About ten minutes later, just as Asagiri had said, the four of them found several items with special value in a locked room that looked like an office. Similar to the Exorcist Longsword from the last Hotel instance, these items triggered prompts in the APP.
[Field Emergency Medical Kit: A medical kit containing first-aid items such as painkillers, bandages, disinfectant alcohol, skin staplers, gauze, etc.]
[Special Adrenaline: Within ten minutes of using this item, the Player will enter an excited state, with greatly increased mental energy and stamina, significantly reduced pain sensation, and greatly enhanced five senses. However, after the effect wears off, the Player will enter a state of extreme exhaustion due to overexertion. If mental energy or stamina consumption is too great, there may even be life-threatening danger. Please use with caution.]
The team members could all recognize the value of these two items. The Field Emergency Medical Kit was highly valuable, a necessary safeguard even if unused. As for the Special Adrenaline, its effect made it a trump card, to be used only in critical, desperate moments.
However, these two valuable items paled in comparison to the final reward:
[Sniper Rifle (Full magazine capacity, ten rounds): A police sniper rifle with a pure black body and a magazine capacity of ten rounds. The bullet caliber is 7.62mm. It is a heavy weapon with excellent accuracy and power.]
"A sniper rifle..." Kotoko, Asuna, and Megumi were all somewhat stunned, gazing at the black, intimidating weapon hanging on the wall.
Is this the kind of equipment that should appear at this stage? A sniper rifle isn't like the low-power weapons in TV shows or anime, where a non-vital shot means you can still walk and talk. In reality, a rapidly spinning 7.62mm bullet tears through the human body, sending flesh and blood flying. A leg, an arm, or even the abdomen could be instantly obliterated.
The weapon's value was undeniable. The only problem was... "Among us, does anyone know how to use a sniper rifle?"
Seeing the three women cast expectant glances at him, Asagiri, who was sitting and resting, said somewhat speechlessly, "What do you guys take me for, an urban military ace? Even in the military, snipers who can skillfully use a sniper rifle for combat are few and far between. How could I possibly use a sniper rifle? Stop kidding."
"That's really a shame." Hearing Asuna's slightly regretful words, Asagiri smiled. "What's there to regret? We can't aim from long range, but can't we shoot at close range? Anyway, let's just take it for now."
Asuna nodded, then asked, "Hmm... then how exactly should these items be distributed?"
Hearing Asuna's question, Megumi maintained a calm expression but felt a little nervous inside. Compared to the dangers within the instance, the process of distributing rewards is actually the easiest to cause conflict, even in online games, let alone a game where the Player participates personally and there is a real risk of death. Who wouldn't want to keep all the rewards for themselves to ensure they have the highest survival rate in the instance? Even if that wasn't the case, from an emotional standpoint, being the last to join the team, I probably wouldn't have a chance to get those items...
Just as Megumi was thinking this, she heard Asagiri reply in a calm tone. "Give the field first aid kit to Phantom. After all, she has the talent to reduce her presence, so it's impossible for her to be the enemy's first target. It's safest to entrust it to her. Give me the adrenaline and the sniper rifle."
"Okay, sure." Seeing Asagiri and Asuna determine the reward distribution in just a few words, and with Asuna and Kotoko, who received nothing, showing absolutely no signs of dissatisfaction, Megumi was a bit stunned.
"Um... maybe the field first aid kit should still be held by you guys..."
Hearing Megumi say this, Asuna shook her head, handed the red package with a white cross drawn on it to her, and smiled gently. "We are a team, and a team can only have one decisive voice. I believe the Leader's distribution method is the most reasonable and most beneficial to the entire team."
"But..." Seeing Megumi still looking a little hesitant, Asuna pretended to be slightly annoyed. "If you don't take it, I'll think you're treating me like one of those petty, jealous little girls." Halfway through her act, Asuna couldn't help but laugh and said comfortingly, "Don't be shy, If you really feel bad about it, next time I get injured, just quickly bring the medical kit and treat my wounds."
