Hearing this, Asuna cautiously prepared to leave the ward.
Her entire body was turned sideways, her back pressed against the door frame, her eyes constantly watching the blood-faced monster standing there, afraid that if she wasn't careful, it would suddenly make some aggressive move.
But the 'Caregiver' just stood there quietly the whole time, which also made Asuna breathe a sigh of relief.
It seemed that the deduction was correct. The 'Caregiver' had no hostility towards the 'Player' and would not prevent the 'Player' from leaving this sanatorium. On the contrary, it would urge the 'Player' to leave through its actions. It was just because of its terrifying appearance and the vague expressions in the blood mist hint, such as 'safe area', 'not allowed to enter', which easily led people into a misconception, preemptively assuming that the 'Caregiver' was the obstacle to clearing this dungeon.
After her emotions finally stabilized, Asuna looked at Asagiri standing there, pursed her lips, and spoke with a somewhat complex expression.
"Didn't we agree... that I would open the door..."
"Don't misunderstand."
Before Asuna could finish, Asagiri interrupted directly.
"I didn't want to take on life-threatening danger for a girl I just met, to play the hero or act cool, or have naive ideas like not being able to watch you die in front of me. I am neither gentle nor merciful, nor am I a simp who is captivated by beautiful girls and loses the ability to think. I went to open the door simply to prevent you from suddenly making some stress-induced move in extreme fear, provoking the 'Caregiver' who was originally not hostile, and because I believe in the result of my deduction, that's all."
Asuna nodded first, then couldn't help but ask in confusion.
"Then why didn't you just open the ward door at the beginning? Why wait until I was about to open it before stopping me?"
"Of course, it was to test you."
Asagiri explained in a flat tone, "In that situation, you were able to voluntarily offer to open the ward door, and you really planned to do so, which proves that you are not a shameless girl who thinks others should sacrifice for her. It also proves that you have the courage to face danger. Plus, when you introduced yourself earlier, you didn't make up a fake name. You passed my test."
Asuna frowned slightly upon hearing this, looking puzzled.
"Test...?"
"Let's talk as we walk."
After saying that, Asagiri, who was about to leave, suddenly stopped again, then turned around and walked in front of the blood-faced attendant. He looked up directly at the other person's face and said with a smiling voice.
"Hey, sorry, dude. I didn't get the situation at first. I didn't know you knew how dangerous this place was and were trying to get us out. I even cursed at you... My bad, seriously."
Asuna saw this scene and couldn't help but part her lips slightly, looking surprised.
She never expected that the other person would suddenly apologize to the "attendant."
"Hmm..."
What surprised Asuna even more was that the blood-faced attendant actually nodded after hearing Asagiri's apology, squeezing out a low voice from his throat, seemingly accepting his apology.
"Ding dong~"
A sudden, slight phone vibration broke the silence in the corridor.
Asagiri took out his phone and opened the APP with the eye icon. He saw a line of text displayed inside.
[Favorability with Sanatorium Attendant Franklin Hodell has slightly increased.]
"Oh, there's favorability? A bit interesting."
After confirming the prompt in the APP, Asagiri put away his phone and waved to the blood-faced attendant... No, to Franklin Hodell, saying lightly.
"Alright, we're leaving. See you again if there's a chance next time, Dude."
"Dude..."
Hearing Asagiri's intimate address to the tall blood-faced monster, like a long-time friend, before leaving, and the other person's words about meeting again if there's a chance next time, Asuna felt a mix of emotions.
If possible... she didn't want to come back.
Asagiri's idea was the opposite of Asuna's. He was sure that he would come back to this mental sanatorium, or rather, mental patient detention center, whose name he didn't know yet.
Otherwise, what was the meaning of the APP prompting that Attendant Franklin Hodell's favorability had slightly increased?
During the departure process, Asuna kept observing her surroundings.
She noticed that this corridor was similar to a normal hospital building, with many patient rooms. The structure of each room was the same as the one she and Asagiri had stayed in, with only a single bed, unlike normal hospitals with double or triple rooms.
Based on this detail, Asuna was even more certain that this was indeed a mental hospital, and the people housed inside were those with severe violent tendencies, or perhaps even institutions specifically for detaining mental patients who had committed serious crimes but couldn't be executed due to their mental illness.
However, the facilities in this hospital seemed very old: rusty railings, yellowing walls covered in moss, stains on the floor, and elevators with metal sliding doors that she had only seen in TV dramas.
Although there were elevators and they seemed to be working normally, Asuna and Asagiri both chose to take the stairs.
Who knew the quality of the elevators here? They had finally solved the puzzle and were only one step away from clearing the instance. If they got stuck due to an elevator malfunction, that would be truly a wrongful death.
After going down the dark stairwell to the first-floor lobby, Asuna glanced outside and found that the sky was very overcast. She could only vaguely see that there seemed to be a courtyard outside.
Only at this moment did she look at Asagiri, who was holding a chainsaw and a power drill, and slowly spoke.
"So, Lucifer, if I'm not mistaken, you know me, right?"
Asagiri was forthright and didn't hide anything.
"I wouldn't say I know you, but I do know your name and your appearance."
"So that's how it is..."
When they left the patient room earlier, Asagiri said that Asuna didn't make up a fake name but gave her real name.
This revealed a piece of information.
If he didn't know Asuna's real name and appearance, how would he know that the name she gave was real?
"You... who exactly are you?"
Seeing Asuna's somewhat wary look, Asagiri replied with a light chuckle.
"Although I know your appearance and name, this is indeed the first time we've met today. As for the reason I know, it's very simple."
"Because like you, I'm a new student in the high school department of Shuchiin Private Academy this year."