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

In order not to attract the attention of the zombie in the corridor, she deliberately lowered her voice.

"There seems to be only one zombie outside. I just tried it, and even at a very close distance, as long as I activated my talent, it couldn't detect my presence."

Upon hearing this, Yuuki Asuna couldn't help but sigh.

"Phantom's talent is truly amazing..."

Kato Megumi's exclusive talent, "Weak Presence", will continuously consume physical and mental strength when moving while the talent effect is activated. With Kato Megumi's current physical fitness, the maximum she can maintain is one minute.

However, if you use this talent while standing still, not only will there be no consumption, but the effect of reducing presence will be enhanced.

This means that even if Kato Megumi entered the dungeon alone this time, as long as she found a safe place to hide and then activated her innate skills, she would most likely be able to survive the ten-hour time limit and achieve the first goal of surviving until the end of the time limit, just like the last dungeon she entered.

However, if you complete the game in that way, the evaluation level you get will be very low, and the rewards will be just better than nothing. If you really just rely on your exclusive talents to get by, when you encounter an evil spirit or monster with high perception, you won't even be able to resist, and it will be game over.

"There's a zombie outside the player's teleport point..."

Asagiri smiled with satisfaction and said something that Kato Megumi could not understand for a moment.

"It's indeed the first stage of the dungeon. The difficulty is too low."

Then, Asagiri walked to the sofa in the living room, picked up a sofa cushion and threw it to Asuna Yuuki. The latter understood what he meant and caught the pillow with her left hand without any words, then walked straight out the door.

"Roar..."

As expected, when Yuuki Asuna went out, the zombie wandering in the corridor, less than ten meters away, noticed her immediately. With a beast-like roar, it walked towards Yuuki Asuna with its mouth wide open, at a speed similar to that of a normal person walking.

But before it could slowly approach, Yuuki Asuna had already taken the initiative to step forward. With a flash of cold light, she used the exorcist sword in her right hand to cleanly cut off the zombie's limbs. Then, almost at the same time, she covered the other's mouth with the sofa pillow in her left hand.

“Mmmmm…”

Because its mouth was covered tightly, the roar that the zombie should have made turned into a vague whimper squeezed out of its throat, like that of a wronged little animal.

"It's done."

After hearing what Yuuki Asuna said, and seeing Asagiri and Iwanaga Kotoko who had already walked out of the door and were standing beside her, both with calm and unsurprised expressions, Kato Megumi was stunned.

At this moment, she had only one thought.

why?

Why are you so skilled?

Have you reached a level of tacit understanding where you can reach a consensus just by eye contact without the need for verbal communication?

"OK, next..."

While Kato Megumi was still in shock, Asagiri had already walked to the side of Yuuki Asuna.

He squatted on one leg in front of the zombie that had been cut into a human stick and had its mouth blocked by a sofa cushion. He shook his head as he saw the zombie still struggling even though it had lost its limbs.

"Oh, how pitiful! Don't worry, I'll set you free soon."

Hearing this, Kato Megumi thought that although Utsunomiya-san had a bit of a strange personality, he was still very empathetic and kind...

Wait a moment.

What's that thing Utsunomiya-san is holding? It looks like that rope dart, a weapon made of a blade and a metal chain.

Wait a minute, how did you get the pointed end towards the zombie's wide-open eyes?

At this time, Asagiri had already slowly inserted the tip of the rope dart into the zombie's left eyeball. Looking at the dirty blood flowing out, he did not show any nausea or discomfort, but muttered to himself.

"Faced with the approaching sharp weapon, its pupils didn't change at all, and it didn't even blink. It seems this thing doesn't have the normal subconscious reaction to danger, nor does it know what fear is. It's the most common type of zombie. And just like what's mentioned in the diary, it can't even run."

"Isn't this difficulty... a bit too low?"

Asuna Yuuki looked at the zombie that was struggling and couldn't help but frown.

"Just now, when the apartment door was open, this creature didn't notice our presence. This shows that its sense of smell isn't as sharp as a real wild animal's. And at such a close distance, it seems that even if we speak in a low voice, it won't be able to hear us."

"Judging from the feeling I just had when I slashed him, his physical strength is on par with a normal human, or even weaker. He can't run, and even if he's bitten or scratched, he won't be infected with the zombie virus."

