Anime Crossover: Tokyo Reincarnation Game — Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Justice Descends

Five minutes later. First floor of the hotel, inside the main reception hall.

The sprawling floor, paved entirely with smooth marble tiles, gleamed under the cold light of a massive crystal chandelier, reflecting the empty room with mirror-like clarity.

The hall was utterly deserted. There were no receptionists standing behind the front desk, nor any guests lingering in the lounge. The only moving object was a telephone receiver connected to a landline, dangling off the edge of the counter. It swayed gently in the dead air, emitting a rhythmic, beeping busy signal. Aside from that monotonous electronic pulse, there was no sound. The silence was so deep it felt suffocating.

Then, a deafening crash shattered the quiet from directly above the lobby.

BOOM!

A towering, humanoid black shadow—standing over two meters tall and covered in glowing, reddish demonic tattoos—plummeted from a height of nearly ten meters. The moment the Demi-Fiend slammed into the ground, a violent tremor shook the foundation. Spiderweb cracks exploded across the hard marble tiles, sending jagged debris flying through the air accompanied by a heavy, trembling roar.

Amidst the settling dust and scattered stone, a dry, amused voice rang out.

“How about that? Didn’t I tell you this was the absolute quickest shortcut? Zero enemies encountered.”

Iwanaga Kotoko hopped down lightly from the Demi-Fiend’s broad shoulder, landing with practiced grace. She didn’t look the least bit flustered by the chaotic descent. Instead, she calmly smoothed out her clothes and raised a hand to adjust her white beret, a faint smile playing on her lips.

“I highly doubt our host expected us to ignore both the stairs and the elevator, opting instead to smash a vertical tunnel straight through the floorboards from the fifth floor,” Kotoko replied.

“We certainly bypassed all the obstacles, but…”

Yuuki Asuna watched as Asagiri immediately dismissed the Demi-Fiend, the towering entity dissolving into the ether. She pursed her lips, her eyes laced with genuine concern. “Summoning a Persona takes a massive toll on your mental and physical stamina, doesn’t it? You just ordered it to smash through four solid floors in a row, not to mention absorbing the impact of that landing… Are you actually alright?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Asagiri answered aloud, his tone light and conversational.

Simultaneously, his hands moved quickly over his phone screen. He typed out a brief message, flipped the device around, and held it up for both Kotoko and Asuna to read.

‘A little tired. Burned through about thirty percent of my physical stamina. Mental strength is fine. Do not talk about this out loud. If the source of the anomaly is listening, it might seize the opportunity to ambush us. Pretend everything is normal and buy me a little time to recover.’

Understanding flashed in their eyes, and both girls gave a subtle nod.

Asagiri had absolutely no intention of acting tough for the sake of his ego. This was a bizarre-type survival dungeon—a lethal, unpredictable meat grinder where two Players had already been slaughtered. It wasn’t a playground. Deliberately hiding his true physical condition would only skew his teammates’ judgment and get them all killed.

“Let’s check the reception area first,” Asuna said smoothly, easily picking up the act. “The special hint specifically pointed us here, didn’t it? We should be able to find that valuable information.”

Though she was still quietly worried about Asagiri’s stamina, she knew this was the best tactical choice. Taking the normal route down the stairwell would have been a nightmare. Fighting off a potential horde of Evil Spirits in a cramped, narrow corridor would have easily led to fatal accidents, draining all three of them far more than this shortcut had.

Smashing through the ceiling and dropping straight into the lobby was, ironically, the safest and most reliable option.

As she walked toward the front desk, Asuna tightened her grip on the Exorcist’s Longsword. She channeled a small fraction of her mental strength to cast the Blessing of the Wind, allowing a faint, ethereal breeze to wrap around her legs and make her movements feather-light. She deliberately took the vanguard position, keeping her senses sharp. If a mangled Evil Spirit decided to lunge out from beneath the counter, she was ready to sever its head instantly.

Fortunately, the space behind the desk was clear. No terrifying faces sprang from the shadows.

Asuna let out a quiet breath of relief, though she kept her fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt of the Exorcist’s Longsword just in case. Together with Asagiri and Kotoko, she began scouring the desk for the so-called ‘valuable information’ promised by the system.

“Guest registration forms… employee ID badges… a sanitation certificate…” Kotoko muttered, flipping through a stack of clipboards. “These are all entirely useless.”

Just as the girls were coming up empty-handed, Asagiri stepped over to a staff chair and picked up a crumpled newspaper left resting on the seat.

“Found it,” Asagiri said. “The valuable information.”

“You found it already? Let me see…”

Asuna leaned in close to peer at the paper. She frowned. The vast majority of the broadsheet was ruined, smeared with thick, inexplicable black stains that looked like dried blood or ink, rendering the text completely illegible. Only one small section in the corner remained readable, displaying a single news report.

“Mount Massive Asylum Patient Riot Incident…” Asuna read aloud, her eyes widening in sudden recognition. “Wait, Mount Massive? Isn’t that the exact location where we survived our novice dungeon?”

She looked up at Asagiri, utterly bewildered.

“This… An out-of-control riot involving the patients at Mount Massive Asylum. We already knew that happened, didn’t we? The entire plot of that game was based around it. How does this count as valuable information?”

“No, the value of the information has nothing to do with the incident itself,” Asagiri replied, his tone deadpan and analytical. He tapped the edge of the newspaper. “The fact that news about Mount Massive Asylum is printed in a newspaper inside this hotel proves that the location of this current dungeon and the location of our novice dungeon exist within the exact same universe., both of these are bizarre-type dungeons.”

He tossed the paper back onto the desk. “Since the app specifically flagged this as a special hint, it isn’t just a fun easter egg. For now, we can safely assume that all bizarre-type dungeons generated by the app take place in different locations across this specific, shared universe. Let’s just call it the Bizarre World.”

“A shared Bizarre World…” Asuna murmured, her curiosity piqued despite the grim setting. “Then, now that we know this… what exactly can we do with it?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

The bluntness of Asagiri’s answer caught both Asuna and Kotoko off guard.

“While it’s an interesting piece of lore, this information is completely useless for our immediate survival,” Asagiri continued dryly. “It seems the system just wanted to provide us with the fleeting satisfaction of uncovering a fraction of the truth behind the game.”

“Satisfaction… seriously?” Asuna let out a long sigh, shaking her head in helpless exasperation. “Compared to a lore drop, I would have vastly preferred finding another Exorcist’s Longsword. You know, something that actually provides tangible help in keeping us alive…”

Kotoko opened her mouth to offer a witty remark, but the words died in her throat. The playful smile vanished from her face, replaced instantly by a chilling seriousness. She turned her head toward the dark corridor branching off from the lobby.

“Wait,” Kotoko whispered, her voice tight. “Something… is approaching.”

The moment she spoke, the suffocating silence of the hotel lobby was broken. A wet, sickening sound echoed from the darkness—a heavy, dragging rhythm mixed with the dripping of liquid.

Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter.