The shout outside the door made everyone tense at once.
Not only Asagiri, but also Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato gumi imdiately sensed sothing was off.
Routine check?
A normal routine check would start at the entrance of the internet cafe and move inward, knocking on doors in order. There was no reason to skip the first few rooms and co straight to theirs.
Worse, the attitude outside was far too aggressive. A patrol officer doing identity checks would not bark like that, especially in an internet cafe where quiet was expected. No one who cared about "routine" would yell loud enough to disturb half the floor.
Kato gumi looked at Asagiri and spoke in a voice so soft it barely carried.
"Leader… what do we do? My exclusive talent and special class skills won't help here."
Her exclusive talent did not grant invisibility. It reduced presence. In other words, it did not make people unable to see her, it made them less likely to notice her.
But the double room was tiny. The whole place could be scanned in a single glance. And judging from the posture and tone outside, they were here specifically for them. The mont the door opened, the other side would focus completely. In that situation, even if Kato lowered her and Asagiri's presence to the limit, it would not matter.
Before Asagiri could answer, the person outside grew impatient. A deep, middle aged voice snapped through the door.
"Kick it open. You and you, aim at the doorway. If they move wrong, shoot imdiately."
Yuuki Asuna's expression changed. She drew her Exorcist Longsword and gripped it tightly, ready to break through the mont Asagiri gave the word.
But the next second, Asagiri gently pressed down on the wrist holding her sword.
At the sa ti, he lifted his left hand and caught a phantom tarot card drifting down from midair. His fingers clenched. The card shattered.
"Persona, Mita."
"Ugh… so sleepy…"
A Mita appeared in the cramped room, wearing red pajamas. An eye mask sat crooked on her head, her long blue hair ssy and tangled, her eyes half lidded with exhaustion.
The instant she manifested, an overwhelming wave of drowsiness slamd into the room.
Yuuki Asuna and Kato gumi both felt it first. It was the kind of exhaustion that ca after staying awake for three days and three nights, then running a marathon on sheer will. Their thoughts blurred until only one idea remained.
Sleep.
Even Iwanaga Kotoko, a Warlock with extrely high ntal strength, was not spared. She held out longer than the others, but only barely. Her gaze started to drift, unfocused.
"Go back," Asagiri said.
Sleepy Mita rubbed her eyes, voice weak and slow.
"Oh… okay. Then I'll go back to sleep…"
Her words trailed off lazily.
And then she vanished.
The pressure lifted instantly. Yuuki Asuna and the others snapped back to clarity, breathing a little too fast, like they had just surfaced from deep water.
"That was terrifying…"
Yuuki Asuna shook her head, voice low, a trace of lingering fear in her eyes.
"Sleepy Mita's ability is way too strong. I can't even imagine fighting like that…"
Under that influence, she and Kato had to grit their teeth just to keep their eyes open. Fighting was not even a question.
"It's not that strong."
Asagiri shook his head. He walked to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open.
Four Suit n lay collapsed in the corridor, sprawled on the carpet like discarded puppets. Their breathing was steady. One of them even let out a soft, baby like snore.
Asagiri's tone stayed calm.
"It affects the sa way when I summon Sleepy Mita. My ntal strength is just the highest, so I can barely stay awake. If I run into soone with comparable ntal strength, we both get dragged down. I don't gain an advantage."
He added evenly, as if stating a simple fact.
"And using her ability drains my ntal strength heavily. It's only useful in situations like this."
As he spoke, he crouched beside the Suit n and began checking their belongings.
"This is…"
Asagiri lifted a black handgun from the floor.
Iwanaga Kotoko imdiately moved closer, eyes narrowing as she examined it.
"The standard issue sidearm for ordinary Tokyo tropolitan Police Departnt mbers should be a small caliber, low power revolver. Limited lethality. Sotis it can't even penetrate the body."
Her frown deepened.
"But these are different. Semi automatic pistols, higher power, harder to handle. That ans they aren't ordinary police."
