After finishing her analysis, Asuna Yuuki felt refreshed, her mood became high, and she couldn't help but raise her chin slightly. However, before she could feel proud of her own intelligence, she noticed Asagiri Utsunomiya's expression, which was not at all surprised, and could even be described as calm as still water surface.
"You... have guessed this a long time ago?"
"About the same." Asagiri Utsunomiya first said with a nod, then explained, "I realized it when I first entered the dungeon and noticed the chainsaw and drill hadn't disappeared. However, it wasn't until I cleared the dungeon and saw the so-called equipment among the rewards that I was convinced of the principle of 'no restrictions on players carrying any weapons'. This was also one of the hints given to new Players before entering the dungeon."
Suddenly Asagiri Utsunomiya changed the subject, saying, "After all, this is just the first dungeon for novice Players. Completing its mission objective isn't difficult at all, and the so-called deductions don't require a brilliant mind. The real challenge is how long it takes the Player to calm down and seriously consider the hints. Even if they don't guess the truth about the caregiver, as long as they're brave enough to rush out, they can still complete the mission objective. Of course, there's also a simpler way to clear it without taking any risks."
Asuna Yuuki asked curiously: "What method?"
Asagiri Utsunomiya glanced at her and asked a question that was somewhat meaningful: "Why do you think two Players were assigned to the same ward in this dungeon?"
Asuna Yuuki's expression changed. She understood what Asagiri Utsunomiya meant.
Although Asuna Yuuki was a young lady of a wealthy family, she was not so naive as to be ignorant of the ways of the world.
In that extremely fearful and high-pressure environment, it was very difficult to calm down and think. In addition, with only an hour to clear the dungeon, as time passed, new Players entering the dungeon for the first time would become anxious and even lose their minds...
At this time, the seemingly simplest and most reasonable choice would appear—use another Player in the room as bait, push them out directly, and then take this opportunity to escape.
The caregiver would not actively attack Players, but the problem was... No one would be pushed out willingly. Once a Player had such an intention and was seen by another Player in the ward, it would be a fight for life.
"Okay, let's go~"
Hearing that Asagiri Utsunomiya said so with his trademark relaxed tone, Asuna Yuuki came back to her senses and asked, "Where?"
"Looking at the current situation, we can't return until the time limit is over."
Having said that, Asagiri Utsunomiya took out his phone and took a look. Although he didn't know if this was still the original world, as long as his phone didn't malfunction, he would know how long it took in the dungeon. This was a novice dungeon with almost no difficulty, so it was unlikely that a mysterious force would tamper with the time displayed on the phone, causing the Player to have an illusion or something like that.
"There are only forty-eight minutes left. We've already claimed our rewards, but haven't yet returned to the real world. So, why not consider the remaining time as part of our reward? Use this time to investigate this asylum. We might even be able to obtain valuable intelligence. After all, there's no guarantee this will be our last time in this dungeon."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Let's go."
Without much hesitation, Asuna Yuuki followed Asagiri Utsunomiya across the courtyard again and walked towards one of the buildings.
During this process, the two were not idle either. They directly told each other the rewards they received after completing the mission objective.
"Eh? Have you unlocked your exclusive Talent? And there's a unique Job?"
When Asuna Yuuki heard about Asagiri Utsunomiya's rewards, she was so surprised that she couldn't express it in words.
The difference between A+ and S+ appeared to be only one level, but wasn't the difference in rewards too great?!
Her Job—Swordsman—was ordinary, just one of the most basic Jobs. The equipment she got was also of ordinary quality. The only really powerful one was the 'Wind Protection' skill that she hadn't used yet, which was said to make her body lighter and more agile.
As a result, although Asagiri Utsunomiya had one less piece of equipment than her, he obtained an unique Job called 'Diplomat'. Combined with the scene when Asagiri Utsunomiya was communicating with the caregiver when he left the ward, Asuna Yuuki felt that this unique Job was simply tailor-made for him.
Let's put aside the item called 'Teddy Bear of Dirty Jokes' for now. The key point was that Asagiri Utsunomiya had also unlocked an exclusive Talent called 'Persona'?
Although Asuna Yuuki didn't quite understand the specific function of this Talent, she estimated that it had to be very strong. After all, the description of the other party's exclusive Talent was longer than the description of all her clearance rewards combined. How could it not be amazing?
But on second thought, Asuna Yuuki felt that it was reasonable.
Asagiri Utsunomiya cleared the dungeon at an absurd speed, and he even brought her along, so it was not surprising that he could get such rewards.
It appeared that the difference between their clearance evaluations was only one level, but maybe she got A+ because her clearance rating was A+, and Asagiri Utsunomiya got S+ because the highest rating could only be S+.
After the two entered the first-floor lobby of the building, they first searched through the rooms, but found nothing valuable except an admission registration form.
Asuna Yuuki took the blood-stained admission form, tried hard to decipher the handwriting on it, and read loudly.
"Let me see... Mount Massive Asylum... Project 136... Chris Walker, male... Warning, this patient is extremely dangerous and requires the highest level of security..."
After reading out all the content that could still be seen clearly, Asuna Yuuki couldn't help but frown, then looked at Asagiri Utsunomiya and said, "Why on the admission form are they calling the mentally ill patients a project and even giving them numbers? This place is definitely not a normal mental asylum."
◆—⊰✧⊱—◆
After searching the lobby on the first floor, there were only twenty minutes left. Considering the need to reserve sufficient time for evacuation, Asuna Yuuki and Asagiri Utsunomiya planned to go to the second floor of the building to take a look before leaving.
When the two of them passed through the stairwell and just arrived at the corridor on the second floor, they saw a tall caregiver not far away. He was standing there quietly with his waist bent in a strange posture and his face pressed against the observation window.
At this moment, the door of the ward was suddenly opened, and then a man covered in blood threw himself directly onto the caregiver.
Seeing that, Asuna Yuuki said in surprise, "That's..."
The next second, a man of medium build rushed out from the ward with a bloody kitchen knife in his hand and blood on his clothes. He quickly ran in the opposite direction of the caregiver, which was towards Asuna Yuuki and Asagiri Utsunomiya.
When he saw the two people standing at the entrance of the stairwell, he couldn't help but be stunned and speak.
"Who... are you?"