Chapter 101: Dating Horror Game? Love Game!
"Uh…"
Short haired Mita went momentarily speechless. Hat Mita, bright as ever, immediately leaned in with a teasing laugh.
"Oh, so you just wanted Player to get close and stare into your eyes for a while, huh? You could've just said so. You act like a tomboy, but I didn't expect you to have such a pure maiden heart."
"Y You… don't spout nonsense!"
Caught right in the weak spot, Short haired Mita's cheeks flushed. She coughed, forcing the conversation back on track.
"Listen. It's completely dark inside. If you want to pass through that area, I have to lead."
She tightened her grip on the doorknob.
"Walk about twenty meters and you'll reach a ladder going up. But I don't know what's above. I've never climbed it."
Kotoko studied her for two seconds, voice cool and clinical.
"Can we trust you?"
"I think we can."
Megumi twirled the dagger in her hand with practiced ease. These days, she and Asuna had been training often with Ashikaga sensei. Their weapon handling had naturally sharpened.
"I think she's trustworthy because if she were working with Crazy Mita, she wouldn't need to wait here and warn us that the room was dangerous. According to Kind Mita's route, this is the only path to the core."
She continued without hesitation, each point clean and direct.
"Kind Mita also said Crazy Mita doesn't know the route. That's why she imprisoned her. So it's unlikely Crazy Mita could set an ambush here in advance."
"And the most important part is this. She gave us a method to identify failed creations. Leader tested it, and the three Mitas with us all passed."
Megumi's gaze stayed steady.
"If Short haired Mita were our enemy, she could have fabricated a method that would create internal suspicion. Even if we didn't fully believe her, it would still make us doubt the Metas beside us. But that didn't happen."
She lowered her dagger slightly.
"So I think we can trust her for now."
Asuna and Kotoko looked at Megumi, surprised, but not because of her reasoning.
"Phantom," Kotoko said, blinking once, "you can actually say that much in one go?"
Megumi calmly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"I'm just used to being concise and clear. It's not that I can't organize my thoughts. Please don't misunderstand me for no reason. It's bothersome."
Then she looked at Asagiri.
"Leader. Twenty meters… use that?"
"No."
Megumi nodded once. "Okay."
Asuna and Kotoko didn't react. To them, that exchange was normal.
The four Mitas, on the other hand, were completely lost.
Twenty meters was the distance Short haired Mita had mentioned. Walking normally, it would take less than half a minute.
Megumi's newly acquired skill, Touch of Void, let her share her exclusive talent's effect by touching someone, consuming stamina and mental energy, with a maximum duration of thirty seconds.
Thirty seconds was enough to cover twenty meters easily.
But there were eight people here.
That meant seven consecutive uses of Touch of Void, then Megumi activating her own talent as well. The cost alone would drain her until she was barely standing.
More importantly…
Before meeting Kind Mita, Asagiri, Megumi, Asuna, and Kotoko had already guessed Crazy Mita's plan and where she was hiding.
The four of them also shared a silent understanding. A few exchanged glances had been enough to finalize the Dungeon clearing plan.
And in that plan, Megumi's Touch of Void was reserved for later, only after reaching the core.
…
Five minutes later.
"Is everyone ready?"
Short haired Mita took a deep breath, nerves creeping across her face as she stared at the door.
One hand held the doorknob. The other held Asagiri's hand.
Asagiri, second in line, held Kotoko's hand. After Kotoko came Cute Mita, then Megumi, then Kind Mita, then Hat Mita.
Asuna brought up the rear. As the strongest fighter besides Asagiri, she needed one hand free for the Exorcist Longsword.
The plan was simple.
Short haired Mita would lead. The team would move in a single file, each person following the one ahead, then climb the ladder one by one.
A simple plan, yet it still went wrong.
"Sizzle… sizzle…"
The moment the eight of them stepped through the doorway, the heavy door slammed shut on its own. The sound of electricity crackled through the air.
Then the pitch black space snapped into brightness, as bright as day.
What appeared before them was a vast tiled hall, almost like a bathhouse.
And about twenty meters ahead, there really was a ladder, like a fire escape, stretching straight up into the ceiling.
But as the lights turned on, the true horror surfaced with them.
Hundreds of figures stood in the hall.
Brownish yellow shells. Joints connected by black, rubber like material. Two hollow pits where pupils should be. Human shaped, yet not human.
"Click…"
Scarlet light ignited inside those empty eye sockets.
All at once, they turned toward the group at the doorway.
"The lights… why did the lights suddenly turn on…"
Short haired Mita's body trembled. Her voice shook, but she forced herself to speak anyway.
"It's okay. As long as we keep staring at them, they won't be able to move…"
She didn't finish before something happened that made her pupils tighten in disbelief.
Even under their stares, the failed creations still advanced from every direction.
Not only did they not freeze, they moved faster.
Kind Mita's expression snapped cold.
"Hey, what is this? What's going on!"
"I I don't know either!"
Compared to the Metas' panic, Asagiri and Asuna looked eerily calm, as if they had already expected this.
"Enter combat state," Asagiri said.
"Okay."
Kotoko responded first. She raised her hand and covered her right eye, fixing her gaze on the nearest failed creation's eye area.
"Curse Gaze."
The skill activated.
And nothing happened.
The failed creation didn't slow down in the slightest. If anything, it felt completely unaffected.
Kotoko's vision swam. A wave of dizziness hit her like a blunt strike.
"Leader," she said quickly, steadying herself, "their mental resistance is very high!"
Kotoko's feedback was usually clear.
One was success, the curse digging into the enemy's mind.
Two was backlash, when the enemy's spiritual power overwhelmed hers.
Three was immunity, where the skill failed but she suffered no backlash.
This time, it wasn't immunity.
It was resistance.
"Then we can't use Alice," Asagiri said calmly.
Alice's exclusive skill was a curse type instant death attack. Like Curse Gaze, it required a mental power check first. Against targets with absurd mental resistance, it would be wasted effort.
Kotoko's warning saved Asagiri from summoning Alice for nothing.
"It doesn't matter," Asagiri continued, eyes sharp. "They're just a bunch of dolls."
A black, gun shaped summoner appeared in his right hand. He raised it to his temple without hesitation.
"Persona. Human Asura."
Human Asura manifested.
The summoner vanished, replaced in Asagiri's hand by a Rope Dart, metal chains wrapping around his forearm.
"Finally," Asagiri said, voice calm, almost amused, "the fun part begins."
Hat Mita immediately pulled out her hand axe.
"Player, I'll help you…"
Before she could finish, Human Asura strode forward. It seized two failed creations by the head, one in each hand.
Shadow black fingers clenched.
Crack.
Their hard heads burst apart like brittle shells.
Asagiri moved at the same time.
His Rope Dart shot out and punched straight through a failed creation's head. He twisted his body, slipping past another one's lunge, then shot his left hand forward and locked around its throat.
Golden light flared from his eyes.
With one arm, he slammed it into the floor.
Bang!
The tile cracked from the impact.
Before it could rise, Asagiri stomped down.
The head exploded.
Asuna was already in motion as well. Her Exorcist Longsword drove through a failed creation's chest. Then her body blurred.
In an instant, she appeared before another, and the blade pierced through its brow.
Watching those two tear through the crowd like beasts crashing through a flock of sheep, Short haired Mita stood frozen, jaw slack.
She slowly turned her eyes toward Hat Mita, voice dazed.
"Um… it feels like we don't really need to help…"
.....
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