Chapter 80

Actually, it wasn't entirely inexplicable. Some clues were already revealed when Yuki saw the Human Centipede, and the headless corpse and the skeletal Giant that followed formed a chain of evidence.

Yuki glanced instinctively at the core of the tumor, filled with pity for the increasingly faint red light.

Curly is a remarkable individual, with top-notch scheming abilities, but he's missing one crucial piece of information:

He didn't know that demons could play the Head-Connector Overlord.

I thought Dean Fukawa would proceed with the usual battles against the players. If you want to face him directly, you'll have to go to the first floor first.

"What you don't know is that he had already turned the tables and set his sights on the players' heads."

Yuki didn't know why he did this either; it involved the core secret behind the existence of the Demon Hospital.

Splash!

The tumor was shrinking into the mist, stared at by the old man's head. Yuki the Tyrant and the others were still blocked in the corridor. Rushing forward alone now would be suicide. He could only do his best to examine the other party.

The enormous body and the indistinct color of the head indicate that it is not the core of the demon at all, making it highly deceptive.

Based on experience alone, the demon's head on the human body is the vital point; rushing in hastily would only lead to certain death. However, in Yuki's eyes, this old head didn't seem human either.

Not only was it emaciated, but it also had no eyeballs; its empty eye sockets were pitch black, as if it were trying to suck a person's soul in.

His skin was like molten wax, as if it could peel off at any moment, and his sparse hair and goatee gave him a very serious look.

Just as Yuki looked at the body that resembled a giant, swirling intestine, an arm stretched out, swaying limply like a dead man's, followed by a flash of red light—

Boom!

After the alchemy reaction, the compressed air exploded, Yuki crossed his arms, feeling someone slap him hard on the chest. He was sent flying like a kite.

The leather shoes scraped against the floor until a pair of arms pressed against his back, then he looked up, his face full of confusion.

The open door was in the distance, but the fog in the corridor had disappeared, as had the claws and arms. You could even see the neatly arranged computer screens in the room, like waking from a bizarre nightmare.

Everyone came expecting a decisive battle, and they witnessed Curly's strength, but before they even had a chance to fight...

"What's this?" Hayasaka Ai tilted her head. This wasn't her plan. With herself and Mai Sakurajima as human shields, even if Curly was strong, she would have to hold her back.

Then, this player, who was just moments before basking in victory, was devoured by the demon in the blink of an eye.

"Missing even one crucial clue is enough to kill a powerful player." The Tyrant, a man of vast experience, sighed, "You went straight to the third floor, unaware of what happened upstairs. This was a shortcut, but also a trap."

He began to recount the rendezvous, from the thief to the corpse in the warehouse, which caused Hayasaka Ai and Mai Sakurajima to exchange a horrified glance.

They genuinely didn't know, but that made sense; Curly still thought the copy was the same as before, and could handle threats methodically, with a simple plan:

First, deal with Yuki and the others, then turn everything upstairs into stone, and finally face the final boss in your prime.

"But what he didn't know was that the demon had shifted from a passive to an active position, had been watching him closely, appeared ahead of time, and launched a full-scale sneak attack. Mr. Curly had no chance to fight back." Hiyori sighed as well. No one could have imagined this; just a few minutes ago, even they were only guessing.

After all, those few demons who made contact weren't particularly unusual, except that they were a bit smarter and could use the players' abilities.

"Then why not target you?"

"It might be because of the floor level; the lower you go, the more it can do. Or perhaps Mr. Curly is a greater threat; after all, he can undermine the foundation of the Demon Hospital."

The logic is flawless, and the situation is explained clearly in just a few words.

Hayasaka Ai glanced at Hiyori with some surprise, finally understanding why Yuki had brought this girl who had no fighting ability along. She was a strategist, able to make that man focus all his energy on fighting.

Um?

She suddenly turned her head. The group had been having a great time and had forgotten about Yuki's presence. Her azure eyes fell on him kneeling on one knee, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Are you alright? You're not hurt!"

Yuki didn't respond to the ice sculpture beauty's outburst; he kept his head down, strange murmurs still echoing in his mind.

[Bloodline Object, discovered.]

Chapter Thirty-One: The Journey Home (Second Update)

Bloodline Object?

Just as that arm drooped down, Yuki heard a murmur. His mind seemed to be on replay, with images flashing back and forth, and he quickly locked onto one of them.

The black and red stone on the back of his hand—Curly Hair couldn't have gone to such lengths just to create a Chaos Item.

