Chapter 149: Four Teams Discussing the Operation Plan
That night, deep in a desolate mountain range in Chiba Prefecture.
"Hoo… hoo… We finally made it…"
Fujiwara Chika leaned against a nearby tree, sweat beading across her forehead. She looked half dead on her feet, breathing so hard it was like she had just sprinted the whole way.
"I told you ages ago to exercise more," Kaguya Shinomiya said, frowning as she looked her over. "Even if clearing a Dungeon can improve your physical stats, there's still no downside to training. Besides, you're already the type who's a little… chubby."
"Eh? What did you just say?!" Chika's face turned red instantly. "I'm not chubby at all, okay?! I have a standard figure!"
Hayasaka Ai glanced at Chika's chest, then calmly shook her head.
"Is it because a certain part of you is too much in the way?"
"Ugh…"
Chika's cheeks flushed even harder. She puffed them out in outrage and muttered under her breath, "Hmph. One of you is flat chested, and the other uses padding. You're just jealous."
"Enough," Kaguya said, cutting off the argument before it could escalate. Her gaze shifted to the narrow path winding through the dark forest. "If the guy I interrogated wasn't lying, the research base is somewhere deeper in this mountain. Let's find a safe spot to rest for the night, then start searching in the morning…"
She was only halfway through the sentence when a bright, cheerful voice floated from behind them.
"Excuse me. Can I interrupt for a moment?"
Kaguya's pupils contracted.
She spun around, her long blade already in her hand. The tip pointed straight at a cute girl standing a few meters away.
The girl wore a red sweater and a blue skirt, with a blue cat ear hat and matching blue gloves. She swayed slightly, smiling as if she had wandered into the wrong picnic.
A chill leaked from Kaguya's red eyes.
"Who are you?" Kaguya demanded. "And what do you want, sneaking up on us without a sound?"
"I wasn't trying to hide," the girl replied with an innocent smile. "But the fact that you didn't notice me at all proves you're exhausted. You can't even maintain basic vigilance."
Then she lifted both hands lightly, as if to reassure them.
"Relax. I don't have any ill will. I'm a Player too."
"You're a Player?" Fujiwara Chika echoed, still on edge.
"Yes."
Hat Mita extended her right hand. An inflatable toy hammer popped into existence in her grip, then vanished again the next second.
"How about that? Believe me now?"
Kaguya, Chika, and Hayasaka all tightened their expressions, but the demonstration was hard to deny. Only Players could store and retrieve items like that.
Even so, Kaguya didn't lower her guard. Her voice stayed cold.
"If you're a Player, then what's your purpose? Why approach us alone?"
"Cooperation, of course," Hat Mita said brightly, like she was offering a discount coupon. "You've encountered the Anti-Ajin Special Forces mobile units, right? If you have, then you should already understand."
Her smile didn't fade.
"With just the three of you, it's absolutely impossible to break through the research base's defenses and obtain the experimental data stored inside."
Hayasaka snorted, unimpressed.
"We're not the only Players aiming for that base. Since you're here too, doesn't that mean you want to break in and take the data as well?"
"That's true," Hat Mita admitted without hesitation. "But here's the problem."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Different Player teams can't truly cooperate. They don't trust each other. They watch each other. They sabotage each other."
Her voice stayed sweet, but the logic was sharp.
"Now add everything else on top of that. Breaking through the base defenses. Dealing with the Anti-Ajin Special Forces mobile units. Finding the route to where the experimental data is stored, then actually reaching it."
She spread her hands.
"Do you think that can succeed? Or to put it another way… even if you succeed, do you think you'll survive the process?"
Kaguya and the others fell silent.
Hat Mita wasn't wrong.
Players were not a unified faction. Even if everyone shared the same ultimate goal of clearing the Dungeon, it was impossible for them to truly trust strangers.
And the situation was brutally simple: the Player who personally obtained the experimental data would receive the highest reward. The rest might get a higher evaluation for "assisting," but it would never compare to completing the clear objective themselves.
Under rewards like that, even teammates could betray each other, let alone unknown Players.
If they attacked the research base like this, the probability of a successful clear was tiny. The more likely outcome was grim.
No one gets the data. Everyone gets trapped in this world. One by one, they're hunted down by the Anti-Ajin Special Forces or other official forces until the Dungeon ends in a full wipe.
"You all seem smart," Hat Mita said, deliberately giving them time to process before continuing. "So you understand the logic, right?"
"Therefore, among our Player teams, we need at least one thing."
She raised a finger.
"A consensus. Cooperation might be impossible, but we must at least make sure we don't hinder each other."
After saying that, Hat Mita turned and walked into the dense forest nearby. Just before she disappeared into the shadows, she glanced back over her shoulder.
"The choice is yours. But if you really want to clear the Dungeon…"
She smiled.
"Follow me."
…
In the end, Kaguya Shinomiya decided to hear her out.
The three of them followed Hat Mita through the forest until they reached a hidden clearing.
Two Player teams were already there.
One team consisted of three men who looked about twenty. They were visibly tired, but their clothes were still neat and clean.
The other team looked much worse.
There were five people total, three men and two women. The oldest looked around forty. The youngest male looked like a university student, maybe freshly graduated.
Their clothes were stained with blood, and even though they tried to hide it, Kaguya could tell immediately.
They were grieving.
It was likely they had lost teammates on the way here.
At this stage, most Players, even high level ones, couldn't withstand bullets. Dying during pursuit by the Anti-Ajin Special Forces was normal.
"Okay," Hat Mita said brightly, clapping her hands once. "Including the team that just arrived and the team I belong to, that makes four Player teams total."
The leader of the three man team frowned and stepped forward.
"All three of our teams are here. So where's your team? Why are you alone? Don't tell me…"
"You misunderstood," Hat Mita said with a smile.
Everyone relaxed slightly, expecting a patient explanation.
Then her next words hit like a slap.
"Just because I invited your three teams to discuss," Hat Mita said sweetly, "you didn't actually think your teams were on equal footing with mine, did you?"
Her gaze swept across everyone present, including Kaguya, Chika, and Hayasaka. The smile on her face stayed cute, but the atmosphere turned heavy.
"Don't get it twisted. The earliest among you arrived only half an hour ago."
She tilted her head.
"My team arrived eight hours ago. Back when it was still light out."
"What…?"
Disbelief rippled through the clearing.
Eight hours ago?
That meant only four hours after entering the Dungeon, Hat Mita's team had already completed every major obstacle: finding the research base's location, breaking through the bureau's blockades, and reaching Chiba Prefecture.
If the difference was thirty minutes, even an hour, you could blame luck.
But this?
This was a gap in level.
A huge one.
"Looks like you all understand," Hat Mita said, still smiling, yet every word made their hearts tighten.
"You're the first three teams to arrive after us. That's why we gave you the qualification to discuss the battle plan."
Then she stuck out her tongue and made a cute face.
"But you?"
"You don't have the right to question us."
TL: Check out my newly released fanfic
Germany: The Thousand Year Empire
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