire escape had disappeared at some point, leaving only a wall with a human face on it.

"Interesting. You're playing the desperate game with me, aren't you?"

Asagiri chuckled lightly as she said this, then looked at a face on the wall beside her, picked up the "Cursed Rope Dart" in her hand, and asked in a kind tone.

"Tell me, where is the real thing? Otherwise, I'll have to feed you something good."

The moment Asagiri finished speaking, the faces on the walls and the ground suddenly shrank back, and the corridor returned to normal, except that the path behind them had become a dead end.

"Oh?"

Seeing this, Kotoko Iwanaga's dark purple eyes showed interest, and then she looked at Asagiri with a smile.

"Leader, I think I know that thing's weakness."

27

Chapter 27: Exterminate them all.

"Well, I discovered it too."

Asagiri turned around and looked at the players who were still in shock because of his actions, and asked them a question.

"Who possesses mental attack capabilities?"

Upon hearing Asagiri's question, four players, including the woman in the white suit team wearing a fox demon mask, raised their hands.

"Including you, there are five people in total."

"enough."

Kotoko Iwanaga first replied with a smile, then looked at the four players who had raised their hands, her tone changed abruptly, unlike the sweet smile she had when talking to Asagiri, and she gave the order in a flat tone.

"During the exploration, if any faces like the ones we just saw appear again, immediately launch a mental attack on them, understand?"

"clear."

The female player wearing the fox demon mask also realized what Kotoko Iwanaga meant by "weakness."

Although that strange entity can control humans and take away their bodies, souls, and abilities, the faces representing the humans it parasitizes clearly still possess a portion of self-awareness and even cry out for help.

After the player in the long black trench coat gave a reprimand, the eerie entity immediately made those faces disappear. The speed of its action was so fast that it seemed to be in a panic.

Why are you panicking?

If the consciousness represented by those faces experiences excessively strong emotional fluctuations, will that strange entity be unable to continue manipulating them? Or to put it more seriously, will those humans split off from it?

This is the "weakness".

There was one thing, however, that the woman wearing the fox demon mask couldn't quite understand.

Since the petite girl mentioned "mental attack," it means that the player wearing a long black trench coat and a dark gray mask just used a mental attack, right?

However, when the players were about to enter the floor, the opponent was in the first position, even ahead of his three teammates.

If it's a magic-based profession, shouldn't it be protected at the very back?

What is that tall, black figure? Is it a summoned creature? A summoner with mental attack abilities, yet wielding a strange weapon connected by chains, extremely difficult to control?

I can't understand it, I can't understand it at all.

"Huh? Everyone..."

Just then, a player suddenly spoke up.

"Have you noticed that the temperature on this floor seems to have returned to normal?"

"Oh, it really is."

After hearing what that player said, the players belatedly realized that the environment in the stairwell, which had been as hot as a sauna, was now actually at a normal temperature. Although it wasn't particularly cool, it had dropped below 30 degrees Celsius, which was much more comfortable than the nearly 80-degree heat.

"Don't get too excited, this isn't good news."

The woman wearing the fox demon mask said this softly, then exchanged a glance with Iwanaga Kotoko, who was standing there. The members of the Asagiri Squad and the White Suit Squad all realized something.

The return of temperature to normal here indicates that the strange entity manipulating the parasitic phenomenon possesses power on this floor that rivals that of "gods."

That is to say...

This is the opponent's home turf.

……

After about half an hour, the players figured out the layout of the floor. Just like the floor plan that Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna, and Iwanaga Kotoko had seen before, there was a large banquet hall in the center with an area of ​​more than 1,000 square meters. There was also a second floor with handrails that was slightly higher and could overlook the banquet hall. Surrounding the banquet hall were the kitchen, changing rooms, lounges, cigar room, restrooms, and other places. The staff preparation room was at the edge of the floor.

"boom."

The two heavy doors of the banquet hall, decorated with red velvet, closed slowly with a dull thud.

The man in the white suit glanced around the empty banquet hall, then looked at Asagiri standing there.

"What should we do now? We've searched every corner of the floor, but we haven't found any strange traces. Could they be trying to stall for time?"

"Will not."

Asagiri replied with a smile, then a dazzling cross materialized in her left hand, which she then slammed onto the banquet hall floor to the astonishment of the players.

"boom!"

As the Holy Cross struck the banquet hall floor with an explosion, a wail also rang out at the same time.

The next second, the banquet hall, which had seemed perfectly normal, was completely transformed. The surrounding walls turned into intertwined strips of fleshy tentacles, and the floor also became similarly disgusting. However, among the intertwined strips of flesh, many wide-open human mouths emerged, constantly emitting wailing sounds.

The wailing grew louder and louder, almost piercing people's eardrums, and then, dozens of humanoid creatures slowly emerged from the ground composed of the constantly writhing strips of flesh.

"That is……"

"Holy Cross!"

"Bone Spear!"

At this moment, Asagiri and the man in the white suit showed an unspoken understanding. While the other player teams were still in shock and struggling to resist the wailing sounds, the two of them had already led their team members to attack the creature formed from the strips of flesh.

"Protection."

However, the sacred cross emitted by the morning mist and the bone spear thrown by the man in the white suit were blocked by a semi-transparent gray protective shield.

"It's you again."

Seeing the parasitic player who had cast a protective shield, Asagiri shook her head and chuckled.