Chapter 92: Entering the Dating Game
"Are we… starting to enter the Dungeon…?"
In the face of the sudden change, Asagiri showed not a trace of panic. He simply waited, calm and watchful, for whatever came next.
This entry was different from the usual transition.
When the thick red mist finally thinned, what appeared before them looked like a game's opening animation. A cute girl with blue purple twin tails and matching eyes filled their vision. Red hair clips framed her bangs, and a red bow tie rested neatly at her throat. She winked playfully with her right eye, like she was greeting the Player at the title screen.
Then, in the next instant, the "animation" ended.
Reality snapped into place, and the four of them found themselves in a completely different environment.
"This is…"
Asuna's vision cleared first. She immediately scanned her surroundings, tense and alert, until she confirmed Kotoko, Asagiri, and Megumi were all beside her. Only then did she let out a quiet breath.
They were in a cozy bedroom drenched in pink, the kind of sweet, soft aesthetic that felt almost aggressively cute. A plush bed dominated the room, and beside it leaned something that looked like an electric guitar.
But what mattered most was the girl sitting at the bedside.
She looked exactly like the twin tailed girl from the "opening," except now she wore a blue cat ear hat and a pair of blue gloves.
"You're… a Player? No, that's not right."
Asuna's brows tightened. Before the girl could even react, Asuna's Exorcist Longsword was already pressed against the girl's pale, delicate neck.
Her voice turned cold.
"Who are you? No… are you human?"
"Huh?"
Hat Mita blinked, clearly confused. She looked from one face to the next, then her gaze paused on Asagiri. A smile suddenly bloomed, bright and eager.
"Could it be… you're my Player? Welcome, welcome. I'm Meta."
"Meta?"
The girl ignored Asuna's question entirely. Asuna's expression dropped another degree.
"Are you the Anomaly in this Dungeon?"
"Dungeon? Anomaly? What are you talking about?"
Meta tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.
"No… who are you three? How did you get in with the Player? You… don't seem to be Meta…"
"We aren't Meta?"
Kotoko caught the odd phrasing immediately and pressed forward.
"What is Meta? And besides you, are there other Mitas in this Dungeon?"
"Of course."
Meta still seemed surprised that Kotoko and the others were here, but she didn't appear hostile. If anything, she answered too easily.
"Every Meta is waiting for the Player meant for her to enter the game."
"Game, every Meta, Player… romance…"
With that much, Kotoko's eyes narrowed as pieces slid into place. She glanced at Asagiri.
"This sounds like some kind of… male oriented romance game."
"Romance game?"
Asuna's brow twitched.
"So the twin tailed Meta we saw wanted to drag Asagiri in and start flirting with him? What is this? It's even more abstract than Necro."
Kotoko nodded automatically, then realized what she'd said and coughed.
"Exactly. It's even more abstract than me… No, wait. How am I abstract? Don't slander me out of thin air."
"Heh heh."
"Um."
Megumi raised a hand, cleanly cutting through the bickering.
"What we should be discussing is what we do next, right? I didn't receive any special notifications when we entered. No time limit, no clear objective. What about you?"
The question landed like a weight.
Asuna and Kotoko froze.
"Me neither," Kotoko admitted.
Asagiri, meanwhile, pulled out his phone and tried tapping the eye shaped app. Nothing moved. Other apps were just as unresponsive, as if the entire device had turned into a dead slab of glass.
"This is kind of interesting."
Instead of fear, excitement flickered across his face.
"Cyber ghost girl… just thinking about it is thrilling."
Asuna stared at him, half speechless.
"I can't even imagine what kind of scene is playing in your head right now…"
Before she could finish, Asagiri turned toward Meta and asked, with complete seriousness, a sentence that made the room go silent.
"Can you engage in human style educational training behavior with me?"
"Huh?"
Meta froze, then her cheeks warmed. She pursed her lips, looking shy, yet she still forced herself to sound upbeat and generous.
