Hearing this, Yūki Asuna carefully planned to leave the room.
Her entire body was turned sideways, her back pressed against the door frame, her eyes fixed on the blood-faced monster standing there, afraid that if she looked away for a moment, it would suddenly make an aggressive move.
But the "Careworker" remained standing there silently the whole time, which allowed Yūki Asuna to let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed that the deduction was correct: the "Careworker" had no hostility toward the
"Players"
and would not stop them from leaving the sanatorium. On the contrary, it would urge the
"Players"
to leave through its actions. It was only because its appearance was too terrifying, and the ambiguous phrasing in the blood mist hint—such as
"safe zone"
and
"not allowed to enter"
—that easily led people into a misconception, making them assume the
"Careworker"
was the obstacle to clearing the instance.
Finally having calmed down, Yūki Asuna looked at Asagiri, pursed her lips, and spoke with a complicated expression.
"Didn't we agree... that I would open the door..."
"Don't misunderstand."
Before Yūki Asuna could finish, Asagiri directly cut her off.
"I had no childish thoughts of taking a risk for a girl I just met to play the hero and look cool, or not wanting to see you die in front of me. I am neither gentle nor kind, nor am I a simp who loses all critical thinking when he sees a beautiful girl. I opened the door purely to prevent you, in your extreme fear, from suddenly making some reflexive action that might anger the 'Careworker,' who is not an enemy. And because I trust the result of my own deduction. That's all."
Yūki Asuna first nodded, but then couldn't help but ask in confusion:
"Then why didn't you just open the door in the beginning? Why wait until I was about to open it before stopping me?"
"That was, of course, to test you."
Asagiri explained in a calm tone,
"In that situation, the fact that you actively volunteered to open the door, and truly intended to do so, proves that you are not one of those shameless girls who feel others should sacrifice themselves for you. It also proves that you possess the courage to face danger. Coupled with the fact that you did not make up a fake name when you introduced yourself earlier, you have passed my assessment."
Yūki Asuna's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly as she asked, puzzled:
"Assessment...?"
"Let's talk as we walk."
After saying this, Asagiri, who was about to leave, suddenly stopped again. He turned around, walked up to the blood-faced Careworker, looked up directly into its face, and said in an amused voice:
"My apologies, old friend. I didn't understand the situation earlier and didn't realize you were trying to warn us of the danger and urge us to leave. I even cursed at you. My bad, my bad."
Yūki Asuna's lips parted slightly in surprise as she watched this scene.
She never expected him to suddenly apologize to the "Careworker."
"Mmm..."
Even more unexpected for Yūki Asuna was that the blood-faced Careworker actually nodded after hearing Asagiri's apology, squeezing out a low, guttural sound from its throat, seemingly accepting his apology.
"Ding ding~"
A sudden, faint phone vibration broke the silence in the corridor.
Asagiri pulled out his phone and tapped the eye-icon APP. A line of text was displayed on the screen.
[Hoder Franklin, Careworker of ??? Sanatorium, has a small increase in Affection towards you.]
"Oh, there's a Favorability system too? Interesting."
After confirming the hint on the APP, Asagiri put away his phone and waved at the blood-faced Careworker—no, Hoder Franklin—in a lighthearted tone.
"Alright, we're off. See you next time, Old Hode."