"Okay, thank you."
"Nothing to thank me for." Asuna waved her hand and smiled generously. "We're all comrades."
After leaving Inpatient Building 1, the four saw that the previously empty hospital was now filled with a large number of constantly wandering zombies.
Roar!
The few zombies that were relatively close noticed someone walking out of the lobby of Inpatient Building 1, immediately turned their heads, let out meaningless roars, and rushed towards the four at a speed that wasn't very fast, but equivalent to a normal person jogging.
Kotoko frowned slightly and said thoughtfully, "Hmm? Just like the horde that attacked us just now, fast-moving normal infected individuals... Where did they come from this time...?"
Asagiri, on the other hand, looked at Asuna and smiled without any tension. "Violet, they're yours."
Hearing Asagiri's words, Asuna nodded.
"Okay."
Immediately after, the Exorcist Longsword in her hand swung out quickly, giving the few zombies no chance to approach. She killed them one by one with swift and decisive movements, completing the kills without any hesitation.
"Phantom, catch." Hearing Asagiri call out her codename, Megumi turned her head and caught the rapier he threw, looking puzzled.
"This is..."
"You go clean up these infected individuals, too."
"Oh, okay." Megumi gripped the rapier tightly, pursed her lips, mustered her courage, activated her talent effect, and then approached a normal infected individual. Due to the effect of her talent, the normally infected individual didn't notice anything. It just stood there, shaking its head and making some meaningless movements.
Swish!
Megumi thrust her sword with all her might, directly hitting the back of the normal infected individual's head. The sharp tip of the sword plunged deep into its skull. When she pulled out the rapier, the normal infected individual's body also fell to the ground.
"Huff... huff..." Megumi took deep breaths, trying her best to calm her racing heartbeat. Including the novice instance, this was already her third time entering an instance, but it was her first time engaging in combat. As for Kotoko and Asagiri, they didn't bat an eye at any kind of bloody scene they saw; they were completely unlike normal humans, like monsters, let alone that. Asuna, although a bit nervous when she first entered this game, had a competitiveness that ordinary people didn't possess - she didn't want to lose to this game, and even if it meant death, she would bravely fight.
In this regard, Megumi couldn't compare to these three people, so she needed to train. Anyway, as long as she activated her talent aura, these normal infected individuals wouldn't detect Megumi's presence, making them perfect for her to practice adapting to combat. What would be a difficult point for ordinary Players, normal infected individuals that should be carefully avoided in combat, posed no threat at all in front of Megumi and Asuna.
After arriving in the lobby of Inpatient Building 2, Asuna finally let out a long sigh, looked at Megumi, whose wrists were still slightly trembling and whose face looked a little tired, and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"
Megumi nodded slightly and replied softly, "Yes, I'm fine." During the fights along the way just now, Megumi didn't keep her talent aura activated the whole time. After all, when moving on foot, she could only maintain her talent for a maximum of one minute at this stage. If she were to fight while activating her talent, the consumption of physical and mental strength would be even greater.
After gradually becoming proficient, Megumi mastered the correct way to use her talent, which was to not activate the talent aura before entering the enemy's line of sight, only activating it when approaching, and immediately turning it off after killing. This way, the consumption was much lower.
More importantly, through the action of clearing out the zombies just now, Megumi discovered a weakness in her exclusive talent. The talent aura could only work when the enemy hadn't noticed her yet. After all, it wasn't true invisibility. If the enemy had already noticed her, lowering her presence further wouldn't have any effect.
"This dungeon is really quite strange." Kotoko gently tapped the ground with her cane and said thoughtfully, "The keyword is zombies, but at first it didn't seem like a typical zombie apocalypse. Normal infected individuals who could only move slowly suddenly started moving quickly. Is it because they weren't the same type to begin with, or..."
Kotoko looked outside at the sky, which had become somewhat dark and dusky, and murmured, "As the time in this world gets closer and closer to night, the abilities of the infected individuals will become stronger and stronger?"