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

Without needing Kotoko Iwanaga to activate her skill or Asuna Yuuki to provide support, in less than two seconds, Asagiri single-handedly killed... no, she instantly killed it.

"What a formidable opponent. I may never forget you for the rest of my life..."

Asagiri looked at the corpse of the special infected person and spoke slowly with a solemn expression.

"Exhibitionist in lingerie".

Asuna Yuuki: "...Hey, can we stop giving each enemy a weird nickname in such a serious manner after we kill them? Are you doing some kind of weird encyclopedia collection?"

"Collecting the Pokédex?"

As if a switch had been flipped, Asagiri carefully examined Kato Megumi, Yuuki Asuna, and Iwanaga Kotoko before speaking with a smile.

"If that's the case, then you are my three starter families!"

After saying this, Asagiri used one hand to pull the metal chain, dragging the body of the special infected person in front of her. Then she squatted down, pulled out the rope dart stuck between the person's eyebrows, and then her smile faded, and she said in a calm tone.

"Besides the claws on its hands, the bones inside its skull also seem to have been specially reinforced. I originally thought that with my strength, plus a purple-quality weapon, I should be able to pierce through its entire head. Alas, my strength is still not enough."

Listening to Asagiri's lament, Asuna Yuuki didn't know how to respond. After all, although she was a swordsman specializing in combat, it was clear from her unique talents and skills that she was primarily known for her speed and agility.

The force with which the opponent could shatter the head of a special infected person by throwing a rope dart with one hand from several meters away was, in her view, terrifying beyond human comprehension.

"Given the current average strength of players, it's almost impossible to get past this special infected and into the basement of this building unless we take a different route and climb down the elevator shaft to avoid it."

Upon hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's words, Megumi Kato seemed to be deep in thought.

"Does that mean... because entering the underground level is too difficult, to the point that it's almost impossible for ordinary players to complete, then according to the rules of this game, the antibody reagents are unlikely to be stored here?"

"Well, the game's dungeons won't be designed with challenges that are impossible for players to complete at their current level, but if you think about it from another perspective..."

Kotoko Iwanaga observed both sides of the corridor, seemingly sensing whether there was any evil spirit's presence, then adjusted her beret and spoke with a smile.

"Besides the simple conditions for clearing the game, there are also hidden bonus levels in the game's dungeons, which are designed specifically for players like us whose strength far exceeds that of ordinary players and who can easily complete the clearing objectives. The basement of the building where this morgue is located is very much like a bonus level."

Upon hearing this, Asagiri immediately became eager to try.

"A reward? Then I have no choice but to go for it."

Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki earnestly offered her advice.

"Are you really just here to play the game? Since this is a hidden level that could potentially yield special rewards that are valuable to us, there will also be some dangers that don't match the difficulty of the dungeon. Although we'll definitely have to explore it, let's be vigilant and act cautiously."

……

Five minutes later, the four arrived at a dimly lit morgue filled with a gloomy and cold atmosphere that made them feel a little uneasy.

Asuna Yuuki stood at the doorway, looking at the huge metal storage cabinets on both sides of the room, her voice trembling slightly as she forced herself to speak.

"Well... well, you guys search... I'll keep watch at the entrance..."

"So timid, but cute~"

Kotoko Iwanaga covered her mouth and chuckled lightly, then walked confidently to the metal cabinet. She didn't open it immediately, but instead observed it while calling out softly.

"Leader, take a look at this."

As I walked over, I saw that most of the morgue cabinets had something that looked like sticky notes pasted on their outer sides.

Special Infected: The Witch

Characteristics: Most are women kneeling in place, constantly weeping. A small number of special species will wander around a certain area. They are abnormally sensitive to light and sound, and once provoked, they will go into a frenzy, indiscriminately attacking any moving creature in their vicinity.

Strengths: Higher defense than ordinary infected individuals; the mutated hands are extremely strong, even bullets cannot penetrate them; once a target is locked, a relentless pursuit will ensue.

Weaknesses: Strength and speed; and unlike other special infected individuals, they completely lack any cognitive abilities.

