Chapter 93: The Game Session with Hat Mita
The moment Asagiri agreed to play, Hat Mita lit up. She cheered, grabbed his hand, and practically dragged him from the living room into the kitchen.
On the white dining table sat a strange device. It looked like a single button, with a small timer display embedded beneath it.
"Player, please sit down first."
Hat Mita pulled out a chair for Asagiri with exaggerated politeness. Once he sat, she hurried to the opposite side, swaying back and forth with restless energy. She looked lively and cute as she spoke in a playful tone.
"Next, we need one more thing. It's in my inventory. Wait a moment, I'll find it right away."
As soon as she said that, Hat Mita stretched out her right hand.
A toy yellow duck appeared in her palm.
Then, in the blink of an eye, it switched seamlessly into a crowbar, then a hand axe, then scissors, then a taser, cycling through items like she was flipping pages in a catalog.
Asuna, Megumi, and Kotoko all stiffened. Their pupils shrank.
This girl, who called herself Mita and wore a hat, could do the same thing Players could. She could pull items from that intangible space called an inventory and manifest them in her hand.
And not just harmless toys, either.
Crowbar. Hand axe. Taser.
So even if Hat Mita looked cute and, for now, showed no hostility, she clearly was not some naive, harmless girl who only knew how to cling to Asagiri. They could not treat her like a normal student just because she smiled a lot.
After all, she was not human to begin with.
Then, a mysterious purple object suddenly appeared in Hat Mita's hand.
The moment she realized what she had pulled out, her expression turned awkward. She quickly hid it behind her back, flustered.
"What was that?"
They had only seen it for an instant, but the shape was unmistakable. It was long, blunt, and… strangely specific. More importantly, why would Hat Mita react like that? Was it something she was not supposed to show?
"You three don't recognize it?" Asagiri asked, half amused.
His gaze lingered on Kotoko for a beat too long, as if there were some deeper joke he was enjoying. Kotoko, for reasons she did not want to admit, felt faintly embarrassed.
"What is it?" she demanded. "You know?"
"Of course."
Asagiri answered without dodging at all, like he was explaining a kitchen utensil.
"It's a toy that imitates a certain part of the male body. You get it now, right?"
Asuna's face went hot instantly. Megumi turned her head and gently smoothed the hair near her ear. She did not look as flustered as Asuna, but the faint tension in her movements said enough.
Kotoko, however, paused for only a heartbeat before her eyes sparkled with pure curiosity. She leaned forward, excited.
"Eh, eh, eh, how do you use it? Is it fun? If you use that weird little gadget, does it make the other person like you more?"
"Eh?"
Hat Mita blinked, then tilted her head, thinking hard.
"Hmm… that's probably not how you use it…"
Asuna silently pressed her fingers to her forehead.
Before the conversation could derail any further, Hat Mita looked back to Asagiri, and a toy hammer appeared in her hand as if conjured from thin air. She set it on the table, then sat across from him with a bright smile.
"The rules are very simple. Do you see the screen under the button? When the game starts, it will count down 3, 2, 1."
She pointed lightly.
"After the countdown, a √ might appear. If it does, you have to press the button fast. Whoever presses it gets to hit the other person with the toy hammer."
She lifted the hammer like it was a sacred relic.
"But if an × appears, you can't press it. If you press it anyway, you lose. Understand?"
"Hmph. Easy."
Asagiri stared straight into Hat Mita's eyes. There was no softness in his gaze, only pure, blazing competitive spirit.
"You want to compete with me in reaction speed? Bring it on. I, Naruto, am not someone you can trifle with."
Kotoko and Megumi exchanged a confused glance.
Asuna, who had heard that alias during their first Dungeon, could not help the tiny curl of a smile at the corner of her lips.
"Naruto…?" Hat Mita echoed.
Her reaction was not at all what Asuna expected.
Hat Mita simply tilted her head again, puzzled.
"Player, isn't your name Utsunomiya Asagiri? Is there something wrong with my data?"
