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

"Her crazy and twisted personality is because she lives in such a world, but her thinking is completely different from those Mita. Those Mita don't care how this world came about. Since it came about, it is the real world."

"As for Crazy Metta, she can't accept that she's just a failure in the game world. Didn't she say before that she wanted to kill us and become a player in this death game?"

"Although she is no longer a player, she has gained the ability to leave the Mita world in another way. Moreover, she often encounters exciting and interesting battles with me. She has obtained what she craved, and her personality has naturally changed."

Upon hearing Asagiri's words, Kotoko Iwanaga's lips curled up, and she rested her fair cheek on her hand, staring at him with great interest.

"I never expected that you would actually put yourself in Crazy Mita's shoes and think about why she became like this. It seems that although you usually appear very tough and ruthless, you do have a kind and gentle side after all."

"Kindness and gentleness? Don't make me laugh."

Asagiri shook her head, speaking calmly.

"It's only because she's lucky enough to be my persona that I can make sure she won't betray me or hurt those Mitas anymore. Otherwise, I don't care what caused her to become twisted and insane; I would just give her a good beating with a Human Asura Iron Fist."

"Um……"

Kotoko Iwanaga looked thoughtful and muttered to herself.

"In other words, given the premise of an enemy, although you can understand their feelings, you feel no pity or compassion, nor do you hesitate to act because of it...?"

At this point, Kotoko Iwanaga stood up, ran to Asagiri, and threw herself into his arms again, smiling.

"I feel so happy to have learned more about you."

……

Next, Asagiri summoned the Mitas from the world one by one, letting them taste the exquisite pastries of this world.

When Hat Mita came out, she first kissed Asagiri, and then showed off her hat.

When the kind-hearted Mita came out, she was rather reserved. She only ate one piece of pastry and then kissed Asagiri.

Cute Mita finished the cake with great joy, then let Asagiri pat her head and indulged in some sweet talk.

When the short-haired Mita appeared, she said she didn't really like sweets, but she tried the sandwiches in this world and then kissed Asagiri.

When Mira came out, she first showed off her katana skills to Asagiri, demonstrating her recent progress, and then kissed Asagiri.

Although Core Mita's exclusive ability has not yet been unlocked, Asagiri still summoned her. Then, because they couldn't communicate in language, Core Mita used a lot of gestures to finally make Asagiri and Kotoko Iwanaga understand what she meant.

"I'm a robot, I can't eat that."

The same applies to the puppet monster Mita, and the funniest reactions are those of Sleepy Mita and Miniature Mita.

Facing a cake much taller than herself, the tiny Mita was so happy, as if she had fallen into a world of desserts, that she began to show off wildly. Finally, with all her might, she managed to eat a small corner of the chocolate cake.

And sleepy Mita...

Unable to wake her, really unable to wake her, Asagiri could only symbolically smear some cream on her lips and let her go back to sleep.

19

Chapter 19: New Persona Vacancy.

Later that evening, in a forest on the outskirts of Kawasaki.

"Thank you, thank you! Thank you so much, Your Highness!"

Seeing the "mountain god" before her, and the hundreds of monsters around her kneeling down and thanking Iwanaga Kotoko repeatedly, Asagiri, standing next to Iwanaga Kotoko, couldn't help but complain.

"Is this the mountain god?"

Kotoko Iwanaga smiled and nodded: "Yes."

"Your Highness's boyfriend, I am the Mountain God..."

Upon seeing the towering mountain god, nearly three meters tall and dressed in loose white robes, Asagiri carefully examined him before slowly speaking.

"You... are a rat spirit?"

It's no wonder Asagiri couldn't help but complain; the appearance of this mountain god is indeed somewhat comical.

Although it is dressed in white and looks very majestic, its appearance is actually that of a fat gray rat, with its long tail sticking out from the hem of the garment and wagging incessantly.

The long beard on his face added a touch of comical charm, ultimately serving as the finishing touch.

"You've put on such thick blush, does that mean you're still a female mouse?"

Upon hearing this, the rat mountain god's small eyes revealed deep reverence, and he prostrated himself on the ground once more.

