Chapter 342: The Earth Cancer Seen Through
"Then let's go."
Fujiwara Chika walked beside Asagiri, accompanying him down the street. After several minutes of silence, she finally remembered that this was the perfect time to find a topic of conversation. She lightly coughed twice and asked in a deliberately casual tone.
"Utsunomiya-san, summer vacation has finally started. How are you planning to spend your first holiday since entering high school?"
"Oh? Do you have a proposal?"
"A proposal... not really..."
Fujiwara Chika's smile was pure and innocent, even a little naive and sweet.
"If you don't know how to spend it, I do have a few suggestions. Of course, of course, I don't mean spending summer vacation with you... no, no, I'm not saying I wouldn't want to go out and play with you during summer vacation. Anyway... um... what I mean is, if you want to invite me somewhere, I definitely won't refuse. Yes, yes, that's it!"
Watching Fujiwara Chika, whose language function seemed to have gone completely out of order, Asagiri couldn't help but chuckle.
"Are you trying to hypnotize yourself?"
Fujiwara Chika's pretty face flushed red. Realizing that her behavior had become somewhat out of control, she immediately put on her detective hat, bit down on her pipe-shaped candy, and even raised a magnifying glass to one eye, staring intently at Asagiri's face.
Then, using a slightly exaggerated and abstract tone to cover her embarrassment, she said,
"Then, Utsunomiya-san, it is time for questions from the love detective! Listen carefully. Question one! Why did you hand the decision on cooperation over to Kaguya Shinomiya? You know Shinomiya Unyo is her brother. Aren't you afraid she might make the wrong judgment when facing a cooperation proposal from the Shinomiya Family?"
"Wrong judgment?"
Asagiri shook his head and said faintly,
"This isn't a Dungeon. There's no such thing as a wrong judgment. If Kaguya Shinomiya says she doesn't want to cooperate with the Shinomiya Family, then we don't cooperate. If she says she wants to cooperate, then we cooperate. I wanted Shinomiya Unyo to know that Kaguya Shinomiya also has decision making power in the Ashikaga Budo Association. It's that simple."
"Is it really that simple?"
Fujiwara Chika leaned closer to Asagiri, staring intently into his eyes with a meaningful smile.
"As a love detective, I smell a hint of tsundere~"
"Tsundere what tsundere? I just hadn't finished speaking yet."
Asagiri waved his hand indifferently, then continued.
"More importantly, I want Kaguya Shinomiya to realize that even without the Shinomiya Family name, she now possesses sufficient power. This isn't something granted to her by her status as the eldest daughter of the Shinomiya Family. It is power that belongs to her. Whether to me or to the Ashikaga Budo Association, Kaguya Shinomiya is a very valuable member. I need her to understand that only by staying with us can she obtain what she truly wants."
"Oh?"
Fujiwara Chika smiled, tilting her head adorably.
"So, this is just a simple method to win someone over, and it has nothing to do with your personal feelings for Kaguya Shinomiya, right?"
"Compared to that..."
Asagiri suddenly leaned closer.
The sudden movement, along with the instant closeness where even their breaths seemed to brush against each other, made Fujiwara Chika freeze. Her gaze fixed completely on Asagiri's smiling eyes. Even though she felt shy, she could not look away.
"Fujiwara, if Kaguya Shinomiya ultimately decides to return to the Shinomiya Family's influence, then Hayasaka Ai will definitely go with her. What choice will you make then?"
"I... I..."
Fujiwara Chika's lips parted slightly, and bewilderment appeared in her blue eyes.
She was not bewildered because she did not know what choice to make.
On the contrary, the moment Asagiri asked that question, she already knew what she would choose.
She would stay with the Ashikaga Budo Association.
She would give up being Kaguya Shinomiya's teammate.
But if she did that...
Wouldn't that be abandoning a friend for love? And a very serious version of it, too.
"Abandoning a friend for love? That's wrong."
Hearing Asagiri's words, Fujiwara Chika's pupils shrank in surprise.
What was going on?
Had Utsunomiya-san suddenly awakened an ability like mind reading?
How had he said exactly what she was thinking?
"You wouldn't be choosing me over Kaguya Shinomiya. You would be choosing the Ashikaga Budo Association over the Shinomiya Family. Besides, you know very well that if Kaguya Shinomiya returns to the Shinomiya Family, she will revert to her old self. By comparison, you prefer the current Kaguya Shinomiya. In other words, between the old Kaguya Shinomiya who treated everyone as pawns, and the current Kaguya Shinomiya who is no longer so cold and occasionally gets a love detective brain, you would definitely choose the latter."
"Eh..."
