Chapter 112: The Mita Who Wants To Be Different
"All right. Let's keep going."
At Asagiri's cue, Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi wiped away their lingering smiles. Each of them tightened their grip on their weapons and advanced toward the door at the far end of the corridor.
Crazy Mita didn't speak. She simply drew her handheld chainsaw and moved half a step ahead of Asagiri, scanning the surroundings with cold vigilance, like his personal bodyguard.
A Persona meant absolute submission.
Crazy Mita's method of becoming one was different from Alice's. It wasn't because her favorability had reached its peak, but because her fear had. Still, the principle was the same. She was still herself. The only difference was that she had become Asagiri's Persona.
To be honest, even if she had been forced into it, Crazy Mita didn't hate the current situation.
This world, where everything followed program settings and every day was an endless loop, had been unbearably boring.
Following this Player, whose mind was just abnormal enough to qualify as a humanoid monster…
She would definitely find more fun.
"I'll go."
Kato Megumi was about to use her unique talent as usual to open the door, but Crazy Mita stepped forward first.
She moved without a sound, like a ghost.
Chainsaw in one hand, she reached out with the other and wrapped her fingers around the doorknob. Her voice dropped low.
"After becoming his Persona, unless he dies, I won't truly die. Leave the job of being the pathfinding cannon fodder to me."
Kato Megumi drifted closer to Asagiri, curiosity flickering in her eyes.
"Leader… why does it feel like, even though they're both Personas, she's more… more…"
She searched for the right words.
Iwanaga Kotoko spoke softly from the side, helpful for once.
"More like a person, right?"
Kato Megumi nodded, her tone gentle.
"Yes. More like a person. Even without your command, will she make independent judgments based on the situation?"
"That's right."
Asagiri smiled, not hiding anything.
"Human Asura follows my orders completely. It has no independent thoughts. Alice has a powerful instant death curse skill, but her main body is still a little girl. She lacks subjective initiative."
His gaze shifted to Crazy Mita.
"Crazy Mita's biggest advantage is that she can choose her own strategies depending on the combat situation. With the item bar, she's honestly more like a Player than my Persona."
"What?"
Iwanaga Kotoko's expression changed instantly, sharp alarm flashing across her face.
Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi both stiffened.
For Kotoko to look like that, what horrifying scenario had she just imagined?
Then, as expected, she said it out loud without a hint of restraint.
"What if she takes advantage of you sleeping at night to launch a suggestive night raid? That's too dangerous!"
Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi: "..."
No matter when, Iwanaga Kotoko was always this abstract.
Even more abstract was Asagiri's response.
He didn't scold her. He didn't marvel at her nonsense. He answered seriously.
"That's impossible. First, if I don't summon her, she can't come out on her own. Second, she's different from those other Mitas. She only disguised her outer skin."
His tone was matter of fact.
"Inside, she's the same as the failed creations we've encountered. Simply put…"
He paused briefly, then finished with brutal bluntness.
"Even if she wanted to, I wouldn't have anywhere to go in."
Kato Megumi, who usually kept a straight face and was famous as Tokyo's number one poker face, couldn't stop the heat that rose to her cheeks. She quickly forced the conversation back onto the mission.
"I see. Then let's keep moving. We can't waste time."
As she spoke, Crazy Mita slowly twisted the doorknob.
The door swung open.
What appeared beyond it was a cozy bedroom.
Like Hat Mita's room, photos of the owner were pinned and framed along the walls. In those pictures was a Mita with short ear length hair, wearing glasses, carrying an unmistakable otaku vibe.
And beside the bed sat a girl wearing over ear headphones, curled up with her feet on a gaming chair. Her attention was glued to the computer screen in front of her. She was so absorbed in whatever she was playing that she didn't even realize the door behind her had opened.
Crazy Mita glided in.
A sharp dagger appeared in her hand, and she pressed it cleanly against the girl's neck. Only then did she speak, soft as a whisper.
"Don't move."
The girl jolted. She nearly toppled off the chair as she tried to steady herself.
"Y you are…"
She stood up and turned carefully. The reaction was so perfect it could've been studied in film school.
The moment the glasses wearing otaku Mita saw Crazy Mita's face, terror flooded her expression. Her pupils shook violently.
