Chapter 198: I Am Out of the Cabin, Feeling Good
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
The Doctor crawled out of the blood and filth on the ground, stared at the severed leg that Human Asura had torn off, and hurled it aside. Then, all at once, he ripped the black gas mask off his face, revealing a hideous, twisted visage. Dozens of blood vessels writhed across his skin like worms, and his eyes were packed with bright scarlet veins.
"Come back. Give me back..."
Halfway through the sentence, his voice abruptly cut off, and his figure vanished on the spot.
"Heh. Sent back into the cycle, huh?"
Asagiri sat on the stairs, watching the scene unfold. He shook his head and chuckled, his tone filled with disdain.
"In the end, you can only make use of the bizarre rules on this one floor of Kyozan Mental Hospital. That power doesn't belong to you. Trying to trap us with it? Don't dream."
"Um..."
Kato Megumi looked at Asagiri sitting on the stairs, then at the severed leg on the ground, and asked cautiously,
"Leader, shouldn't you... reattach your leg first?"
"Oh, right."
Asagiri looked as if he had only just remembered. He glanced at the severed leg on the floor and muttered to himself,
"The flat ground outside the stairs should still count as Floor B2. Better not step on it carelessly."
After saying that, he summoned Crazy Mita and had her pick up his severed leg.
Yuuki Asuna crouched down in front of him, her eyes full of worry as she looked at his smiling face.
"Are you okay? Doesn't it hurt?"
"I am out of the cabin, feeling good."
Asagiri replied with a grin, then reached out and gently pinched Yuuki Asuna's soft cheek.
"It hurts like hell, but if you kiss me, it won't anymore."
"You're still acting like a pervert at a time like this... Honestly..."
Yuuki Asuna's pretty face turned slightly red. Even so, she still leaned in and lightly kissed him on the cheek.
Meanwhile, Iwanaga Kotoko took the severed leg from Crazy Mita and pressed it back against the wound. A bright light flickered in her deep purple eyes. Black Particles gathered around the severed edge, and in just two or three seconds, the wound was completely restored.
Asagiri stood up and gave a light jump. Satisfied, he nodded.
"Okay. Full health recovery."
"Hmm..."
Seeing Kotoko reattach Asagiri's leg so easily, Kato Megumi felt relieved, but she still could not help asking,
"Leader, why did you cut off your own leg instead of tearing off that thing's arm? Even if the Rope Dart couldn't cut it off cleanly, with Human Asura's strength, it should have been possible, right...?"
"You're thinking too simply."
Asagiri straightened the hem of his black trench coat, sat back down on the stairs, and spoke in a relaxed tone.
"That thing's physical strength is even greater than the Twin Brothers'. I can't be sure Human Asura could tear its arm off in one go. More importantly, if that severed arm were still in contact with my body, then even if I made it up the stairs, I might still be judged as 'remaining on Floor B2' and get dragged back into the cycle. Compared to gambling on tearing off its arm, cutting off my own leg was much more certain."
"Hiss... You're really ruthless to yourself..."
Hearing the exclamations from Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko, Asagiri merely waved it off with a carefree smile.
"No need to make such a fuss. It was just a quick decision."
"Cool. As expected of the Leader."
After Kotoko's praise, Asagiri smiled, then leaned closer to Yuuki Asuna and kissed the side of her face, savoring the shy expression on his cute girlfriend's face before continuing,
"However, the severed leg stayed inside Floor B2's range, yet it didn't enter the cycle or reset. That means only humans are affected by the bizarre rules of the floor, while outside objects that do not belong to Kyozan Mental Hospital are not..."
After saying that, Asagiri stood at the top of the stairs and looked at the ground in front of the emergency exit door.
"We've more or less figured out the rules of Floor B2. Stay too long, and you get contaminated by its bizarre power. From the moment you enter, you're pulled into a cycle after twenty minutes. The second cycle lasts fifteen minutes. The third should be ten, then five, until eventually it reaches zero. At that point, you're trapped on this floor forever with no way out."
"As expected, it really is troublesome."
Yuuki Asuna frowned slightly, deep in thought.
"Having just come up from the dangerous Third Floor, a normal person would naturally move carefully and cautiously. Even if they knew the correct route, crossing two areas and reaching here within twenty minutes while staying on guard the whole time would already be hard enough. Not to mention having to deal with those malevolent spirits along the way. And once they fall into the first cycle, not only does the time limit shrink, but their stamina and mental strength are bound to be drained too."
"Actually, the difficulty isn't that outrageous."
Hearing Yuuki Asuna's words, Asagiri smiled.
