Anime Crossover: Tokyo Reincarnation Game — Chapter 110

Chapter 110: The Persona of the Lovers Card

After finishing her translation, Kind Mita paused. She waited in silence as the small yellow dots scattered across Core Mita’s chassis began to flash rapidly, processing a new stream of data. Once she received the incoming information, she spoke again.

“However, it will not force you to do anything. It knows it lacks the authority or ability to forcibly dictate your actions. That Prototype Mita has absorbed every single bug and glitch that has plagued this game since its development. Just stepping foot into the sector where the Prototype resides is practically a death sentence. Player, you have no obligation to risk your life to save this broken world. But… if you are willing to help, it will provide every ounce of support it can muster.”

Kind Mita suddenly hesitated. Her synthetic eyes widened slightly, as if she couldn’t quite process the sheer weight of the words Core Mita had just transmitted into her neural network. After a long, heavy silence, she looked up at Asagiri and spoke with utmost caution.

“It also said…”

“Please. As long as you are willing to save this world… it will do absolutely anything.”

“Is that so?”

Asagiri replied with a noncommittal hum. His gaze drifted away from the glowing core and landed on the mutilated, limbless body of Crazy Mita lying in a pool of her own synthetic fluids. He pointed a finger at her, asking the most critical question on his mind—one that dictated the immediate future of their four-person party.

“This thing… can it become my Persona?”

“It can…”

Core Mita slowly rotated its massive chassis, focusing its optical sensors on the ruined remains of Crazy Mita. The manic distortion that usually twisted her features was entirely gone, replaced by a hollow, dim despair. The core hummed, transmitting its verdict to Kind Mita, who immediately relayed the message.

“Among all the failed works, you are the most unique anomaly. Although you are not a true Mita, I cannot simply categorize you as a mindless monster either. Right now, you must make a choice.”

“Either you die here. Because you failed the online review and are not recognized as an official Mita, you lack respawn privileges. If you bleed out on this floor, it is a true, permanent death.”

“Or… you go with him. You become the Player’s Persona. Haven’t you always wanted to escape this digital cage? Haven’t you always complained that this world is suffocatingly boring? Then become his Persona.”

Hearing Kind Mita’s translation, Crazy Mita weakly struggled to lift her head from the cold floor. Her dull eyes locked onto Asagiri’s towering figure. After a long, agonizing moment, she gave a slow, mechanical nod, her voice entirely devoid of its former manic emotion.

Once her consent was given, Core Mita finally rose from its resting position. It extended one of its thick, heavy cable-like appendages, gently pressing the metallic port against Crazy Mita’s broken chassis.

A harsh, screeching burst of static electricity instantly filled the room.

Crazy Mita’s physical form began to violently glitch, breaking down into a swirling vortex of glowing electronic symbols and corrupted code. The data twisted and compressed in midair, rapidly shrinking until it solidified into a small, physical object resembling a retro game cartridge. It dropped neatly into Asagiri’s waiting palm.

[New Persona Acquired: Crazy Mita]

[Crazy Mita: A certain entity who called herself “Mita.” In essence, she is a failed prototype that did not pass the online review—a deranged monster born from a severely corrupted core.]

[Strengths: Beneath her organic-looking shell lies pure machinery. All of her physical functions vastly exceed those of normal humans, with endurance and defense being her most prominent attributes.]

[Weaknesses: Although she possesses incredibly high mental resistance, her distorted core program renders her psychological state highly volatile. When subjected to mental attacks that exceed her endurance threshold, she will receive double mental attribute damage.]

[Crazy Mita’s Exclusive Passive: Inventory]

[Inventory: Much like the Player, Crazy Mita possesses her own dimensional storage space. She comes pre-equipped with an arsenal, and you can freely transfer items between your inventory and hers.]

[Current Inventory Equipment: Dagger, Handheld Chainsaw, Fragmentation Grenade (x10), Stun Gun, Pistol, Katana, Crowbar.]

[Note: The equipment and items in her initial inventory, even if damaged or entirely consumed, will automatically replenish the next time she is summoned.]

[Exclusive Skill:??? (Not yet unlocked)]

[Corresponding Tarot Card: The Lovers (Reversed)]

“A new Persona…”

Yuuki Asuna watched quietly as the holographic data of the cartridge dissolved and merged smoothly into Asagiri’s hand.

“Demi-Fiend, Alice, and now Crazy Mita. That means all three of your slots are full.”

At this current stage, Asagiri was strictly limited to three Persona slots. With Crazy Mita’s addition, his roster was maxed out. If he wanted to subjugate any new entities, he would need to find a way to expand his capacity.

However, the survival game’s system offered absolutely zero guidance on how to upgrade Persona slots. Perhaps it expected the players to figure out the mechanics through trial and error, or perhaps the system was only designed to awaken a player’s innate talents, leaving the subsequent evolution entirely up to fate.

“Player.”

Kind Mita stepped closer to Asagiri. She pursed her lips, her synthetic features contorted into a deeply human expression of worry.

“Have you truly decided? As much as I want you to save our home, Core Mita wasn’t exaggerating. That prototype is a walking catastrophe. Even if you choose to walk away and avoid this risk, I would completely understand…”

“No need to say more.”

Asagiri raised a hand, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Seeing his dismissive gesture, a wave of visible sorrow washed over the faces of Kind Mita, Hat Mita, and the others. Assuming he was rejecting the suicide mission, Kind Mita took a deep, shuddering breath. She forced a fragile smile, gently tucking a strand of hair behind her ear to mask her disappointment.

“I suppose that’s fair. After all, it really is too dangerous…”

“The wave wasn’t a refusal. I was telling you there’s no need to say more.”

