Asuna's pupils widened in shock, and she subconsciously wanted to scream, but the next second, she immediately raised her hand to cover her mouth, suppressing the fear in her heart, and did not make a single sound; only her shoulders and legs were trembling slightly.
Seeing this scene, Asagiri made a judgment in his heart.
As expected of Asuna, who has received elite education since childhood, even in such an environment and encountering a sudden horror event, she can maintain basic rationality and will not scream piercingly or do any stress-induced foolish actions like those brainless female characters in horror movies.
"Someone's here? Let me see what's going on."
Asagiri said this in a relaxed, smiling tone, raising the chainsaw that had been on the ground, and walked step by step towards the door of the ward, while Asuna watched in disbelief.
When he was only two or three steps away from the ward door, very close, the monster outside the door, its face covered in blood, seemed to be stimulated by something. Its neck suddenly arched back and then slammed heavily against the transparent observation window.
*Bang!!!*
This sudden impact sound made Asuna subconsciously retreat two steps, almost collapsing onto the ground.
"Oh ho, trying to scare me?"
Compared to the startled Asuna, Asagiri's reaction was unusually calm. Without any hesitation, he quickly moved to the position of the ward door, separated only by an observation window, almost face-to-face, staring directly at the blood-faced monster standing outside the door.
The next second, he said softly in a gentle tone.
"What are you looking at here? Are you looking for your mother's urn?"
When Asuna heard this, she was slightly stunned for a few seconds, then finally reacted. She had not made any sound when she was scared by the monster twice before, but now she couldn't help but slightly part her lips and let out a syllable expressing confusion.
"Huh?"
Is this... an insult?
A young lady like Asuna, who received an elite education, would certainly not swear, but she wasn't so naive that she couldn't tell that Asagiri's words just now were an insult.
"No...Now is not the time to think about this."
Asuna shook her head, forcing herself to forget the abstract way of insulting she had just heard, then looked at Asagiri standing at the door, holding the chainsaw, and frowned tightly.
"Lucifer, you're not thinking of opening the door... to fight the guy outside, are you? This guy should be the 'Caregiver' mentioned in the hint. The hint said that as long as our ward is closed, the other party is not allowed to enter. That is to say, as long as we don't start, we are safe, at least for now."
"Are you going to cooperate with me and discuss and analyze the information we currently have?"
Asagiri did not directly reply to Asuna's words, and didn't even turn his head, just kept staring at the hideous blood face pressed against the observation window.
"It seems that I am a more excellent 'Player' than you. Since you plan to cooperate with me to clear the game, the sincerity you should at least show is to first introduce yourself, right?"
Asuna hesitated for a moment after hearing this, then nodded.
"Yes, you are right. Then, let me introduce myself, my name is Asuna Yuuki."
Asuna was well aware of the current situation.
This was not some prank reality show, because given her identity, no television station would dare to do such a thing. Moreover, the apartment building she lived in was in one of the most prosperous areas of Tokyo, the Ginza commercial district, with very strict security measures. Otherwise, her parents would not have been at ease letting her live alone.
In this dangerous situation, cooperating with this 'Player' in front of her was the wisest choice. After all, from the brief contact of just a few minutes before, although the other party's personality seemed a bit unusual, he was very bold, and judging by the clean and decisive movement when he picked up the chainsaw, his physical fitness was also quite good.
Cooperating to escape this place was the most important thing.
"Okay, hello, my name is Lucifer."
Hearing the other party repeat this name again, Asuna couldn't help but frown slightly, thinking whether the other party thought she was a naive girl who was easy to fool, or if the other party knew she had already guessed that "Lucifer" was a fake name, but just didn't care?
"You said something wrong just now."
"Said...something wrong?"
"Yes, wrong."
Asagiri maintained eye contact with the blood-covered figure outside the door, standing in a relaxed posture, with a smile and a relaxed tone devoid of tension. Anyone who didn't know might think he was watching monkeys at the zoo.
"It's not 'our ward', but 'the ward we are in'."
Asuna hesitated upon hearing this.
"Is there... any difference?"
"Of course there's a difference, and it's a crucial one."
Asagiri continued to stare intently at the bloodied face outside the observation window as he spoke.
"Since our identity is 'Player', it means that each time we enter a dungeon, it's equivalent to starting a 'game'. And what is the first thing a 'Player' does after entering a 'game'?"
Hearing the question Asagiri posed, Asuna didn't pretend to understand and honestly shook her head.
"I don't play games, I don't know."
Asagiri didn't play coy or build suspense, but directly answered.
"It's to obtain an 'identity'. Simulation management, side-scrolling, action-adventure, role-playing, any game will provide a perspective to the 'Player', which is to give them an 'identity'."
Although Asuna had never played video games before, she immediately understood when Asagiri explained it this way.
"So, what you just said, the subtle difference in wording, is a hint about the 'Player's' identity? We don't have our own ward because the role we are playing in this dungeon is not that of a patient in this sanatorium at all?"
Asagiri nodded and said softly.
"Most likely that's the case. Of course, the premise is that the game we are playing is not garbage, but a valuable work that is worth carefully analyzing every word to get hints for clearing it. If we make assumptions based on this point..."
Before he could finish, Asuna seemed to have thought of something and suddenly realized.
"The primary duty of a 'Caregiver'... is to look after the patients in the hospital. We are not patients in this sanatorium, so... the 'Caregiver' actually won't stop us from leaving?"