Anime Crossover: Tokyo Reincarnation Game — Chapter 45

Chapter 45: The Men in BlackYou'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.

“Big brother, big sister… why aren’t you talking to me?”

The blonde little girl tilted her head, her voice soft and tinged with a childish sense of grievance. She stood amidst the grim aftermath of the hotel, looking entirely out of place.

“You killed that auntie… This place is the only one left. How about… big brother and big sister just stay here forever? You can always be with me.”

Hearing such eerie, possessive words delivered with a completely innocent expression sent a chill through the room. Yuuki Asuna tugged at Iwanaga Kotoko’s sleeve, lowering her voice to an urgent whisper.

“Aren’t you the expert at dealing with the supernatural? Think of a way to negotiate with her. We really shouldn’t provoke an active attack right now…”

Kotoko stretched up on her tiptoes, trying her best to bridge the fifteen-centimeter height difference between them so she could speak directly into Asuna’s ear.

“This girl isn’t an ordinary Evil Spirit. Actually… I am not even sure she is an Evil Spirit at all. The only thing I can be absolutely certain of is her lack of hostility. In her mind, trapping us here forever is a genuine attempt to protect us.”

“This big sister is right,” the blonde little girl chimed in. She took two steps forward, her small face pinched with worry. “The outside world is too dangerous. If you go out, you will definitely die. It is much better to stay here with me.”

Kotoko smoothly stepped in front of Asuna, shielding her. She met the little girl’s gaze without a trace of fear or panic, maintaining a perfectly sweet, unbothered smile.

“You know the outside world is dangerous?” Kotoko asked gently. “Have you ever left this hotel?”

The blonde little girl shook her head obediently. “I can’t leave here.”

“I see.” Kotoko shot a quick, silent glance at Asagiri and Asuna, signaling them to let her handle the conversation. She kept her tone light and guiding. “What else do you remember? Were you a guest in this hotel before?”

“Hmm… I don’t remember. I just remember I seem to have always been here. Those aunties and uncles often played with me.”

Kotoko had already deduced that the ‘aunties and uncles’ were the Earth-Bound Spirits trapped within the building. Yet, this child’s existence was fundamentally different from theirs. When the Bloated Corpse Spirit was eliminated, the other spirits had vanished. This girl remained.

“Then how did you know the outside world is so dangerous?” Kotoko pressed softly. “Besides us, have other people been here?”

Perhaps disarmed by Kotoko’s natural affinity for the supernatural, the little girl hid nothing.

“Well, someone came before… but it seems like a long, long, long time ago. They were all dressed very strangely. They wore black clothes and black helmets. They looked very scary, not friendly and kind like you big sisters at all. I didn’t dare show myself to them.”

“People wearing black clothes…” Kotoko murmured. “Did they appear here suddenly, just like we did?”

The blonde little girl shook her head again. “No, they came in from the outside. After coming in, they went to look at the water tank over there, and then they left.”

The sheer volume of information packed into that childish observation was staggering.

Someone else had been here? Men in black tactical gear and helmets?

Were they Players?

No, Asuna thought rapidly. The girl specifically noted they came in from the outside, unlike their own sudden manifestation. Having survived two instances already, Asuna trusted Asagiri’s earlier assessment: the three of them were the very first batch of Players in this twisted game.

Coupled with the old newspaper they had found, it was safe to assume this entire reality—including the Mount Massive Asylum and this haunted hotel—was a fully realized world overrun by the supernatural. If that were true, there couldn’t be veteran Players with the authority or power to move freely through these zones in tactical gear.

If they weren’t Players, then who were they? Native authorities of this world? A specialized division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department? The FBI?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.

And what was their objective? If that tactical team made it all the way to the water tank room, they had successfully located the source of the anomaly. Why didn’t they eliminate the Bloated Corpse Spirit? Why just observe it and leave?

There were too many missing pieces. Asuna turned the variables over in her mind but couldn’t form a solid conclusion.

“So that’s how it is…” Kotoko nodded thoughtfully. She shifted her gaze to Asagiri, her eyes conveying a clear, silent message: Use the APP. Extract us from this instance before she changes her mind and attacks.

Asagiri completely ignored the cue.

Instead, he casually strolled right up to the blonde little girl, a lazy smile resting on his face.

“Little sister, if we leave, will you be terribly lonely staying here all by yourself?”

Asuna’s breath hitched.

The Diplomat. He’s starting his nonsense again.

“Yes…” the little girl looked up at him hopefully. “So big brother, can you stay here with me?”

Facing the request, Asagiri didn’t reject her outright. He crouched down slightly, his tone carrying the patient cadence of a salesman closing a bizarre deal.

“Hey, little sister, the math doesn’t work out. Even if we stayed here with you, it would only be for a little while. Not forever. Besides, do you actually think this place is fun?”

The blonde little girl looked around the decaying, blood-stained lobby and shook her head. “Not fun.”

“Exactly. It’s incredibly boring here.” Asagiri’s smile widened as he delivered a line that neither Kotoko nor Asuna saw coming. “So… do you want to come with us?”

“Huh? Come together…?”

The little girl looked visibly tempted, her eyes widening. But the hope quickly faded into distress, and she shook her head. “But big brother, I can’t leave here. I’ve tried… I really can’t leave.”

“Maybe others can’t,” Asagiri said smoothly. “But I can take you away. Here.”

With a flick of his wrist, a fluffy teddy bear materialized in Asagiri’s hand. He offered it to the blonde little girl. As she reached out to take it, Asagiri casually pressed a concealed button on the back of the plush toy.

A mechanical whir echoed in the quiet lobby, followed instantly by a blast of audio that left Asuna staring in absolute, horrified disbelief.

“Oh yeah… Oh yeah… give it to me…”

The highly inappropriate, heavily synthesized English audio blared from the toy’s cheap speakers. Worse, the teddy bear’s internal motors activated, causing the plush animal to thrust its hips and grind against an invisible pole in a suggestive, rhythmic dance. The sheer contrast between the innocent, fluffy exterior of the toy and its aggressive pole-dancing routine was utterly absurd.

“How is it? Fun?”

Watching the blonde little girl stare at the gyrating teddy bear with sparkling, fascinated eyes, Asagiri reached out and gently patted her head.

“Come be my Persona.”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.