Chapter 143: The First Stage of the Test
The shout outside the door made everyone tense at once.
Not only Asagiri, but also Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi immediately sensed something was off.
Routine check?
A normal routine check would start at the entrance of the internet cafe and move inward, knocking on doors in order. There was no reason to skip the first few rooms and come straight to theirs.
Worse, the attitude outside was far too aggressive. A patrol officer doing identity checks would not bark like that, especially in an internet cafe where quiet was expected. No one who cared about "routine" would yell loud enough to disturb half the floor.
Kato Megumi looked at Asagiri and spoke in a voice so soft it barely carried.
"Leader… what do we do? My exclusive talent and special class skills won't help here."
Her exclusive talent did not grant invisibility. It reduced presence. In other words, it did not make people unable to see her, it made them less likely to notice her.
But the double room was tiny. The whole place could be scanned in a single glance. And judging from the posture and tone outside, they were here specifically for them. The moment the door opened, the other side would focus completely. In that situation, even if Kato lowered her and Asagiri's presence to the limit, it would not matter.
Before Asagiri could answer, the person outside grew impatient. A deep, middle aged voice snapped through the door.
"Kick it open. You and you, aim at the doorway. If they move wrong, shoot immediately."
Yuuki Asuna's expression changed. She drew her Exorcist Longsword and gripped it tightly, ready to break through the moment Asagiri gave the word.
But the next second, Asagiri gently pressed down on the wrist holding her sword.
At the same time, he lifted his left hand and caught a phantom tarot card drifting down from midair. His fingers clenched. The card shattered.
"Persona, Mita."
"Ugh… so sleepy…"
A Mita appeared in the cramped room, wearing red pajamas. An eye mask sat crooked on her head, her long blue hair messy and tangled, her eyes half lidded with exhaustion.
The instant she manifested, an overwhelming wave of drowsiness slammed into the room.
Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi both felt it first. It was the kind of exhaustion that came after staying awake for three days and three nights, then running a marathon on sheer will. Their thoughts blurred until only one idea remained.
Sleep.
Even Iwanaga Kotoko, a Warlock with extremely high mental strength, was not spared. She held out longer than the others, but only barely. Her gaze started to drift, unfocused.
"Go back," Asagiri said.
Sleepy Mita rubbed her eyes, voice weak and slow.
"Oh… okay. Then I'll go back to sleep…"
Her words trailed off lazily.
And then she vanished.
The pressure lifted instantly. Yuuki Asuna and the others snapped back to clarity, breathing a little too fast, like they had just surfaced from deep water.
"That was terrifying…"
Yuuki Asuna shook her head, voice low, a trace of lingering fear in her eyes.
"Sleepy Mita's ability is way too strong. I can't even imagine fighting like that…"
Under that influence, she and Kato had to grit their teeth just to keep their eyes open. Fighting was not even a question.
"It's not that strong."
Asagiri shook his head. He walked to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open.
Four Suit Men lay collapsed in the corridor, sprawled on the carpet like discarded puppets. Their breathing was steady. One of them even let out a soft, baby like snore.
Asagiri's tone stayed calm.
"It affects me the same way when I summon Sleepy Mita. My mental strength is just the highest, so I can barely stay awake. If I run into someone with comparable mental strength, we both get dragged down. I don't gain an advantage."
He added evenly, as if stating a simple fact.
"And using her ability drains my mental strength heavily. It's only useful in situations like this."
As he spoke, he crouched beside the Suit Men and began checking their belongings.
"This is…"
Asagiri lifted a black handgun from the floor.
Iwanaga Kotoko immediately moved closer, eyes narrowing as she examined it.
"The standard issue sidearm for ordinary Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department members should be a small caliber, low power revolver. Limited lethality. Sometimes it can't even penetrate the body."
Her frown deepened.
"But these are different. Semi automatic pistols, higher power, harder to handle. That means they aren't ordinary police."
Kotoko's assessment matched what most people in Tokyo knew. Most Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department officers were not armed at all. Even those who carried sidearms, like some frontline detectives, usually had low caliber revolvers.
