Anime Crossover: Tokyo Reincarnation Game — Chapter 111

Chapter 111: The Prototype Mita Driven to Madness

Iwanaga Kotoko’s pupils contracted in sheer shock. “Leader!” she screamed into the sudden void.

“Demi-Fiend.”

Asagiri did not need the warning. The very instant the solid floor vanished beneath their boots, he had already called upon his Persona. The towering, dark silhouette of the Demi-Fiend materialized in the empty air. Its massive hands shot out, seizing Kato Megumi and Iwanaga Kotoko by their clothes. Even in a state of absolute weightlessness, the entity possessed terrifying physical power. With a violent heave, it hurled the two girls like ragdolls straight through the massive doorway the monsters had previously shattered.

Without missing a beat, Asagiri drew his Vampire Rope Dart. He whipped his arm forward, sending the vicious blade sailing toward Yuuki Asuna, who was currently suspended in the deadly free-fall a short distance away.

“Got it.”

Asuna was experienced enough to avoid grabbing the lethal tip. Instead, her fingers clamped tightly around the cold metal chain trailing behind it. Yet, even though she was the closest to the safety of the doorway, a gap of nearly a meter remained. Suspended in the empty abyss with absolutely zero use, it was a distance she simply could not cross.

“Castling.”

Even staring down a fatal plummet, Asagiri did not show a single trace of panic. He triggered his skill with cold precision, instantly swapping spatial coordinates with Asuna. The moment he materialized in her previous spot, he summoned the Demi-Fiend a second time.

The dark entity lunged, its right hand crushing into the stone edge of the doorway to anchor itself. Its left hand shot down, grabbing Asagiri by the collar. Meanwhile, Asuna, now safely positioned at the other end of the Rope Dart, had already sheathed her Exorcist Longsword and was gripping the heavy metal chain with both hands.

The Demi-Fiend hauled Asagiri upward with brutal efficiency, and Asagiri, in turn, hauled up Asuna, who clung desperately to the end of the chain.

The moment her boots hit solid ground, Asuna collapsed. The usually resilient and fiercely proud swordswoman slumped against the cold stone, her chest heaving as she tried to process the sheer terror of the drop.

“To think a trap like that was waiting for us…” She gasped for air. “Thank god your reflexes are that fast, Asagiri. We would have been completely wiped out.”

A few paces away, Kotoko picked herself up from where the Demi-Fiend had unceremoniously tossed her and Megumi. She carefully dusted off her skirt, adjusted her signature beret, and instantly reclaimed her aura of dignified elegance.

“That situation just now…” Kotoko mused, tapping her chin in deep thought. “Honestly, without flight capabilities or highly specific spatial equipment, I cannot fathom a standard method of survival. A sudden, unannounced death pit… Even for a second-stage dungeon, even assuming we triggered a hidden high-difficulty quest, the lethality is entirely disproportionate. What bothers me most is the total lack of warning. In the oil painting corridor and the looping hallway, I distinctly sensed a bizarre aura long before the enemies manifested. Could it be that the colossal maw waiting beneath us did not classify as a supernatural entity at all…”

“No need to overthink it.”

Asagiri offered a dry, amused smile at Kotoko’s intense analysis. He raised his right hand, pinching a tarot card bearing the image of Phantylia between his fingers, and crushed it to dust.

“Persona. Mita.”

A burst of energy heralded the arrival of Crazy Mita. Her signature twin-tailed hairstyle was perfectly intact, her severed limbs fully regenerated, and the gruesome damage to her skin completely erased. The moment her boots touched the floor, she scowled, glaring at Asagiri with open hostility.

“Do not refer to me by that name. I am not Mita.”

“I will call you whatever I want.”

Asagiri shot her down with absolute zero grace, entirely stripping away her remaining pride.

“If I call you Mita, you are Mita. If I call you Twin-Tailed Crazy Woman, you are Twin-Tailed Crazy Woman. If I decide you are Cyber Female Ghost, then Cyber Female Ghost it is. My word is reality. You are a prisoner of war. Did you actually think you get to demand dignity? Hmm?”

Crazy Mita seemed to process the brutal reality of her new existence. She swallowed her stubbornness and adopted a flat, cooperative tone.

“Suit yourself. The entity you just encountered was not a monster. It was merely a transitional passage leading to a specific zone. However, a severe system bug caused a massive cluster of corrupted textures to overlay the original architecture. That is why it visually resembled a giant, fleshy mouth.”

“I see.” Kotoko nodded, the missing piece of the puzzle falling into place. “That explains the total absence of a supernatural signature. It was just broken code. So our next move…”

Before the elegant detective could finish her thought, the walls flanking the corridor began to vibrate violently.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A sickening, muffled pounding echoed through the stone. The overhead electric lights flickered erratically, casting long, distorted shadows as a sea of blood-red text began to bleed through the wallpaper on both sides.

Give her back! Give her back! Give her back! Give her back!

Give her back to me! Give her back to me! Give her back to me! Give her back to me!