"As expected of the princess's boyfriend, he saw right through me!"

Asagiri: "...It would be strange if they couldn't see through it, wouldn't it?"

Noticing Asagiri's confusion, Kotoko Iwanaga moved closer to him, stood on tiptoe, and whispered.

"Most monsters are not very intelligent. Even this mountain god's mind is only equivalent to that of a four or five-year-old child. Because of this, they are not able to resolve their own disputes, so they asked me to become their god of wisdom. However, there are also advantages. Most monsters are very kind-hearted and extremely loyal. They would never betray me, their princess."

After saying this, Kotoko Iwanaga looked at the mountain god and yokai kneeling on the ground, raised her cane, pointed to Asagiri beside her, and said with a smile.

"From now on, you must treat him the same way you treat me. He is also your god, do you understand?"

"Okay, my lord princess."

After receiving a satisfactory reply, Kotoko Iwanaga walked up to Asagiri and smiled sweetly.

"So, how does it feel to have become the boyfriend of the monster princess?"

"Isn't this title a bit too long?"

Just as Asagiri finished speaking with a smile, he suddenly felt as if something deep within his heart had been touched.

"Asagiri, you..."

Seeing Asagiri's eyes turn into a bright golden yellow, Kotoko Iwanaga initially thought that he had used the Persona ability again.

The surrounding monsters and the rat mountain god also sensed the inexplicable oppressive aura emanating from Asagiri. They were already somewhat afraid of the princess's boyfriend, and now they prostrated themselves on the ground, their bodies trembling like leaves, not daring to even lift their heads.

"This is……"

As he watched the phantom tarot card spinning and falling in mid-air, Chaowu reached out his right hand and caught it. The tarot card, which was spinning in his palm, was printed with the image of the Magician in its upright position.

"magician?"

Seeing the phantom tarot card with the image of the Magician gradually disappear into Asagiri's palm, Kotoko Iwanaga looked surprised and asked in confusion.

"Did you acquire a new Persona? Where did this magician come from?"

Asagiri replied with a smile, "You are the magician."

"What!?"

Kotoko Iwanaga was first startled, then her eyes welled up with tears, and she said in a sobbing voice.

"Waaaaah, first you used me as a tool, wantonly venting your beastly desires on me, and then you wanted to subdue me into a persona mask. This isn't a persona mask at all, you definitely want to take me back and make me your sex slave, to play with me 24/7..."

"Don't act crazy here."

Asagiri interrupted Kotoko Iwanaga's abstract mental attack, speaking calmly.

"You will not become my Persona, but because of you who symbolize the Magician, I have unlocked a new Persona slot."

"A new Persona slot?"

Although Kotoko Iwanaga usually seems a bit unreliable, she doesn't get carried away with abstract ideas when things are serious, and she mutters to herself as she thinks.

"It's a talent that was unlocked after clearing the dungeon, but outside of the system's rewards, did some reason in the real world unlock a new Persona slot...? I'm an upright Magician, could it be..."

Kotoko Iwanaga hesitated as she spoke, seemingly doubting her own analysis.

"Is it that you unlock a new Persona slot every time you add a new harem member? What kind of talent is this? It's like something transplanted from an adult game!"

"How could that be? It just looks like it."

Asagiri shook her head and patiently explained.

"It's a bit difficult to explain in words, but you can simply understand it as the bond I form with my destined person, and the bond I form with each person, will unlock a new persona slot for me, and each person also has a corresponding Tarot card symbol."

"For example, you are the Magician in the proper position. As for Asuna Yuuki... the High Priestess, the Empress, the Chariot, love, all of these are possible. As for Kato, he should be the Hermit."

"Personality is a power born from the sea of ​​my soul. After meeting certain conditions and gaining bonds with others, my sea of ​​soul will become more abundant, allowing me to accommodate more Personas. That's roughly the idea."

"Oh~"

Kotoko Iwanaga gave a drawn-out "oh," her small face showing a thoughtful expression. After a while, she finally looked up at Asagiri.

