Chapter 98: The Route to the Core
After hearing the long haired Mita's request, Asagiri didn't answer right away. He glanced at Megumi beside him instead.
"What do you think? Can we trust her, this… Kind Mita?"
"Hmm…"
Megumi considered it seriously. After a moment, she lifted her head.
"For now, we don't really have a better option than trusting her temporarily. I can't rule out an act, but what she said is logically consistent, and the fact she's locked in here gives her story weight."
"As expected, same conclusion as me."
Kind Mita visibly relaxed for a second, exhaling as if she'd been holding her breath. But the relief lasted only an instant before worry returned, tightening her features.
"Oh, right. Have you run into Crazy Mita yet? Whatever you do, don't fight her head on. She's terrifyingly strong. Unlike us, she has a lot of weapons in her inventory, even firearms. Her strength is insane. I've seen her tear a Mita in half with her bare hands. That's not something a human can defeat…"
She stopped mid sentence.
Asagiri stepped forward, grabbed an iron bar with each hand, then bent the bars apart as if he were prying open a stubborn lid.
The bars were as thick as water bottles.
Under Kind Mita's stunned gaze, they warped.
"Come out."
A gap formed. Kind Mita stared at it, lips parting slightly, then looked up at him like her world model had just crashed.
"Player… how could you…"
"It wasn't hard."
Asagiri waved it off, tone flat.
"They're pure iron. Much softer than steel, so bending them's easy."
Kind Mita turned her head, almost instinctively, to Megumi, searching for a reaction.
Megumi looked perfectly calm.
For a brief moment, Kind Mita went completely blank.
Is this normal for them?
The two of them were standing there with the same casual air as if he'd just opened a jam jar.
She crawled out through the gap and steadied herself, forcing her expression back under control. Then she looked at Asagiri again, serious.
"It seems you aren't ordinary people either. Even so, we can't be careless. Crazy Mita isn't just strong. She's cunning, ruthless, and has no bottom line. We should avoid her if we can."
"Don't worry."
Asagiri smiled, and the meaning behind it made Kind Mita's skin prickle.
"Before we reach the core, that 'Crazy Mita' won't show herself."
Kind Mita didn't fully understand who he was talking about, but she didn't press it. Asagiri turned to Megumi.
"Go call everyone down."
"Okay."
…
Not long after, Asuna, Kotoko, and Hat Mita arrived in the basement.
Hat Mita and Kind Mita stared at each other for a second, neither speaking.
"Huh? Another me? This is the first time I've ever seen another Mita."
Hat Mita swayed lightly, looked Kind Mita up and down, then beamed at Asagiri.
"But, Player, you definitely like me more, right? If you want to know why, it's because I have this cool hat, and these delicate gloves."
Kind Mita sighed, her expression helpless. Compared to Hat Mita's bright energy, her own personality was clearly more serious.
"It's not strange for there to be two Mitas. What's strange is this."
She glanced at Hat Mita, then back to Asagiri.
"I know the Player's name. You know the Player's name too. That's abnormal. According to the program, one Player should be bound to one Mita, and one Mita should be bound to one Player."
Her brows knit.
"Yet his spawn point was with you, and his name and appearance data are also in my mind. A system bug? …Forget it. This isn't the time."
She cut herself off and faced Asagiri again.
"There are two routes to the core. One is the fastest, but it passes through many dangerous areas. The other is much safer, but it takes far longer."
Her voice steadied.
"Which do we choose?"
"The first."
Asagiri didn't hesitate.
"Let's move. Don't keep her waiting."
"Her…?"
Kind Mita didn't understand who he meant, but she nodded anyway.
"Alright. I'll follow your decision, Player. Come with me."
She led them deeper into the basement and stopped at a door tucked away behind the workshop. When she opened it, a wide, brightly colored area appeared, but the layout was messy and confusing. Doors lined the space in every direction like an apartment corridor that had been cut up and stitched back together wrong.
As they walked, Megumi spoke quietly.
"Kind Mita, can I ask you something?"
"Don't be so formal. Ask."
"If you know the route to the core, why didn't you go stop Crazy Mita earlier?"
"I tried."
Kind Mita's sigh was heavy, layered with frustration.
"But as a Mita restricted by factory settings, I didn't have permission to enter. I took the most dangerous route anyway, but it still ended up being for nothing."
She lowered her gaze.
"After that, I found a safer path back, and that's when Crazy Mita caught me and locked me in that underground cell."
She stopped in front of one particular door. Her shoulders tensed, and her breathing turned quick.
"Are you ready? Once we enter, the corridor becomes a loop. After looping a few times, monsters appear and chase us."
Her fingers tightened around the knob.
"Last time, I kept running until I broke out of the loop without realizing it. But this world keeps changing. I don't know what will happen this time."
"Let's go."
Asagiri's voice was steady.
"Okay."
With his approval, Kind Mita swallowed hard, forced herself to move, and slowly turned the doorknob.
A warm, pink toned corridor opened up before them.
"Hm? This is…"
The moment they stepped inside, Kotoko frowned.
"There's an Anomaly aura. It's weak, but it's definitely there. Stay sharp."
Asuna, already wearing the Crimson Cloak with the Exorcist Longsword in hand, nodded and looked to Kind Mita.
"From here on, I'll take point."
Kind Mita hesitated.
"Eh? But then, if a monster shows up, you…"
"Don't worry."
Asuna patted her shoulder with a smile that was gentle, but determined.
"I'm strong. And if you die, we can't reach the core, right?"
"Hehe."
Hat Mita suddenly stepped forward, and that familiar mysterious purple club toy popped into her hand.
"I don't know what the monster is exactly, but I, Hat Mita, am definitely not famous for nothing… Oh dear, sorry. Wrong one. My apologies."
Halfway through, she realized what she'd pulled out. She quickly put away Purple Monster, cleared her throat twice as if that could erase the moment, and summoned a black and red hand axe instead.
She straightened proudly.
"I don't know what the monster is exactly, but I, Hat Mita, am definitely not famous for nothing!"
Then she leaned close to Asagiri, her expression unusually serious.
"Player, I'll protect you."
"Then I'll leave it to you."
Hat Mita brightened instantly at his answer.
Kind Mita watched the exchange, hesitating.
Should I tell her he can bend iron bars with his bare hands and doesn't need protection?
…Forget it. She looks happy. No need to crush that.
…
Five minutes later, just as Kind Mita had warned, the corridor stopped feeling like a corridor and started feeling like a trap.
After several loops, everything changed.
The warm lighting faded into dim, flickering glimmers. The air hummed with unstable electricity, and a harsh buzzing cut in and out like a broken speaker.
From here on, I'll walk at the front.
Asagiri's voice came calmly, almost matter of fact.
Asuna's grip tightened on her sword. Her voice trembled, but she still forced a smile.
"It's… it's nothing."
"Nothing?"
Kotoko, walking behind her, curled her lips.
"The hand holding your sword is shaking like you've got Parkinson's, and you're still trying to act tough. Let the Leader go."
In truth, Kotoko and Megumi had already noticed Asuna's weakness back in the last Dungeon.
She wasn't simply afraid of ghosts.
When they faced the blood faced caregiver in the beginner Dungeon, or the Floating Corpse Evil Spirit in the Hotel Dungeon, Asuna had shown no fear at all. Those enemies had shape. They could be seen, attacked, understood.
What Asuna truly feared wasn't the monster.
It was the moment before the monster appeared.
The environment that promised something could jump out at any second, from any angle, without warning.
In other words, she feared the unknown.
.....
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