Kyushu, Sakura Autonomous Region, Tokyo City, Ginza Commercial District, in the bedroom of a high-end apartment building.
A beautiful girl with a delicate and lovely face, fair skin, light brown long hair casually draped down, wearing neat pajamas, and a hint of homey laziness, was frowning slightly at this moment, staring at the lines of text displayed on her phone.
[Congratulations, Asuna Yuuki, you have been selected to become a "Player"]
[You will enter the novice Dungeon in five minutes, please be prepared.]
"Dungeon? Is this... an advertisement for some third-rate game?"
Looking at the strange APP that appeared out of nowhere on her phone, whose icon looked like an eye, giving people a weird feeling, a hint of doubt and vigilance couldn't help but appear on Asuna's lovely and delicate face.
The time was four fifty-five in the morning.
Five minutes ago, Asuna, who was originally in a deep sleep, suddenly woke up. When she opened her phone, she found that a strange APP had appeared from nowhere, and it also displayed the strange words with unclear meaning mentioned above.
Her first action, of course, was to try to delete this APP, but she found that as soon as the APP icon disappeared, it would immediately reappear, and no matter how she tried, she could not completely uninstall and delete it.
"Is my phone... infected with a virus?"
Asuna murmured to herself, looking at the strange eye pattern on the phone interface. The line of crimson text, almost like blood, 'Please be prepared', was reflected in her eyes, and a sense of foreboding came from her heart.
From a rational point of view, Asuna did not believe that there was any so-called supernatural phenomenon in this world. Perhaps it was just that the phone was infected with a virus and a Trojan program was remotely installed, which caused such a phenomenon.
But what if it wasn't?
Thinking of this, Asuna changed her clothes as quickly as possible, and even specifically went to the living room to hold the sharp knife placed on the coffee table in her hand. After doing all this, the countdown displayed on the phone screen only had the last sixty seconds left.
"Hoo... hoo...."
Watching the countdown numbers gradually tick, Asuna's heart became more and more nervous, and even her right hand holding the sharp knife began to tremble unconsciously.
The moment the number ticked to zero, a line of blood-red text suddenly appeared on the phone screen.
["Player" Asuna, you are now entering the Dungeon.]
The next second, a dark red mist surged into Asuna's sight. She tried hard to restrain herself so that she wasn't scared into screaming by this sudden change.
The thick mist wriggled, forming a few lines of text.[Location of this Dungeon: Unknown Sanatorium]
[Time limit for this Dungeon: One hour]
["Player" mission objective for this Dungeon: Escape from the Sanatorium within the time limit]
[Hint: When the "Player's" room is closed, it is a safe area that no "caregiver" is allowed to enter.]
When Asuna finished reading the last sentence, before she could even re-read it, the dark red thick mist suddenly dissipated, and what appeared in front of her eyes was a light yellow wall covered with stains, and even moss had grown on it.
"This is..."
Before Asuna could react, she heard a voice that seemed to be male, with a hint of laughter and ease.
"This seems to be something like the Main God Space... things are getting interesting."
Asuna was startled by the sudden voice and instinctively tightened her grip on the knife in her hand. In that moment, she felt immensely relieved that she had brought the weapon with her—driven by the cautious belief that it's better to be safe than sorry. Now, that decision was proving to be the right one...
But in the very next second, the sight that unfolded before her left her stunned. Her thoughts ground to a halt, her eyes widened, and her lips parted slightly in silent shock. Whatever she had expected, it wasn't this.
She realized that she wasn't alone in the room, which resembled a hospital ward, but was accompanied by another person, presumably the one who had just spoken.
What shocked and unsettled Asuna wasn't simply the presence of someone else, but rather their appearance.
The figure was dressed in a heavy black winter coat, despite the indoor setting. Underneath, he wore a black long-sleeved athletic shirt, black pants, and sneakers. His face was completely concealed behind a black mask and dark sunglasses, leaving not a single feature visible. The all-black attire gave off a sense of deliberate anonymity and unease.
What was even stranger was that the other person's clothes were bulging, as if something was stuffed inside, making them look like this.
And the most outrageous thing was...
"Electric drill... and... Chainsaw?"
Seeing the electric drill in the black-clad person's right hand and the chainsaw placed beside him, which looked very intimidating, Asuna was stunned.
"You... are you also a 'Player'?"
The black-clad figure responded to her words with a voice that carried the hint of a smile.
"Yes, nice to meet you, my name is Lucifer, what about you?"
"I..."
Asuna originally wanted to answer, but the words stopped at her lips, and she took a few steps back, gripping the knife in her hand, and stared at the black-clad person with a vigilant expression.
"Can I not answer?"
"You're quite vigilant, good."
The black-clad person seemed to nod in approval. Although his voice was smiling and he hadn't made any aggressive actions for the time being, Asuna looked at his strange attire and the very intimidating electric saw, and still didn't dare to approach easily. Her body was already leaning against the yellowing wall.
Is this person... also a so-called "Player" like me?
Asuna looked down at the knife in her hand, then at the electric drill in the other person's hand and the electric saw beside him, and a strong sense of disparity arose in her heart.
She was originally glad that she had brought a self-defense weapon in advance, but she didn't expect that there was actually such a master.
From the appearance of the strange APP to the preparation time before entering the Dungeon, there was only ten minutes of preparation time in total.
Where did this person... get a chainsaw and an electric drill from!?
While Asuna was thinking, the black-clad person had already taken out his phone from his coat pocket and opened the strange APP with the eye icon.
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[Player Name: Asagiri Utsunomiya]
[Physical Fitness Level: Outstanding (Professional Athlete Level)]
[Talent: Not yet unlocked]
[Profession: Not yet unlocked]
[Player Level: Rookie]
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