"You're my Player. If you request it… it's not impossible. I can take off everything except my hat and gloves."
"Oh, I see."
It was only then that Asuna and Kotoko fully processed what just happened.
The tall one and the short one moved in perfect sync, stepping in front of Asagiri like a human shield wall.
"Y you're not seriously thinking of doing that with her, are you?" Asuna snapped. "This is a Dungeon, wake up!"
"You two are the ones who need to act normal."
Asagiri spoke evenly, unbothered.
"I'm not some creature that thinks with its lower half. Leaving aside the fact we're in a Dungeon, I don't even know what Meta is, or whether she's an enemy. Why would I be trying to start a round with her? I was probing for information."
"Information?" Kotoko repeated, still suspicious.
Megumi's voice slipped in, calm and precise.
"Leader's intention was probably to test Miss Meta's reaction with that question. A normal girl, hearing something that embarrassing out of nowhere, might not necessarily get angry, but she would at least show discomfort or resistance."
Megumi's eyes shifted to Meta.
"But Miss Meta only paused briefly, then agreed right away."
Megumi continued, still composed.
"That suggests that even though this place has become a materialized Dungeon, and not a simple romance game anymore, she's still operating under NPC rules. She'll fulfill the requests of the Player who plays the role of her lover."
She paused, then added quietly.
"And there's another point."
Megumi looked at Meta, who sat by the bed swaying slightly, lively in an almost programmed way.
"Miss Meta, why did you say you can take off everything except your hat and gloves? Do those two items have special meaning to you?"
"Special meaning…?"
Meta looked confused, then waved it off with a smile.
"You talk so strangely."
"As expected."
Megumi turned back to Asuna and Kotoko.
"The hat and gloves are likely part of her preset program. So something normal to us, like taking them off, doesn't even register as an option to her. From her perspective, it's strange because the program wouldn't generate that thought."
Megumi's gaze sharpened slightly, her calmness almost unnerving.
"However… her conversation with us can't be fully preset either. In a designer's concept, there's no scenario where one male Player enters the game with three female Players."
Her voice stayed soft, but the implications were heavy.
"So is it artificial intelligence? Or did the transformation into a Dungeon trigger some kind of mutation? She follows parts of the original settings, yet also seems to have human level cognition. This Dungeon is far too strange."
Megumi's analysis ended, and what followed was not reassurance.
It was silence.
No system hints.
No objective.
No time limit.
No clear win condition.
How were they supposed to clear this?
Then Asagiri spoke, calm as ever.
"Let's explore first."
"Okay."
They moved through the space together and quickly mapped the layout.
Bathroom on the far right.
Bedroom connected to it.
Living room to the left of the bedroom.
Kitchen on the far left.
A long, horizontal design that felt slightly unnatural, but for a romance game turned Dungeon, "slightly unnatural" was practically the default setting.
In the living room, there was a door that looked like it led outside.
Asuna tried it.
Concrete wall.
No exit.
When they finished the basic search, all four sat down in the living room.
Asagiri took the single seat. Meta, strangely attached to him, ignored the larger sofa entirely and perched on the armrest of his chair instead, close enough to brush his shoulder.
Asuna and Kotoko both felt jealousy flare, sharp and instinctive.
"Now…" Kotoko asked, "what do we do?"
Before anyone could answer, Meta lifted both hands high, beaming at Asagiri.
"Player, let's play a game. I have lots of games we can play."
"Okay, let's go."
Asagiri agreed instantly, almost enthusiastically.
Kotoko, Asuna, and Megumi stared at him.
"In a situation like this, you still want to play games?" Asuna asked, incredulous.
Asagiri looked at her like she'd asked something ridiculous.
"Listen to yourself. There was once a professional demon hunter who, even while saving the world, still found time to play a tense round of Gwent in a tavern."
He gestured at Meta like the conclusion was obvious.
"He can play. Why can't I? Outrageous."
.....
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