In the anime, people are in everyday Tokyo, but they are playing the reincarnation game

"Thank you."

Asagiri took the can of iced Coca-Cola handed to her by Kato Megumi, opened it and took a sip, then replied with a smile.

"Thanks for the great help. I'm back to full health."

Kato Megumi tucked her black hair by her ears, and a gentle smile appeared in her eyes.

"Ah That's good."

............

A few minutes later.

"I've never thought rice balls tasted so good. They were so delicious."

Asuna Yuuki turned her head and saw the petite Kotoko Iwanaga, who was holding an instant rice ball in both hands and nibbling on it. Her cute face was filled with happiness. She couldn't help but shook her head and took out a tissue to wipe the rice grains from the corners of her mouth, and teased with a smile.

"Didn't you say you're energy-efficient and environmentally friendly and you're not hungry?"

Iwanaga Kotoko replied vaguely while nibbling on a rice ball.

"Although I'm energy-saving and environmentally friendly, as the team's advisor, my mental energy consumption is too high, so it's normal to get hungry quickly~"

"You even appointed yourself the team's advisor? Seriously."

Watching the daily bickering between Iwanaga Kotoko and Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi's lips curled up slightly, and then she looked at Asagiri who was leaning against a tree trunk and eating a lunch box.

"Leader, while I was gathering food just now, I saw a few people in suits who looked like specialists from the Demihuman Countermeasures Bureau. I eavesdropped on their conversation, and it seems the higher-ups at the Demihuman Countermeasures Bureau have issued an order to temporarily halt the search and capture of suspected demihuman targets, specifically players, and to transfer most of the mobile forces to a certain location. I'm assuming this "somewhere" is the research institute base."

"Hmm? Stop the chase?"

After hearing what Kato Megumi said, Yuuki Asuna couldn't help but feel curious.

"Why would the Demihuman Countermeasures Bureau suddenly make such a decision? Could it be that some changes have occurred that we're not aware of?"

"Of course we do."

Seeing Yuuki Asuna's puzzled expression, Asagiri chuckled and spoke.

"It's likely that the actions of us and the other player teams resulted in heavy casualties among the Demihuman Countermeasures Bureau's troops, prompting their leadership to make this decision. Simply put... the Demihuman Countermeasures Bureau's leadership was terrified."

"I see."

Yuuki Asuna nodded thoughtfully, then asked.

"So what should we do next? Rest until we're ready to attack?"

"Do not."

Asagiri shook his head, his eyes extremely calm, and spoke slowly.

"We're definitely not the only player team that has managed to locate the research base and successfully reach it. However, the player faction is different from those two factions. Players don't trust each other, and true cooperation is impossible. They even have to be wary of each other and become obstacles to each other."

"So before we actually launch the attack on the research institute base, those troublemakers who refuse to obey orders and want to take advantage of the situation..."

Having said that, Asagiri paused and spoke in an extremely calm tone.

"Kill them all."

Chapter 34: 032 Four teams discussing the battle plan

That night, in a barren mountain in Chiba Prefecture.

"Huh...Huh...We're finally here..."

Fujiwara Chika was holding onto a tree beside her with her hands, her forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, she was panting and looked almost exhausted.

"I told you a long time ago to exercise more often."

Looking at Fujiwara Chika's appearance, Shinomiya Kaguya couldn't help but frowned slightly.

"Although you can get physical fitness improvements after clearing the dungeon, there's no harm in exercising. Besides, you're a bit overweight anyway."

"Eh? What are you talking about!?"

When she heard Kaguya Shinomiya say that she was fat, Chika Fujiwara retorted with a blushing face.

"I'm not fat at all, okay? I have a standard body shape!"

Hayasaka Ai glanced at Fujiwara Chika's chest and shook her head.

"Is it because a certain part of you is getting in the way?"

"Well..."

Fujiwara Chika's pretty face flushed red, and she puffed up her cheeks in anger and muttered softly.

