Chapter 211: Daily Life at Shuchiin Academy

After confirming the upgrade, Asagiri looked at the description of [King’s Gambit] in the eye icon app. The text that had previously displayed the skill’s effect was now covered in a layer of viscous red mist. As the mist gradually dissipated, the wording beneath it began to change.

[King’s Gambit (Skill): After obtaining a target’s consent, you may bind with them. Number of bound targets: unlimited. You may instantly swap positions with any bound target at any time. This skill has no cost.]

[Skill Restriction: Maximum effective range is fifty meters.]

Originally, [King’s Gambit] consumed a certain amount of mental power to instantly swap positions with a bound Player. Its maximum effective range had only been fifteen meters, and the target had also needed to remain within his line of sight.

Now, after the upgrade, there was no mental power cost, no restriction requiring the target to remain within sight, and the maximum range had increased to an astonishing fifty meters.

Most importantly, the phrase "obtain the consent of a Player" in the original description had now become "obtain the consent of a target."

"I see... Persona, Mita."

"Ta da! Hat is here again!"

The energetic Hat Mita appeared in front of Asagiri, swaying her upper body as usual. Her cute face wore a sweet but slightly mischievous little devil smile.

She stuck out her tongue at Asagiri, her eyes sparkling with delight.

"Player, did you call me out to help with cooking? I’m not bragging, but cooking is easy for me, Hat!"

"I have my doubts."

Asagiri looked at the blue gloves on her hands, then at the hat on her head, and spoke with obvious skepticism.

"It’s hard for me to imagine you, dressed like that, actually cooking." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Hehe, don’t underestimate me. Looks like I’ll really have to show you what I can do."

"Let’s do the important part first."

Asagiri stood up, rubbed Hat Mita’s head, and said with a smile,

"Bind with me first."

"Bind? Okay!"

Seeing Hat Mita take out that mysterious purple object again, Asagiri instantly looked speechless.

"I meant binding through [King’s Gambit]. Why are you pulling out your purple mood again?"

"Oh dear, so that’s not what you meant. Sorry, sorry, I misunderstood."

Looking at Hat Mita’s cute expression as she stuck out her tongue and made a face, Asagiri seriously doubted that she had misunderstood at all.

"Alright then. Bind."

After the binding was complete, Asagiri walked to the other side of the living room. Without even looking at Hat Mita, who was still standing where she was, he softly said,

"King’s Gambit."

The next second, Hat Mita and Asagiri instantly swapped positions.

"Just as I thought."

After confirming his guess, Asagiri nodded in satisfaction.

This was the most important part of the upgrade to [King’s Gambit].

Now, after the upgrade, he could use the skill to swap places with his Personas as well. That opened up all kinds of extremely useful tactical possibilities.

"Are you done? Can I go cook now?"

Seeing Hat Mita’s eager expression, Asagiri nodded.

"Mm. Go ahead."

"Woohoo!"

Hat Mita looked delighted. She leaned over and kissed Asagiri, then immediately ran into the kitchen.

Yuuki Asuna, who was acting as the head chef, listened to the whole exchange and looked at Hat Mita’s excited, eager face. Not wanting to dampen her spirits, she tied her long flaxen hair into a high ponytail and smiled gently.

"Alright, Hat. You can help by cutting vegetables first, okay?"

"Okay!"

Hat Mita took the kitchen knife Yuuki Asuna handed her, then stared at the cabbage sitting on the cutting board. Her eyes suddenly filled with determination, like a warrior preparing to charge into battle. She took a deep breath, and then...

"Thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Stop!"

Seeing Hat Mita bring the knife down in a frenzy, chopping wildly as cabbage leaves flew everywhere, Yuuki Asuna hurriedly stopped her.

"Who cuts vegetables like that?"

"Huh... strange..."

Hat Mita looked down at the cabbage she had reduced to a miserable pile and couldn’t help muttering in confusion.

"How did this happen...? Shouldn’t it just turn neat by itself after a couple of cuts...?"

Leaning against the kitchen doorway, Asagiri let out a soft laugh.

"Because the rules of your world and ours are different. Hat’s world is a dating sim, after all. Things like cooking and cutting vegetables probably only require a few token motions there. In our real world, it’s a lot more complicated."

Hearing that, Yuuki Asuna sighed helplessly.

"You already knew that, and you still let Hat charge in and cause chaos?"

"So what, should I have let her come out and play purple mood with me instead?"

"Uh..."

Yuuki Asuna froze for a moment, then looked at Hat Mita, who was still smiling and swaying her upper body, and said seriously,

"Don’t worry. I’m going to teach you how to cook properly in this world today."