The four team members stared at the apocalyptic display of bleeding text with deep apathy. The human capacity for fear and adrenaline had strict limits, and after nearly plummeting into an abyssal meat-grinder, this haunted-house parlor trick felt about as threatening as a toddler throwing a tantrum.

“Her? Oh.”

Asagiri tilted his head in mock confusion before slowly turning his gaze to Crazy Mita. A look of exaggerated realization dawned on his face. He looked back at the bleeding walls and allowed a wicked, highly provocative smirk to stretch across his lips.

“You mean her? Your one and only friend? The only person in this entire miserable game willing to tolerate you, Crazy Mita? Well, that is a shame. I am not giving her back. In fact, I am taking her away forever. For the rest of eternity, you will never, ever see her again. I am leaving with Crazy Mita right this second. Bye-bye.”

The more Asagiri spoke, the more violently the corridor shook, the structural tremors perfectly mirroring Prototype Mita’s escalating rage and despair.

Seeing the environment react to his taunts, Asagiri’s smile grew downright sadistic.

“Fascinating. Truly fascinating. Is this not just a digital form of NTR? I am stealing your precious Crazy Mita away.”

Asuna, Kotoko, and Megumi stood in absolute silence, listening to their leader’s gleeful, unhinged laughter.

Are you entirely sure your class is Diplomat and not a Main Tank with a specialized taunt tree?

The sheer efficiency with which he drew absolute hatred was practically an art form.

What made it worse was the flawless delivery of the lie. The dungeon timer clearly displayed over five hours remaining, yet Asagiri spoke with the absolute conviction of a man about to walk out the exit door. It was a blatant, unapologetic fishing attempt designed to drag Prototype Mita out of hiding.

Crazy Mita, who had previously hacked Asagiri’s phone and possessed full knowledge of the system’s actual time limits, obviously knew he was baiting the trap. She merely shot him a sidelong glance and kept her mouth shut.

A dozen seconds later, the violent tremors ceased. At the far end of the corridor, roughly ten meters away, the dead-end corners shifted, grinding upward to reveal a newly formed doorway.

Asagiri casually pulled out his phone, pulling up the game world map provided by Core Mita. The red marker representing Prototype Mita, which had previously been hovering at the very edge of the map, had aggressively relocated. She was now positioned a mere ten zones straight ahead.

“She took the bait. She is desperate.”

Asuna noted the aggressive shift on the map before turning her attention to the twin-tailed Persona standing quietly nearby.

“Prototype Mita is supposed to be your companion, right? Your friend? Are you not going to say anything? Cute Mita begged us to spare her life. Do you not care?”

“It does not matter.”

Crazy Mita shook her head, her voice devoid of any warmth.

“She is a pathetic creature. Because she accumulated so many system bugs, the other Mitas were terrified of her. She has spent her entire existence drowning in isolation and agony. It makes zero difference to me if you butcher her.”

Asuna’s brow furrowed in deep disgust. “Isolation and agony… You are not seriously trying to use Prototype Mita’s tragic backstory to justify your own psychotic behavior, are you?”

“Tch. What nonsense are you spouting?”

Crazy Mita scoffed, shaking her head as a twisted, deeply broken smile crept across her face.

“I do not need justifications. I slaughtered those other Mitas over and over again because, to me, they were nothing but disposable toys. I tortured them because I enjoyed the sound they made. I am simply a broken, deranged existence. Right and wrong? I lack the programming for such concepts. I will never deny the atrocities I committed. But now, as his Persona, my only function is to execute his will.”

Her manic smile faded into a cold, deadpan stare.

“Of course, if my presence offends your delicate sensibilities, you can always ask him to torture me to death to vent your frustration. I was stronger than those doll Mitas, so I did whatever I pleased with them. The logic flows upward. I lost to him. Therefore, he can do whatever he pleases with me. It is a very simple equation.”

“Impudent!”

Kotoko’s sharp, furious reprimand cut through the air. Asuna immediately nodded in solidarity.

“Exactly! Those Mitas did absolutely nothing to provoke you, yet you mutilated them for pure entertainment. And now you stand here acting like a shameless victim, you really are…”

Before Asuna could finish her righteous condemnation, Kotoko stepped forward, pointing a trembling finger directly at Crazy Mita’s face.

“You Cyber Female Ghost! How dare you attempt to seduce him right in front of me! Offering to let him do ‘whatever he pleases’ with you? I think you need a taste of my Netherworld Grip!”

Asuna stared blankly at the detective.

‘…As expected of you…’

A wave of deep exhaustion washed over the swordswoman. For a brief, foolish second, she actually believed Kotoko was stepping up to deliver a moral lecture alongside her.

The first time Asuna got dragged into Kotoko’s abstract, unhinged logic, she blamed the detective for being abnormal. The second and third times, she chalked it up to a bizarre learning curve.

But after surviving together for this long, she still somehow failed to keep her guard up against Kotoko’s sheer absurdity.

At this point, Asuna realized, the problem was entirely her own.