Chapter 64: The Chemistry of Presence
"Mm…"
Megumi's expression stayed neutral. She let out a small sigh and answered softly.
"I'll definitely do my best, but if you expect too much from me… even I might feel a little pressure. And that would be troublesome."
Even though she was clearly voicing concern, her gentle tone and calm, reassuring voice somehow made it impossible to feel anything negative about it.
"It's okay, Megumi." Asuna patted her shoulder with a warm smile. "Your exclusive talent is amazing. If you're just a bit more confident, you'll be fine."
Megumi tilted her head, her eyes flickering slightly.
"If you say so… then I'll try my best. I hope I won't disappoint you."
"Oh, right." Asuna remembered something and asked quickly. "You didn't forget to bring sportswear, did you?"
"Mm. I brought it. Look."
Megumi pulled a set of sportswear out of her bag, stood up, unfolded it, and held it up for them to see.
"This should work, right?"
Asuna looked it over. The style was plain, the colors were light green and white, and the whole set was… unremarkable.
"It's fine," she said carefully. "But how do I put it… it feels a little ordinary."
"Huh? Is it?" Megumi asked, genuinely confused. "Is being a little ordinary not good?"
"It's not that it's bad, it's just…"
Compared to Asuna's hesitation, Kotoko was blunt. She smiled and spoke as if it were obvious.
"It suits you perfectly. Ordinary sportswear matches your low presence and your talent to lower your presence. It's great."
Kotoko wasn't wrong.
Megumi's exclusive talent was extremely powerful, but if the same ability were given to any of the other three, the effect would never be this strong.
It had nothing to do with looks. It was temperament, aura, presence.
Especially Asagiri and Kotoko. They were the kind of people who drew attention just by existing, even if they stayed silent and didn't move. If either of them had the talent to lower presence, at best it would drag them down to "normal." They could never reach Megumi's almost invisible level.
It confirmed something important.
A Player's awakened exclusive talent was the most compatible with the Player's own traits. There wouldn't be a mismatch.
Megumi sighed again, sounding faintly gloomy.
"Even I feel a little sad when you say I have low presence…"
Asuna didn't know how to comfort her, so she turned to the other two and changed the topic.
"You two aren't seriously planning to enter the Dungeon dressed like that, are you?"
Kotoko was dressed as usual. A fluffy white dress, a light blue wool coat over it, a white beret, white over the knee socks, and delicate white round toe shoes.
There was only one word for it.
Gorgeous.
Asagiri, in comparison, looked far more normal. A black sports jacket from a luxury brand, a plain short sleeved shirt, sweatpants, and high top sneakers. It was even low key, technically.
Except when it was on him, it still looked annoyingly eye catching.
"Of course." Kotoko adjusted her beret confidently. "I always dress like this. If I suddenly switched to sportswear, it would feel inconvenient."
Asuna sighed and looked at Asagiri.
"What about you?"
Asagiri smiled, didn't answer directly, and asked instead.
"Asuna, have you heard of a sports manga called Kuroko's Basketball?"
"No." Asuna shook her head. "I'm not really into manga."
"That's fine." Asagiri spoke casually. "I'll summarize. There's a protagonist named Kuroko. His special skill is influencing the game through sudden passes by using his weak presence. It's similar to Megumi's talent."
Asuna nodded like she understood, and then immediately proved she didn't.
"Okay… and? How does that relate to what we were talking about?"
"It relates." Asagiri's tone turned serious. "There's another character who's also basically a protagonist. Kagami. Unlike Kuroko, he has an extremely strong presence. The moment he's on the court, even without the ball, the opponent's attention gets pulled toward him."
"So the two of them become the best partners."
Asuna's eyes widened.
"I get it. So if you and Kotoko, two people with extremely high presence, are around…"
She glanced at Megumi.
"…then Megumi, who already has low presence and can lower it even further, becomes even harder to notice."
"Exactly," Asagiri said simply.
Asuna nodded slowly, impressed.
"I didn't think of it that way."
"Of course you didn't," Asagiri replied with perfect seriousness. "That's why Megumi joining us is a match made in heaven."
Asuna blinked.
Kotoko's smile twitched.
Megumi looked like she accepted it as normal.
…
Half an hour later, the moment the time on all four phones jumped to twelve o'clock, every screen chimed at once.
The eye icon APP opened automatically. A Dungeon introduction appeared, along with a ten minute countdown.
Asagiri read aloud from his screen.
[This Dungeon Location Is: Abandoned City After the Apocalypse]
[This Dungeon Time Limit Is: Ten Hours]
[Player Mission Objective: Survive Until The Time Limit Ends, Or Go To Benevolence Hospital And Obtain The Antibody Reagent Stored In The Hospital]
[Dungeon Public Hint: Please Be Constantly Aware Of Your Surroundings]
[Because You Received An Evaluation Of A Minus Or Above In The Last Dungeon, A Special Hint Is Given]
[Special Hint: After Officially Entering The Dungeon, You Will Receive A Detailed Map Of The City]
"My special hint is the city map," Asagiri said. "What about yours?"
Megumi had only gotten a C evaluation last time, so she didn't receive a special hint. That meant the team had four people, but only three special hints to work with.
Asuna answered immediately.
"My hint says there are special infected in this Dungeon. They're strong in both agility and speed. If I kill them, the speed and agility boosts from my exclusive talent will be doubled."
Kotoko followed without delay.
"My hint says there's a wandering spirit in Benevolence Hospital. If we find it, we might get valuable information."
Asagiri nodded, satisfied.
"No overlap. Good."
He sounded almost pleased.
"This is ideal for Players like us who can consistently earn evaluations at A level or higher."
Then his voice flattened again, returning to business.
"This Dungeon is different from before. It offers two mission objectives. Since it uses 'or,' it means either one clears the Dungeon."
"On paper, surviving ten hours in a city full of zombies is obviously simpler than searching for an antibody in a hospital."
He tapped the screen lightly.
"But based on the novice Dungeons Asuna and I went through, this game likes psychological tactics. It uses fear to push Players into making mistakes."
Asuna's gaze sharpened.
"Either way, we'll definitely take the second objective, right?"
"Yes." Asagiri nodded. "My special hint is the city map, and Kotoko's hint is also tied to Benevolence Hospital."
Megumi raised her hand slightly, cautious.
"Um… I think I might… not have a code name yet."
"I already picked one," Asagiri said, smiling at her. "Phantom. Like a mirage. It fits your talent."
Megumi nodded obediently.
"Okay. I'll go with that."
Kotoko puffed her cheeks, clearly unhappy.
"Hmph. Leader is biased."
She muttered under her breath.
"You named theirs. Why did I have to choose mine myself? No, you have to choose one for me too."
Asagiri glanced at her with a chuckle.
"Fine. Then you can be Dirty Talker. I'll even grant you the privilege of using two words."
"Dirty Talker…"
Asuna couldn't hold it in. She covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"It fits you perfectly…"
Kotoko's cheeks bulged even more.
Asagiri didn't let the chaos spread.
"Alright. Back to business."
He pulled bandages and muscle tape out of his bag.
"This Dungeon's scale is a full city. We'll be moving more, faster. We still need basic protective measures."
Asuna instantly understood what he was about to do. She spoke first.
"I already prepared preventive support for ankles. I'll handle Kotoko and Megumi."
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