Chapter 106: The Diplomat's Classic Interrogation Segment
When you laid it out, the logic was almost embarrassingly simple.
From the moment they left that corridor, Asagiri and the others had already felt something was wrong about this Dungeon. After meeting Kind Mita and hearing her "route to the core area" plan, that sense of wrongness only sharpened.
Kind Mita's claim was straightforward. Only Players could enter the core area.
But before the team even registered, Crazy Mita had already sent an invitation to Asagiri through his phone. That meant she understood something crucial. Even if no "Player" had ever entered this game world before, the eye icon app made it possible for Asagiri and the others to be pulled in.
So why had Crazy Mita kept Kind Mita alive?
Why had she done nothing in that basement, no precautions, no immediate kill switch, nothing?
There was only one explanation.
This had been Crazy Mita's plan from the start.
The "path to the core area" Kind Mita discovered, and the protective barrier that "Mitas can't pass," were not real at all. They were fabricated spaces, built by Crazy Mita through some method that exploited a system bug. If Asagiri had actually walked in earlier, there was no telling what kind of trap he would have faced.
And the most important part was that Kind Mita wasn't lying.
Because Crazy Mita locked her in the basement, Kind Mita became even more convinced she had found the right route. In other words, she had been used perfectly.
Short-haired Mita, stationed in the failed creations' assembly area, was also used.
Pocket Mita, believing she was guarding the path to the core area, was used too.
Crazy Mita was clever. She knew that if the route to the core area felt too smooth, it would look unnatural and trigger suspicion. So she arranged hundreds of highly aggressive failed creations to "make it believable."
Of course, even if Asagiri's group died there, it would have changed nothing for her.
Her true objective was always the same. Kill Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi. Take their phones. Then register herself as a Player by tapping the app icons.
She simply hadn't expected one thing.
The four of them had seen through her scheme long ago, and their coordination had reached the point where they could form a complete plan with nothing but exchanged glances.
Even the "farewell" earlier, when Asagiri temporarily separated from the team, had been an act.
Kato Megumi being last was not because she was shy, or because she was worried about Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko getting jealous.
It was because the moment she took Asagiri's hand, she activated Shadow Dancer's exclusive skill, lowering Asagiri's presence directly.
At the same time, Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko were busy bickering, and Mita's attention had been dragged away. So to everyone watching, it looked like Asagiri truly passed through the barrier and vanished.
Most importantly, from start to finish, Kato Megumi never let go of his hand.
Every time the thirty second limit approached, she activated it again, chaining the effect seamlessly.
Fifteen minutes.
Thirty activations.
Under normal circumstances, forcing the skill that many times would have pushed her body and mind to the edge, leaving her trembling, unstable, and exposed.
But then Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko stepped in.
"Violet, your cloak. Necro, your brooch."
Yuuki Asuna took back the crimson cloak.
Iwanaga Kotoko took back the small brooch.
Neither piece had restricted users. Lending them to a teammate temporarily was perfectly normal.
As for Kato Megumi's sudden change in attire, those Mitas didn't notice at all. Or rather, while they waited, they had forgotten Kato Megumi existed in the first place.
The four Players had done all of this for one reason.
They needed Crazy Mita to believe she had already won, so she would leave Asagiri's phone behind.
Because they didn't know how to forcibly pull Crazy Mita out of the phone without damaging it.
There was even a "normal" possibility the team had considered.
During the chaos of fighting hundreds of failed creations, Crazy Mita should have come out and attacked.
But based on her later words, the reason she didn't was just as simple.
She saw Asagiri's Player panel.
And she got scared.
She didn't dare face him head on.
That fear was exactly what gave birth to the plan of luring the snake out of its hole.
The plan succeeded, but several unanswered questions remained. That was why Asagiri didn't kill Crazy Mita immediately. He spared her, for now.
"First question."
Asagiri looked down at Crazy Mita. Even with Human Asura pinning her, she still struggled, her face twisted beyond recognition.
His voice stayed calm.
"What did you see on my Player panel? Tell me everything."
"Hehe… hehehe…"
Crazy Mita forced her head up, laughing like a mad girl even in restraint.
"In the end, you're going to kill me anyway. I'm a failure. I'm not like those Mitas. I don't feel pain. I can't feel anything at all."
Her grin widened, bright and poisonous.
"So even if you use the cruelest torture, the most extreme methods, it won't matter. You want information from me? How childish. How cute, Player."
Asagiri's expression didn't change.
If anything, a hint of amused interest surfaced in his gaze.
"Is that so? You can't feel anything, so you're not afraid."
He crouched on one knee, bringing himself level with her crimson glowing eyes.
"But what if I turn you into a real Mita first?"
His voice slowed, each word landing clean and heavy.
"Then I kill you again and again. Reset your data. Over and over. Until you break, until you develop a BUG and fall into eternal pain you can't escape."
The air went cold.
"Just like what you wanted to do to them."
Asagiri stared into her eyes.
"What do you think you'd feel then? I'm curious."
"You!"
Crazy Mita's body trembled.
"Scared?" Asagiri's tone remained gentle. "Good. Fear is useful."
He patted her cheek softly.
On his Ever-Changing Mask, a smiling face pattern surfaced.
"You, with your god complex, always acting like you're higher and freer than those Mitas. You can't accept becoming the same as them, can you?"
His smile did not reach his eyes.
"And the best part is, you won't even realize it happened. Your memories will be wiped clean."
The Mitas present, as well as Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi, all felt a chill crawl up their backs.
The most effective threat was not the one that sounded cruel.
It was the one that sounded inevitable.
At this moment, no one believed Asagiri was bluffing.
His tone, and that smiling mask, made it feel like he was almost hoping Crazy Mita would refuse. Like he was eager to begin.
"I… I'll talk…"
Crazy Mita cracked under fear.
Yuuki Asuna let out a quiet breath in her heart.
As expected. Only the wonderful combination of Asagiri and the Diplomat class could produce results like this.
If it were anyone else, facing a lunatic who couldn't feel pain and would rather die than obey, getting information would have been nearly impossible.
"The information I saw was…"
Crazy Mita began listing it.
Everything about Asagiri as a Player, physical stats, exclusive talent, abilities, equipment, skills.
Everything.
Except for one item.
A red, epic level, one time use item.
The Hourglass of Reversal.
That omission was consistent with what the team had already suspected.
If Crazy Mita had known Asagiri possessed it, she would have waited until it was confirmed used and Asagiri was truly dead before revealing herself. She would never have left his phone behind while the Hourglass of Reversal still existed.
Originally, the team had been gambling. Unless there was no other choice, they didn't want to waste such a valuable item just to bait her out.
But it turned out Crazy Mita truly hadn't seen it.
Which raised a deeper question.
Why?
How could Crazy Mita, who could infiltrate the eye icon app to a degree and even restrict Dungeon clear information, fail to "observe" the Hourglass of Reversal?
Did that mean the Hourglass of Reversal was higher in rank than the game system itself?
Or did it mean the system wasn't the creator of these items at all?
Was it merely a porter, transporting equipment that already existed elsewhere?
There were too many mysteries in this game.
"Second question."
After confirming the first doubt, Asagiri immediately moved on.
"Why did you know that if you killed a Player and took their phone, you could register as a Player?"
.....
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