At that moment, Kato Megumi gathered the cabbage Hat Mita had chopped into utter ruin, poured it into a basket beside the counter, and said gently,

"Even if it’s cut badly, it can still go into the stew later. Oh, right..."

Kato Megumi turned her head toward Asagiri, who was still standing in the doorway.

"Are we still going to school today? If we hurry, we should still make it."

Sitting atop the empty marble counter, Iwanaga Kotoko swung her calves in white tights while resting her chin in one hand and said,

"Let’s skip it. We already took leave to enter the Dungeon anyway. Why not eat first, rest a little, then go out and have fun this afternoon?"

Hat Mita immediately raised her right hand and chimed in excitedly,

"I agree!"

"What are you agreeing for? You don’t even have class."

Asagiri replied first, then smiled and added,

"Then you all stay home and rest. I’m going to Shuchiin Academy this morning. I’ll come back and find you all in the afternoon."

"Okay."

...

An hour later, at the entrance to Asagiri’s apartment.

"Here, your jacket."

Yuuki Asuna handed the jacket to Asagiri. After watching him put it on, she reached out and straightened his collar. Then she looked up at him and spoke gently.

"Be careful on the way."

Kato Megumi said nothing. She simply handed him the shoulder bag he needed for school, tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and softly said,

"Come back early."

"Huh? No..."

Standing beside them, Iwanaga Kotoko looked speechless and muttered,

"You’ve all already done something. What am I supposed to do now? At least leave something for me... Ah, right."

Halfway through speaking, Iwanaga Kotoko suddenly seemed to think of something. She ran to the sofa, opened the small elegant handbag she carried with her, pulled out a thick stack of cash, then ran back in front of Asagiri, waved it at him, and smiled.

"Here, take it and spend it. I have more if that’s not enough."

"What are you doing? I want to play too!"

Hat Mita bounced over, took out Purple Mood again, and generously offered it to Asagiri.

"Here, use it however you want. Don’t be shy."

"You’re starting to feel more and more like Purple Mood itself came to life. At this point, I’m beginning to suspect it’s your real body."

Asagiri pushed aside the Purple Mood Hat Mita offered him. Looking at the four beautiful girls before him, all so different from one another, he said with a light laugh,

"Alright, I’m off."

"Okay, be careful."

...

A little later, at 8:30 in the morning, inside Year 1 Class A of Shuchiin Academy.

"Hmm?"

Kaguya Shinomiya, who had just entered the classroom, froze when she saw Asagiri already seated in the corner. Then she slightly furrowed her brows, walked straight over to him, and asked in a calm, emotionless voice,

"You came to school?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Hearing Kaguya Shinomiya’s question, Asagiri feigned surprise.

"What do you mean, why? Shinomiya, surely you don’t think my position as top of the grade is just luck, do you? Sure, I’m talented, but I also put in all kinds of sweat and effort behind the scenes that ordinary people never see. I’m a hardworking genius."

Kaguya Shinomiya’s brows drew together even more when she heard that.

"Stop pretending you don’t know what I mean."

Asagiri smiled and teased,

"You’re worried about me, aren’t you? Tsundere. Truly tsundere, Shinomiya."

Kaguya Shinomiya pursed her lips. She didn’t answer, but she also didn’t leave. She simply stood there, clearly waiting for him to answer properly.

"Look at that. You’re standing there like a statue waiting for your husband again."

Asagiri chuckled first, then pulled something familiar out of his pocket and waved it in front of Kaguya Shinomiya.

"I actually came to school to play the kazoo."

"That’s impossible. You’re not that bore..."

Halfway through, Kaguya Shinomiya stopped.

Thinking about it carefully, an ordinary person wouldn’t do something that absurd. But Asagiri really might.

"Just messing with you."

Asagiri set the kazoo down on the desk and said casually,

"I just suddenly felt like coming to school."

"Oh. Is that so..."

Kaguya Shinomiya nodded without much reaction, then turned and returned to her seat.

...

That same day, during lunch break, in a secluded corner of Shuchiin Academy.

"Tell me, what exactly is that guy thinking?"

Kaguya Shinomiya looked slightly irritated as she drank from a boxed beverage and complained to Fujiwara Chika standing beside her.

"He only cleared the stage a little after five, and then he still came to school without even sleeping. He really doesn’t care about his body."

"Oh?"

Fujiwara Chika let out a meaningful sound. She wore a detective hat on her head and had a pipe shaped candy in her mouth, looking very much like she had seen through the whole mystery. She stared straight at Kaguya Shinomiya’s face and asked a critical question.

"How did you know when Utsunomiya cleared the stage?"

.....

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