Chapter 229: High Emotional Intelligence Team

"He’s being improper again..."

Yuuki Asuna replied with a slight blush on her face. Just as she was about to say more, the phones of all four people present chimed at the same time.

After opening the app with the eye icon, red mist slowly gathered on their screens and formed a line of text.

[The "Game" has officially entered the third stage, and the rules have changed. From now on, the rule requiring Players to enter a Dungeon at least once a month has been canceled. Players may only sign up for a Dungeon at most once per stage. On the final day of each stage, at twelve o’clock at night, during the transition between two stages, all Players will undergo a "test".]

[Note: Because you possess advanced Player privileges, you no longer need to sign up three days in advance and may choose any day to enter a Dungeon. You will also receive hints related to hidden quests upon entering a Dungeon. Successfully completing hidden quests will significantly raise your completion rating.]

After reading the short notice displayed in the app, all four of them were a little surprised.

"The rule about entering a Dungeon at least once a month has been removed? So starting from the third stage, it won’t matter if Players don’t actively sign up for Dungeons?"

Hearing Yuuki Asuna’s question and seeing the slight complexity in her expression, Asagiri said calmly, "The frequency has decreased, but that also means the danger level of the Dungeons will probably rise sharply from the third stage onward. After all, entering a Dungeon once every ten days is manageable if you can clear it with ease. But if you barely survive each time and come out on the brink of collapse, ten days is nowhere near enough to recover fully. Besides, although the mandatory monthly Dungeon rule is gone, there is now a so called test."

Iwanaga Kotoko looked at the contents on her phone and said thoughtfully, "Maybe it’s because everyone who has survived to this point already has enough drive to become stronger, so there’s no need to force them with a rigid rule anymore..."

"There may be another explanation."

Kato Megumi spoke in her soft voice.

"In SLG games, aren’t there usually deadlines measured by turns? If the Player fails to reach a certain goal before the deadline, it’s treated as game over. Looking at it that way, the test at the end of each stage is probably the actual objective. Players who get lazy and fail to build enough strength won’t pass the test, which means death."

"Only one Dungeon a month... isn’t that too little?"

Hearing Yuuki Asuna say that, Asagiri smiled faintly. "It’s not too little. If the test also gives rewards, then each stage is basically equivalent to two high difficulty challenges, which means two entries per month. Besides, following the Game’s usual pattern of thinking, there may also be side missions that need to be completed in the real world. And in any case, becoming stronger isn’t just about stacking stats, right?"

"That’s true."

Yuuki Asuna nodded in agreement. Over the past two months, after receiving training from Ashikaga Miwa, she had come to deeply understand the importance of combat sense.

If she had to face an opponent with exactly the same stats and skills as her, but one who had never received proper training, Yuuki Asuna was confident she could win in under a minute.

"Oh, right."

After briefly discussing the rule changes, Asagiri continued, "I went to a fighting match tonight. Ashikaga Miwa paid me according to the usual rules for that kind of match. She also commissioned us to try to obtain a Player’s phone and hand it over to her the next time we enter a Dungeon, and she paid the commission fee in advance as well. Let’s split it equally between the four of us."

Kato Megumi frowned slightly and shook her head. "Split it? How can we do that? You were the one who fought. We didn’t do anything..."

Before Kato Megumi could finish, Iwanaga Kotoko suddenly cheered.

"Yay, money time~"

Although Yuuki Asuna’s reaction was not as dramatic as Kotoko’s, she also smiled. "That’s nice. The seasons are about to change, so we can use the money to buy some new clothes."

Seeing that neither Yuuki Asuna nor Iwanaga Kotoko had any intention of refusing, Kato Megumi was briefly stunned, then a faint smile appeared on her lips.

"Then... let’s split it."

She was not stupid. Of course she could tell that Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko were deliberately acting that way so she would accept the arrangement without feeling burdened.

And naturally, the one who had thought of it first had been Asagiri.

Being quietly taken care of like this by others...

It actually felt rather nice.

And since they were teammates, there was no point in being so calculating over everything.

"Good. Then it’s settled."

Asagiri nodded with a smile, then said calmly, "The prize money from the fighting match was one billion yen, and the commission fee was another one billion, so that’s a total of two billion. Split four ways, each of us gets five hundred million. Send me your bank account numbers and I’ll forward them to Ashikaga Miwa."

"Oh... five hundred million each..."

Kato Megumi repeated it absentmindedly at first, then halfway through suddenly reacted. Her pupils widened, and even her usually calm and gentle tone became a little unsteady.