Asagiri reached out, his large hand gently resting on top of Kind Mita’s head. He gave her hair a soft, reassuring ruffle, a faint smirk playing on his lips.

“I will turn this world into a place where you never have to live in fear again. A place where you can exist without constantly looking over your shoulders. That is my absolute determination as a Player.”

Kind Mita froze. Her digital eyes widened in sheer awe, a deep sense of emotion swelling within her chest. A deep, highly human blush spread across her synthetic cheeks.

“Player…”

Standing a few feet away, Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko exchanged a long, deadpan look. Both girls were utterly speechless.

In a certain sense… this brutal dungeon felt like it had been tailor-made specifically for Asagiri’s brand of madness.

While other players were out there screaming, bleeding, and fighting for their miserable lives on the edge of despair, this guy was casually building a harem out of the local horror NPCs.

After finalizing their objective to eliminate the source of the anomalies—the Prototype Mita—the four-person squad prepared to leave the safety of the core area and officially begin their dungeon strategy.

While Core Mita lacked the offensive capability to directly interfere with the Prototype, it still retained administrator privileges over the game world. It could provide crucial logistical support, pinging Asagiri’s phone with real-time navigation and danger alerts for corrupted sectors.

However, this time, they would be marching without their usual entourage. Hat Mita, Kind Mita, Cute Mita, Short-haired Mita, and Chibi Mita had to stay behind.

Because the Prototype was essentially a walking singularity of corrupted code, any official Mita who had passed the system review would suffer catastrophic program crashes just by stepping into its proximity.

Only Crazy Mita—a rejected, unverified anomaly who wasn’t technically recognized by the system—possessed the unique ability to ignore the localized glitches. It was the exact same loophole that had allowed her to exploit the Prototype’s power and run rampant across the game world in the first place.

“Player…”

As they reached the exit, Hat Mita dropped her usual playful, mischievous facade. She looked up at Asagiri with genuine dread in her eyes, her voice uncharacteristically soft.

“You have to come back alive.”

“Don’t worry.”

Asagiri didn’t even look back. He simply nodded, stepping out of the facility alongside Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Kotoko. His voice was calm, dripping with absolute, unshakable arrogance.

“I am the strongest.”

Stepping out of the Core Machine Room, the group found themselves in a sprawling outdoor sector that heavily resembled the metallic gantry of an outer space base station. The sky above was a void of static.

“Hiss… it’s freezing…”

Kotoko shivered violently, rubbing her arms as the biting, unnatural wind tore through the sector.

Seeing the smaller girl trembling, Asuna let out a soft, helpless sigh.

“I told you not to wear those light clothes into a dungeon. Now you’re paying the price, right?”

Without hesitation, Asuna unzipped her sports jacket, slipping it off and draping it snugly over Kotoko’s shoulders.

“Here. Wear it.”

But the moment Kotoko pulled the fabric around herself, Asagiri casually shrugged off his own heavy jacket and draped it over Asuna’s shoulders.

“Then you wear mine.”

Asuna blinked, entirely caught off guard. A faint, rosy tint dusted her cheeks. She looked at Asagiri, who was now standing in the freezing wind wearing nothing but a thin, black long-sleeved shirt.

“But… won’t you be cold?” she asked softly.

“I’m fine. With my physical stats, this level of temperature drop doesn’t even register.”

“Then… okay…” Asuna murmured, pulling his jacket tighter around herself, burying her face slightly into the collar to hide her smile.

Watching the sickeningly sweet exchange, Kotoko’s eye twitched. She was half a second away from loudly complaining about the blatant PDA and screaming about NTR, but before she could open her mouth, a piercing, high-decibel alarm erupted from Asagiri’s phone.

“Core Mita just sent a danger alert.”

The moment the words left Asagiri’s mouth, a heavy metal blast door fifty yards away violently buckled and blew outward.

Pouring out of the dark corridor were several grotesque, humanoid abominations. They had no skin, no eyes, and no facial features—just raw, dark red, pulsating muscle tissue. Emitting guttural, wet roars, the flesh-monsters broke into a frantic sprint, charging directly at the group.

“Blessing of the Wind.”

A sharp, metallic ring echoed through the cold air.

Draped in her crimson cloak, Asuna vanished from her spot. She reappeared directly in front of the charging horde in a blur of kinetic motion. The Exorcist Longsword in her grip lashed out, delivering a flurry of blindingly fast thrusts that the naked eye couldn’t even track.

With a graceful pivot, she performed a flawless sword flourish, snapping the blade back into its sheath with a sharp click.

“Resolved,” she said calmly.

A second later, the skinless monsters froze. Perfect, gaping holes appeared directly through their featureless faces, and their massive bodies slumped heavily to the steel floor, dead before they even realized they had been struck.

Watching the flawless execution, Megumi, who also favored close-quarters combat, couldn’t help but murmur in genuine awe.

“Asuna… that was so cool…”

Kotoko, however, frowned. She stared at the twitching corpses, her tactical mind already spinning. The entire ambush had been dismantled in less than two seconds.

“Is it really just this simple? The so-called Prototype Mita’s defenses shouldn’t just be a few mindless—”

Before Kotoko could finish her sentence, the environment violently shifted.

Without a single sound, the solid steel floor beneath all four of them simply ceased to exist. Gravity took hold instantly. As they plummeted into the sudden abyss, the darkness below tore open, revealing a colossal, cavernous mouth lined with rows of jagged, razor-sharp fangs.

And waiting at the bottom of the throat was a writhing, suffocating mass of dense, tentacle-like tongues, reaching up to drag them into the dark.