He understood somewhat; leaving two enhancement points was indeed the right choice, but he was also a little annoyed, since he was still a step too late.

But that's where things get interesting. Did Curly first raise his alchemy skill to Master level before he could master the Bloodline skill?

I only killed a demon, and even though the Demon Eye was much weaker than him, it was still much easier.

Luck? But I don't believe in metaphysics.

Yuki stood up and looked at the group of people with varying expressions. "The puzzle-solving game is almost over. Let's go into the elevator and discuss it further."

The corridor was never safe, and he wasn't wrong. Now that almost all the mysteries had been solved, there was one more major and clear objective left for the players.

However, everyone still walked with heavy steps. The appearance of Dean Fukawa solved the biggest mystery, but also disrupted the plan.

They were supposed to deal with Curly first, take his belongings, and then proceed to the first floor to finish this instance, but now the situation has changed.

Even a fool would know why Dean Fukawa was targeting Curly Hair: besides the threat factor, the demon had been weakened, and he needed to replenish his strength.

Bite.

The elevator doors opened, and the five of them stepped in at the same time. They each found a place to sit down, and the long-lost sense of security returned, finally improving their mood.

"Don't look down. This accident was indeed troublesome, but we still have a chance." Yuki the first to break the silence, casually unscrewing a can of cola. Even in the dungeon, this comforting drink made him feel good.

"We haven't given up hope. This time is much better than last time," Mai Sakurajima chimed in, prompting Hayasaka Ai.

Because of this man, the instances will all mutate, but as their strength increases, they will no longer be as pathetic as they were under the Crimson Moon.

The image of Crimson Moon is etched into my mind; if I could survive that hellish difficulty, there's nothing to be afraid of.

"Senior, aren't you afraid I'll get arrogant if you praise me like that?"

"Hmph, even if pride makes you foolish, someone will correct you." Mai Sakurajima turned her face and asked with a smile, "Right, Hiyori- kun?"

"Uh, I guess so." The light-hearted girl didn't know how to answer, noticing that the atmosphere had changed somewhat after the three of them joined together.

Tense, lively, and confident, they looked like they had just been to hell.

"Hiyori, do you think I'm stupid?" Yuki looked at her expressionlessly, causing the girl to instinctively shrink back a little, and then she was tapped on the head.

"No more jokes, the performance should be ending soon." Hayasaka Ai wagged her index finger, her icy aura vanishing. "Hiyori is different from us, we've never seen you so disheveled. You'll scare people."

'Why do I feel like you two are targeting someone else, and you really don't want Hiyori to get close to me?'

'What are you thinking, you idiot? Do you really think I don't know?'

'Heh, even a pig's head has its heat cycle.'

Their eyes met, conveying complex messages, causing Yuki to roll her eyes, thinking to herself, "Is my image really that bad? I was only after Shiina Hiyori's value from the very beginning, okay?"

But on second thought, this possessiveness is quite nice; it's helped me take another step forward in the game.

Seeing him narrow his eyes, Hayasaka Ai and Mai Sakurajima quickly looked away, thinking to themselves that they had been too obvious just now, and that bastard had tricked them again.

"Ahem, I know you're all relaxed, but we still need to get serious before the dungeon ends." The Tyrant couldn't hold back any longer; he felt he shouldn't be in this elevator, he felt uncomfortable all over.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Hayasaka Ai was overjoyed and quickly said, "The Tyrant is right, let's quickly discuss what to do next."

Okay, I'll let you off the hook for now. Anyway, the game strategy will be implemented after we return to reality.

After the brief interruption, Yuki regained his focus and turned his gaze to Shiina Hiyori.

The girl wasn't surprised; she was already used to her duties and understood that Yuki needed to focus on tactics, so she cleared her throat.

"I noticed that Dean Fukawa left voluntarily just now, which proves that he also intends to have a final showdown with us."

"Give us a chance to catch our breath?"

"It's probably digesting Mr. Curly Hair; he's not confident he can take us down on the third floor." Hiyori got into the zone, gently pinching her chin as she stood up and paced in the elevator.

"First, it can't understand why the resentment gathered in the hospital has decreased, which weakens the demon's strength; second, we eliminated a large number of puppets on the previous floors, making it have fewer and fewer trump cards in its hand. We are discussing this, and it also needs to make plans."

"Finally, it can access the players' memories, but even Mr. Curly doesn't know the true strength of you veteran players."

Leaving aside new players like Jack, Curly was separated from the main group from the beginning, and even after gaining his memories, he didn't know the background of Yuki and the others.

