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

There's a saying that goes, "There are only two kinds of places in Japan: Tokyo and the countryside."

Meanwhile, Kotoko Iwanaga, the green light pilot who was walking down the street with Asagiri and had just eaten two servings of eel rice and drunk a bowl of miso soup, was in the midst of an internal struggle.

Although she usually tells dirty jokes and occasionally comes up with surprising remarks that leave Asuna Yuuki and Megumi Kato speechless, she felt inexplicably nervous when it came to actually spending the night with Asagiri.

Of course, Kotoko Iwanaga wasn't nervous about the matter itself. She was filled with anticipation and longing for the possibility of spending the night with Asagiri in a hotel suite after finishing her business. The thought of a man and a woman alone under one roof, and perhaps even some intimate contact, filled her with excitement and desire.

She was nervous because...

Should we call Asuna Yuuki first and let her know?

If I had to say something, how should I put it?

"Hey, Asuna, I'm sleeping with Asagiri tonight, and we might do some fun things to make me experience the pain of losing my virginity, so I came to tell you."

Regardless of the original intention, this sounds like a complete provocation and demonstration!

"Hey..."

Thinking of this, Kotoko Iwanaga couldn't help but raise her hand and poke Asagiri's arm. As for why she didn't poke her shoulder... it's because the height difference is a bit too big. If she wanted to poke Asagiri's shoulder, she would have to raise her hand high, which wouldn't fit the image of an elegant young lady in a Western-style dress.

"Um... Asuna knows what you want..."

"Of course I know."

Asagiri shrugged and replied casually.

"You forgot? When you asked me to come to Kanagawa this afternoon, Asuna said that she had to train with Kato and couldn't come along. That's what you call 'those who know, know,' everything is understood without saying a word."

"real or fake?"

Kotoko Iwanaga's expression was somewhat complicated, and she seemed to be doubting him.

"Given Asuna's personality, how could she..."

"Because what we've experienced was inherently abnormal."

Asagiri looked at the groups of pedestrians on the street and said calmly.

"Those of us who were chosen to become players are in a completely different world from the people in front of us. We repeatedly clear dangerous dungeons that are unimaginable to ordinary people, thereby gaining powerful abilities far beyond the comprehension of ordinary people."

“The four of us are teammates. I’ve said this many times before: when you form a team in this kind of game, the members must trust each other completely. Any so-called battleground or factional strife will only lead to the team falling apart.”

"Ultimately, our relationship at this stage has transcended the boundaries of friendship and romance. It's not just between me and Asuna, or between you and me, but also between you and Asuna, isn't it? After entrusting each other's backs so many times, is this relationship, which we can completely trust, really going to end because of this?"

At this point, Asagiri shook her head and said, word by word.

No, absolutely not.

After hearing Asagiri's words, Iwanaga Kotoko was stunned. It took her a while to react before she couldn't help but sigh.

"No wonder...no wonder you were chosen as a diplomat, you're really amazing..."

Is Asagiri's statement unreasonable?

No, no, quite the opposite. What he said made perfect sense. Kotoko Iwanaga had a strange feeling as if it wasn't Asagiri who had said those words, but rather her own heart.

The experiences and future challenges faced by the four members of the team are things that are hard for ordinary people to imagine.

If that's the case, why bother following the world's norms? Why not just do whatever makes you happy?

As long as the four of them can stay together forever, that's enough...

"No, wait a minute."

Thinking of this, Kotoko Iwanaga suddenly realized something was wrong. She looked at Asagiri, who was smiling, and frowned slightly.

"How did it become four people? Did you include Hui too?"

"Wow, what are you saying?"

Asagiri looked on incredulously, as if Iwanaga Kotoko's words were utterly treasonous, and said righteously.

“We’re all teammates, how could you exclude Kato? This is a warning. If you make this mistake again, I’ll send you to the world of heavy women to form a band.”

Kotoko Iwanaga seemed slightly speechless, and muttered under her breath with a pursed lip.

"You were the one who included Hui without permission, and now you're criticizing me? Tch..."

