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

"You, you, you made that little girl... your persona? How could you do something like this?"

"What little girl? Don't talk nonsense here."

Asagiri waved her hand and replied calmly.

"She was simply a pure anomaly born from this hotel, which is filled with too much eeriness and death. She is not an evil spirit, nor is she a living being. If we really have to define her, she should be considered a pure curse. Of course, I can make her a Persona. Otherwise, why would I have three Persona slots?"

"what?"

Asuna Yuuki frowned slightly and hesitated.

"Then if you encounter any troublesome enemies in the future, you can just collect it as your Persona... wouldn't that make you invincible?"

"It's not that simple."

Asagiri shook her head and patiently explained.

"Although any being can become a persona that I can control, the prerequisite is that the target must be completely obedient to me in spirit. There are many types of obedience. It can be extreme fear of me, extreme worship of me, or like Alice, having maximum affection for me. But all of these must meet this prerequisite."

"Is that so...? Then it seems that the passive effects of the special profession of diplomat not only resonate well with you personally, but also have a near-perfect synergy with your unique talent, Persona..."

Asuna Yuuki first sighed, then breathed a sigh of relief.

"However, there's really nothing of value left in this instance now. Should we leave now, or..."

Asuna Yuuki looked out into the dim light outside the hotel's transparent glass doors and spoke slowly.

"Go out and explore the world?"

"No, I won't go this time."

Asagiri shook her head, staring thoughtfully at the darkness outside.

"The rules for this instance are to survive for twelve hours, but there is no restriction on not leaving the hotel area. It is possible that the system thinks that people who can escape the hotel are also capable of surviving for twelve hours, so there is no need to add it. But I think the more likely reason is that the outside world is too dangerous. If players leave this hotel, they will definitely die."

"Yes, I trust your judgment."

Yuuki Asuna nodded first, then looked at Iwanaga Kotoko, hesitated for a moment, and then asked.

"Necro, regarding the team formation, I need to confirm your thoughts..."

"I understand what you mean, no further explanation needed."

Kotoko Iwanaga interrupted with a smile, "You want to confirm whether I only want to be your teammate during the instance, or whether I'm the kind of teammate you can truly trust, someone you can work with in the real world, discuss battle plans and future directions together, right? I choose the second one. Let's exchange email addresses. Although there's no cell phone signal right now, you can contact me by email after we return to the real world."

Upon hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's reply, Asuna Yuuki breathed a sigh of relief and returned the smile.

"Okay, then let's contact each other again after we get back to the real world."

Compared to teammates who only work together to clear dungeons, Asuna Yuuki felt it was better to be like her and Asagiri, where, even if they didn't see each other every day, they should at least be able to meet in the real world and advance and retreat together. That was true trust.

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

As a thick red mist appeared before Asagiri's eyes, he and Asuna Yuuki returned to the real world. He was at his home in Shibuya, Tokyo, and the app with the eye icon on his phone showed a message indicating that he had cleared the game.

[Congratulations to "player" Utsunomiya Asagiri, you have cleared this dungeon!]

[Your special bonus actions in this instance are: uncovering the truth behind the instance's strange events, leading the operation to eliminate the source of the strangeness, successfully eliminating the source of the strangeness, and successfully subduing the most powerful strange being in this instance—Alice.]

[This dungeon clear rating is: S+]

[Congratulations on obtaining the completion rewards: "Cursed Vampire Rope Dart" equipment, "Ever-Changing Mask" special class diplomat exclusive equipment, "Transposition" skill, and "Inverted Pocket Watch" item.]

[Due to your exceptionally active performance in this instance, your player level has been upgraded from "Official" to "Advanced," unlocking more app permissions.]

047 Red Epic Items

Asagiri swiped her finger across the screen and began reading the details of the rewards for clearing the level.

【Cursed Vampire Rope Dart (Quality Purple: Excellent): A five-meter-long, sharp rope dart connected by metal chains. The material used to make it is unknown, but it seems to be tainted by a cursed power. It possesses the special property of being able to harm spirits. When this weapon damages an enemy, if the enemy is a physical being, it restores health based on the damage dealt; if the enemy is a spirit, it restores spirit based on the damage dealt.】

【The Ever-Changing Mask (Quality Gray: Unidentifiable): Exclusive equipment for special profession diplomats. When worn, the pattern will change according to your choice, and the corresponding diplomatic rhetoric will be enhanced, such as the effects of threats, inducements, and persuasion.】

【Casting (Skill): With the consent of another player, you can bind yourself to that player (unlimited number of bindings), and activate the skill by consuming a certain amount of mental energy to instantly swap positions with the bound player.】

[Skill Restrictions: Maximum effective range is 15 meters. The bound player must be within your line of sight when activating the skill.]

