English
Indonesia
Chinese (Simp)
Japanese
Korean
Spanish
Portuguese
French
German
ArabicAnime Crossover: Tokyo Reincarnation Game — Chapter 48
Chapter 48: Washing Away the Corpse Water
“Is this the so-called high-level Player privilege? It’s actually incredibly useful.”
As Yuuki Asuna scrolled through the APP’s detailed explanation, she immediately grasped just how much of an advantage Asagiri’s newly unlocked status would bring to their team.
The first privilege allowed a high-level Player to receive keyword hints about an instance before entering the matchmaking queue, granting them the ability to choose the most suitable battleground from a provided list.
Looking at their current team composition, the cooperation was clear. Although Asuna had acquired the ‘Stinger’ skill and wielded the Exorcist Longsword—a weapon specifically capable of eliminating spirits—her overall build still leaned heavily toward a melee physical damage role.
As for Iwanaga Kotoko, while it remained unknown what specific rewards she had reaped from clearing the hotel, her unique talent restricted her to mastering ‘anomalous’ type skills. Naturally, she would excel at dealing with occult and supernatural instances.
Then there was Asagiri, their team leader.
To be completely honest, Asuna found it difficult to strictly categorize what type of Player he was.
The Demi-Fiend class provided him with devastating close-quarters combat ability. The Persona Alice he had just acquired was a massive AOE magic nuke. Meanwhile, his actual profession—Diplomat—was entirely auxiliary, offering zero direct combat power. Yet, when combined with his utterly unpredictable and ruthless style of action, it consistently produced miraculous effects at critical moments.
There was also his wondrous ‘Castling’ skill, a tactical repositioning tool that required cooperation with other Players. In the hands of someone with his sharp judgment of the battlefield, it could instantly turn the tide of a losing fight.
Should he be considered… an all-rounder?
Regardless, with Asagiri holding the first privilege, he could analyze the system’s keywords and select the instance that offered their specific team composition the absolute highest chance of survival.
However, it was the second privilege that truly changed the game.
Deciding the quantity and type of rewards oneself. What did that actually mean?
It meant Asagiri could manipulate the post-clearance loot pool based on his own needs, or the needs of the entire team. For example, neither Kotoko, Asuna, nor Asagiri himself had managed to obtain a single piece of armor-type equipment yet. For their next clearance, he could simply use his privilege to force the system to drop defensive gear.
“Utsunomiya-san, you…”
Asuna turned her head, ready to discuss their strategy, but the words died in her throat. She noticed that Asagiri’s complexion was unusually pale. He looked thoroughly exhausted, leaning heavily against the cushions.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell, or did you take a hidden injury during the fight?”
Facing her immediate, concerned inquiry, Asagiri merely waved a hand dismissively and offered a faint, tired smile.
“It’s nothing. Just an excessive drain on my mental and physical stamina. With my current physical condition, I can summon a Persona twice consecutively while ensuring I still have the mobility to fight if it gets destroyed. If I completely burn myself out, the absolute limit is three consecutive summons.”
“You really were forcing yourself…”
Asuna quickly hurried over to the kitchen, poured a glass of warm water, and brought it directly to his lips. Her brows knit together, her tone carrying a hint of displeasure, but mostly underlying worry.
“Why do you always have to save face? If you were feeling this sick, couldn’t you just tell me directly?”
“I don’t drink water.”
Asagiri gently but firmly pushed the glass away, his expression turning deadpan and righteous.
“There’s frozen Coca-Cola in the fridge. Get me a can.”
“Sigh… fine.”
After Asuna retrieved the icy can and popped the tab for him, Asagiri took a long, deep gulp. The carbonation hit his system, and his sluggish spirits seemed to visibly lift.
“It has to be frozen Coca-Cola.”
As the words left his mouth, Asagiri suddenly leaned forward, closing the distance between them. He stared intently into her eyes, his gaze dark and unreadable. Startled by the sudden invasion of her personal space, Asuna instinctively shrank back against the sofa, a hot flush creeping up her neck.
“You… what are you doing? Have you gone wild?”
“Did you know, Yuuki-san,” Asagiri began, his voice slow and entirely serious. “According to scientific research, after experiencing extremely dangerous, life-threatening situations, humans develop a strong, primal desire to reproduce. It is a survival instinct etched directly into our DNA to ensure the continuation of our genes and our species.”
Hearing this academic justification for what sounded like a blatant proposition, Asuna’s cheeks burned crimson. She stammered, her eyes darting everywhere but his face.
“You… you wouldn’t be trying to… to ask me to… to…”
She simply couldn’t force the word ‘reproduce’ past her lips, her face growing redder by the second.
“I did before, but not now,” Asagiri replied flatly.
“Before…”
Hearing his blunt dismissal, a sudden, sharp pang of bitterness pierced Asuna’s chest. She abruptly stood up, forcing her chaotic emotions down. She let out a long, shaky breath and raised a hand to smooth out her long chestnut hair, masking her hurt with a perfectly composed, aloof tone.
“Oh, I understand what you mean. Yes, Iwanaga Kotoko is indeed very cute. Don’t worry, I’ll maintain an appropriate distance as a teammate from now on. I won’t do anything to let her misunderstand our relationship…”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“Huh? What are you saying now?”
Seeing Asuna’s genuinely baffled expression, Asagiri raised a finger and pointed directly at her pant leg.
“Did you forget that you jumped into a water tank back at the hotel? The water in there had bloated corpses soaking in it for God knows how long. Weren’t you planning to take a bath right away?”
Hearing his deadpan reminder, Asuna finally reacted. The realization hit her belatedly, and a fresh wave of embarrassment spread across her pretty face, entirely replacing her previous jealousy.
“Oh, right… I really need to take a bath, but…”
She looked at Asagiri sitting on the sofa, suddenly feeling very self-conscious about her current state, and asked tentatively.
“You don’t mind if I use the shower at your place?”
“Not at all. If we could wash together, that would be even better.”
“Who… who wants to wash with you!”
Flushed bright red once again, Asuna snatched up the clean clothes she had left on the sofa before entering the dungeon and practically sprinted into the guest bedroom’s bathroom.
Similarly, Asagiri also took a bath, but of course, not together.
His master bedroom had an independent bathroom. After all, this was a sprawling, luxury apartment in the heart of Shibuya; it naturally came equipped with more than one washroom to accommodate guests.
A short while later, the sound of running water stopped. Asuna changed into her clean clothes and stepped out of the guest bathroom, a cloud of steam trailing behind her.
Although her clothes were fresh, her slight obsession with cleanliness meant that the black tights she had worn all day at school—and into a death game—were absolutely not going to touch her skin a second time. So, she simply went bare-legged, her fair, slender feet stepping directly onto the cold hardwood floor of the living room.
“Finished?”
When Asuna looked up, she saw Asagiri sitting on the sofa. He had already finished his own shower, changed into fresh, casual clothes, and was currently wiping his damp hair with a towel.
A faint, golden ray of morning light filtered through the window, falling perfectly across the sharp contours of his profile.
At that exact moment, a strange, fluttering wave of excitement surged through Asuna’s chest.
‘Utsunomiya-san…”He’s really good-looking…’