A crossover anime/manga story, set in everyday Tokyo, but within a loop of a game.

Page 137

"I have absolutely no interest in her."

Asuna Yuuki asked with a hint of doubt, "Really?"

Asagiri replied without hesitation, "It's fake. She is indeed quite beautiful."

"You guy..."

Seeing Asuna Yuuki bickering with Asagiri, Megumi Kato spoke softly from the side.

"Our Shadow Lord... is truly a lecherous fiend..."

Asuna Yuuki was slightly speechless: "Why is he called Lord Shadow? Are we really going to call him that?"

Kato Megumi gave a gentle smile and said softly.

"It's not a bad thing to make him happy."

Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki rolled her eyes and said irritably.

“You and Necro have spoiled him too much, which has led him further and further down the path of abstract thinking.”

Kotoko Iwanaga pursed her lips, unconvinced.

“I don’t find it abstract at all.”

"That's right, your abstract thought processes are aligned."

……

Nearly an hour later.

"Ok?"

As Sakuragawa Rikka entered the stairwell, looking somewhat tired, she paused slightly when she saw the four familiar figures sitting on the upper steps as she turned the corner.

"You guys... just cleared the second basement level too?"

“We’ve been waiting here for a long time.”

When Asagiri and the other three team members saw that the first player to arrive in front of them was Rikka Sakuragawa, they were not surprised. After all, although they did not know what Rikka Sakuragawa's specific abilities were, they were certain that her abilities were very strong. Coupled with her calm mental state and outstanding intelligence, it was expected that she would be able to successfully clear the second underground level.

"Were you the only one who completed the game? Did you not encounter any other players along the way?"

"I encountered it, but..."

Sakuragawa Rikka did not hesitate, but spoke in a calm tone.

"Four players went into the second basement level with me, and they all died."

"Did you kill him?"

"Do not."

Rikka Sakuragawa shook her head, her beautiful eyes, adorned with light purple eyeshadow, meeting Asagiri's gaze. Her bright yellow eyes remained completely calm.

"They died at the hands of evil spirits."

"is it?"

Asagiri gave a noncommittal reply at first, then stood up from the stairs, looked down at Sakuragawa Rikka who was standing on the flat ground at the corner, and slowly spoke.

"You have two options now. First, you can rest and recover here, but we will go directly to the underground floor and won't waste time waiting for you to recover."

"Secondly, you can temporarily cooperate with us to enter the underground level. After we pass through the underground level, we will go our separate ways. The so-called cooperation is just to act together. We don't need your help, and similarly, we will not help you at critical moments."

"Now, choose."

Hearing Asagiri's words, Sakuragawa Rikka lowered her eyes, recalling her experience on the second basement level, and still felt a lingering fear in her heart.

If it had been just a little later, she would have fallen into the loop again, returning to the starting point of entering the second basement level. Not only would the loop time be reduced to ten minutes, but because the four players were already dead, all the evil spirits on the floor would have targeted her.

Rikka Sakuragawa does possess a kind of immortality, but being trapped in this eerie area forever would be torture rather than a death sentence.

"I choose to cooperate with you."

Sakuragawa Rikka replied with that first sentence, and then spoke softly.

"Since we're going to cooperate, even if it's only temporary, and since I already know the general fighting styles and abilities of the four of you, to be fair and to try to achieve tacit understanding and avoid hindering each other in battle, I'll tell you too. My fighting style and abilities lean towards melee combat; in gaming terms... I'm a main tank."

82

Chapter 82, the gatekeeper BOSS.

Upon hearing Rikka Sakuragawa's words, Asuna Yuuki, Megumi Kato, and Kotoko Iwanaga did not respond, but simply waited for Asagiri to give her an answer.

A few seconds later, Asagiri's words startled them, and they immediately went into battle alert.

"Why lie? You're not a main tank type at all."

"you……"

Sakuragawa Rikka's eyes trembled slightly, and after a few seconds of silence, she spoke softly.

