In the anime, people are in everyday Tokyo, but they are playing the reincarnation game Chapter 063

Chapter 63: The Fun of Being a “Player”

“So that’s how it is…”

Hearing that Asagiri had considered her talent, “Flash,” when suggesting a dungeon with the keyword “Zombie,” Yuuki Asuna’s pretty face flushed. She tucked a strand of long hair behind her ear, turning her head away, not daring to meet his gaze directly. She suppressed her shy emotions and whispered softly, “That… thank you.”

“Wuwuwu, unfair, unfair!”

Seeing the smiling Asagiri and the slightly shy Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko was like a little girl who had lost her beloved toy. She immediately lay on the ground and started rolling around, continuously complaining, “Why wasn’t I assigned to the same beginner dungeon as Asagiri? Why wasn’t I the first to meet him? Unfair, unfair! I demand a rematch!”

Seeing this, Katou Megumi suddenly asked a question that made Yuuki Asuna’s pretty face turn crimson, and she didn’t even know how to respond.

“Yuuki-san, are you and Utsunomiya-san a couple?”

“No, no, no, no, we’re not… That… Kotoko is just fooling around, Katou-san, don’t mind her.”

“Oh, I see.”

Katou Megumi seemed to have seen through everything. She nodded calmly, then took out her smartphone and started playing with it, entering the legendary Saint Megumi mode, showing the demeanor of an aloof expert.

“Alright, stop for now.”

Hearing Asagiri’s words, Iwanaga Kotoko quickly scrambled up from the ground. The wronged and pitiful expression vanished, immediately replaced by a serious one. Her change of expression was so fast that Yuuki Asuna even suspected that her awakened exclusive talent was Persona.

“Besides what I just said, there’s another reason for choosing to enter a dungeon with the keyword ‘Zombie’.”

Asagiri looked at Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Katou Megumi in front of him, and said calmly, “With our team’s current strength, which completely overwhelms most players, entering any type of first-stage dungeon will result in a high-level clear rating. I want to enter the dungeon corresponding to the ‘Zombie’ keyword mainly to explore the so-called worldview of the dungeon and the essence of this game.”

“Worldview… essence?”

“Exactly.”

Asagiri nodded slightly, patiently explaining, “Currently, the known dungeon worldviews include the world of Giant Mountain Asylum and that hotel, let’s temporarily call it the ‘Eerie World’. The biggest mystery in that world is the information we learned in the hotel dungeon last time: ‘the people in black clothes’. This time’s dungeon, since the keyword is ‘Zombie’, if it’s truly a zombie apocalypse type dungeon as I suspect, then three problems arise.”

“First, are the world of the zombie apocalypse and the Eerie World the same world?”

“Second, if they are not the same world, then does this ‘game’s’ so-called ‘dungeons’ ultimately just transport us to one world after another, filled with different types of dangers?”

“Third, all current dungeons are PVE type survival or escape. Since the ‘game’s’ main goal isn’t to make players kill each other, why does the dungeon set so many trials and issue so many rewards to ‘players’? Who is the real enemy? Is it ‘the group of people in black clothes’ that Alice mentioned in the last dungeon, who clearly entered the hotel and could have dealt with the eerie source of the floating corpse in the water tank, but ultimately did nothing?”

Upon hearing Asagiri’s words, Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Katou Megumi were all stunned.

“Uh…”

“Of course, you don’t need to consider these things for now.”

Seeing his three teammates looking confused, their brains seemingly overloaded, Asagiri simply waved his hand and smiled, “I just think that as ‘players’, exploring the ‘game’s’ worldview and truth, even if there’s no obvious reward for now, is a very interesting and fun thing to do.”

“You really treat this ‘game’ as a real game, don’t you?”

Yuuki Asuna shook her head with a wry smile, her tone soft, “Whatever you want. Actually, I’m also quite curious about the truth hidden behind this app. But for now, the most important thing is to ensure we can survive in the dungeon. Only players with enough strength to easily clear the dungeon have the leisure to explore the truth, right?”

“Then it’s settled, let’s choose the dungeon corresponding to the ‘Zombie’ keyword.”

Hearing that Asagiri had made his decision, Iwanaga Kotoko’s eyes sparkled, as if another wonderful idea had sprung up. She said with a smile, “Oh, Katou-san said she’s going to tell her parents she’s staying at a friend’s house on Tuesday night. In that case, why don’t we all gather at my house on Tuesday night, and then on Wednesday, we can all enter the dungeon from the same location?”

“Go to your house?”