Kotoko's assessnt matched what most people in Tokyo knew. Most Tokyo tropolitan Police Departnt officers were not ard at all. Even those who carried sidearms, like so frontline detectives, usually had low caliber revolvers.
Part of it was control. Stop the criminal without killing them on the spot.
Part of it was safety. Prevent a stray bullet from passing through a target and hitting a bystander.
But what these n carried was built for lethality.
Asagiri searched their wallets. None contained anything that could confirm identity.
Then he took one of their phones and activated Crazy Mita's ability.
Nearly thirty seconds passed.
"All right. Let's go."
Asagiri tossed the phone back onto the carpet.
He naturally took the firearms. There were four of them, and coincidentally, the team had four people. Each of them got one.
…
After leaving the internet cafe, Asagiri led Yuuki Asuna and the others to a deserted area behind a building. Only there did the four finally loosen their shoulders, just a little.
"Who were those people…?" Yuuki Asuna asked, still uneasy.
Asagiri raised a hand and rubbed his temples, the fatigue not fully hidden.
"They're from the Anti Demi Human Special Operations Group. Their phones have trackers installed."
Since entering the Dungeon, Asagiri had already used Crazy Mita's exclusive ability twice, Sleepy Mita's exclusive ability once, and summoned Kind Mita once.
Even with his current ntal strength, it was starting to wear.
Seeing that, Yuuki Asuna stepped behind him without hesitation. Her hands, fair and gentle, pressed lightly to his temples and began to massage in slow circles. Her voice softened, worry slipping through.
"Are you okay? Let's rest a bit first, then talk."
"No. There's no ti."
Asagiri suppressed the ntal strain. To keep her from worrying, he forced his tone into calm steadiness.
"When Crazy Mita infiltrated that phone just now, she found hidden data. As subordinates of the Anti Demi Human Special Operations Group, they received a mission."
He looked up, eyes steady.
"Tokyo has a total of one hundred twenty suspicious individuals, suspected of being Abyss n. No photos, no portraits. Just written descriptions."
His gaze moved across the three girls.
"And the four of us are on that list."
Yuuki Asuna's expression shifted sharply.
"You an… our appearances were exposed? And they're treating us as Abyss n?"
Her worry sharpened into sothing colder.
"Wait. You said one hundred twenty suspicious individuals. Could that an the one hundred twenty are the Players who entered this Dungeon?"
"Probably," Asagiri said. "But that's not all."
He gently squeezed Yuuki Asuna's hand, a silent signal that he was fine. Then he looked at Iwanaga Kotoko and Kato gumi.
"In the list of one hundred twenty, there were no descriptions like 'beautiful girl with black hair and red eyes,' or 'cute beautiful girl with pink hair, blue eyes, and an outstanding figure.'"
Kotoko imdiately understood who he ant.
Kaguya Shinomiya and Fujiwara Chika.
She thought for a mont, then spoke carefully.
"Is it possible those two didn't enter this Dungeon?"
"Impossible."
Asagiri's answer was imdiate, his tone flat with certainty.
"That pink haired troublemaker emailed asking to et alone on Saturday. She isn't the type to freeze up just because she sees a handso guy. Whether she ant it as a test or just for fun, the premise is the sa."
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
"She knew there would be a super large Dungeon involving high level Players this Saturday. That ans they both signed up, and they were confird to participate."
He continued without pause.
"And they're also in Tokyo. So yes, it isn't absolutely impossible for their appearance information to stay hidden, but it's extrely unlikely."
The more he spoke, the clearer the outline beca.
"Judging by how this system usually operates, any preferential treatnt high level Players get is limited to things like special hints. Once you enter the Dungeon, your situation is basically the sa as everyone else. There wouldn't be an obvious difference in treatnt."
He let the conclusion land.
"So the most likely reason they aren't on Tokyo's list is that their entry point was different. Not Tokyo."
"Another city."
"We can talk about that later," Asagiri added, shifting the topic back to urgency. "Right now, our top priority is…"
He did not have to finish.
Kato gumi's calm voice answered for him.
"To leave as soon as possible. The longer we stay, the harder it becos to disappear."
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