A few minutes later, Kotoko Iwanaga and Asagiri stopped in front of an apartment building.

"This is the apartment where that guy lives. He lives on the eighth floor, room number 802. I've already had the monsters check it out from a distance. He just got off work and is probably making preparations to kill his sixth victim."

"Then it's my turn to step in."

"Yes, appearing before the victim as a 'player'."

Kotoko Iwanaga spoke slowly, a sweet smile on her lovely face.

"After all, as we enter dungeons more and more often, the number of players who have seen us will also increase. This is unavoidable, since we can't kill every player we encounter in a dungeon. But what we can do is to set up misleading information in the real world."

"It just so happens that we're going to eliminate the evil spirit this time, and we also have that kidnapped victim as a witness. If someone tries to find us in the real world dressed like we were as 'players,' they'll mistakenly think that our area of ​​activity is Kawasaki City."

"Through this commission, we will gain the sincere gratitude and trust of the mountain god and the monsters in this city. They can then act as our eyes and ears. Players who have entered the instance will have the ability to 'observe' strange things. As long as such people appear in this city, they will immediately report to me."

"In this way, if we make enemies in the instance and fail to eliminate them immediately, we can use this misleading trap to lure them into Kawasaki City, thereby discovering their true identities and gaining the advantage of having the enemy in the open while we are in the dark."

"However, my attire is too conspicuous. Putting aside my clothing style, the main problem is this cane that I always carry with me. So I'd better try not to appear in front of anyone as a 'player'."

Asagiri nodded and praised her with a smile.

"Hmm, your plan is excellent."

After receiving praise from Asagiri, Kotoko Iwanaga's smile became even more pronounced. She leaned over, rested her head on Asagiri's chest, and stood on tiptoe.

"Then, as the leader, you should reward me!"

"walk slowly."

The next second, Asagiri lifted Iwanaga Kotoko up high before gently putting her back on the ground.

"OK, reward complete."

Kotoko Iwanaga was both ashamed and angry, and said in a fit of exasperation.

"What I want isn't the kind of reward a father gives to his daughter, but the kind a boyfriend gives to his girlfriend!"

"Too short, I can't kiss him."

"I don't care, just pick me up and kiss me!"

Seeing Kotoko Iwanaga's adorable, cat-like panting expression, Asagiri couldn't help but smile, bent down slightly, and gently kissed Kotoko Iwanaga's lips.

"Well……"

After a kiss that lasted for more than ten seconds, Kotoko Iwanaga's fair face flushed red, and she immediately transformed from her previous hissing cat appearance into the adorable look of a well-behaved kitten.

"Hmph... Your kissing skills are so proficient, just how many times have you kissed Asuna...?"

"No white learning allowed."

Asagiri interrupted Kotoko Iwanaga's spellcasting directly, not giving her a chance to finish that classic line from the Korean drama. She took out her phone, opened the email address registered with her new SIM card, pressed the send button, and whispered.

"Then, let's begin."

……

Meanwhile, in apartment 802.

"Woooooooo..."

"Shh, don't make any noise."

A man in a suit, looking extremely tired, slowly took off his suit jacket, folded it neatly, and placed it on the dining table in the living room. Only then did he look at the woman in the corner, whose limbs were tightly bound with rope and tape, and whose mouth was stuffed with a dirty rag. Tears welled up in her eyes because of the pain of her dislocated jaw and the despair of knowing she was facing death.

"However, you won't be able to keep making noise for long, as you will become part of something greater..."

As Hosokawa Teru spoke, he rolled up the cuffs of his white shirt, picked up a cleaver that was stained with blood, hadn't been washed in a long time, and was emitting a strong, fishy stench, and slowly walked toward the woman in the corner.

Just then, his phone suddenly beeped with a notification sound.

"Another work email... It's already past closing time, can't people even enjoy their rest time...?"

While complaining, Hosokawa Teru took out his phone, opened his email, and found that the name of the newly received email was obviously a string of randomly typed gibberish. As for the content, it asked him if he had any travel plans in the near future.

