Chapter 102: Pocket Goalkeeper
Only now did Short haired Mita understand why Asagiri had walked into that room so calmly.
To ordinary people, those failed creations were nightmares. Their shells were tough, their bodies unnervingly capable, and their aggression felt like a flood with teeth. But in front of this Player and his companions, the so called failed creations were no different from regular humans.
This wasn't a battle.
It was a one sided slaughter.
"Be careful!"
Hat Mita suddenly spotted two failed creations lunging at Iwanaga Kotoko from the side. Her expression snapped tight. She rushed forward with her hand axe raised, planting herself in front of Kotoko with gritted teeth.
Even if she got hurt, she refused to let Player's companion take a hit.
Kotoko, however, didn't look worried in the slightest. She leaned on her cane with one hand and even had the leisure to adjust her white beret with the other.
Then, in the next instant, a figure flashed in behind the two attackers.
Thud.
A sharp rapier and a dark purple dagger cut cleanly across their necks from behind.
Two hard heads dropped to the tiles, rolled weakly, and the bodies followed a heartbeat later.
"Thanks, Phantom."
Kotoko smiled as if she had just been helped with a door, not rescued from an ambush.
Megumi stood there with a rapier in her right hand and the ominous deep purple dagger in her left, voice calm.
"As expected. With you and Leader here, my talent works even better. Even with their high mental resistance, they still didn't notice me. In a way, this is a combination skill."
For some reason, Kotoko drew attention just by existing. Failed creations would even bypass Asagiri, Human Asura, and Asuna at the front, choosing to rush straight at her instead.
In game terms, Kotoko carried an innate taunt aura. She didn't need to attack or cast anything. Monsters simply wanted her first.
That should have been a disadvantage, especially against enemies immune to mental judgment attacks.
But paired with Megumi's exclusive talent, it created a strange, beautiful synergy.
Megumi only had to lower her presence, and the failed creations' focus would lock onto Kotoko and the four Mitas nearby. That gave Megumi the perfect window to strike like an assassin. Backstabs, sudden kills, clean severing blows, maximum results with minimal stamina.
The passive skill from her special class, Shadow Dancer, restored her stamina and mental energy on the fly. The cost of her talent became something she could comfortably sustain.
Simply put, she was having fun.
And yet, the one enjoying this the most wasn't Megumi.
It was Asagiri.
"Come on!"
Asagiri snapped the Rope Dart's chain around a failed creation's neck. Ignoring its violent thrashing, he drove the sharp point into its head with a backhand thrust. Then he hooked two fingers into the creature's hollow eye sockets and tore its head off with brute force.
Like throwing a baseball, he hurled the head straight into another failed creation's face.
Bang!
Two solid skulls smashed together with a dull, brutal crack.
"Interesting. This is really interesting."
A faint smile curved on Asagiri's lips. Human Asura loomed behind him, the red patterns across its shadowed body burning brighter.
"This is the best part of the game."
Hearing that laugh threaded through his voice, seeing how deeply immersed he was, Asuna couldn't help sighing. She pulled her Exorcist Longsword out of a failed creation's chest. There was no blood, but she still flicked the blade by habit, her thoughts turning dry.
He's gone insane with killing.
Completely insane.
Asuna didn't hesitate to kill these things either. Still, she couldn't say she enjoyed it. For her, it was a necessary fight to clear the Dungeon.
Asagiri was different.
Different from her, from Megumi, from Kotoko. Different from all of them.
He wanted a high clear rating, yes, but he also genuinely loved the thrill of combat. He had the purest gamer mindset.
Asuna had known that about him for a long time. He was the same boy who once got into a fight with five delinquents outside school in junior high, sent all five to the hospital, and somehow called it his proudest achievement.
"With him here…"
Asuna watched his back. The way he moved, the way he used the Rope Dart, it was almost elegant in its brutality.
The corners of her lips rose into a small smile, helpless and relieved at once.