Yuuki Asuna stared at the smiling Iwanaga Kotoko, half-believing, half-doubting, “I always feel like you have some ulterior motives. You wouldn’t be planning to do something like a night raid while Asagiri is sleeping at your house, would you?”

Iwanaga Kotoko shook her head seriously. “How could I? I’m not that kind of person.”

Yuuki Asuna rolled her eyes and said crossly, “That statement has no convincing power coming from you. But if Asagiri agrees, I don’t care.”

Asagiri looked at Iwanaga Kotoko and asked with a light smile, “If we enter the dungeon at your house, can you ensure absolute safety?”

“Don’t worry, absolutely no problem.”

Iwanaga Kotoko patted her chest, pledging confidently, “Besides, my bed is big and soft, and it’s quite lonely sleeping alone~”

Asagiri nodded slightly and replied without hesitation, “Alright, then the four of us will sleep together.”

Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna were both dumbfounded at this.

“Huh?”

Katou Megumi didn’t even lift her head, just continued playing on her phone, saying calmly, “If there’s a legitimate reason, I don’t mind.”

“Katou-san, don’t just calmly agree with this guy!”

Yuuki Asuna bit her silver teeth lightly, crossing her arms over her chest in a defensive posture, glaring fiercely at Asagiri. “Four people sleeping together… Don’t talk nonsense here, Kotoko’s house doesn’t only have one room!”

“Look at what you’re saying, I’m not doing this for my own selfish desires.”

Asagiri explained seriously, “Sleeping separately is fine, of course, but what if someone secretly sneaks into my room at night and is discovered by someone else among you? Wouldn’t that easily lead to a shuraba? I’m making this sacrifice as the Leader to prevent conflicts within the team and ultimately prevent it from falling apart.”

“You’re making a sacrifice now?”

Yuuki Asuna sighed speechlessly, pressing her hand to her forehead in exasperation. “Besides, who would do something like secretly sneaking into your room at night…”

Halfway through her sentence, Iwanaga Kotoko interrupted her with a serious expression. “Hard to say.”

“Please, both of you, be serious, alright?”

Yuuki Asuna was almost amused by her frustration. She looked at Katou Megumi, asking for help from their newly joined teammate. “Katou-san, you also think sleeping separately is the normal choice, right?”

Hearing Yuuki Asuna call her name, Katou Megumi put down her phone and looked up, thoughtfully. “Hmm… I’m fine either way.”

“Fine either way what…”

Looking at the overly calm Katou Megumi, the always-saying-outrageous-things Iwanaga Kotoko, and Asagiri, who, though trustworthy as a Leader, often had unexpected and somewhat abstract personality and behavior, Yuuki Asuna felt a heavy burden.

In this four-person team…

It seemed only she was normal…

…

Tuesday night, in the luxurious, castle-like mansion living room where Iwanaga Kotoko resided.

“Before we officially enter the dungeon, let’s reiterate the precautions.”

Asagiri looked at Katou Megumi, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Yuuki Asuna, and slowly began, “Based on our current information, the difficulty of the first-stage dungeon definitely won’t be too high. After all, most players are currently at the level of ordinary people. Therefore, this dungeon we’re about to enter, like the last hotel one, must have also undergone difficulty balancing. It’s the kind of dungeon that even players who have only cleared beginner dungeons have hope of completing.”

“Given that, there are three possibilities for the types of zombies in the dungeon. The first type: if scratched or bitten, you get infected with the virus and die, then turn into a zombie, but they move slowly and can’t even run.”

“The second type: they move quickly, and there might even be special infected, but you won’t get infected with the virus and die if they injure you.”

“The third type: they move slowly, and being scratched or bitten doesn’t spread the virus. At the current dungeon difficulty, this is the most likely and least threatening type to appear.”

“Of course, there are also differences like sensitive hearing, sensitive sight, sensitive smell, but the most fundamental and important difference is ‘whether or not you will get infected with the virus by being scratched or bitten by a zombie’.”

Iwanaga Kotoko nodded, thoughtfully. “Hmm… The first type seems easier to deal with, but there’s no room for error. If possible, I’d still prefer the second or third type. And… I’ve been researching zombies online these past two days. Strictly speaking, these fictional things should just be animated corpses, right? It’s hard to say if my ‘Curse Gaze’ will have any effect on them…”

“In any case, clearing the dungeon is definitely not a problem for us. The key is how to achieve a high-level clear rating.”

Asagiri looked at Katou Megumi and said with a smile, “If the zombies in this dungeon are the type with perception similar to normal humans, or even less acute, then Katou-san, your exclusive talent will come in handy.”