Asuna, Megumi, and Kotoko all froze.
She said his real name. Just like that.
So blunt it felt like being slapped.
Kotoko's eyes widened.
He got doxed.
Asagiri, the victim of the doxing, remained perfectly relaxed. He even smiled.
"Since you can say my name directly, the chance that you're a Player pretending to be a game NPC drops significantly. For now, I'll assume what you said is true."
Only then did Asuna and the others fully understand. The alias had not been for theatrics. Asagiri had been testing how Hat Mita processed information and how she understood Players.
Hat Mita puffed her cheeks, clearly acting offended.
"Player, didn't I tell you? I'm Meta. You don't believe me, hmph."
Asagiri's smile did not change.
"Don't try to act cute. Start the game. My hammer won't go easy on you."
"Okay!"
Hat Mita's mood flipped instantly. She swayed with excitement, looked straight at him, and spoke like she was declaring war.
"Then let me compete with Player for supremacy!"
Asuna, Megumi, and Kotoko stared at the scene, unsure what to say.
The tension between Hat Mita and Asagiri was undeniably intense. If you only listened to their voices and looked at their expressions, it felt like the start of a dramatic showdown.
But paired with a tiny button toy on the table and an inflatable hammer…
It was hard not to think: do you really need to build hype like this for a party game?
"Alright then, let's begin," Hat Mita said cheerfully.
She activated the device, then pulled her hand back and kept it near her chest, rather than hovering over the button.
"You have game ethics," Asagiri noted.
"Of course…" Hat Mita began.
Before she could finish, Asagiri suddenly slapped toward the button.
Hat Mita flinched, instinctively slapping down too.
At the last instant, Asagiri pulled his hand back.
"You lose."
"Eh?"
Hat Mita looked down. The display had only just reached 1. Neither √ nor × had appeared yet. According to the rules, pressing early meant an immediate loss.
Asuna narrowed her eyes.
So even the game was a test.
From that subconscious reaction, Hat Mita's speed and timing did not seem beyond the range of normal humans. Of course, she could be hiding her true ability, but if she was… then her acting would have to be frighteningly flawless. Even her instincts would be fake.
"Ugh… I got tricked," Hat Mita muttered.
Still, she lifted her chin stubbornly and stared at Asagiri with confidence.
"Then hit me. I only lost round one. I'll come back and win later."
"Good," Asagiri said, almost approving. "I admire your courage."
He picked up the inflatable toy hammer.
Then, under the stunned gaze of Asuna and the others, he stood up.
His eyes, normally dark, shifted to gold. A faint, towering black phantom rose behind him, looming like a silent executioner.
"This hammer has thirty years of skill behind it," Asagiri declared with full seriousness. "Can you take it?"
Asuna, Megumi, and Kotoko all went blank.
You are serious?
It was an inflatable toy hammer. It should not hurt.
But Asagiri's physical ability was already near the human limit, and the passive effect of Human Asura pushed him even further beyond what "normal" meant. The golden eyes and the phantom made it worse.
He was not pretending.
He was about to swing with full force.
"Bang!"
The inflatable hammer cut through the air with an afterimage and slammed down with a heavy, ridiculous impact. Asuna could have sworn she even heard a faint crack of compressed air, like a tiny sonic pop.
Her gaze snapped to Hat Mita, worry surging.
Even a toy, in Asagiri's hands, could become dangerous.
But then…
"Ow… that hurts… ugh…"
Hat Mita merely rubbed her head, then straightened the hat that had been knocked crooked. She looked pained for a second, but she was clearly fine.
More than fine.
She immediately looked up at Asagiri again, eyes bright, eager for more.
"Player really is amazing! Okay, I'm excited too. Round two, start!"
Asuna glanced at Kotoko and Megumi.
Kotoko glanced back.
Megumi's calm expression did not change, but her eyes sharpened.
All three reached the same conclusion at the same time.
This NPC who called herself Meta had durability far beyond any normal human.
.....
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