Fujiwara Chika froze for a moment. Then, light returned to her eyes, and admiration gradually overflowed in her gaze toward Asagiri. She nodded repeatedly.
"That's right! That's my true thought! Utsunomiya-san, I didn't expect your emotional intelligence to be so high!"
"You didn't expect this?"
Asagiri smiled slightly, reached out, and patted Fujiwara Chika on the head.
This intimate gesture once again turned Fujiwara Chika into a blushing, steaming maiden.
"Do you know what my greatest achievement in life has been so far?"
Fujiwara Chika looked eager to learn.
"What is it?"
"Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi. Although the three of them often bicker, they have never had a truly meaningful argument!"
"What's so special about that..."
Halfway through speaking, Fujiwara Chika suddenly realized that this did indeed seem like an incredibly great achievement.
She was not very familiar with Kato Megumi, so she could set that aside for now. But Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna were both girls with extremely strong personalities.
They were both Utsunomiya-san's girlfriends, yet they had never truly argued over such matters. Even in the high pressure environment of a Dungeon, they had never blamed each other.
That was simply an astonishing achievement.
"Utsunomiya-san..."
Fujiwara Chika's eyes flickered as she spoke softly.
"So you considered so much for Shinomiya... Then why don't you tell her?"
"Do you understand strategy? Do you understand the God of Harem?"
Asagiri's expression became profound.
"For relatively slow witted girls, a direct attack works well. But for a girl like Kaguya Shinomiya, who isn't slow witted and likes to overthink, it's better to let her understand it on her own."
"Strategy..."
Fujiwara Chika first murmured the word. Only after several seconds did she react, exclaiming in shock,
"You... you mean you like Shinomiya!?"
"Oh my, you scared me."
Looking at Fujiwara Chika's shocked expression, Asagiri also felt surprised.
"Your reaction makes it sound like I fell in love with Oko Shinomiya instead of Kaguya Shinomiya. Did I say the wrong name, or are you overreacting?"
"No... you didn't say the wrong name. I just didn't expect..."
"Then you're a bit slow witted."
Asagiri first said this with a smile, then looked directly into Fujiwara Chika's eyes and slowly spoke.
"So, Fujiwara, let me ask you the same question you asked me. That question about my feelings for Shinomiya just now, did you ask it out of friendship, or out of your feelings for me?"
The moment she heard that question, Fujiwara Chika froze.
Before she could answer, Asagiri suddenly changed the subject.
"No rush. Think it over before you answer. We need to go to Kayaba Akihiko's place, or we'll be late. Come on up."
"Up? Come up?"
Seeing Fujiwara Chika's puzzled expression, Asagiri shrugged.
"All trains are stopped today, and I didn't have Miwa Ashikaga send a car to pick us up, so let's use the fastest and most convenient method."
At this point, Asagiri suddenly picked Fujiwara Chika up in a princess carry. A faint gray phantom appeared behind him.
"Bang!"
With a soft sound, Asagiri slightly bent his knees and shot into the sky. Then, like a comet, he flew at an astonishing speed in a certain direction.
...
Ten minutes later, inside a research lab in a certain building.
"So this is the NERvGear..."
Asagiri examined the helmet-like device on the table. Comparing it to the NERvGear in his memory, he found no difference in appearance.
"That's right. This is the NERvGear."
Kayaba Akihiko, dressed in a white lab coat, nodded.
When discussing his research project, this usually taciturn and even somewhat introverted man seemed like a completely different person, radiating absolute confidence.
"All senses are realistically simulated. Pain can be adjusted, and it can restore each of your abilities and physical qualities according to the settings. Everything is ready. All that's left is setting up the environment and related details. I've already prepared a Dungeon environment. Do you want to try it now?"
"Is that so?"
Asagiri picked up the NERvGear, placed it on his head, and said indifferently,
"Then let's begin."
Fujiwara Chika and Miwa Ashikaga, who were watching from the side, both felt extremely nervous.
After all, this was the first official experiment of the NERvGear.
"Now, activating the NERvGear."
Kayaba Akihiko took a deep breath and pressed the red button in his hand.
Utsunomiya Asagiri slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, what appeared before him was a completely different scene.
A vast grassland stretched in every direction. A sun that was not too scorching hung in the sky. Everything seemed peaceful and serene, but...
"Persona, Human Asura."
Seeing the figure opposite him, wearing a long black hunters windbreaker and a dark gray mask, pull the trigger of a gun-shaped summoner and summon the tall Human Asura covered in dark red markings, Utsunomiya Asagiri couldn't help but chuckle.
"That guy Kayaba Akihiko. The first test NPC he designed in this world is actually Shadow…"
.....
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