"Humph, one has a flat chest and the other has a padded body. They are just jealous of me."

"Okay, let's not talk about this for now."

Shinomiya Kaguya looked at the path in the dark forest and spoke softly.

"If the guy I tortured didn't lie, the research base is located deep in this mountain. Let's find a safe place to rest for the night, and then go into the mountain to search tomorrow morning..."

Just when Kaguya Shinomiya was halfway through her speech, a young girl's energetic voice suddenly came from behind the three of them.

"Sorry to interrupt~"


Shinomiya Kaguya's pupils shrank in shock, and as she turned around, the long sword appeared in her hand.

She pointed the tip of the knife at the cute girl who was standing a few meters away from her and the others. She was wearing a red sweater, a blue skirt, a blue hat with cat ears, and blue gloves. She was smiling and swaying slightly, and there was a chill in her red eyes.

"Who are you? You approached us quietly, what exactly do you want to do?"

"I didn't intentionally hide my breath~"

Hat Mita replied with a smile.

"However, you didn't even notice my approach, which proves that you three are really exhausted and can't even maintain the most basic vigilance. Please rest assured that I have no hostility towards you three. I am also a player."

"Are you a player too?"

"correct."

Noticing the suspicious looks of Shinomiya Kaguya, Fujiwara Chika, and Hayasaka Ai, Hat Mita stretched out her right hand, and then an inflatable toy hammer suddenly appeared in her hand, but disappeared the next second.

"Well, do you believe it now?"

Seeing this scene, Kaguya Shinomiya, Chika Fujiwara, and Ai Hayasaka all believed that Hat Mita was a player. After all, only players could store and retrieve items from the void.

But even so, Kaguya Shinomiya did not let her guard down and spoke in a cold tone.

"You're a player? Then what's your purpose in approaching us alone?"

"Of course it's for cooperation~"

Hat Mita said with a sweet smile.

"Have you ever encountered the Demihuman Countermeasures Bureau's mobile unit before? If so, you should understand that it's absolutely impossible for just the three of you to break through the research base's defenses and obtain the experimental data stored there."

Hayasaka Ai snorted when she heard this and immediately denied it.

"But there aren't just three of us players who want to break into the research base, right? Since you're a player and you're here, doesn't that mean you're also planning to break into the research base and get the research data?"

"That's right."

Hat Mita seemed to have anticipated that Hayasaka Ai would raise such a question. She was not at all flustered, but just explained with a smile.

"However, the different player teams struggle to cooperate and fully trust each other, even remaining wary of one another. Under these circumstances, you still have to break through the research base's defenses, the Demihuman Countermeasures Bureau's mobile forces, and ultimately, find a route to the experimental data storage location and reach it. Do you think this is possible? In other words, even if you succeed, can all three of you truly survive the entire process?"

Faced with the question raised by Hat Mita, Kaguya Shinomiya and others fell silent, not knowing how to answer.

Just as the other party said, the players are not united. Although the goal of passing the level is the same, it is impossible for them to truly cooperate with each other.

Cooperation? How? The situation in this instance was clear: the player who successfully obtained the experimental data would definitely receive the highest-level reward. As for the rest of the players, they might receive some bonus points for assisting in the attack, but it certainly wouldn't be comparable to the rewards for completing the objective themselves.

When it comes to the rewards for clearing a dungeon, even teammates in the same team may not be trustworthy, let alone players you don’t know.

If we start the attack on the research base like this, the probability of successfully passing the level is extremely small. The greater probability is...

No player succeeded in obtaining the experimental data, and all players were trapped in this world. In the end, they died one after another under the attack of the Demihuman Countermeasures Bureau or other official agencies until they were all wiped out.

"You all seem quite smart. You must have understood what I'm saying, right?"

Hat Mita deliberately gave Shinomiya Kaguya and others some time to think, and only continued to speak at this time.