"How exactly did you find out? Do you possess some kind of... investigative ability that allows you to view other players' information?"

Asagiri spread her hands and chuckled.

"I guessed."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Rikka Sakuragawa was momentarily stunned. Then, a helpless smile suddenly appeared on her beautiful face, which had never shown any emotional fluctuations before. She sighed helplessly.

"So you were just bluffing me... I never expected to fall for such a simple trick. Well... you left a very deep impression on me, and considering you called out my name earlier, I subconsciously assumed that you possessed some kind of detective ability that could view my player profile."

Faced with Rikka Sakuragawa's words, which implied praise, Asagiri did not respond at all, but simply said indifferently.

"However, your lie is meaningless. Since you lied that you are a main tank type player, then with the four of us in a small team, it is very likely... no, it is certain that you will be at the front and take on the most dangerous path-clearing position. I don't understand why you would tell such a lie that does you no good at all."

"Is there no benefit at all? Not necessarily."

Sakuragawa Rikka's smile vanished in an instant, and she returned to her expressionless state, speaking calmly.

“You yourself said that the four of you are a team that trusts each other, while I am just an outsider. Under these circumstances, it would be the safest and most reassuring thing for you to do for me to take the lead, right? Besides, although my ability type is not that of a main tank, in this dungeon... I should be able to barely take on this responsibility.”

So, what exactly is your true type of ability?

"priest."

After giving this answer, Rikka Sakuragawa observed the expressions of Asuna Yuuki and the others behind Asagiri, and whispered.

"Now you understand why I lied and said I was the main tank, right? Someone you don't know and can't trust suddenly says he's a priest who needs protection and is a support class after agreeing to cooperate. Even if you believe him on the surface, you'll be wary of me in your hearts. I personally think that kind of atmosphere is not good for breaking through the underground level. So, I lied."

"A support-type priest? You were able to get through the second basement level, and judging from your appearance, you don't seem to be seriously injured."

Faced with Asagiri's pointed words, Sakuragawa Rikka simply remained calm.

"You are also players, so you should know that I can't tell you the specifics of my abilities. That's all I can say. Whether you want to make me the main tank, treat me as a priest, or simply not cooperate with me, the choice is yours."

Let's vote.

Upon hearing Asagiri's words, Kotoko Iwanaga was the first to raise her hand to express her opinion.

"Let's cooperate."

Immediately afterwards, Kotoko Iwanaga gave Rikka Sakuragawa a malicious look and smiled.

"But let her be the T."

Kato Megumi nodded slightly: "I agree with Necro's opinion."

Asuna Yuuki chimed in, "Yes, I think so too."

Although Asuna Yuuki is a gentle and kind person, she is not some saintly figure overflowing with kindness.

The situation is clear: Rikka Sakuragawa is a dangerous person who needs to be guarded against and cannot be completely trusted.

Since she said she could take on the role of main tank, then let her be the main tank. It's not like we can just let her be the priest just because she says she's a priest.

It's important to understand that in a typical battle formation, a support class like a priest, who isn't strong in direct combat, should be hiding behind Asagiri and Yuuki Asuna along with other support classes. And those other support classes naturally refer to Iwanaga Kotoko, who is a warlock.

Entrust your back to Sakuragawa Rikka?

None of the four members of the team could make such a foolish decision.

"Okay, then it's decided."

Asagiri looked at Sakuragawa Rikka, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs, and slowly began to speak.

"You'll be the main tank, and you'll be at the front."

"can."

Sakuragawa Rikka agreed at first, then added a sentence.

"However, I have one request..."

He's not single!

"what?"

When Kotoko Iwanaga suddenly said that, Rikka Sakuragawa was stunned. She didn't know why the other party would suddenly say that this handsome guy was not single. Megumi Kato was also a little confused. Only Asuna Yuuki got the joke and almost couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Kotoko Iwanaga must have been thinking about the scene when the three of them first met in the hotel instance.

