Anime Crossover: Tokyo Reincarnation Game — Chapter 37

Chapter 37: A Teenage Girl in Love Won’t Dream of an Abstract Male LeadYou'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.

Yuuki Asuna didn’t know what to say anymore. Her entire worldview had just been flipped on its head.

Surviving a death game filled with Evil Spirits was shocking enough. But now, Iwanaga Kotoko was casually claiming that the real world was also crawling with yokai, spirits, and other bizarre anomalies—entities that ordinary people simply couldn’t see.

Asuna took several deep, measured breaths, forcing her racing heart to settle.

She pulled out her phone, the screen casting a harsh glare in the dim light. The time ticked forward. The ambient temperature in the room was steadily climbing, the air growing thick and stifling. Wiping a bead of sweat from her brow, she turned her attention to Asagiri, who sat quietly in the corner.

“Leader, are you fully recovered?”

“I’m fine,” he replied, his tone flat and unbothered.

“Then we should move,” Asuna said, tapping her screen. “It’s been two hours since we entered this instance. If we drag this out, the variables will only multiply. We need to locate the source of the anomaly and eliminate it as soon as possible.”

Kotoko leaned forward, her cane resting against her knee. “When I investigated the fifth floor earlier, the door to the stairwell was deadbolted. I couldn’t open it. But when I tried to sense the area… there wasn’t a single trace of anomaly on that entire floor. It was a complete dead zone.”

She paused, letting the implication hang in the heavy air. “If this hotel really hides a weapon capable of completely eradicating Evil Spirits, it has to be on the fifth floor. I suggest we secure that weapon before we confront the source.”

Asagiri gave a curt nod. The plan was set. He led Asuna and Kotoko out of the stifling room, stepping back into the oppressive gloom of the hallway.

Naturally, they hadn’t forgotten the two dead weights who were already contaminated by the anomaly.

The Suit Man and the Woman with Heavy Makeup were forced to the front of the formation, acting as unwilling scouts. Asuna, Asagiri, and Kotoko trailed exactly one stairwell landing behind them. It was a calculated distance—close enough to hear any sudden screams, but far enough away to avoid the splash zone if the two contaminated players suddenly swelled up and exploded into a shower of gore.

“Leader,” Kotoko chimed in, her voice suddenly soft and demure. “Could I ask you for a tiny favor?”

Asagiri glanced back, a faint, unreadable smile on his face. “What is it, Necro?”

“My stamina really isn’t the best, and handling these steep stairs is quite difficult for me…” She tilted her head, flashing a sickeningly sweet, helpless smile. “Could you carry me on your back?”

Asuna’s brow twitched violently. She stared at the petite girl. ‘Sure, her stamina is terrible, and yes, her left leg is a prosthetic.’ But Asuna wasn’t an idiot. This wasn’t about mobility. This was a blatant, calculated move to press herself against Asagiri.

The mere mental image of Kotoko clinging to Asagiri’s back made a sour knot twist in Asuna’s chest. She immediately stepped between them.

“I’ll carry you,” Asuna offered, her voice clipped.

“Eh? Violet, you will?” Kotoko blinked, her expression a mask of innocent concern. “But you’re a girl. Your stamina can’t possibly compare to our Leader’s, right? If carrying me drains your energy and we run into an ambush, it would put the whole team in danger.”

Asuna opened her mouth to argue, but the words died in her throat. She couldn’t refute the logic.

Even though she was a combat-oriented Swordsman and Asagiri was technically a support-class Diplomat, the gap in their physical specs was laughable. Asuna was incredibly fit for a high school girl, but Asagiri was a freak of nature.

He already possessed the baseline physique of an elite, once-in-a-century athlete. Stacked with the passive enhancements from his Demi-Fiend class, his raw strength, speed, endurance, and explosive power were scraping the absolute ceiling of human capability.

“Hmm. Necro makes a fair point,” Asagiri said calmly. “I’ll do it.”

Kotoko’s smile widened into a triumphant beam. She was already mentally choreographing her next moves: pretend to be shy, gently hop onto his broad back, press her cheek against the crook of his neck, and strategically sway with his footsteps to maximize physical contact. She was going to lock him down before this death game even ended.

Then, the world tilted.

“Huh? W-Wait, huh?!”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.

Asagiri reached out, grabbed the petite girl with one hand, and effortlessly hoisted her into the air. With a fluid, mechanical motion, he slammed her onto his right shoulder, positioning her exactly like a loaded rocket launcher.

He adjusted his grip, leaving his left hand free, and casually waved it forward.

“Alright. Let’s move.”

Asuna stared at the sight—Asagiri casually wielding a bewildered, upside-down Kotoko like a piece of heavy artillery—and clamped a hand over her mouth. A sharp snort of laughter escaped her lips.

‘Heh. Trying to scheme against him?’Asuna thought, highly amused.’Necro, you clearly have no idea how utterly abstract our Leader is.’

Dangling awkwardly over his shoulder, Kotoko flushed red. “Um… Leader? Could you maybe do a princess carry instead?”

Asuna blinked, her amusement shifting to mild shock. ‘She looks so small and innocent, but she’s actually a total carnivore! How can she be so direct?’

Asagiri shook his head, his expression deadpan and deeply serious. “There is a tactical reason I am carrying you on my shoulder like this.”

Both Kotoko and Asuna stared at him, genuinely curious.

“What reason?” Asuna asked.

Asagiri adjusted the human rocket launcher on his shoulder. “Think about it. Since Necro possesses such a unique talent, her physical constitution might also be anomalous. Even without a weapon, her very body might be capable of inflicting fatal damage on Evil Spirits.”

Asuna frowned, trying to follow his logic. “But… given her physical defects and the heavy drawbacks of her talent, she’s completely unsuited for frontline combat.”

“Exactly. That is precisely why,” Asagiri said, a dark, amused smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “If an Evil Spirit suddenly jumps us from the shadows and I don’t have the split-second required to summon my Persona… I can simply throw Necro. I’ll use her as a human cannonball to catch the enemy completely off guard.”

The stairwell fell dead silent.

Kotoko’s face drained of all color. Her body went rigid against his shoulder.

“Um…” she squeaked, her voice trembling. “Can you put me down? I… I suddenly feel like walking down the stairs isn’t that difficult after all…”

Asagiri completely ignored her request.

He kept her hoisted on his shoulder like a sack of tactical potatoes and continued his descent. Together with Asuna, they reached the shadowy landing wedged between the sixth and fifth floors.

From their vantage point, they had a clear view of the heavy fire door leading to the fifth floor. The Suit Man and the Woman with Heavy Makeup stood right in front of it, shivering in the gloom.

The Suit Man swallowed hard. He reached out a trembling, sweat-slicked hand and wrapped his fingers around the cold metal doorknob.

Just as he applied pressure to turn it, Kotoko’s eyes narrowed. She raised her cane from Asagiri’s shoulder and snapped, “Wait! Don’t open it!”

The Suit Man froze instantly, his shoulders hiking up to his ears as cold sweat beaded down his forehead.

“What’s wrong?” Asuna asked, her hand instantly dropping to the hilt of her sword. “Did something change?”

Kotoko stared dead at the heavy fire door, her deep purple eyes flashing with sudden, intense vigilance.

“Behind that door…” she whispered, the playful demeanor entirely gone. “There’s a very strange aura.”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.