"Spam, it's so damn annoying..."

Just as Hosokawa Teru was about to delete the email, his phone screen suddenly flashed twice, and then a picture of a girl who, although very cute, had a slightly eerie smile on her face appeared.

"Got you."

16

Chapter 16 Iwanaga Kotoko’s sincerity.

The next second, before Hosokawa Teru could react, a slender, fair hand suddenly emerged from his phone screen, holding a sharp dagger. With a practiced, chicken-killing motion, the dagger slit his throat.

"boom……"

"Cough cough cough..."

Hosokawa Teru's phone fell to the ground, and he took two steps back, covering the cut on his throat with one hand, as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't utter a single word. Blood foam spurted from his mouth, and bright red blood kept seeping from between his fingers.

Amidst the horrified gaze of the woman in the corner, a very cute-looking girl wearing a red sweater, blue skirt, and red striped stockings slowly crawled out from the phone screen.

"Funny, so very fun!"

Crazy Mita looked at Hosokawa Teru, who was clutching his neck with one hand but unable to stop the loss of life, lying in a pool of blood, his body like a fish struggling in a red shallows. The smile on his face became even brighter, revealing two cute tiger teeth.

"You're not dead yet, are you? Don't be so fragile~"

Crazy Mita took out the handheld chainsaw from her inventory, pressed a button, and the rapidly spinning chain blade began to slowly approach Hosokawa Teru's face.

……

Half a minute later, the apartment door was kicked open.

"boom!"

The sudden loud noise brought the woman, who was on the verge of fainting from the sight of blood and gore, back to her senses.

She looked up hopefully, but what appeared in her field of vision was not a member of the Metropolitan Police Department, but a tall, mysterious man wearing a long black trench coat, a dark gray mask, black gloves, and a chain wrapped around his right forearm.

Asagiri glanced at the blood and gore scattered all over the ground, then saw Hosokawa Teru's head, which had been placed neatly on the living room table.

"solved?"

Upon hearing his question, Mita, whose face was stained with blood and who held a blood-stained chainsaw like a psychopathic killer, nodded with a gleeful smile.

"Yes, it's all resolved. His phone has been checked; he's just an ordinary person."

"Okay, you go back first."

"OK~"

Crazy Mita raised her hand and made a "V" sign, then her figure slowly disappeared.

Without even glancing at the woman in the corner of the living room, Asagiri walked straight to the door of the master bedroom in the apartment, gently turned the handle, and opened the door in front of her.

"Buzzing..."

The moment the door opened, Asagiri heard a noisy buzzing of flies, and the scene that came into view was utterly disgusting.

There was no bed in the bedroom. In the empty room, there was only a metal cross embedded in the wall. On the cross was a headless corpse with only a dark red, rotting neck. The limbs and torso clearly did not belong to the same person, but they had been forcibly sewn together with needle and thread. The corpse emitted a pungent, putrid odor.

However, in the misty morning light, one can see sights that are invisible to ordinary people.

A headless evil spirit, resembling the corpse but with a more rotten surface and even white maggots wriggling around it, stood near the metal cross.

Hearing the door open, the evil spirit slowly turned around. At the severed neck and the seams where the limbs and torso were stitched together, a mouth appeared. Although the voices were both male and female, they cried out in the same distorted tone.

"It hurts so much, it hurts so much..."

"Human Asura".

Hearing the cries of the dead, Asagiri's eyes remained unmoved. She immediately switched her Persona to Human Asura and summoned him.

The headless evil spirit, which already looked terrifying, was completely overwhelmed by the appearance of the Shura, who was over two meters tall. Due to the obvious difference in size, the spirit's aura was suppressed, and even its mournful cries stopped.

"boom!!!"

Like Asagiri, the Human Asura had no intention of wasting words with this evil spirit. Of course, the Human Asura was not good at speaking anyway.

Its sole purpose in being summoned is to utterly tear apart this twisted evil spirit born from resentment and the distortion of the human Hosokawa Teru.

"Woooooooo..."