"Anyone who's able to move freely and find a long weapon like a baseball bat can easily deal with these creatures. Just be careful not to get surrounded by them. Even the first stage of the dungeon can't be this simple. Compared to the hotel dungeon we entered, it's far too simple, even a little abnormally simple."

After hearing what Yuuki Asuna said, Asagiri pulled the rope dart out of the zombie's eye socket, and then spoke.

"From a certain perspective, the dungeons in this game are similar to exams. They test the 'students,' or 'players,' to see if they have a passing grade in a certain area. For example, the first dungeon for a new player tests courage and the ability to think calmly under high pressure. The second dungeon tests caution and careful observation."

"And so-called passing means completing the dungeon. If you achieve excellent results, you'll receive rewards. So, why don't we think about it the other way around, similar to predicting the topic? That is, we should first analyze the available information and infer which aspects of the dungeon the player is testing. Based on this, we can then speculate on the potential dangers within the dungeon."

Kotoko Iwanaga walked over and looked at the zombie with only one eye left, and said softly.

"The danger in this dungeon...could it be the so-called special infected?"

"Special infected do exist, but it's unlikely that they are the main test set for players in the dungeon."

Asagiri shook his head and said in a calm tone.

"From the information we know, the dungeons... at least the first stage ones, will rarely have levels that require players to use force to break through. Breaking through by force is a special route prepared for top players like us. Correspondingly, there must be a normal route that allows even ordinary players to complete high-level levels. After all, this game isn't simply about torturing players; it's more like a process of screening and developing them through repeated dungeons."

"Hmm... There's so little information right now that it's hard to draw a convincing conclusion."

As Iwanaga Kotoko spoke, she looked directly into the zombie's eyes and activated her "Cursed Gaze".

The moment she activated the skill, the pupil of the zombie's only remaining eye suddenly dilated, and its body twitched violently twice before becoming motionless.

"The skill worked. It seems these zombies don't have the ability to defend against mental attacks. Their resistance to mental attacks might even be negative."

Iwanaga Kotoko smiled and said softly.

"So, my skills, and Phantom's talents, can all be used as normal."

067 Dead City

"That's good news."

Hearing Asagiri's affirmation, Iwanaga Kotoko couldn't help but raise the corners of her lips, like a child showing off her achievements, raising her chin slightly and speaking with pride.

"Not only that, I can sense that these zombies have low intelligence. Their mental resistance is even lower than that of ordinary people, compared to evil spirits. So, if I use my Cursed Gaze, which originally only has a negative impact on them, I can kill them instantly. How about that? Awesome, right?"

Asagiri smiled and nodded: "Great."

Iwanaga Kotoko's true intentions were exposed, and she said with a smile.

"Then Leader, can you reward me by carrying me on your back? After all, my physical strength isn't very good, and I'm disabled, so it's very difficult for me to move. You can't bear to see me so pitiful, right?"

"Moral blackmail me?"

Asagiri also smiled back and said, "Fortunately, I have no morals, otherwise I would have been kidnapped by you. Go away on your own."

Seeing that her plan had failed, Iwanaga Kotoko muttered softly.

"What an unkind guy..."

"Anyway, regarding the answer to this dungeon puzzle..."

Asagiri took out his cell phone and looked at the detailed map of the city. His eyes were fixed on the sign in the center of the city that read "Ren Ai Hospital". He said lightly.

"Maybe I'll find it here."

..............

After the four people left the apartment building and came to the street, they found that there was no trace of any zombies in their sight. It was not the kind of scene they had imagined, after the apocalypse, with zombies rampant on the streets and a foul smell everywhere, like a purgatory on earth. Instead, it was a silent, lifeless dead city.

This strange sense of incongruity made Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi, who had already completed the dungeon twice, feel that something was not right.

"There's not even a single zombie? This..."

Yuuki Asuna frowned and tightened her grip on the Exorcist sword in her hand.

To be honest, if the four of them came out and encountered a tide of zombies consisting of dozens or even hundreds of zombies, she would not be so nervous. But now this situation where they know there is danger but don't know where the danger comes from is the most suffocating and heavy.

"Always be aware of your surroundings... Wait, what is that?"

Just as Yuuki Asuna was thinking this, she noticed that the exhaust pipe of a motorcycle on the street was stained with some sticky yellow-green liquid. Although she had a slight obsession with mysophobia, she was in a copy at the moment, so she didn't care about that and immediately went forward to observe.

