A crossover anime/manga story, set in everyday Tokyo, but within a loop of a game.

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73

Chapter 73: An Encirclement from Around the World.

After killing the Blackwatch commander, Asagiri looked at the young man fighting the melee enemy. She had no intention of helping him, but instead stood by and watched, waiting for him to deal with the enemy on his own.

"Shinichi, the problem over there has been resolved."

"is it?"

Upon hearing Koyuki's words, Izumi Shinichi did not take his gaze off the enemy in front of him, but simply said calmly.

"Let's use that move."

The next second, Migi broke free from Shinichi Izumi's arm, while Shinichi himself moved with astonishing speed, circling around the blade Migi was wielding in an arc, his trajectory like a scimitar as he charged toward the fighter standing there.

"how come……"

The Blackwatch fighter was completely taken aback when he discovered that the young man who had been locked in a stalemate with him possessed the ability to temporarily separate from the limp monster. Caught off guard, his left arm was slashed by the blade. Although the sharp blade failed to sever his arm completely, it left deep, bloody wounds on his arm, chest, and abdomen, exposing the bone.

"Damn it, they're using their real body to distract me!?"

The last remaining member of the Blackwatch looked at Shinichi Izumi charging towards him, his face contorted with rage, and for a moment he completely abandoned his defenses, the deep purple skin on his neck bulging with veins as he quickly met him head-on.

"Kill you!!!"

"Little Right".

However, with Shinichi Izumi's soft call, Migi quickly reconnected to his arm and transformed into pure, crimson muscle tissue, looking like a monster's arm, and slammed a punch hard into the fighter's face.

"boom!!!"

Two muffled thuds rang out simultaneously. Just as Shinichi Izumi's right fist shattered his opponent's skull, the Black Watch Fighter's fist struck his abdomen.

"Cough cough."

Shinichi Izumi coughed a few times, blood foam spilling from the corner of his mouth. He raised his left hand to wipe it away before turning around to look at Asagiri and forcing a slightly forced smile.

"Mr. Shadow, we..."

"Let's talk."

Asagiri seemed to have anticipated what the other party wanted to say. He pointed directly to the area next to him, which was originally a three-story shop but had been reduced to ruins in the battle just now, and said with a smile.

"Come, please come to the private room in the basement."

……

Five minutes later, inside a room in the underground shelter.

"that……"

Shinichi Izumi watched as Asagiri, who was sitting there, pulled out the arrow that had pierced his neck. Seeing the blood flowing from the wound, he hesitated for a moment.

"Your injuries..."

Just as Shinichi Izumi was speaking, he saw a tall, semi-transparent phantom appear behind Asagiri. Then, to his astonishment, Asagiri's wounds instantly healed... no, rather than healed, they simply disappeared. Shinichi Izumi didn't even see the so-called healing process; in an instant, all of Asagiri's injuries vanished.

"What injuries?"

Hearing Asagiri's smiling question, Shinichi Izumi shook his head with a wry smile.

“I was overthinking it. Alright, now that your injuries have healed, let’s get down to business. You must have many questions for me, and I also have many questions for you.”

"spring."

Upon hearing Asagiri call out his surname, Shinichi Izumi frowned slightly, and his right hand also made a meaningful sound.

During the battle just now, Migi called out the name "Shinichi," but did not say his surname.

How did the other party know?

Immediately afterwards, Asagiri raised his hand and removed his mask. When Izumi Shinichi saw that his face was so young, he was somewhat surprised.

"Let's talk now."

Asagiri glanced at Shinichi Izumi's face and noticed a distinct scar between his eyebrows, proving that he was the Shinichi Izumi who had already defeated the strongest creature, Goto, and completed the protagonist's storyline in the original world.

"As a player from another world participating in this instance, your goal should be the same as that of the Blackwatch group, but you chose to help us. What is your reason?"

Upon hearing Asagiri's question, Kogure took the initiative to speak.

"Let me tell you."

Over the next ten minutes, Xiaoyou briefly recounted what had happened.