"A Stage Two Dungeon shouldn't be this punishing. There should be some built in way to reduce the difficulty, like retreating to the Third Floor. Floor B2's rules shouldn't affect the Third Floor. So after discussing the route and resting sufficiently on the Third Floor, Players could try forcing their way through Floor B2 again. Of course, the time limit wouldn't reset, and..."
At that point, Asagiri suddenly changed the subject and spoke calmly.
"If enough Players gathered on the Third Floor and attacked Floor B2 at the same time, they could split up the power of the malevolent spirits. Some Players would get unlucky and run into monsters like the Twin Brothers, but others would only encounter one or two evil spirits, or maybe even none at all. In that case, forget fifteen minutes. Even ten would be enough for someone to break through."
Hearing Asagiri's analysis, Yuuki Asuna nodded, half understanding, then suddenly remembered what the Doctor had said earlier and turned to look at him.
"'Shadow'? So Black Watch already gave you a codename..."
"Pretty cool, right?"
"Uh... the codename is cool, I guess, but that's not what I meant..."
Seeing Yuuki Asuna's speechless expression, Kato Megumi tucked a strand of long black hair behind her ear and spoke softly.
"What Violet means is, now that Black Watch has noticed you, could that bring us unexpected danger?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I meant."
Yuuki Asuna let out a sigh of relief and patted Kato Megumi on the shoulder, gratitude filling her eyes.
"Thank goodness there's still one normal person on this team. Otherwise, I really wouldn't be able to communicate with those two."
Kato Megumi smiled gently.
"You're welcome."
"Oh, so that's what you meant. Don't worry. Being noticed by Black Watch was only a matter of time."
Asagiri answered in the same relaxed tone. Kotoko followed up with a smile.
"After all, Leader's ability isn't just strong, it's strange in a very special way. Being able to directly control an Anomaly as powerful as Alice... it would be weirder if Black Watch didn't take an interest."
"No, I'm not Leader anymore."
Asagiri crossed his arms over his chest and declared grandly,
"From now on, please call me Lord Shadow!"
"Uh..."
Yuuki Asuna could no longer hold back.
"Shadow is already fine, but you have to add 'Lord' too? There's no way I'm saying that. And besides, when I first gave you a codename, didn't you say it was too chuunibyou, which is why you picked the simple and plain 'Leader'? Why'd you suddenly change your mind?"
"You wouldn't understand."
Asagiri took on a mysterious, profound expression and spoke slowly.
"Giving yourself a cool codename is called chuunibyou. But when it's bestowed by the enemy, that's a whole different matter. It's a symbol that your strength has become so overwhelming that even your enemies fear you!"
"Why are you getting so excited over something like this..."
Just then, the fire door to the stairwell was shoved open.
"You! You're still here! I found you!"
The Doctor burst in with a crazed expression. Yuuki Asuna and the others immediately turned wary, but Asagiri remained seated on the stairs and looked at him with a smile.
"What, are you determined to acknowledge me as your dad today?"
The Doctor's face twisted grotesquely as he shrieked,
"Get down here!"
"Your dad doesn't feel like going down. Why don't you come up instead?"
Looking at the Doctor, who was clearly close by yet still refused to step onto the stairs, Asagiri sneered.
"Oh? You can't come up, can you? How pathetic. A prisoner who can't even leave the floor he belongs to. Tsk, tsk. Truly laughable."
"You bastard..."
The Doctor's face contorted like a monster as he screamed,
"How did you do it?! That black humanoid creature you controlled, that strange existence with the form of a blonde little girl, and that twin tailed girl, what are they?! What exactly is your ability?! Tell me!"
"That's enough. You sound like a yandere."
Faced with the Doctor's madness filled interrogation, Asagiri remained perfectly calm, even carrying a hint of laziness, as though he were not inside the terrifying Kyozan Mental Hospital at all, but relaxing in some sunny beach resort with soft sand and endless sea.
"Even if you die from frustration, I still won't tell you. You'll never get your answer. How pitiful. How exactly do I control Anomalies? Truly fascinating, isn't it?"
Hearing that, the Doctor, a complete research maniac, looked ready to explode. But after a few seconds, he suddenly calmed down again and slowly said something astonishing.
"As long as you tell me the secret of your ability, I will report to my superiors and have you and your companions join Black Watch."
Seeing the disbelief on Asagiri's face, the Doctor showed a strange smile.
"Well? A powerful organization like our Black Watch..."
Asagiri cut him off at once, his tone blunt.
"You misunderstood. What shocked me was the sheer extent of your brain damage."
He looked at the Doctor like he was looking at an idiot.
"You want me to join Black Watch? Don't make me laugh."
.....
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