Yūki Asuna's pupils widened in shock, and she instinctively wanted to scream out, but the next second, she immediately raised her hand to cover her mouth, fiercely suppressing the terror in her heart. She didn't let out a single sound, though her shoulders and legs were trembling slightly.
Seeing this reaction, Asagiri gave an internal assessment.
As expected of Yūki Asuna, who has received an elite education since childhood. Even in this kind of environment and faced with sudden horror, she can maintain a basic level of rationality and won't scream piercingly or make foolish, reflexive actions like the mindless female characters in horror movies.
"Someone's here? Let me check out what's going on."
Under Yūki Asuna's disbelieving gaze, Asagiri said this in an easy, laughing tone while picking up the chainsaw he had placed on the floor. Step by step, he walked toward the door of the hospital room.
When he was just two or three steps away, very close to the door, the monster covered in bloodstains outside seemed to be provoked. Its neck suddenly snapped backward, then slammed heavily against the transparent observation window.
"Bang!!!"
This sudden impact made Yūki Asuna subconsciously retreat two steps, nearly collapsing onto the floor.
"Well, well, trying to scare me?"
Compared to the startled Yūki Asuna, Asagiri's reaction was remarkably calm. Without any hesitation, he quickly closed the distance to the door, standing almost face-to-face with the blood-faced monster outside, separated only by the observation window.
The next second, he spoke softly in a gentle tone:
"What are you looking at, Sir? Are you searching for your mother's urn?"
Yūki Asuna was momentarily stunned when she heard this. It took her a few seconds to process it. She hadn't made a sound when she was scared by the monster twice, but now she couldn't help but slightly part her lips and let out a confused syllable.
"Huh?"
Is he... insulting it?
An elite, high-society young lady like Yūki Asuna definitely wouldn't use profanity, but she wasn't so naive as to not realize that Asagiri's words were an insult.
The key was, if you're going to insult someone, why use such polite phrasing, with terms like "You" (referring to the polite 'you' in Chinese) and "Your Esteemed Mother" (令堂)?
"No... this is not the time to think about this."
Yūki Asuna shook her head, forcing herself to forget the abstract way she just heard someone curse, and looked at Asagiri, who was standing by the door holding the chainsaw, her brow deeply furrowed.
"Mr. Houseki, you're not planning to open the door... and fight that thing outside, are you? That thing should be the 'Careworker' mentioned in the hint. The hint said that as long as our room remains closed, the opponent is absolutely not allowed to enter. That means as long as we don't start, we are safe—at least for now."
"Are you going to cooperate with me and analyze the information we currently have?"
Asagiri didn't directly reply to Yūki Asuna's words, nor did he even turn his head, merely continuing to stare at the ferocious, blood-stained face pressed against the observation window.
"It seems I'm a superior 'Player' compared to you. Since you plan to cooperate with me to clear this, the least amount of sincerity you should show is to first tell me your name, right?"
Yūki Asuna hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"You are right. Then, let me introduce myself: My name is Yūki Asuna."
Yūki Asuna was well aware of the current situation.
This was absolutely not some kind of prank or reality show; given her background, no TV station would dare pull such a stunt. Furthermore, the apartment building she lived in was in Ginza, one of Tokyo's most prosperous areas, and the security measures were quite strict—otherwise, her parents wouldn't have let her live alone.
In this dangerous situation, cooperating with the "Player" in front of her was the wisest choice. After all, from the brief interaction over the past few minutes, although the other party's personality seemed somewhat unusual, he was very brave, and judging by the swift, clean movements when he picked up the chainsaw, his physical condition was clearly excellent.
Cooperating to escape this place was the most important thing.
"Hello, my name is Houseki Yōmei."
Hearing the other party reaffirm this name again, Yūki Asuna couldn't help but slightly frown, wondering if the other party thought a young girl was easy to fool, or if he knew she had guessed that "Houseki Yōmei" was a fake name but simply didn't care.
"You made a mistake just now."
"A mistake?"
"Yes, a mistake."
Asagiri maintained eye contact with the blood-face outside the door, standing in a relaxed posture, speaking in a laughing, easy tone devoid of any tension. A person unaware of the situation might think he was watching a monkey at the zoo.
"It's not 'our room,' but the room we 'are currently located in.'"
Yūki Asuna hesitated.
"Is there... a difference?"
"Of course there's a difference, and it's a crucial one."
Asagiri continued to stare intently at the blood-face outside the observation window while speaking.
"Since our identity is 'Players,' it means every time we enter an instance, it's equivalent to starting a 'game.' And what is the first thing a 'Player' does after entering a 'game'?"
Hearing Asagiri's question, Yūki Asuna was honest and shook her head, not pretending to know.
"I don't play games, so I wouldn't know."
Asagiri didn't prolong the suspense but gave the answer directly.
"It is to obtain an 'identity.' Simulation, side-scroller, action-adventure, role-playing—any game will provide the 'Player' with a perspective, thus giving them an 'identity.'"
Although Yūki Asuna had never played video games before, she immediately grasped the concept after hearing Asagiri's explanation.
"So, the subtle difference in phrasing you mentioned is actually a hint about the 'Player's' identity? We don't have our own patient room because the roles we are playing in this instance are fundamentally not patients in this sanatorium?"
Asagiri nodded, speaking softly.
"Most likely. Of course, this assumes that the game we are currently playing is not garbage, but a valuable work that deserves careful scrutiny and analysis of every word for clues. Operating under this assumption..."
Before he could finish, Yūki Asuna seemed to realize something and spoke with sudden clarity.
"The 'Careworker's' primary duty... is to look after the patients in the hospital. We are not patients at this sanatorium, so... the 'Careworker' isn't actually trying to stop us from leaving?"