Anime Crossover: Tokyo Reincarnation Game — Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Hidden Rules of the DungeonYou're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

As soon as Yuuki Asuna finished speaking, a line of dark red text bled onto the cracked screen of the dead man’s phone.

[Because the original player has died, non-players can register as a new player within twenty-four hours by tapping this app icon three consecutive times. Upon successful registration, they will inherit all items and equipment of the deceased. Existing players may use this same method to randomly extract one piece of equipment or item owned by the deceased player.]

Asuna frowned, the chilling implications of that simple string of text sinking in.

Ordinary people could bypass the selection process? Worse, existing players could cannibalize the dead for loot? This was a death sentence for anyone holding a phone. She had seen Asagiri’s power firsthand—that ‘Persona’ thing that shattered every law of physics and defied all logic. If the general public found out that surviving these nightmare dungeons granted supernatural abilities, the resulting bloodbath would be catastrophic. The easiest way to get a golden ticket in? Murder a player and steal their phone.

And if a player simply lost their phone without dying, what would happen then?

Asuna couldn’t even begin to guess the answer. She simply watched with a complicated expression as Asagiri casually tapped the eye-shaped icon on the dead man’s phone three times. A faint light flashed, and he extracted the only clearance reward Noguchi Kazukawa had managed to earn: a single, pathetic bottle of medical disinfectant alcohol.

“So,” Asuna said, her voice tight. “You dragged him through the dungeon just to extract this information?”

“Exactly. Information is everything.”

The eye icon on the dead man’s screen dissolved into static and vanished. Asagiri tossed the useless phone aside like trash and met her gaze with a soft, amused laugh.

“Now we know the exact mechanics of forced entry, and the exact profit margins for player-killing,” Asagiri said, pocketing the alcohol. “More, through Noguchi’s pathetic haul, we can confirm a crucial baseline. Most ordinary players won’t get special powers from the Newbie Dungeon clearance rewards, and they won’t even be able to unlock talents or classes. Assuming we are the vanguard and there are no veteran players lurking around, our combat power is overwhelmingly superior to the average person.”

He paused, his dark eyes gleaming with cold calculation. “Naturally, we can’t rule out the anomalies. Professional martial artists, Tokyo Metropolitan Police elites, special forces, or Yakuza enforcers. If people who are already lethal in the real world become players, they’ll be immediate threats.”

Hearing the sheer detachment in his voice, Asuna pursed her lips and finally asked the question that had been eating at her.

“Why… how can you adapt to this so quickly? We’re in a nightmare, yet you don’t seem afraid of anything.”

Asagiri smiled. It was a pleasant, entirely out-of-place expression. “Because I’m incredibly timid.”

“Huh?” Asuna blinked, her brow furrowing. “You? Timid?”

Did his ruthless actions, his casual cruelty, or his deadpan jokes have absolutely anything to do with being timid?

“Terrified,” Asagiri nodded, his smile never wavering. “It’s precisely because I’m such a coward that I refuse to let anyone hold more power than me. I absolutely refuse to be a weakling left at the mercy of others. Therefore, I won’t hesitate, and I won’t hold back.”

Asuna stared at him in silence for a long moment. She let out a quiet sigh, her expression conflicted.

“You really are a completely abnormal person,” she muttered, before shaking her head. “By the way, where did you get that gun? And what was the point of shooting yourself in the head?”

“You mean this?”

The heavy, black firearm materialized in Asagiri’s grip out of thin air. He offered it toward her.and support the real translator.Read at elysianreads.com This is a stolen translation. You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.

“This isn’t a real gun. It doesn’t fire bullets. Think of it as a special item forged from my own psyche, used to summon my Persona. The act of pulling the trigger against my own skull is a symbolic catalyst—it forces me to confront the absolute terror of death.”

Asuna nodded slowly, though a frown tugged at her lips. “Then, if this thing gets stolen or lost, are you just locked out of your power?”

“Impossible.”

Asagiri casually tossed the gun over his shoulder. It clattered against the floorboards and instantly vanished into thin air. A split second later, an identical firearm materialized right back in his palm.

“I told you, it’s a manifestation of my mind. I can summon it whenever I want. As for someone trying to steal it… here. Touch it and see.”

Seeing the expectant smirk curling on Asagiri’s lips, Asuna felt a sudden wave of suspicion. But practice was the only way to find the truth, and if they were going to be teammates in these death games, she needed to understand his limits.

Tentatively, she reached out her fair, slender hand, pressing a single fingertip against the cold steel of the barrel.

The instant her skin made contact, Asuna’s pupils shrank to pinpricks. A violent shudder wracked her entire body. She yanked her hand back as if she’d been burned to the bone, her chest heaving as she gasped for air, her mind reeling with lingering horror.

“What… what the hell is that…”

In that fraction of a second, an indescribable, suffocating dread had crushed her lungs. It wasn’t just fear; it was as if the pure, concentrated concept of ‘Death’ had taken physical form and stared directly into her soul.

Despair. Terror. Complete helplessness.

“That is the sensation of facing death,” Asagiri said smoothly. “Understand now?”

“Yeah… I get it…” Asuna pressed a hand to her chest, trying to force her racing heart to slow down. It was only then she noticed Asagiri watching her with deep amusement. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Oh, nothing,” Asagiri drawled, his tone dripping with dry sarcasm. “I was just admiring the view. A beautiful girl trying to act tough, trembling like a leaf with tears welling up in her eyes after a little scare. It’s very aesthetic.”

“W-Who has tears in their eyes?!” Asuna snapped, her cheeks flushing as she hurriedly dug a packet of tissues out of her pocket and dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

Before she could fire back another retort, her phone vibrated sharply. She pulled it out and read the text glowing on the screen.

[The time limit for this instance has been reached. You will leave in ten seconds.]

“Time’s up,” Asagiri noted, glancing at the identical prompt on his own screen.

He casually bent down, scooping up his bloodstained chainsaw and the electric drill, kicking aside the ruined magazines he had taped to his arms for armor. He looked up, flashing Asuna one last, perfectly polite smile as the space around them began to distort.

“Well then, Yuuki-san. I’ll see you at school.”You're reading this on the wrong site. This chapter was translated by Elysian Reads and posted for free at elysianreads.com — if you're seeing it anywhere else, it was copied without permission. Read it at the source so the people who actually did the work get the credit.