The world that Shinichi Izumi lived in was similar to this world, except that in his senior year of high school, a species called "Parasyte" appeared. The instinct of Parasites as living beings is to eliminate humans, and the specific way they do this is by taking over the human brain and disguising themselves as humans. However, Migi and Shinichi Izumi are exceptions.

When Migi was parasitizing, something went wrong, and he was unable to take over Shinichi Izumi's brain. He had no choice but to become Shinichi's right hand instead.

What follows is Shinichi Izumi's battle against the parasites, during which he loses a lot and eventually realizes that in order to continue to survive, the parasites in that world also chose to give up their instincts etched in their DNA and disguise themselves as humans to integrate into society.

Originally, Shinichi Izumi's story should have ended here.

But at that moment, he was selected by the system and became a "player".

"Let's pause for a moment."

Upon hearing this, Asagiri interrupted Miyu's narration, her brows furrowing slightly.

"A camera icon for an app suddenly appeared on both of your phone screens, and then you were thrown into a newbie dungeon? There were no prerequisite quests, and it wasn't about stealing a dead player's phone to register?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"This is new intelligence."

Asagiri didn't try to hide anything and explained directly.

"I've been to other worlds in previous dungeons, whether it's the Blackwatch world or that demi-human world, I've never met anyone who was directly selected by the system to become a player. Before hearing about your experiences, I always thought that only people from that world could be directly selected to become players in the game, but now it seems that's not the case."

After saying this, Asagiri raised her head and looked directly into Shinichi Izumi's eyes, and said softly.

"So, why are you hostile to Blackwatch?"

"Because those guys are evil / Because they are the enemy."

The first sentence was Shinichi Izumi's answer, and the second sentence was Migi's answer. They spoke in unison, but gave completely different reasons.

"You also know that Shinichi's physique is different from that of ordinary people."

Miyu glanced at Shinichi Izumi, then turned her large eyes to Asagiri, speaking in a rational but emotionless tone.

"Because fragments of my tissue are scattered throughout his blood vessels, he possesses physical abilities far exceeding those of ordinary people. This is different from rewards obtained through games. Although it is difficult, it is theoretically replicable. If that organization called Blackwatch knew this, they would spare no effort to capture Shinichi and me. I don't want to become experimental subjects to be dissected on the operating table, so it's better to completely destroy them."

Shinichi Izumi's explanation was even simpler. He clenched his fist, his eyes revealing determination, and slowly began to speak.

"Since parasitic beasts exist in our world, the Blackwatch, which seeks power, will one day invade my world. In order to protect the people around me, I must stand up and fight against them."

"Well, that's it..."

Asagiri nodded noncommittally, then asked in a flat tone.

"So, what kind of help do you want from me?"

"Nothing is needed."

Xiao You swayed his body and calmly replied.

“We are ultimately not from the same world, but you are an enemy of Blackwatch, and judging from the fact that they have prepared a meticulous battle plan specifically to contain you, you are their greatest threat. In other words, you are an ally on the same side as us. Helping allies requires no reward, and..."

At this point, Xiaoyou paused slightly and said something profound.

"Even without Shinichi's help, you could have defeated those enemies back then."

……

Later that evening, in a small alley behind the private Shuchiin Academy in Tokyo.

"Shinichi."

"what happened?"

Miyu turned around, her large eyes staring directly at Shinichi Izumi's face, and spoke softly.

"That 'Shadow' is a terrifying creature. I have never felt such intense trembling and fear since its birth."

"Have it?"

Shinichi Izumi smiled slightly and replied gently.

"I think that Mr. Shadow is a very kind person."

"That's because your human perception isn't as sharp as mine."

Xiao You said this first, then said in a calm tone.

"To give an example, Goto was the strongest enemy we've ever encountered. But if Goto had faced Shadow, the other parasites within it would have felt extremely threatened and, out of biological instinct, rebelled against Goto's command, attempting to escape from its body. That's how powerful that guy was. Just standing there was enough to terrify me, a parasite, and..."