If you're getting a haircut from a female senior, that's troublesome; it'll even know the color of her underwear.

Yuki, seeing Mai Sakurajima across from him feeling uneasy, lightly snapped her fingers, "The problem now is, he needs time, and we need to race against time too. Hiyori, how much longer?"

"Three hours and fifteen minutes." The girl glanced at her watch.

Three hours, two floors—it seems close, but it's actually quite difficult, because others aren't stupid; they know that the longer it takes, the better.

With the death of the first player, hint seven was already revealed: as time passed, the demon swelled, enough to offset the weakening effect.

"But thankfully we eliminated many of his trump cards beforehand," Hiyori said with a lingering fear. Without the previous massacre, the fate of her harem would have been unimaginable.

The floors intersect, so the demon couldn't have appeared out of thin air. And there weren't many puppets left, otherwise they wouldn't be hiding in the mist, afraid to show themselves.

"Not only that, we terrified it, and using the old toys won't be very effective anymore," Yuki added. He and the Tyrant fought a bloodbath on the fourth floor, partly due to the presence of the Conceptual Craft Essence, but the enemy was unaware of its existence.

From the perspective of Director Fukawa, it also faces many problems. Old toys are not very effective and cannot reliably control the players.

"It will use its quality to do everything it can to slow us down," the Tyrant muttered.

"Pretty much. It disrupted the rhythm, but we still got replenished."

Yuki looked at Hayasaka Ai and Mai Sakurajima. The three of them had finally reunited. This wasn't just a matter of addition; they had all become stronger.

Hayasaka Ai is a powerful ADC; even if she's not as strong Tyrant, her ability to deliver the decisive blow surpasses the latter.

Mai Sakurajima- senpai focuses on support roles; her "Light-Covering Prayer Rite" is a charging skill that increases the team's combat survivability.

Like the Death Knell bullets, which normally need to be replenished every two hours, with Mai Sakurajima's help, twenty minutes is enough.

He handed the machete to Hayasaka Ai, who took it, looked at it, and showed a surprised expression.

[Chaos Item: Storm Cleaver (Chaos-level)]

[Enhances the user's cutting power, disrupts airflow, and creates wind pressure cutting]

[Side effect: With each successful slash, the user's mental state will also be damaged, causing cutting pain.]

[Description: To kill others is to kill oneself]

Its attack power is average, and the side effects are normal; a mentally resilient person can withstand it.

Death Knell had limited ammunition and had always lacked a secondary weapon, which would now be useful in close combat. Mai Sakurajima glanced at her but wasn't envious; asking her to use a knife to slay demons was asking too much.

"This weapon is nice." Hayasaka Ai nodded in satisfaction, leaned closer to Yuki, and glanced at Shiina Hiyori. "Do you want me to repay you? You seem to really like this girl-next-door vibe?"

The implication is that she can also be the girl next door, even more lively, cuter, and more youthful.

Yuki knew how powerful Hayasaka Ai's girl form was, but due to preconceived notions, he was more accustomed to this serious yet slightly aloof 'player' Hayasaka Ai.

When tested, he casually replied, "It's boring to have overlapping personas; let's just maintain the status quo."

As expected, before Hayasaka Ai could even nod, the man added, "Of course, it would be best to completely remove the mask and reveal the real Hayasaka Ai."

Take off the mask? Then I'm just a...

Hayasaka Ai stood there, somewhat puzzled as to how he knew she had another mask beneath her own. But before she could ask, Yuki had already turned away and continued working on the dungeon.

After exchanging words for a while, Yuki even asked what kinds of bullets the Tyrant used. A few minutes later, he stepped forward and placed his hand on the button.

Is everything ready?

No one answered, only nodded in unison. Even Shiina Hiyori was used to the game's rhythm. Yuki chuckled casually and pressed the button.

Buzzing...

The sound of the elevator running came along with the feeling of weightlessness, as if the player were falling into Abyss Grade. But on the last two floors, besides the tension, there was also a distinct impulse—

A longing, a longing for return.

Even though reality is changing, just like working in a dark and dreary mine, even a single day of complete relaxation is precious.

"Now that this dungeon is done, I'm going to get a good two-day nap."

The Tyrant's words resonated with everyone; they all wanted to lie comfortably in bed, with no more demons climbing onto their bedsides.

"Aren't you going back to get married?"

"Damn, do you think I'm stupid? Setting a flag before the final battle."

"Hiyori, what are you planning to do when you get back?"