At that time, she was holding a staff manual with a hotel layout diagram and wanted to make a deal with Asagiri. The condition of the deal was that she wanted to know if Asagiri had a girlfriend.

Upon hearing Rikka Sakuragawa's familiar words, Kotoko Iwanaga instinctively adopted a defensive stance, like a girlfriend protecting her boyfriend.

"You...you're such a weirdo."

Sakuragawa Rikka said this first, then looked at Asagiri and continued her words, which had been interrupted earlier.

“I can be the main tank, but after we get out of danger, I hope to exchange the information we gathered during this dungeon with you. You are also a very skilled player, and you should understand that telling other players information will not affect your own completion rating, but if you get information from other players that you didn’t know before, you might get extra points. Although the value of the information you and I have may not be equal, or even the information I have may be of no value to you, I was the main tank of the team and took the risk of clearing the way. I think this request is within a reasonable range.”

Asagiri nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

……

Five minutes later, at the entrance to the basement level.

Sakuragawa Rikka extended her right hand to her side, and with a slow, clenching motion of her slender fingers, she drew a long sword, gleaming with a pale purple light and exuding an eerie aura, from thin air.

Seeing this, Kotoko Iwanaga frowned slightly, thinking to herself, "Doesn't this guy claim to be a priest? What kind of priest carries a long sword as a weapon?"

But on second thought, it's quite normal.

Sakuragawa Rikka is, after all, a lone wolf player. Now she is at the end of the second stage, and her opponent has gone through at least three or four dungeons. As a lone wolf player, in order to survive in various types of dungeons, she has to develop into an all-rounder.

Among the four members of the team, only Asagiri can be considered an all-around player who can handle any situation. Asuna Yuuki, Megumi Kato, and Kotoko Iwanaga each have their own strengths and weaknesses.

This is one of the benefits of forming a squad: you can specialize in developing your own preferred fighting style and abilities.

"I'm going to open the door."

"Well, go ahead."

After receiving Asagiri's order, Sakuragawa Rikka carefully pushed open the fire door in front of her with her left hand.

The current formation is as follows: Sakuragawa Rikka is in the lead, Asagiri is in second place, Iwanaga Kotoko is in third place, Kato Megumi is in fourth place, and Yuuki Asuna is at the very back.

Sakuragawa Rikka is a smart person, and she can naturally see that the formation of the four-person team is to protect Iwanaga Kotoko in the safest position. From this, it can be judged that Iwanaga Kotoko's ability to fight head-on, or rather, her ability to deal with sudden attacks, is the weakest among the four.

After opening the fire door, what appeared before everyone was not a complex, multi-level mental hospital, but an unusually spacious hall paved with bluish-green stone bricks. Apart from a wooden box wrapped in a black cloth with strange white symbols in the center, there was nothing else in the hall.

"That thing is the source of the eerie aura."

Upon hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's words, Asagiri looked at the ancient wooden box wrapped in black cloth in the distance. Without Kotoko Iwanaga's reminder, the moment the fire door opened, even he, Asuna Yuuki, and Megumi Kato, who originally did not have the ability to sense strange auras, felt a strong sense of palpitation.

Biological instincts warned everyone that the box was dangerous and that they should not approach it.

but……

The elevator to the next floor is right behind that box.

"Wait a moment."

After entering the hall, Asagiri gestured to Yuuki Asuna with her eyes to guard the fire door to prevent it from suddenly closing and causing everyone to be unable to leave this floor—a classic horror movie scenario. Then, she gently placed her hand on Sakuragawa Rikka's shoulder, signaling her to stop. Immediately afterward, she raised her right hand to the black gun-shaped summoner, pointed it at her temple, and pulled the trigger.

"Persona, Human Asura".

After the human demon appeared, he slowly walked towards the elevator, while everyone, including Sakuragawa Rikka, remained silent and quietly observed the scene before them.

The human-like Asura moved with his tall body, his feet treading on the bluish-green stone bricks without making a sound.