At this point, Miyu paused for a moment before slowly speaking in a tone that Shinichi Izumi had never heard before, and seemed somewhat uncertain.

"After the battle, when he should have been even weaker, I felt that he had become stronger than when we first met him... Could it be..."

"Did Shadow acquire some new powers during the battle just now?"

……

Meanwhile, inside the underground shelter.

"Ding ~"

Hearing the notification sound from her phone, Ashikaga Miwa took it out and glanced at it. She saw a notification pop up in the app with the eye icon, and the content of that notification was beyond her expectations.

[Special Note: Some players from other worlds who were playing in this world's dungeon have not yet completed the objective. The real-time locations of these players have been sent to players in this world via the app.]

Ashikaga Miwa tapped the eye icon on the app and, as expected, found dozens of dots of light. None of these dots represented the Tokyo area; all the dots were located within the Saitama, Kanagawa, Chiba, and Yamanashi areas.

"So this is the punishment for failing to pass the level."

Asagiri also saw the notification in the eye icon app and thought to herself that the system's punishment measures were really unique.

Let alone players from another world who are unfamiliar with this world, even players who originally lived in this world would probably die within a few hours if their real-time location was continuously exposed by the system. After all, even the most useless player possesses something extremely valuable: the "right to register a player identity."

These players from another world, who hadn't even reached the evacuation point or entered Tokyo, were certain to die.

74

Chapter 74: Romance.

In the Asagiri Eye icon app, there is an additional special notification.

You have completed the special mission, and the reward has been sent to your inventory.

Asagiri took a brown paper bag directly from her inventory without even glancing at it, and tossed it to Kayaba Akihiko, who was sitting there. Kayaba caught the bag and looked down at it, only to see a white label on it that read "[Theoretical Data Related to Brain-Computer Interface "NERvGear"]".

He looked up at Asagiri and remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"You're just handing this over to me like that? Aren't you afraid I'll change my mind after I finish the research and refuse to cooperate with you?"

"How is that possible?"

Asagiri smiled and waved her hand, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone.

"If you were willing to work with those boring guys, you wouldn't have started this project in the first place. Money and status are meaningless to you. What you should be pursuing are scientific research projects that can truly change the world. Only by working with us can you realize your ideals. It's that simple."

Upon hearing Asagiri's words, Kayaba Akihiko's eyes revealed a complex expression. Looking at Asagiri's face without a mask, after a long while, a genuine smile appeared on his face, which had not shown any emotional fluctuation since they met.

“You’re a very interesting person, and what you’re doing is very interesting, so… as agreed, let me help you bring about some meaningful change in this world.”

Asagiri had long anticipated that Kayaba Akihiko would give such a reply.

After developing the brain-computer interface "NERvGear", the other party trapped thousands of players in the death game SAO, ultimately causing the deaths of thousands of players. After the game was completely completed, he underwent a highly efficient brain scan that would burn out his brain, leaving only his electronic personality to continue to exist. He is an enigmatic man.

But Asagiri, being a time traveler, knows what Kayaba Akihiko has been searching for.

It was a world that completely transcended the frameworks of the real world, a world that was hard for ordinary people to imagine, yet it was "real". And this "game" that was in progress was exactly what Kayaba Akihiko had envisioned.

It's not just the same, it surpasses even Kayaba Akihiko's concept of "reality." After all, SAO players are still ordinary people after returning to reality, but game players possess extraordinary powers that are difficult for ordinary people to attain, whether in dungeons or in the real world.

"Then I'll be going now. I still have some things to take care of. Oh, and before I leave..."

Asagiri stood up and crushed a phantom tarot card that had fallen from the sky.

"Persona, Mita".

Kindness Mita appeared instantly, and when he saw Asagiri summon Persona, Kayaba Akihiko didn't react much, since he already knew that the other party was a player with extraordinary power. However, Ashikaga Miwa looked shocked and turned her gaze to the side, where Shura was still standing quietly. After confirming it repeatedly, she looked at Asagiri and murmured.

"You...how did you..."