"Therefore, we, the player teams, need to reach a consensus. While cooperation is definitely impossible, we must at least avoid interfering with each other."

After saying this, Hat Mita walked towards the dense forest on the side. Before entering the forest, he turned around and looked at the three girls, Kaguya Shinomiya, Chika Fujiwara, and Ai Hayasaka, who were still standing there, and said with a smile.

"The choice is yours, but if you really want to clear the level, then follow me."

.............

In the end, Kaguya Shinomiya and the others decided to listen to what Hat Mita had to say, and followed her through the dense forest to a secluded open space.

However, when they arrived, they saw two teams of players already around the open space. One of them had three male players, all of whom looked to be around 20 years old. Although they had an unconcealable look of fatigue on their faces, their clothes were very neat and clean.

The situation of the other player team was not so good.

There are five people in this team, three men and two women. The oldest man looks to be around forty years old, and the youngest male player looks like a college student or has just graduated from college.

However, the clothes of these five players were stained with blood, and although they tried their best to cover it up, Kaguya Shinomiya, who was good at observing people's words and expressions, could still see at a glance that these five players seemed to be a little sad and sorrowful. Perhaps their companions died in the process of coming here.

At this stage, most players, even high-end players, do not have the defense to withstand bullets. It is normal for them to die while being hunted by the Demi-Human Countermeasures Bureau.

"OK~ Including the team that just arrived and my own team, we now have four player teams~"

Hearing Hat Mita's words, the leader of the three male player team frowned and took two steps forward to ask.

"Everyone from our three teams is gathered here. What about your team? Why are you the only one showing up? Could it be..."

"you misunderstood."

Hat Mita said this with a smile at first, and just when everyone thought she was going to explain patiently, they heard unexpected words.

"Although I invited your three teams to discuss this, you don't think that this means that your three teams and my player team are on equal footing, right?"

Hat Mita had a sweet and lovely smile on his face. He glanced at the three players including Shinomiya Kaguya, Fujiwara Chika, and Hayasaka Ai, and then slowly spoke.

"Don't get me wrong, the first one of you to arrive here was only half an hour ago, and the team I belong to arrived here eight hours ago, when it was still daylight."

"What..."

Hearing what Hat Mita said, the three player teams, including Shinomiya Kaguya and others, couldn't help but look incredulous.

The other team had already arrived at the mountain where the research base was located eight hours ago?

How can this be?

Eight hours... In other words, just four hours after entering the dungeon, the player team she belonged to had already passed all the tests of "obtaining information on the location of the research institute base", "breaking through the blockade of the Subhuman Countermeasures Bureau", and "arriving in Chiba Prefecture"?

If the arrival time was only off by half an hour or an hour, there might be some accidental factor, but such a huge difference could only mean one thing.

If what Hat Mita said was true, then the player team she belonged to was not only the strongest, but also...

It is several levels stronger than his team.

"Looks like you all understand~"

Looking at the expressions of these players, Hat Mita still maintained a sweet and lovely smile, but the words he said made everyone present tremble in their hearts.

"You are the first three teams to arrive here after us. Because of this, we have given you the right to discuss the battle plan together, but you..."

Hat Mita stuck out her tongue and made a cute face.

"You didn't question our qualifications~"

Chapter 35: 033 Cooperation in Another Sense

After hearing Hat Mita's blunt words, no one from the three player teams present stood up to express opposition or dissatisfaction.

Being able to get here in such a short time shows that these people present are all high-end players with sufficient strength and brains.

Is what Hat Mita said true?

In fact, this is not important. When we arrived here, it was indeed the other party who took the initiative to come up. No matter how long the other party's team arrived, it is certain that they must have arrived earlier than us.

and......

Daring to appear alone in front of the rest of the player team, is this seemingly very cute and energetic girl really as harmless as she seems?

It is absolutely impossible.

It is a foolish thing to do to engage in meaningless verbal disputes and offend the other party without being sure of the actual situation.