"This liquid... is disgusting, and it also emits an extremely strong stench..."

While Yuuki Asuna was observing, Asagiri also came over.

He squatted down, observing the sticky yellow liquid on the motorcycle exhaust pipe, and said thoughtfully.

"The color of this stuff...it's a bit like bile."

"bile?"

Yuuki Asuna raised her hand and tucked her long hair, speaking thoughtfully.

"Could it be that someone died here, or died in such a horrific way that their body was torn apart, that bile was left behind?"

"Not too possible."

Asagiri shook his head, glanced at the ground around him, and spoke softly.

"There was no blood on the ground around, let alone any body parts or internal organs."

Having said that, Asagiri paused slightly, then stood up, looked at Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi in front of him, and put forward a hypothesis that the three had never thought of before, but was reasonable.

"Although the keyword for this dungeon is zombies, and the location where it takes place also has the word 'doomsday' in its name, and zombies do exist, they're slow-moving and can't spread viruses, so they can't pose a fatal threat to players. It would be fine if there were a lot of them, but there aren't even a single zombie on the streets. Therefore, I believe the main challenge of this dungeon isn't the zombies."

"Indeed, the difficulty of this dungeon is eerily low."

Kotoko Iwanaga, leaning on a cane, analyzed as she thought.

"Not only are the so-called zombies very weak, but there's a book right where we entered the dungeon, telling us that zombies move slowly, can't spread viruses, and that the city's water source is uncontaminated. This is so much valuable information, and the system's arrangement can't be a coincidence. The only reasonable explanation is... the system wants players to go out and explore, so it provides so much information at the beginning, letting players know that even if they encounter ordinary zombies, as long as they are careful, it won't be too dangerous."

"That..."

Kato Megumi asked cautiously.

"If a player knows this information but simply doesn't want to face any danger and only wants to hide in the place where they entered the dungeon and wait until the time limit is up to complete the level..."

"Then they're dead."

Asagiri shook his head and said in a calm tone.

"This isn't a rookie dungeon. It won't be easy to clear. Two different completion targets are given. It seems the system allows players to choose freely, but in reality, it's precisely because of the choice that there's a tendency to take chances. The first test of this dungeon is the player's drive. To put it bluntly, it's to eliminate those who just want to get through the dungeon and don't care about the rewards. Those players are worthless to this game."

"So the second part of this test is this strange bile trace?"

Yuuki Asuna seemed to have thought of something and spoke.

"Could it be that... this bile is the trace left behind by the so-called 'specially infected'? The public reminder is to pay attention to the surrounding environment, meaning that players should avoid those special infected during their actions and collect information such as maps to find the route to 'Ren Ai Hospital'?"

"Well, for ordinary players, this is the most reasonable plan if they want to get a high-level clearance rating. But I want to verify one thing: Violet can also gain strength through kills, so..."

Having said that, Asagiri's eyes revealed excitement as she was eager to try.

"Let's go find those special infected people."

............

Nearly an hour later, in an underground parking lot.

"It's bile again... and the amount has obviously increased..."

Asuna Yuuki looked at the large amount of yellow-green sticky liquid attached to the ground, walls, and surrounding vehicles, looked at Asagiri beside her, and spoke softly.

"It looks like we're very close."

While tracking the bile traces and searching for "specially infected people", Asagiri and others had already determined their location. The straight-line distance from the "Ren Ai Hospital" in the city center was about 20 kilometers. Even ordinary people could arrive in about three hours if they quickened their pace.

However, one must always observe the surrounding environment and be wary of special infected people who may appear at any time. Ordinary players cannot act without fear and hesitation like Asagiri and others. If you calculate this, it is unknown how much time it will take.

"Yeah, and it happens to be a parking lot..."

Just as Asagiri said this, a sound like vomiting came from behind a van about 20 meters in front of the crowd.

"vomit..."

Accompanied by the sound of vomiting, a large ball of yellow-green sticky liquid fell to the ground.

The next second, a bloated creature walked out from the back of the van. Its belly was swollen to an exaggerated size, and there were tumor-like things growing on its face, belly, and both arms.

"So that's the special infected person..."

Seeing this special infected person appear, Yuuki Asuna clenched the Exorcist sword in her hand and was about to launch an attack when she was stopped by Asagiri.

"Wait, step back."

Asagiri led Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi silently away from them, while raising the black gun-shaped summoner and aiming at his own temple.