In the anime, people are in everyday Tokyo, but they are playing the reincarnation game Chapter 040

Five minutes later, on the first floor of the hotel, at the front desk reception hall.

The floor, paved with smooth marble tiles, reflected clear images under the light of the enormous crystal chandelier.

The hall was empty, and there were no reception staff at the front desk. Only a receiver, connected to a landline, swayed slightly in the air, emitting a continuous beeping sound. Other than that, there was no other sound, so quiet that it was unsettling.

Just then, a loud bang suddenly echoed from above the hall.

“Boom!!!”

A humanoid black shadow, over two meters tall, with reddish glowing patterns on its body, fell from a height of nearly ten meters. The moment it landed on the ground, cracks spread across the hard marble tiles around it, accompanied by a vibrating roar.

“Bang!!!”

Amidst the debris of flying, a smiling voice rang out.

“How about that? I told you this was the fastest shortcut, and we wouldn’t encounter any enemies, right?”

Iwanaga Kotoko jumped off the Human Shura’s shoulder, landing lightly on the ground, appearing completely unfazed. She even tidied her clothes first, raising a hand to adjust her white beret, and then replied with a smile.

“The other side probably didn’t expect us to neither take the stairs nor the elevator, but instead, directly break through the floor from the fifth floor and fall down.”

“Indeed, we didn’t encounter any obstacles, but…”

Seeing Asagiri immediately dismiss the Human Shura after landing, Yuuki Asuna couldn’t help but purse her lips, a hint of worry in her voice.

“Doesn’t summoning a Persona consume a lot of mental and physical energy? And you broke through four floors in a row, plus the cushioning when you landed… Are you alright now?”

“Completely fine.”

Asagiri replied with a smile, then typed a line of text on his phone, flipped it over, and showed it to Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna.

“A bit tired, consumed about thirty percent of my physical energy. Mental energy is fine. Don’t talk about this. If the source of the anomaly can hear us, it might take this opportunity to attack. Act as if nothing’s wrong and try to buy me some more rest time.”

Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko both nodded upon seeing this message, indicating they understood.

Asagiri had no intention of showing off or acting tough. After all, this was a dungeon, a highly dangerous and eerie one where two players had already died. It wasn’t a game of make-believe. Deliberately concealing his condition would only mislead his teammates’ judgment of the situation.

“Let’s go to the reception first. Didn’t the special hint say that we can get valuable information there?”

Although Yuuki Asuna was somewhat worried about Asagiri’s condition, there was nothing else she could do. If they were to go down the stairs through the normal route, it was hard to say how many evil spirits they would encounter, and fighting in a narrow stairwell could easily lead to accidents, while also consuming the three of them’s physical and mental energy.

In comparison, breaking through the ceilings connecting the floors and descending directly was indeed the safest option.

As she walked towards the nearby reception, which was the hotel’s front desk, Yuuki Asuna had already gripped the exorcist’s longsword in her hand. She expended a small amount of mental energy to cast “Wind’s Blessing,” which made her body lighter. At the same time, she walked at the very front, ensuring that if an evil spirit suddenly sprang out from there, she could block it immediately.

Fortunately, no terrifying evil spirits suddenly popped out.

Yuuki Asuna breathed a sigh of relief, but for caution’s sake, she still held the exorcist’s longsword tightly in her hand. Together with Asagiri and Iwanaga Kotoko, she began to search for the “valuable information” mentioned in the special hint.

“Guest registration form… employee ID… hygiene certificate… these are all useless.”

Just as Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna couldn’t find anything valuable, Asagiri walked to the nearby staff position and picked up a newspaper placed there.

“Valuable information, found it.”

“Already found it? Let me see…”

Yuuki Asuna leaned over to take a look and found that most of the newspaper was stained with inexplicable black smudges, making the content unreadable. Only one section remained, with a news article written on it.

“Mount Jushan Mental Hospital experiences patient riot… Mount Jushan? Isn’t that where we did the rookie dungeon?”

Yuuki Asuna first murmured this, then looked up at Asagiri, puzzled.

“This… the Mount Jushan Mental Hospital had a riot of contained patients, we pretty much guessed that already, right? After all, the plot in that game was similar. This doesn’t count as valuable information, does it?”

“No, what’s considered valuable information isn’t about the event itself.”

Asagiri shook his head, his tone calm.

“The news about Mount Jushan Mental Hospital appearing in this hotel’s newspaper proves that this dungeon’s location and our previous rookie dungeon’s location are from the same world. Moreover, both of these dungeons are of the ‘Eerie’ type. Since the APP gave a special hint saying this is valuable information, then it can’t be a simple coincidence. For now, we can assume that all ‘Eerie’ type dungeons arranged by the APP are located in a specific place within this world, and this world… let’s call it the Eerie World.”

“Eerie World…”

Yuuki Asuna’s curiosity was piqued, and she couldn’t help but ask.

“Then, knowing this information, what can we do?”

“Nothing.”

Asagiri’s answer surprised both Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko.

“Although it’s interesting, this information isn’t useful for now. It seems to only provide us with the satisfaction of a player uncovering a part of the truth.”

“Satisfying… really?”

Yuuki Asuna sighed, shaking her head with a hint of helplessness.

“Compared to this kind of thing, I’d rather have something like the Exorcist’s Longsword, something that can provide substantial help for clearing the dungeon…”

Just as Iwanaga Kotoko was about to say something with a smile, she suddenly sensed an eerie presence. The smile on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a serious expression.

“Wait a moment, something… is approaching.”

As her voice faded, a strange sound, like a mix of footsteps and dripping water, “pat-pat,” broke the silence in the hotel lobby.