"We can't possibly lose."
…
A few minutes later.
"Done."
Asagiri brought his foot down and crushed the last failed creation's head.
The four Mitas stared at the aftermath. Debris everywhere. Broken shells. Severed heads rolling across the tiles.
The scene was so cruel it didn't feel real.
Is this right?
Is this still a dating sim?
Where did we end up, some kind of Mita Super Enhanced Invincible Musou Hack and Slash Edition?
Just then, Short haired Mita felt a chill creep along her neck.
Megumi's voice, soft and calm, sounded right beside her ear.
"Start explaining."
Short haired Mita stiffened.
Hat Mita and Kind Mita reacted at once, stepping to her left and right with suspicious looks.
"Didn't you say the failed creations can't move if someone stares at them?" Hat Mita demanded. "Why did you feed us false information?"
"I, uh… that… I…"
Short haired Mita's words tangled in her throat. Her eyes darted, flustered.
"I don't know why either…"
"Really?"
Kotoko walked up slowly and stopped directly in front of her, staring into her eyes. A cold edge appeared in the deep purple of her gaze.
"Then why is it that even after I used my skill, you weren't affected at all, just like those failed creations?"
Short haired Mita's expression changed instantly. Her pupils widened.
"How… how could that be… I didn't feel anything at all. Could it be I really am…"
Before she could finish, Kotoko covered her mouth and giggled, then waved a hand dismissively. The coldness vanished like it had never existed.
"Oh, I was just kidding. Don't take it seriously."
"Huh?"
Short haired Mita froze, still trying to catch up.
Kotoko had already turned toward Asagiri, smiling lightly.
"Leader, she shouldn't be a failed creation in disguise. That little probe was one reason. The other is that the failed creations tried to attack her too. If this were a trap, she wouldn't need to enter with us."
Megumi nodded. "Agreed."
Even so, Megumi kept the dagger at Short haired Mita's throat for another moment, only lowering it after Asagiri signaled.
"Sorry," Megumi said gently. "I hope you understand."
"It… it's okay…"
Short haired Mita finally breathed out. She forced a smile, but the fear still hadn't fully drained from her eyes.
"With something this unexpected, it's normal you'd suspect me. I really didn't know it would turn out like this…"
"Keep moving."
Asagiri didn't look surprised at all. He simply glanced at the elevator not far away.
"The answer will show itself soon."
…
After they took the elevator up, Kind Mita saw the familiar corridor ahead and couldn't help relaxing slightly.
Thankfully, even with hundreds of failed creations blocking the way earlier, the route to the core area hadn't changed.
"It's just ahead."
She led them for about fifteen minutes through twisting corridors until they reached a room that looked like a smelting chamber.
The moment they stepped inside, a rapid sound echoed through the air.
Beep beep beep beep beep.
Text appeared in midair.
"You're here again? Didn't I tell you last time? You can't get in."
"Huh? Who's talking?"
Hat Mita looked around, curious, but saw no one. Only a table near the entrance.
She walked over and leaned in.
On the table sat a tiny house, almost identical to the layout of her own home, only miniature. Inside the miniature bedroom stood a Mita, just a few centimeters tall.
"Huh? Pocket Mita?"
Hat Mita bent closer, head tilted.
"Were you the one talking just now?"
Beep beep beep beep.
New lines appeared.
"Who are you? You're not the Mita I met."
"And what's with looking down at me like that? What, you think being tall makes you great?"
Kotoko stepped closer, and Pocket Mita's text immediately shifted again.
"Hmm? Who's she? Why is there a little girl here?"
"Little girl…"
Kotoko froze.
Then her face snapped toward the table, eyes blazing.
"Who are you calling a little girl!? I'm a high school student. A H I G H S C H O O L student!"
Kotoko was genuinely nearing her limit.
Asuna teasing her height was one thing.
But now a Pocket Mita, barely taller than a fingernail, was calling her a little girl?
Who could tolerate that?
.....
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