Chapter 94: The First Step of Meta's Harem
Just as Asuna and the others were reaching that conclusion, Hat Mita suddenly cheered at the table.
"Woohoo! I won this time!"
They looked over and saw Hat Mita's palm firmly pressed on the red button, while Asagiri's hand hovered a fraction too late above it. He wore an honestly regretful expression, as if he had lost something precious.
"Ah, seriously. I was actually a step slower than you."
Asuna, Megumi, and Kotoko all shared the same thought.
Yeah, right.
In a reaction speed game, Asagiri losing to Hat Mita was basically impossible. Which meant he had done it on purpose.
The question was why.
Was he using the passive effect of the special class Diplomat to raise her favorability? Was he measuring her stats? Or was it both at once?
While they were still turning that over in their heads, Hat Mita had already snatched up the inflatable toy hammer with dramatic flair.
"Then I'm going to hit you!"
"Go ahead."
The next second, she swung.
The start was fast enough to make Asuna tense, but the blow softened at the last instant. The hammer only tapped his head lightly.
Pat.
Hat Mita set the toy down, cupped her cheeks with both hands, and stared at Asagiri with a bright smile. She stuck out her tongue, playful and shameless.
"Ah, I still can't bear to actually hit you. You're my Player, after all, so I'll let you off this time."
Asuna and Kotoko's expressions changed at once. The way Hat Mita said it, light and natural, put an edge of vigilance in their eyes.
So it was like that.
Asuna frowned. Asagiri's official girlfriend right now was her, but she already had to deal with Kotoko's constant harassment. Now she had to worry about NPCs too?
How were you supposed to guard against that? Even the Great Wall would be filing for resignation.
"You're pretty kind to me," Asagiri said casually.
Then he pointed toward the three girls behind him and looked straight into Hat Mita's eyes.
"What about them? Are they Players to you too? Do you know their names?"
"Hm… I don't know."
Whenever Hat Mita wasn't doing anything, she slipped back into that cute swaying motion, like a preset idle animation.
"I don't know them. I only know you're a Player, and I know your name. This situation… should be a system bug, maybe?"
Asuna, Kotoko, and Megumi all felt it again.
This Dungeon was too strange.
There were no clear instructions. No obvious objective. They had been inside for fifteen minutes, and nothing had attacked them. They didn't even know what kind of danger was supposed to appear here.
And on top of that, they had a sweet, cheerful AI girlfriend who kept calling Asagiri her Player.
Could it be this Dungeon was some special "reward" prepared by the eye icon app for a high level Player like Asagiri? Just for fun?
Impossible.
Kotoko narrowed her eyes, recalling what they had seen and heard since entering.
"You said earlier there isn't just one Mita. There are lots of other Metas, right?"
"Right."
"Then do you know a Mita with twin pigtails who doesn't wear a hat or gloves, doesn't have the same teardrop makeup as you, and talks a little crazy?"
"Hm? A Mita like that?"
Hat Mita tilted her head, thinking.
"But I only know other Mita exist. I haven't seen them myself, so I don't know what they look like."
"I see…"
Kotoko nodded without pushing further, then looked to Asagiri with curiosity.
"So what do we do next?"
"Time to go."
"Go?"
Kotoko blinked, confused. They had already checked. The windows wouldn't open, and beyond them was only blank white light. The living room door had led to a concrete wall. There was no normal exit anywhere.
"Player… you're leaving?"
Hat Mita's energy drained in an instant. Her swaying stopped completely. She looked at Asagiri with a disappointed, almost pitiful expression.
"Can you play with me a little longer? Just a little… I'm so lonely here by myself…"
"No. I can't."
Asagiri shook his head, firm.
"I'm aiming for a speedrun. I'm not staying here with you the whole time."
Hat Mita looked like her world was ending. Even Asuna and the others felt a flicker of sympathy at the sight.
Then Asagiri suddenly smiled.
"But you can come with me."
"Eh? Come with you? But…"
He cut her off before she could finish.
"You said your purpose as a Mita is to accompany Players, right?"
Hat Mita hesitated, uncertainty flickering across her face.
"That… is true…"
"Then that's it."
Asagiri stepped closer and crouched in front of her, meeting her eyes at the same level. His tone stayed light, but his words were sharp and clear.
"The moment we entered this game, it stopped being a simple game. And you're not just a program chained to the system anymore. If you want to follow me, then come."
"I…"
Hat Mita went silent for a few seconds. Then she looked straight into Asagiri's eyes. Something like resolve settled in her expression, and she nodded hard.
"I've decided. I want to go with you. I don't want to stay here anymore!"
"Alright. Let's go."
Asagiri led Hat Mita toward the living room door. Asuna, Kotoko, and Megumi followed behind, and the moment they reached the doorway, they froze.
The concrete wall that had blocked the exit was gone.
In its place stretched a long corridor lined with oil paintings, the frames hanging tight and heavy on both sides. The far end vanished into the distance.
Megumi stared at the sudden change and murmured softly.
"So that's how it works… The layout is connected to Mita's own thoughts. She believed she couldn't leave, so there was no path. But the moment Leader invited her out, and she made up her mind to go, the path appeared."
"Is that really it?"
Hat Mita looked surprised, then immediately swayed again, proud as ever.
"See? I really am amazing!"
Asuna, Kotoko, and Megumi understood instantly. This Mita, with her hat and gloves, was lively, bright, and relentlessly cheerful.
Kotoko stood at the threshold, eyes narrowing as she studied the corridor. The oil paintings were a mess of chaotic colors and warped shapes. Some resembled faces, but none made real sense. They were meaningless in the way nightmares were meaningless, and that made them worse.
A wary glint appeared in Kotoko's deep purple eyes.
"I can feel a strange aura in this corridor."
She didn't need to warn them. Asuna and Megumi felt it too. Just looking at those twisted canvases made it obvious.
There was danger here.
"I'll scout ahead," Kotoko said.
Megumi spoke immediately. "Then I'll go with you…"
"No." Kotoko waved a hand, smiling as if it were obvious.
"Did you forget my talent? Supernatural beings won't actively attack me. So the best plan is for me to go in alone first and see what's waiting in there, and…"
She took out her phone, handed it to Asagiri, and smiled sweetly.
"Leader, hold onto this for now. If you touch the app, you'll know whether I'm dead, right?"
Asagiri nodded, expression calm.
"But you should also consider the possibility of getting trapped."
"That's true."
Kotoko thought for a moment, then nodded again.
"Alright. Starting the moment I leave, count fifty seconds in your head. If I'm not back by then, use that item."
"Okay."
"Then I'm off."
Kotoko stepped into the corridor without hesitation, leaning on her cane and walking forward with quick, confident steps.
Asuna and Megumi watched her small figure recede. Admiration surfaced in both their eyes.
Kotoko really was capable.
Even though one effect of her talent was "Supernatural beings won't actively attack her," the app had also noted exceptions in special cases, like when a strange being felt its territory had been invaded.
Even so, Kotoko went alone, knowing something was wrong, and showed not the slightest fear or wavering.
When she had only walked about ten meters, the corridor changed.
The oil paintings on both walls suddenly began to shake violently.
One canvas, a warped face rendered in chaotic, nauseating colors, broke free and dropped straight down.
Crack.
Glass shattered as the frame slammed to the floor, landing perfectly in front of Kotoko like a deliberate barricade.
Kotoko stared at it. Then her lips curled slightly, not frightened at all.
"Feeling like your territory's been invaded," she murmured with a smile, "so you're warning me?"
….
Happy Valentine's Day to all my readers.
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With gratitude,
FanficLord03