Part of it was control. Stop the criminal without killing them on the spot.
Part of it was safety. Prevent a stray bullet from passing through a target and hitting a bystander.
But what these men carried was built for lethality.
Asagiri searched their wallets. None contained anything that could confirm identity.
Then he took one of their phones and activated Crazy Mita's ability.
Nearly thirty seconds passed.
"All right. Let's go."
Asagiri tossed the phone back onto the carpet.
He naturally took the firearms. There were four of them, and coincidentally, the team had four people. Each of them got one.
…
After leaving the internet cafe, Asagiri led Yuuki Asuna and the others to a deserted area behind a building. Only there did the four finally loosen their shoulders, just a little.
"Who were those people…?" Yuuki Asuna asked, still uneasy.
Asagiri raised a hand and rubbed his temples, the fatigue not fully hidden.
"They're from the Anti Demi Human Special Operations Group. Their phones have trackers installed."
Since entering the Dungeon, Asagiri had already used Crazy Mita's exclusive ability twice, Sleepy Mita's exclusive ability once, and summoned Kind Mita once.
Even with his current mental strength, it was starting to wear.
Seeing that, Yuuki Asuna stepped behind him without hesitation. Her hands, fair and gentle, pressed lightly to his temples and began to massage in slow circles. Her voice softened, worry slipping through.
"Are you okay? Let's rest a bit first, then talk."
"No. There's no time."
Asagiri suppressed the mental strain. To keep her from worrying, he forced his tone into calm steadiness.
"When Crazy Mita infiltrated that phone just now, she found hidden data. As subordinates of the Anti Demi Human Special Operations Group, they received a mission."
He looked up, eyes steady.
"Tokyo has a total of one hundred twenty suspicious individuals, suspected of being Abyss Men. No photos, no portraits. Just written descriptions."
His gaze moved across the three girls.
"And the four of us are on that list."
Yuuki Asuna's expression shifted sharply.
"You mean… our appearances were exposed? And they're treating us as Abyss Men?"
Her worry sharpened into something colder.
"Wait. You said one hundred twenty suspicious individuals. Could that mean the one hundred twenty are the Players who entered this Dungeon?"
"Probably," Asagiri said. "But that's not all."
He gently squeezed Yuuki Asuna's hand, a silent signal that he was fine. Then he looked at Iwanaga Kotoko and Kato Megumi.
"In the list of one hundred twenty, there were no descriptions like 'beautiful girl with black hair and red eyes,' or 'cute beautiful girl with pink hair, blue eyes, and an outstanding figure.'"
Kotoko immediately understood who he meant.
Kaguya Shinomiya and Fujiwara Chika.
She thought for a moment, then spoke carefully.
"Is it possible those two didn't enter this Dungeon?"
"Impossible."
Asagiri's answer was immediate, his tone flat with certainty.
"That pink haired troublemaker emailed me asking to meet alone on Saturday. She isn't the type to freeze up just because she sees a handsome guy. Whether she meant it as a test or just for fun, the premise is the same."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"She knew there would be a super large Dungeon involving high level Players this Saturday. That means they both signed up, and they were confirmed to participate."
He continued without pause.
"And they're also in Tokyo. So yes, it isn't absolutely impossible for their appearance information to stay hidden, but it's extremely unlikely."
The more he spoke, the clearer the outline became.
"Judging by how this system usually operates, any preferential treatment high level Players get is limited to things like special hints. Once you enter the Dungeon, your situation is basically the same as everyone else. There wouldn't be an obvious difference in treatment."
He let the conclusion land.
"So the most likely reason they aren't on Tokyo's list is that their entry point was different. Not Tokyo."
"Another city."
"We can talk about that later," Asagiri added, shifting the topic back to urgency. "Right now, our top priority is…"
He did not have to finish.
Kato Megumi's calm voice answered for him.
"To leave as soon as possible. The longer we stay, the harder it becomes to disappear."