[Reversible Pocket Watch (One-time use item, Red Epic quality): A pocket watch imbued with special power. When the button on top of the pocket watch is pressed, time will rewind one minute.]

[Note: After using this item, time will rewind to one minute prior. All players will retain their memories from before the rewind, dead players will be resurrected, and all injuries sustained within this minute will disappear. However, mental and physical strength will not be restored. If the holder dies, the time rewind will automatically begin.]

Yuuki Asuna, standing to the side, was already shocked when she saw the descriptions of the two pieces of equipment Asagiri had obtained. She was speechless when she saw the "Castle Throwing" skill effect, and when she saw the "Reversed Pocket Watch"...

Am I hallucinating?

Asuna Yuuki raised her hand and rubbed her eyes vigorously. Although her eyes felt a little sore due to lack of sleep, she was certain that she was conscious and her vision was fine.

"A one-minute time rewind? Automatically activated upon the holder's death? And... it can even revive dead players!?"

Asuna Yuuki looked incredulous. It wasn't that she was making a fuss; the effect of this item was just too outrageous!

what is this?

This is a true resurrection, a chance to turn back time to one minute earlier and start over!

and...

"Red Epic quality?"

Asuna Yuuki had searched online and knew that the quality classification of many games was based on colors. Judging from the equipment and items she had seen so far, from low to high, it should be white (common), blue (excellent), purple (superior)... and then next, it should be orange (legendary).

Why did it jump straight to the Red Epic?!

No, this isn't just about reviving yourself; it can also revive teammates who have died by reversing time. Shouldn't this be an item that appears at this stage?

Isn't this ridiculously overpowered?

"Okay."

Asagiri's comment was alright, but it almost made Asuna Yuuki lose her composure.

You call this "okay"?

What was your reward?

"Mine..."

Initially, Yuuki Asuna was overjoyed and excited when she saw the rewards she had received, but after seeing Asagiri's rewards, she wilted like a frostbitten eggplant and listlessly handed her phone to the other person.

"See for yourself."

Asagiri took the phone and checked the contents. She found that Yuuki Asuna's completion rating and the app's comments were largely similar to her own, except for the absence of the phrase "captured the Persona," with only minor differences in wording.

He was the one who "led" the operation to eliminate the source of the strangeness, while Asuna Yuuki was the one who "participated" in the operation.

Asuna Yuuki's reward this time was unlocking her exclusive talent and a new skill.

[Exclusive Talent: Flash]

[Talent Effect: For each enemy killed, you will gain increased Agility, Speed, and Reflexes based on the enemy's strength rating.]

[Gain the skill "Thorns"]

【Piercing Light: Consumes a large amount of mental and physical energy to unleash a flashing white light with the sword in hand. The power is proportional to the player's speed, and the maximum effective range is ten meters.】

"Unique talents and skills...?"

Upon seeing the rewards that Asuna Yuuki received for clearing the game, Asagiri confirmed two things.

"Although we both achieved an S+ rating for clearing the dungeon, the rewards we received were clearly not on the same level. It seems that achieving the same level of clear rating does not guarantee the same level of reward. It still depends on the player's individual performance in the dungeon. Moreover... the system's rewards are not randomly distributed."

Asagiri looked at Yuuki Asuna and spoke softly.

"When I was fighting that floating corpse evil spirit, did you ever think that if you had ranged attacks, you wouldn't have been forced to stand there and watch because you were afraid of the corrosive slime splattering from its body?"

Asuna Yuuki wasn't stupid; she immediately understood what Asagiri meant.

"You mean... because I felt I desperately needed a means of ranged attack, that's why I acquired an attack skill that can be used without melee combat?"

"That's it."

Asagiri nodded slightly, then smiled and continued.

"As for me, who possesses the talent of Persona, I don't really need attack methods such as skills at this stage. So the rewards the system gave me are the Cursed Vampire Rope Dart, which can also be used from a distance and can replenish my physical and mental energy; mask-type equipment that can enhance the effectiveness of diplomat negotiations; the skill Castling, which has great potential for development and enriches our team's tactical options; and the Reversed Pocket Watch, which serves as a last resort to prevent unexpected dangerous situations and allows us to start over at any time."

