Chapter 249: The Existence of "God"

"Hmm... that possibility isn’t impossible."

Iwanaga Kotoko stared at the red button beneath the transparent glass cover and spoke thoughtfully.

"In a long night with no light, a Hotel suddenly blaring a shrill emergency alarm... no matter how you look at it, that kind of development feels very bad."

Yuuki Asuna looked troubled and hesitated.

"Then... what should we do now?"

Yuuki Asuna was smart. Her reasoning and analytical ability were far better than those of ordinary people, but when a situation became too ambiguous, she lacked the decisiveness to make the final call. That was why she was not suited to be the leader of a small team.

Asagiri, however, was different.

His approach could be summed up in two words.

Absolute decisiveness.

"We don’t press it."

Asagiri gave his answer without the slightest hesitation, then calmly explained.

"Pressing it might put an end to the parasitic phenomenon. Or it might attract something even more terrifying. With the information we have right now, there’s no way to determine which one it is, so the only choice is to judge it by risk."

He raised a hand and lightly tapped his own chest.

"The chance of anyone on our team getting parasitized is very low. Even if one of you falls into an illusion, I can summon Alice and pull you out the same way I broke the illusion in Kyozan Mental Hospital. So even if the parasitic phenomenon continues, the worst outcome for us is just losing the bonus points in our clear rating and having to deal with parasite Players. Those are risks we can control."

His gaze shifted to the red button again.

"But if we make the wrong choice and trigger the game’s punishment mechanism, the consequences are impossible to predict."

"That makes sense."

Kato Megumi nodded and placed the black [Bloodstained Nightingale Bow] back on her back. She adjusted the band tying her long black hair into a high ponytail and said softly,

"Being cautious is better."

Compared to Asagiri, who genuinely enjoyed playing the game, Iwanaga Kotoko, who seemed incapable of fear, and Yuuki Asuna, who was fiercely competitive and sometimes stubborn enough to endure things she should not, Kato Megumi was the one whose mindset most resembled that of an ordinary Player.

When the odds were favorable, aim for the extra points.

When the risk was too high, do not force it.

...

When the four of them stepped out of the control room, four or five Player teams were already gathered outside. The White Suit Man and his teammates were among them.

The surrounding Players stared at the chunks of flesh on the ground and the destruction left behind by the explosion, their expressions complicated as they looked at Asagiri and the others. Some wanted to ask what had happened, but held themselves back, seemingly afraid that too many questions would earn the black clothed Player’s displeasure.

Only the White Suit Man remained as calm as ever. He even stepped forward and asked with a mild smile,

"Excuse me, are those the bodies of parasite Players?"

"That’s right."

Asagiri admitted it openly, then pointed toward the control room behind him and said in a flat tone,

"You and your teammates have barrier type abilities, right? Seal this place off. Don’t let anyone enter."

"Understood."

The White Suit Man did not ask any unnecessary questions. He simply glanced at the woman beside him, who was dressed in white and wore a white fox mask.

She immediately understood.

Walking to the control room door, she took out something like a talisman from her sleeve. But just before placing it on the frame, she noticed the pale golden powder around the doorway. She touched it lightly with her fingertip, then turned to the White Suit Man and cast him a questioning glance.

He did not answer directly. He only smiled and said,

"Alright, alright. Everyone else can go ahead and leave. We still have a few things to discuss."

The surrounding Players instantly understood that he intended to speak privately with the black trench coat Player’s team, and they wisely turned and left.

Once the others were gone, the male Player who had guarded the stairwell earlier suddenly swept his gaze over the area, his expression sharpening, and said to the White Suit Man in a deep voice,

"Confirmed. No one is hiding nearby."

Seeing that, Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna, and the others all reached the same conclusion.

Judging from the White Suit Man’s earlier ability to fire bone needles from his fingertips and instantly kill a Player, his combat strength was considerable. The male teammate beside him had also been able to detect Kato Megumi while she was in her exclusive talent state, even with Asagiri and Iwanaga Kotoko, two people with absurdly strong presence, standing nearby. He was most likely a perception type Player.

The woman in the fox mask clearly had barrier casting abilities. Warlock? Mage? Whatever the exact class, she was definitely a magic type support.

As for the other male Player who had been left to guard the stairs with the perception type Player, logic dictated that he had to be a combat class. Otherwise, the White Suit Man would never have trusted him with that role.