"Wait. Five hundred million? Five hundred million yen?"

Not only Kato Megumi, but Yuuki Asuna also wore an expression of disbelief.

In their minds, they had been thinking of something like a few million yen at most, which would already have been an enormous amount for high school students, even after splitting it four ways.

Only Iwanaga Kotoko seemed relatively composed. She was a little surprised, but not nearly as much as the other two. To her, money was ultimately just a number.

"Huh? Is it really that shocking?"

Seeing Kato Megumi’s and Yuuki Asuna’s reactions, Asagiri simply smiled and said nonchalantly, "It’s only five hundred million each after splitting it. Besides, the stake for the fighting match was two billion yen to begin with. Ashikaga Miwa basically kept none of it for herself and gave it all to us, although to be fair, she doesn’t exactly need that amount of money."

"Five hundred million..."

For high school girls like Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi, the impact of suddenly being given five hundred million yen of disposable cash, money they could spend however they wanted, was simply too overwhelming.

"If you have no idea how to spend it, I actually have a suggestion."

Hearing Asagiri say that, Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi both instinctively straightened up and listened seriously.

Then Asagiri calmly opened the laptop on the coffee table, clicked into a certain website, and turned the screen toward them, showing them a brand new world.

"This custom cosplay store is flawless except for the price. I recommend ordering one set each of five different themes: secretary uniform, miko outfit, nurse uniform, bunny girl, and succubus. Then black stockings, white stockings, black fishnets, white fishnets, one pair each... no, wait, better make it five pairs each. After all, those things tear easily..."

"What kind of outrageous nonsense are you talking about?!"

Yuuki Asuna’s face turned bright red. In a panic, she reached out and covered Asagiri’s mouth. Looking at the clothing displayed on the laptop screen, revealing, impossible to wear outside, too uncomfortable to sleep in, and clearly designed for only one purpose, she was so embarrassed she could barely form words.

Kato Megumi’s face had also turned red, and she whispered softly, "Asagiri kun, you pervert."

Iwanaga Kotoko, however, looked extremely excited. Then she coughed twice and said with a serious face, "Well, send the website to my phone, okay?"

"Alright, alright. The sexy... cosplay costume matter can be discussed later."

Hearing Asagiri abruptly change his wording, Yuuki Asuna looked at him helplessly. "You definitely let the real word slip out just now, didn’t you? Those aren’t cosplay outfits at all..."

Asagiri simply smiled as though he had heard nothing.

"Have you all eaten yet?"

"Hmph, who would have been in the mood to eat?"

Yuuki Asuna answered that first with some irritation, then gently tugged on Asagiri’s sleeve and added in a softer voice, "You still hadn’t come home, so how could we have had any appetite? But now... I am a little hungry. I’ll go make something."

"No need. Let’s go out and eat."

"Go out?"

Kato Megumi glanced at the time on her phone, looking puzzled. "It’s already past nine. Most restaurants should be closed."

Asagiri gave her a meaningful look. "You’ll understand once you come with me."

...

Fifteen minutes later, outside a twenty four hour convenience store on the street.

"This is the celebration party you were talking about?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Yuuki Asuna sat on the makeshift chairs outside the store, looking at the four cups of instant noodles on the table, then looked at Asagiri and laughed despite herself.

"To be fair, don’t we already have instant noodles at home?"

"The atmosphere is different."

Feeling the cool breeze of the June night and looking at the streets of Shibuya, much quieter now than they were during the day, Asagiri rested his chin on one hand and murmured, "Once in a while, enjoying a quiet and beautiful bit of everyday life like this is pretty nice too."

After saying that, he turned his head.

Only to find Yuuki Asuna, Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko all staring at him blankly.

He could not help smiling.

"What, you can’t look away from my overwhelmingly charming self anymore?"

"Stop being so narcissistic."

Yuuki Asuna retorted irritably, but in truth, just as Asagiri said, all three of them really had been staring.

Her boyfriend really was handsome.

And the quiet way Asagiri had looked at the city streets just now, calm and steady in a way that felt completely different from his usual self, had its own kind of charm.

...

The next day at noon, outside the Year 1 Class A classroom at Private Shuchiin Academy.

"Are you ready, Utsunomiya?"

Hearing Kaguya Shinomiya’s voice, Asagiri stood up from his seat, looked at Kaguya Shinomiya standing there with determination in her eyes, and nodded with a smile.

"It’s time to start clearing out the obstacles ahead."

.....

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