After saying that, Asagiri noticed the complicated look on Kaguya's face. He stood, walked out of the classroom with Kotoko, and left behind a final, almost casual remark.
"Besides, on the first day, you warned off the students who wanted to ss with , didn't you? I don't need help, but I'll acknowledge good intentions. For now, you're only my opponent, not my enemy."
Kaguya watched their backs disappear down the hallway. Her ruby eyes flickered, and she murmured so softly it was almost inaudible.
"For now… only an opponent."
Her mind latched onto the wording.
Opponent. Enemy.
Back during judo class, she'd already caught the difference in Asagiri's tone. To him, an opponent was simply an opponent. Even if he won, there was no need to humiliate them. If anything, he would acknowledge their resolve and courage.
Then…
What counted as an enemy?
What kind of person would Asagiri label an enemy, and what would he do when he faced one?
Kaguya's voice dipped even lower.
"I really can't see through him at all…"
…
More than ten days later, on a Wednesday afternoon, at Kotoko's ho.
"It's already the thirtieth day since the ga opened."
Asuna looked at gumi, Kotoko, and Asagiri in front of her and spoke slowly, carefully.
"If we sign up today, we'll enter the Dungeon on Saturday, the thirty third day since the ga opened. Based on Asagiri's estimate, we'll be entering the second stage Dungeon after the difficulty increase."
gumi rested her chin on one hand, thoughtful.
"I wonder what changes a second stage Dungeon will have compared to a first stage Dungeon…"
"Once we're inside, we'll find out," Asagiri said with a smile.
He pulled out his phone, tapped the eye icon app, and started confirming his registration to actively participate in the Dungeon.
High level Players had privileges. When Asagiri registered, he would receive keyword hints for available Dungeons.
This ti was no different.
A dark red mist spread across the screen.
Just as it was about to form words, sothing abruptly went wrong.
"Zzzz…"
A harsh burst of electrical interference hissed out. The screen flickered violently, drowning in static, and then it filled with distorted words in different sizes, packed so tightly they were almost suffocating.
[Co find co find co find co find co find co find co find co find co find co find co find co find ]
"This is…"
Before anyone could finish a thought, a girl's voice spilled out of the phone. She sounded like she was smiling, yet the sound carried a bone deep chill, warped and unstable.
"Co find … co find … co find … co be my Player…"
"Asagiri!"
Asuna moved first. She drew her Exorcist Longsword and stepped in beside him.
At the sa ti, a tall black shadow rose behind Asagiri.
No command. No summoning.
The Human Asura manifested on its own.
"Ugh…"
The girl's voice cut off mid breath, like soone had grabbed her throat.
The screen's frantic red text vanished. In its place, the normal keyword hint display returned, the sa format as the last ti they actively registered.
[Love, Zombie, Escape, Darkness]
But none of them were looking at the keywords.
"That voice just now…" Kotoko's brows knit tight. "What was it?"
She spoke under her breath, uneasy in a way that was rare for her.
"An Anomaly from another world? For sothing to bypass the system and interfere with our world without even pulling us into a Dungeon… what kind of existence is that…?"
None of them expected it.
They hadn't entered a Dungeon. They hadn't even finished signing up. And yet sothing had reached through a phone screen and spoken directly to them.
It hadn't hard them, but that only made it worse.
Did this an that second stage Dungeon Anomalies already had the power to affect the real world?
Before they even stepped inside, they were already being dragged into sothing far beyond the first stage's ga like Dungeons.
"Utsunomiya…" gumi looked at Asagiri and asked carefully, "This ti… which Dungeon do we enter?"
Normally, they would discuss as a team. Asagiri would listen, weigh their opinions, and decide.
But after what just happened, even Kotoko, whose ntal toughness was usually ridiculous, couldn't fully steady herself.
"Which Dungeon…"
Asagiri glanced down at the keywords, then raised his head and looked at the three girls with a bright, easy smile.
"I kind of want to fall in love. And if they're inviting that enthusiastically, how could I not go?"
"Eh?"
Asuna froze, then hesitated.
"You an… the Dungeon with the keyword Love? You think that voice and the text were caused by the Anomaly inside that Dungeon? But…"
For once, Asuna's decisiveness wavered.
"We know nothing about how hard second stage Dungeons are. And if an entity can send ssages through a phone from another world, that Dungeon is probably high difficulty even within the second stage. I think… the risk is too high."
"My opinion is the exact opposite," Kotoko said, only speaking after Asuna finished.
Her tone sharpened with logic.
"The standard from last ti still applies. We should choose the Dungeon that best fits our team."
She ticked the points off cleanly.
"Zombie is sothing we've already experienced. Escape and Darkness don't tell us enough to identify the enemy type."
She paused, eyes narrowing.
"But if the thing that just spoke to us is really connected to Love, then based on its ability to interfere with our world through a phone, it's likely an Anomaly type enemy."
Kotoko's gaze was steady.
"And Anomaly type Dungeons are exactly what we're best at right now. So I agree with the Leader."
Then she turned to gumi.
"gumi, what do you think?"
"Hm…"
gumi took a mont, genuinely considering. With all three of them watching her, she finally answered.
"This is the first ti sothing this strange has happened before entering a Dungeon. Maybe it isn't because of the second stage difficulty at all."
Her voice stayed gentle.
"Maybe we triggered a hidden level. If we miss it this ti, we might not get another chance."
She glanced at Asuna.
"Asuna's caution makes sense. There's definitely risk."
Then she looked back at Asagiri.
"But… knowing Utsunomiya, if soone dares to transmit a ssage through his phone, there's no way he'll let the chance pass to enter their Dungeon and eliminate them completely, right?"
That one sentence made everything click.
Asuna and Kotoko both realized it at the sa ti.
If they avoided that Dungeon now and chose another instead, what if the girl used Asagiri's phone again later, doing sothing unpredictable?
Leaving the root behind would only invite trouble.
Asagiri slamd his palm on the table, shot to his feet, and declared with full montum.
"Cut the weeds but not the roots, and they'll grow back in spring. You want to co find you? Fine!"
He pointed at his phone like it was a challenge letter.
"Ghost girl? I'll make sure she cos, and never goes back!"
Asuna burst out laughing.
"It's not her coming to find us. It's us going to find her. What do you an, 'cos and never returns'?"
"Oh, right." Asagiri nodded solemnly. "Then I'll rephrase."
He lifted his chin, eyes sharp.
"How can I allow soone to snore beside my bed? The ghost girl hunt begins!"
gumi's lips curved, faint but unmistakable.
"Just looking at you, it feels like we're the boss of the Dungeon, and that ghost girl is the Player."
Kotoko stood, smoothed the hem of her skirt, and smiled sweetly.
"It's her bad luck. Of all people to scare, she had to pick Asagiri. Now she did it to herself. She's asking to die."
…
Three days later, at nine o'clock on Saturday morning, still at Kotoko's ho.
The mont the clock hit nine, all four of them felt that familiar shiver in their hearts.
Blood red system text blood across their phone screens.
[Player Utsunomiya Asagiri, beginning entry into Dungeon.]
[Dungeon location: Ga]
[Dungeon ti limit: Eight hou…]
The ssage cut off halfway.
All four phones erupted with harsh electrical buzzing. The text warped and collapsed into static, then transford into three massive characters that swallowed the entire screen.
[Co find co find co find co find co find co find co find co find co find co find co find co find ]
And in the next second, thick red mist poured over Asagiri and the others' vision, swallowing everything whole.
.....
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