Combat class, combat class, perception type, support mage with barrier abilities.

Their composition was not identical to Asagiri’s team, but it was very balanced. More importantly, judging by their coordination, they had clearly survived several Dungeons together and already reached the point where they could understand one another with nothing more than a glance.

"That pale golden powder..."

The fox mask woman finally spoke, and for the first time, a trace of fear appeared in her otherwise calm eyes.

"It gives off an aura that frightens me, and... it feels familiar."

"Familiar? Could it be..."

Seeing the cryptic expressions on the White Suit Man and his teammates, Asagiri immediately cut in.

"Did I accidentally walk into Gotham? Can you stop talking like riddlers? Riddlers should be expelled from Death Games."

"Sorry, sorry. We didn’t mean to, it’s just that this thing..."

"Let me explain."

The fox mask woman interrupted the White Suit Man, then turned her gaze directly toward Iwanaga Kotoko.

Looking straight into her deep violet eyes, she spoke slowly.

"That pale golden powder... is the remains of a ’God.’"

"The remains of a ’God’? What exactly are you talking about?"

"You don’t understand what I mean?"

The fox mask woman held Iwanaga Kotoko’s gaze and said meaningfully,

"I can sense that you also carry part of a God’s aura. It’s strange. Whether in the real world or inside a Dungeon, I’ve never encountered an existence like you."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Iwanaga Kotoko replied without much emotion, then immediately asked,

"Let’s skip to the important part. What exactly is this so called ’God’? Have you encountered one in a Dungeon before?"

"’God’... is a phenomenon. An omen."

As she spoke those words, the White Suit Man, who until now had shown no sign of fear since entering the Dungeon, finally revealed a trace of lingering dread in his deep gray eyes.

"In our last Dungeon... we encountered a ’God.’"

He spoke slowly, his expression heavy.

"That Dungeon was a bizarre one, like some kind of castle. As for what happened there... I don’t even know how to describe it. And it wasn’t just me. The instant we saw that ’God,’ everyone’s mind was hit hard."

He paused for a moment, then continued in a lower voice.

"Our original six person team lost two members in that Dungeon... No, ’lost’ isn’t the right word. They didn’t die in front of us. We never found their bodies. We don’t even know how they disappeared. The only reason the rest of us escaped the ’God’ at all was because the Dungeon time limit expired and the system forcibly sent us back to reality."

He exhaled slowly.

"If that hadn’t happened... we would have been wiped out."

After he finished, the fox mask woman took over.

"We have only encountered a ’God’ once. But from that experience, the appearance of a ’God’ causes abnormalities to spread throughout the entire area. In the last Dungeon, we were trapped in an endlessly repeating dead end. This time, the steadily rising temperature throughout the Hotel also fits the characteristics of a ’God.’"

Her gaze shifted toward the pale powder on the frame.

"Combined with the lingering golden residue, we can roughly conclude that somewhere inside this Hotel... there is a ’God.’"

Iwanaga Kotoko fell silent, clearly deep in thought.

Asagiri bent down slightly and lowered his voice near her ear.

"Are they telling the truth?"

"I can’t be certain."

Iwanaga Kotoko frowned and lowered her own voice in response.

"There really are beings in the real world that could be called ’Gods,’ like mountain gods and local deities. But what they’re describing doesn’t sound like the kind I know. Changing the laws of an entire area... if that is what they mean, then maybe the source inside Kyozan Mental Hospital could also be considered a ’God.’ Still, the fact that she could sense something about me gives their words some credibility."

Asagiri nodded, then smiled.

"Hmm. Now this feels like the proper difficulty for a Phase Three Dungeon."

The White Suit Man stared at him in disbelief.

This guy... after hearing that a God might be inside the Hotel... he actually sounded more excited?

"You..."

The White Suit Man’s expression stiffened.

"You aren’t afraid at all? Or do you just not believe what we told you?"

"I believe you."

Asagiri answered with a smile, then added softly,

"That’s exactly why this is getting interesting."

The White Suit Man and his teammates all froze for a moment.

Had they imagined it?

Or did the man in front of them really become more animated after hearing the word "God"?

The White Suit Man’s voice turned dry as he muttered,

"You wouldn’t..."

He stared at Asagiri in disbelief.

"You wouldn’t actually want to fight a ’God,’ would you?"

.....

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