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ArabicAnime Crossover: Tokyo Reincarnation Game — Chapter 55
Chapter 55: Kato Megumi’s Resume
“Um… Kato…”
Asuna hesitated, her eyes scanning the perfectly composed high school girl standing before them. “Aren’t you scared at all?”
“Scared? Oh, I see what you mean.”
Megumi lifted a hand, casually tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Her expression remained a placid mask of indifference. “Your outfits are certainly a bit strange, and the way you address each other doesn’t sound like real names. But considering the three of you are Players, that’s perfectly normal, isn’t it?”
“You know about Players?”
Megumi nodded. She didn’t blink, didn’t flinch. “Because I am a Player too.”
Asuna exchanged a quick, bewildered glance with Kotoko. The exact same thought echoed between them.
Isn’t her reaction a little too calm?
She just handed over her biggest secret without a second thought. Was this how a normal civilian was supposed to react to a group of masked, blood-soaked strangers?
“Oh. I apologize. You probably think I’m a very strange person for suddenly saying something like that.” Megumi seemed to pick up on their silent confusion, her voice maintaining its perfectly flat, unbothered cadence. “However, from my perspective, pretending to be a clueless bystander would only make you suspicious. I accidentally activated my talent earlier. I watched the entire process of your battle with that monster. I know perfectly well that if you wanted to kill me, I wouldn’t be able to run away. Given the circumstances, telling the truth is the most logical option. After all, I truly don’t harbor any hostility toward you.”
Asuna swallowed hard, turning her gaze toward Asagiri. “Leader… what should we do?”
Asagiri stared down at the flat-faced girl. “Kill her.”
“Kill her?!” Asuna gasped, her eyes widening in horror. “We can’t do that!”
Even Kotoko, who rarely let human empathy cloud her judgment, voiced her disagreement. Her reasoning, however, was entirely devoid of warmth. “There really is no need to eliminate her. She hasn’t seen our faces, nor does she know our true identities. If we just leave her here, the administration of Toyogasaki Academy will be incredibly confused by the collateral damage, but it ends there. If a student turns up dead on campus, the authorities will definitely involve the police. We don’t need to invite that kind of trouble.”
“Just kidding.”
Asagiri let out a low, dry chuckle, his shoulders shaking slightly beneath his coat. “I’m not some morally bankrupt devil. Why would I slaughter a random girl over something this trivial?”
Asuna let out a long, shaky breath, pressing a hand to her chest. “Thank goodness. Let’s hurry up and leave, then.”
“Not so fast.” Asagiri raised a hand, his gaze locking back onto the remarkably unfazed student. “In my professional opinion, this Kato Megumi is quite the capable individual. Why don’t we recruit her into our team? From now on, we can clear dungeons together and reap the rewards. Wouldn’t that be a beautiful partnership?”
Fifteen minutes later. A quiet, deserted alleyway just outside the grounds of Toyogasaki Academy.
The shadows clung to the brick walls, isolating them from the bustling city streets.
“So… you want to team up with me?” Megumi asked. A faint trace of naive confusion finally cracked her stoic facade, giving her a uniquely simple, almost cute aura.
Asagiri, still wearing his mask and hiding his true features, crossed his arms and spoke with absolute corporate solemnity. “No, it’s too early to say. Consider this a preliminary interview. First, we need to confirm if you actually have the intention of joining our company.”
Asuna groaned softly, massaging her temples. “Aren’t we a strategy group? When did we become a corporate entity…?”
“Details, details. That’s the general idea.”
“An interview… Oh, I understand.” Megumi nodded obediently. She paused for a brief moment of consideration before giving a crisp, positive reply. “Yes. I’m currently operating solo anyway. Judging from the combat I just witnessed, the three of you are vastly stronger than I am. If I form a party with you, I’ll have a much higher chance of surviving those dangerous dungeons. So, yes, I do intend to join your team… excuse me, your company.”
Asuna sighed, her shoulders slumping in defeat. “You really don’t need to play along with his weird delusions…”
“It’s fine.”
Megumi reached into her pocket and pulled out her smartphone. She tapped the screen a few times with her thumb, then actively held the device out toward Asagiri. “I heard them call you Leader, so you must be the CEO of this company, right? Here is my resume.”
What she referred to as a resume was, in fact, her official Player status screen.
[Player Name: Kato Megumi]
[Physical Fitness Level: Normal (Regular Person Level)]
[Exclusive Talent: Weak Presence]
[Profession: Not Yet Unlocked]
[Player Level: Formal]
[Skills: None]
[Items: None]
[Equipment: None]
[Weak Presence: When this talent is activated, it will significantly reduce the user’s presence. Acting while maintaining this talent’s effect will continuously consume stamina and mental energy. If the user remains completely stationary, the talent’s effect will be heavily enhanced, and it will not consume any stamina or mental energy.]
“The effect of this talent… it’s actually incredibly impressive.” Asuna leaned in, her eyes scanning the glowing text. She blinked in confusion. “But why don’t you have a single item, skill, or piece of equipment? Have you only cleared one dungeon?”
Megumi shook her head. “No. Counting the tutorial, I have cleared two dungeons. The reason I bumped into you on campus just now is because I entered a dungeon located inside the school building on Saturday afternoon. I ran into you right after clearing it and returning to reality.”
“Then how come your inventory is completely empty?”
“When I cleared the novice dungeon, I received an A+ rating, but the only reward the system gave me was unlocking my exclusive talent. My second dungeon took place in a three-story old mansion haunted by an Evil Spirit. The primary objective was simply to survive until the time limit expired.”
Megumi spoke in a slow, perfectly level tone, as if recounting a trip to the grocery store rather than a brush with death.
“During that second dungeon, I found an empty room, sat down on a sofa, and activated my talent. I sat there, completely motionless, for ten hours until the timer ran out. Because of that, the system only gave me a C-level clear rating. The only reward was a marginal increase to my physical fitness. Nothing else.”
“A C-level rating…” Kotoko murmured, her brow furrowing in thought. “Is it because you actively avoided doing anything that the system penalized your final score?”
She looked up at the deadpan girl. “But wait. Since you achieved an A+ rating in the tutorial, the system should have provided you with a special hint when you entered the second dungeon, correct?”
“Yes, it did. The hint stated that there was a piece of equipment hidden in the basement of that mansion.”
“Then…”
“I ignored it.”
Megumi delivered the line with absolute, unshakeable calm.
“I possess zero combat ability., there were other Players operating inside that same dungeon. I concluded that, without any safety guarantees, venturing down into a dark basement to search for an unknown piece of equipment was simply too dangerous—even with my talent active. The risk outweighed the reward. Therefore, I ignored the hint entirely.”