72

Chapter 72 triggers a hidden level.

"This is... data on special infected individuals?"

Kato Megumi murmured as she looked at what was written on the label.

"Based on the description, the special infected we just encountered was the Witch."

Not only this note containing information about the witch, but several other notes were also pasted on the outside of the other morgue cabinets.

Special Infected Individuals: Vomiters

Characteristics: Obese, slow-moving, with an exaggeratedly large abdomen, cysts on the body, and able to vomit thick, yellowish-green bile.

Strengths: The vomiter's vomit has a strong odor and attracts a large number of ordinary infected individuals. Once contaminated by its bile, they will face a horde of zombies. If attacked in the abdomen, it will explode, spraying out a large amount of bile within a radius of about ten meters.

Weaknesses: Extremely low defense, extremely slow movement, and combat strength even lower than that of ordinary infected individuals.

……

Special Infected: Hunter

Characteristics: Relatively short stature, crawls on all fours, and typically does not walk on the ground; its main mode of locomotion is climbing and jumping between buildings.

Strengths: Extremely high speed and agility, and a certain degree of analytical ability; they will choose to launch a surprise attack when a human is alone.

Weaknesses: Although the limbs have been enhanced by mutation, the body and head defenses are no different from those of ordinary infected individuals, and the ability to perform continuous flying pounces is impossible.

"We've already encountered all three of these special types of infected individuals."

Kotoko Iwanaga carefully examined the records on the outside of the morgue and said softly.

"And there are Smokers, Jockeys, Rammers, Acid Spitters, Tanks—a total of eight types of special infected... They eliminated all the ordinary infected, but preserved the special infected, implanted locators in them, and even have such detailed records. What exactly is the person controlling all this trying to do...?"

Asagiri pulled open the compartment of the morgue, replying nonchalantly.

"Either they want to create biological weapons, or they want to achieve the evolution of human physical functions. These are all old tricks that are often seen in various zombie apocalypse themes."

Standing at the door, ostensibly to keep watch, but actually out of fear that there might be some kind of ghost or spirit inside the morgue, Yuuki Asuna said thoughtfully.

"To turn the entire population of a city into infected individuals, and to be able to select them at will—what kind of world is this? And what kind of organization is this...?"

"Let's talk about expanding our worldview later."

Asagiri chuckled and replied, then looked at Iwanaga Kotoko and asked.

"Do you sense anything strange?"

Kotoko Iwanaga reached out and pointed to a compartment in the morgue on the other side.

"There."

"it is good."

Without hesitation, Asagiri walked over and pulled open the compartment of the morgue. On the cold metal bed, there was a shivering shadow of a man in a white coat, curled up.

"You...you don't come any closer!"

Upon discovering that his hiding place had been discovered, the deceased man immediately tried to retreat back into the morgue, but Chaowu reached out, grabbed him by the back of the neck, forcibly dragged him out, and threw him to the ground.

"Hurry up and confess honestly."

Asagiri seemed somewhat impatient, and the gray mask reappeared on her face. On the mask was a dark red pattern, resembling a demon, that inspired fear in those who looked at it.

"Where are the antibody reagents?"

"Quack... It's... It's on the top floor of the No. 2 inpatient building..."

Hearing the ghostly man utter inexplicable sounds of fear from Asagiri, Kotoko Iwanaga couldn't help but smile slightly.

Sure enough, it had to be a diplomat.

Kotoko Iwanaga, who possesses a unique talent, also has a certain ability to communicate with spirit beings. However, since this is not the world where everyone lives, the spirits here will not respect or worship her as some kind of princess.

Moreover, as the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. Compared to negotiation, Kotoko Iwanaga is better at finding strange clues and deducing the whole truth of the incident from the information she gathers.

It's best to leave negotiation to the professionals.

"What exactly happened in this city? Can't those who know better just tell me themselves? Do I have to ask them one by one? Huh?"

The ghostly man trembled, as if he were in extreme fear, and spoke in a shaky voice.

"Um...please don't be angry, I, I'll explain right away!"

Seeing this, Asuna Yuuki, who was initially afraid of ghosts, was on the verge of losing her composure.