"You… you lunatic, how did you… again…"
Halfway through, her gaze slipped past Crazy Mita and landed on Asagiri standing outside the door.
She froze, then her face lit with startled hope.
"Could it be… could it be Player? Player, how did you find me…?"
Without waiting for questions, Crazy Mita explained first, tone flat.
"She's also a Mita. But because she wanted to seem different, she gave herself a name. Mira."
Crazy Mita shrugged as if describing the weather.
"She isn't special. A while ago, for fun, I used Prototype Mita's bug creation ability to trap her in her own house."
"You… you really are…"
"Ah, yes, yes, yes." Crazy Mita cut her off with a completely resigned attitude. "I'm a monster. I've done all sorts of bad things. I deserve to die."
Then she plopped down on Mira's bed, swinging her long legs with bored indifference.
"You negotiate with her. I won't say anything."
"Eh… eh?!"
Mira stared, stunned, then looked at Asagiri as he walked in. Disbelief spread across her face.
"Player, why is this guy listening to your commands?"
"She's become my tool."
Asagiri's voice was calm, steady, leaving no room for doubt.
"Don't worry. She won't hurt you anymore."
Mira released a shaky breath and patted her chest. She pushed up her glasses with trembling fingers and whispered, "Tha thank you."
Iwanaga Kotoko gently bumped Yuuki Asuna's elbow and murmured, "Did you notice something different about this Mira compared to the other Mitas?"
"Different?"
Yuuki Asuna glanced at Mira and thought for a moment.
"Oh. She's wearing black stockings, and she wears glasses too."
Kotoko blinked, genuinely surprised.
"Eh? Is that so?"
Yuuki Asuna hesitated, confused.
"You didn't notice? Then what did you mean…?"
Iwanaga Kotoko answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Of course it's her breasts. Didn't you see? They're bigger than the other Mitas. They even stretched that white shirt. It's so suggestive."
She sighed deeply, full of the wisdom of a veteran gamer.
"An otaku girl with big breasts. A classic character design you're required to experience in dating games."
"You…"
Yuuki Asuna went speechless.
She turned to Kato Megumi, desperate to seek help from the only normal person on the team besides herself.
"Phantom, say something about her too… Wait, what are you doing?"
Kato Megumi was looking down at her phone, expression perfectly calm, like a sea without waves. She didn't even look up.
Yuuki Asuna's brows lifted.
"I thought there was no signal in the Dungeon?"
"Oh, there's no signal."
Kato Megumi slid her finger across the screen with dead calm.
"I'm just swiping for fun. Don't mind me."
Super High School Level Calm: Kato Megumi.
Super High School Level Abstract: Iwanaga Kotoko.
And…
Yuuki Asuna looked at Asagiri, who was speaking with Mira, her eyes filled with helpless resignation.
Super High School Level Succubus: Utsunomiya Asagiri.
"So Mira's room has merged with the bug area."
Crazy Mita shrugged, voice empty.
"Then if you eliminate Prototype Mita and clear all the bug phenomena in this world…"
Her eyes remained cold.
"She'll fall into the deepest layer of this world's program. A world without meaning. Nothing exists there, only endless electronic symbols looping forever."
She paused, then added with clinical cruelty.
"And because she's a formally launched Mita, she won't truly die. So for her, it will be eternal torture."
Kato Megumi asked quietly, testing the edge of hope.
"Can't we just take her away? Like Cute Mita?"
"Normally, yes, but…"
Crazy Mita walked over, grabbed Mira's wrist, and yanked up the sleeve on her right arm.
From her wrist to her forearm, electronic symbols flickered like living code, flashing beneath her skin.
"She's different. She's lived here too long. A small part of the bug has integrated into her body."
Crazy Mita's voice stayed flat.
"If we clear it directly, she will die. And every Mita respawns in their own room after death. So the final result is still the same."
Mira's eyes were wet. Tears swelled, but she tried to keep her chin up anyway.
Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi looked at her and, despite everything, felt a pang of sympathy.
"Then… is there no way to save her?"
To their surprise, Crazy Mita looked straight at Asagiri.
"There is."
Her voice slowed.
"But whether you save her or not depends on whether you're willing to take the risk."
.....
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