"Of course, it's not just these obvious rewards, there's also this."

At this point, Asagiri swiped her phone and opened the section in the app with the eye icon that represented the player's level.

Asuna Yuuki leaned closer to look, and when she saw the new privileges that Asagiri had unlocked after becoming a high-level player, she was stunned.

[Advanced Player Privilege 1: Each time you actively sign up for a dungeon, you will receive multiple hints representing the dungeon's theme. You can choose one of these hints to enter the corresponding dungeon (you can bring friends along)]

[Privilege 2: Each time you clear a dungeon and achieve an S+ rating, you can limit the range of rewards according to your own wishes. For example, you can decide the number of rewards (the fewer the number, the higher the value; the more the number, the lower the average value), and you can limit the type of rewards you draw (items, skills, weapons, armor, accessories)] 1

048 Two people taking a bath

"Is this what they call advanced player privileges? It's actually quite useful."

When Asuna Yuuki saw the app's explanation, she immediately understood how much the two privileges Asagiri unlocked after becoming a high-level player would help the team.

The first privilege is that you will receive keyword hints for the dungeon when you enter the queue, and you can choose the most suitable dungeon from several keyword hints.

Based on the current team composition, although Asuna Yuuki has acquired the skill "Thorns" and possesses an exorcist's longsword capable of destroying spirits, overall, she still leans towards a melee physical damage dealer.

As for Kotoko Iwanaga, although it is still unknown what specific rewards she received after clearing this dungeon, given her unique talent and the limitation that she can only master "strange" type skills, she is definitely best suited to deal with strange dungeons.

As for Asagiri, who is the captain...

To be honest, it was difficult for Yuuki Asuna to determine what type of player the other party was.

The existence of the human asura provides him with powerful close combat capabilities. The new persona he obtained in this dungeon, Alice, is a large-area AOE group attack spell. His class is a support type that cannot directly provide combat power, but combined with Asagiri's unique action style, he can always provide some unexpected benefits at critical moments. He is a special class: diplomat.

There are also amazing skills like "castling," which require cooperation with other players. If the user has a clear understanding of the battle situation, they can turn the tide of battle in an instant.

I'd say I'm... an all-rounder?

In short, with Asagiri possessing the first privilege, he can choose the most suitable dungeon with the highest success rate from the key prompts provided by the system, based on the composition of the team members.

However, the real focus is on another privilege.

What does it mean to be able to decide the amount and type of rewards yourself?

This means that Asagiri can adjust the rewards he receives after clearing a stage based on his own needs, or even the needs of the entire team. For example, since Kotoko Iwanaga, Asuna Yuuki, and himself have not yet obtained armor equipment, the next stage reward can use his privileges to distribute armor equipment through the system.

"Utsunomiya-kun, you..."

Asuna Yuuki turned her head, about to say something, when she noticed that Asagiri's complexion was not very good, and she seemed very tired.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell, or were you injured in the battle just now?"

Faced with Asuna Yuuki's concerned inquiry, Asagiri simply waved her hand and replied with a smile.

"It's nothing, just that my mental and physical strength were overexerted. With my current physical condition, I can summon twice in a row if my Persona is destroyed and I can still move. If I go all out, my limit is three times in a row."

"You were just putting on a brave face after all..."

Asuna Yuuki quickly poured a glass of water and offered it to Asagiri's lips. Her brows furrowed slightly, and her tone was somewhat displeased, but more than that, it was filled with worry.

"Why are you so concerned about saving face? If you're not feeling well, you can just tell me, right?"

"I don't drink water."

Asagiri gently pushed away the water glass that Yuuki Asuna handed her, and said righteously and sternly.

"There's a can of frozen Coca-Cola in the refrigerator. Get it for me."

"Oh... okay."

After Asuna Yuuki handed over the iced Coca-Cola, Asagiri took a sip, and her spirits seemed to lift somewhat.

"It has to be ice-cold Coca-Cola."

As soon as he finished speaking, Asagiri suddenly moved closer to Yuuki Asuna, staring intently into her eyes. Yuuki Asuna was startled by his sudden action and instinctively backed away, blushing slightly.

"What...what are you doing? Have you lost your bestial instincts?"

"You know what, Yuuki-kun?"

Asagiri began to speak slowly and earnestly.

"According to scientific research, after experiencing extremely dangerous situations, people will have a strong desire to reproduce. This is an instinct engraved in DNA to ensure the continuation of their genes and race."

Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki's cheeks flushed even redder, and she stammered.