It has to be morning mist.

While the professional characteristics of a diplomat are to enhance the effectiveness of all types of diplomatic means, judging from Asagiri's personality, the means he is most skilled at and most fond of using are clearly intimidation and threats.

Given his aura that terrifies spirits, and the enhanced diplomatic effect of his "unpredictable mask," it's not surprising that this ghostly man reacted this way.

but……

In the last hotel instance, when Asagiri tricked the little girl-like, eerie being named Alice into becoming his Persona, his coaxing and deception tactics seemed quite skillful.

Is it possible that... this guy actually has very high emotional intelligence and can switch to the most effective negotiation method depending on the personality of the person he's dealing with?

No wonder he's a diplomat.

“Um… my name is Robin Diaz, I’m thirty-three years old, and I work as a doctor at this hospital…”

"Speak the key."

Asagiri interrupted her directly, saying, "You're even introducing yourself? Do you think I'm here on a blind date with you?"

"Yes, yes, I'll get to the point right away."

The white-coated ghost trembled and quickly quickened his pace.

"About a month and a half ago, a plague suddenly broke out in this city with a mortality rate of nearly 100%. On the day it happened, we began developing antibodies against the virus, but less than twelve hours after the outbreak, the dead turned into monsters that would pounce on any moving creature they saw..."

Hearing this, Kato Megumi couldn't help but ask curiously.

"What about the military? In such a serious situation, shouldn't the military be there to control it?"

"The army...did indeed arrive, on the twentieth day after the disaster broke out..."

As the ghostly man spoke, a complex expression appeared on his face, and he murmured to himself.

"But... they didn't just come to eliminate those monsters. They brought all the survivors in the city to this hospital and injected them with some kind of virus. Most of them turned into those monsters within twelve hours, and the small number who survived the twelve hours... were all taken away by them."

"And what about you? Since you've become a wandering ghost, it means you must have died a natural death."

"Eh?"

Upon hearing Asagiri's words, the ghostly man suddenly froze.

"What are you talking about? A ghost... Am I dead?"

"What do you think?"

Asagiri pointed to the other man's heart. The ghostly man looked down in the direction of his finger and discovered a fist-sized, bloody hole in his left chest.

"Holy crap, I'm really dead!?"

Kotoko Iwanaga spoke up with a smile, like a narrator.

"Although you became a ghost due to your strong obsession in life, you forgot that you are dead. Many ghosts are like you, which is normal."

"A strong obsession..."

Upon hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's words, the man in the white coat seemed to recall something, and his face suddenly became ferocious and distorted. Two lines of bright red tears flowed from his eyes, leaving two dark red marks on his originally clean and tidy white coat.

“My daughter… my young daughter, those guys injected her with that stuff too, yes… I tried to stop them… and then there was a gunshot, and I remembered everything…”

Seeing the man in the white coat's face become terrifyingly distorted, like a demon, and even the white coat he was wearing turned a blood-red color, Kotoko Iwanaga's expression remained as calm as ever, only saying something noncommittal.

"Hmm... Recalling his greatest resentment in his previous life, so he turned into an evil spirit... It seems he has completely lost his mind."

Kotoko Iwanaga sighed softly and looked at Asagiri.

"It seems that we can no longer negotiate. The only thing we can do now is to send it on its way."

"Well, that's all."

Asagiri casually tossed the rope dart in her hand, accurately hitting the white-coated ghostly man, whose face had become a twisted evil spirit, between the eyebrows. With the added curse attribute, the rope dart also had the effect of completely destroying the spirit.

"my daughter……"

Before the evil spirit completely vanished, its voice still carried endless resentment and obsession, which made Kato Megumi and Yuuki Asuna, who witnessed the whole process, look at each other with complicated expressions.

"To do something so cruel as to inject their daughter with the zombie virus in front of her father... what kind of people are those so-called soldiers...?"

Just as Kato Megumi finished speaking, Yuuki Asuna, who was closest to the door, suddenly frowned and lowered her voice.

"Wait a minute, listen... there seems to be a sound outside..."