"So, although I'm a step behind Asuna in matters of the heart, I'm the first person to provide you with a Persona slot for a Bond character? That's great! Hehehe, sorry Asuna, this time, it's a victory for my god of wisdom!"

"Dang~"

"Um... what are you doing..."

Looking at Kotoko Iwanaga, who looked aggrieved after being gently tapped on the forehead, Asagiri said with a hint of helplessness.

“There are not many people in this world who can abstract me to such an extent, and you are one of them. You are truly an abstract hero in the world, only you and I.”

……

That evening, in Tokyo, at Kotoko Iwanaga's house, the four members of the team gathered together again.

"The seven-day cooldown is over, it's time to start queuing for the next dungeon. If you sign up now, you can enter the dungeon on Monday, is that alright, Hui?"

Upon hearing Asuna Yuuki's question, Megumi Kato nodded and replied in a gentle tone.

“Taking leave from school and making excuses to family are all fine, but…”

Immediately afterwards, Kato Megumi glanced at Asagiri sitting there with her calm, black eyes, then at Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko, before finally tilting her head slightly and uttering a sentence that made Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko blush slightly.

"Why does it feel like there's been a subtle change in the atmosphere between the three of you? Has something happened that I don't know about?"

Upon hearing Kato Megumi's unexpected remark, both Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko were taken aback.

Isn't this intuition a bit too sharp?

Could it be... that Kato Megumi has actually discovered everything?

Despite the discovery, Asagiri once said that team members must have absolute trust in each other, but this kind of thing... can't be said in the open.

How do I explain this to Megumi Kato?

"We both like him. In order to prevent anyone from getting hurt, to prevent the team from falling apart, and because his stats are too high, we will die if we don't take turns. So we have decided to start a harem and live a happy life together."

How could I possibly say that?!

Just as Kotoko Iwanaga and Asuna Yuuki were both in a dilemma and didn't know how to deal with it, Megumi Kato spoke in a gentle and calm tone.

"It's possible that I'm just imagining things because I've been too tired from the special training these past two days. Let's get back to business, Leader. Could you please take a look at the keywords for the available instances, like we did the last few times, before we start our discussion?"

"it is good."

Asagiri nodded slightly, then tapped the eye icon app on her phone.

Just like the previous two times he volunteered to participate in the dungeon, the corresponding dungeon's keywords popped up on his phone screen.

[Hotel] [Mist] [Village]

"Inn, mist, and villages... It's impossible to determine which is the eerie type of dungeon based on the keywords alone. But we don't necessarily have to enter an eerie type dungeon. I think the most suitable one for us among these three is..."

Just as Kotoko Iwanaga was speaking, she saw a new line of text appear on the screen of Asagiri's phone on the table.

[A massive dungeon will open this Saturday in the real world, with the keyword "hunt". If you register and enter the massive dungeon on Thursday, you will receive extra rewards from the system regardless of your completion rating.]

"A massive dungeon?"

Upon seeing the line of text that appeared on Asagiri's phone screen, Asuna Yuuki, Megumi Kato, and Kotoko Iwanaga were all taken aback. Then, Asuna Yuuki looked at Asagiri and spoke hesitantly.

"Why does this system notification feel like..."

"Is it somewhat like they're asking for our help?"

20

Chapter 20: A team of all high-level players.

Not only Asuna Yuuki, but also Kotoko Iwanaga and Megumi Kato had the same feeling when they looked at the line of text on Asagiri's phone.

"Mega-scale instance... Saturday..."

Kotoko Iwanaga murmured thoughtfully.

"Is it because the most players choose to enter the game on Saturdays in the real world...? Although this Saturday is still in the middle of the second phase, and there's still a long time before the one-month deadline set by the system, the players who have survived until now have all cleared the newbie dungeon and the initial phase dungeon at least once. Under the lure of the clearing rewards, perhaps some players who were originally hesitant to sign up will now do so. But why did the system specifically issue this notification? Does it mean that there's something we're needed for the super-large dungeon on Saturday?"

Hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's words, Megumi Kato was also thinking hard.