Anime Crossover: Tokyo Reincarnation Game — Chapter 51

Chapter 51: Iwanaga Kotoko’s Exorcism InvitationYou'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 released a long, exhausted sigh. She rubbed her temples, her expression a perfect portrait of helpless exasperation. “Your attitude is entirely too confident. I don’t even know where to begin complaining about you…”

Despite her grumbling, the briefing continued. Asagiri and Asuna laid out the spoils of their recent survival, specifically detailing the reward they had extracted from the dungeon’s bloody conclusion.

“Red Epic Quality!?”

Iwanaga Kotoko’s single eye widened. Hearing the sheer tier of the ‘Hourglass of Reversal’ and the reality-bending effects it carried, she couldn’t maintain her usual composed demeanor. Shock painted her delicate features.

“Reversing time by a full minute? And it triggers automatically upon the holder’s death? Not only that, but you retain all your memories from before the rewind? This is simply too…”

“That’s enough.”

Asagiri waved a hand dismissively, cutting off the Goddess of Wisdom mid-sentence. He leaned back, a dry, amused smile playing on his lips. “You don’t need to waste breath repeating the exact same shocked monologue that Yuuki-san already performed for me.”

“I suppose you’re right…”

Kotoko nodded, recovering her composure. She lifted her porcelain cup and took a small, elegant sip of black tea. When she lowered the cup, the polite smile had vanished from her face, replaced by the sharp, calculating gaze of a tactician.

“After clearing this last trial,” she began slowly, her tone measured, “if we intend to enter another dungeon, we must factor in the mandatory seven-day cooldown and the three-day early registration window. That means the absolute earliest we can deploy is ten days from now. Do you have any thoughts on our next course of action?”

“Our next course of action…”

Asagiri noted the expectant looks on both girls’ faces. They were staring at him, waiting for their Leader to hand down a grand strategy. He steepled his fingers, adopting an expression of deep, solemn thought. The silence stretched for a few heavy seconds before he finally spoke.

“Exercise regularly, maintain a balanced diet, and make sure you get eight hours of sleep.”

Asuna stared at him, her eye twitching. “…Is that some kind of late-night public service announcement for toddlers? Is that really it? Nothing else?”

“Well, what exactly were you expecting?” Asagiri spread his hands, his voice dripping with nonchalance. “Yes, we can use our system powers in reality now. Yes, you can awaken exclusive sword skills and trigger combat talents out here in the real world—like boosting your agility by slaughtering enemies. But here is the fundamental problem: who are we supposed to fight? Other Players? Or are we just going to put on masks, turn into righteous Kamen Riders, and start punching random street thugs in the name of justice? That isn’t exactly a realistic career path.”

“No… perhaps it doesn’t have to be random.”

Hearing Asagiri’s deadpan logic, Kotoko suddenly perked up. She raised a pale index finger, a bright, slightly cunning smile blooming on her adorable face.

“Actually, a significant number of the requests the yokai bring to me require the application of brute force. Things like purging cursed objects from specific locations, or exterminating a violent, mindless Evil Spirit that refuses to communicate. If you two are willing to assist me in handling these more dangerous requests, you can familiarize yourselves with your newfound powers through actual combat in the real world. You will gain practical experience, and most, you will earn my deep gratitude!”

“That last part is completely irrelevant,” Asuna shot back instantly, her tone sharp.

She paused, crossing her arms as she genuinely considered the proposal. “However… helping you deal with supernatural anomalies is actually a solid idea. The stats and skills we earned from the dungeon are useless if we don’t build the muscle memory to wield them. I refuse to become a Player who looks strong on a status screen but lacks any actual combat sense. Utsunomiya-ku…”

The honorific died in her throat. Asuna suddenly recalled the sickeningly sweet, intimate way Kotoko had addressed Asagiri earlier. A faint flush of pink dusted her cheeks, and a competitive spark flared in her chestnut eyes. She cleared her throat, forcing a mask of cool indifference.

“Asagiri. The decision is yours. I’ll follow your lead.”

Asagiri chuckled, a dark, teasing glint in his eyes. “You’ll follow my lead? Does that mean you’ll put on a bunny girl outfit if I ask you to?”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.

Asuna’s face instantly burned scarlet. “You—what kind of absolute nonsense are you spouting?! We are discussing a matter of life and death!”

“I am discussing a serious matter.”

The frivolous, teasing smirk vanished from Asagiri’s face like a flipped switch. The sudden shift in his demeanor was jarring, his presence instantly turning cold and dominant. He locked his gaze directly onto Asuna’s, his dark eyes piercing right through her.

“Even my judgment isn’t infallible. If you simply nod along to every opinion I have and blindly follow my line of logic, our little team is going to walk straight into a fatal cognitive trap. Therefore, I expect you, as my teammate, to think for yourself. Formulate your own conclusions and give me the answer you believe is correct.”

Asuna froze, the reprimand hitting her harder than any physical blow.

In that brief silence, a harsh realization washed over her. Ever since she had been dragged into this nightmare as a ‘Player’, ever since she first met Asagiri in that sterile hospital room, she had been relying on him.

Overly reliant, in fact.

Asagiri saw right through her. He knew her strengths perfectly well: she possessed the courage to remain calm under pressure, an intellect that far outstripped her peers, and a ruthless execution ability born from sheer willpower. But she had one glaring, fatal flaw.

She didn’t know how to think for herself.

It was a byproduct of her environment. As the sheltered daughter of an elite, wealthy family, every single step of her life had been carefully paved by her parents. From her elementary years to her junior high education, right down to moving to Tokyo alone and transferring into the prestigious Shuchiin Academy—she had never once stopped to ask herself if this was the path she actually wanted to walk.

“In that case…” Asuna pursed her lips, her voice carrying a slight tremble of hesitation before hardening into resolve. “My suggestion is this: as long as we can guarantee that our identities as Players remain completely hidden from the public, then yes. We should do it.”

“Good. I agree.” Asagiri nodded, his tone returning to its usual casual drawl. “After all, we only have a little over twenty days left before the game’s difficulty scales up.”

“Huh?” Asuna blinked, exchanging a confused glance with Kotoko. “The game difficulty scales up? What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Meeting their bewildered stares, Asagiri explained with a chilling calmness. “This survival game inherently increases in difficulty every single month. The rules state that every Player must clear a dungeon at least once within a thirty-day window. Think about what that actually means. Even if there are cowards who refuse to actively queue up for a dungeon, the moment that one-month deadline hits, they will be forced in. They will either die horribly, or they will survive and grow stronger. Therefore, at the end of every month, the total population of Players decreases, the average baseline of strength rises, and the system will naturally escalate the difficulty of the dungeons to match.”

“This…” Asuna’s delicate eyebrows knit together tightly. A cold dread settled in her stomach as she murmured, “What is the ultimate purpose of this sick game? Is there actually a way to clear it? Or… is it designed to run until every last Player is dead?”

“I highly doubt it’s a purely malicious slaughterhouse.”

Asagiri shook his head, a faint, cryptic smile touching his lips.

“If the entity behind this system truly just wanted to watch us all die, or if it fed on the despair of Players struggling in vain, it never would have designed a scenario like the Hotel dungeon. That place had a clear objective with virtually zero baseline difficulty if you just followed the rules.”

He looked out the window, his eyes narrowing at the sprawling cityscape.

“Rather than a torture device, this game… is more like a crucible. It uses extreme, lethal environments to force Players into rapid psychological and physical evolution. As for what it’s trying to evolve us for… that remains to be seen.”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.