Chapter 231: The Power of the Strongest Player

"Wait... wait a minute!"

Oko raised a hand as he pressed himself against the far side of the car, his face twisted with fear at the brink of death.

"Let me live! I’ll give you as much money as you want! I’m Oko, the eldest son of the Shinomiya Family..."

"The way you try to cling to life at the very end is truly ugly."

The moment he heard that familiar voice, Oko’s face changed again, turning hideous and ferocious.

"You... it’s you... you bastard..."

Before he could finish, dark red patterns surrounded by strange symbols had already spread out around Asagiri.

"Supreme Magic Bullet."

A beam of black light erupted, instantly and completely swallowing the extended black sedan.

There was no sound at all.

In less than a second, when the black beam vanished, the limousine, the two bodyguards inside, and Oko himself, who in his final moment finally understood just how terrifying the existence he had provoked truly was, had all been reduced to absolute nothingness by that conceptual power that symbolized death.

"Kings Gambit."

After watching the limousine in front of him vanish beneath the Supreme Magic Bullet, Asagiri’s figure also disappeared. In the spot where he had been standing, only the inconspicuous Pocket Mita remained, small enough to be ignored amid the dust and smoke.

A moment later, even Pocket Mita vanished.

Asagiri had already returned, using Kings Gambit, to the blind spot behind the school building inside the Shuchiin Academy grounds, a hidden corner where no surveillance camera could see him.

He summoned Pocket Mita again.

"Persona, Mita."

Pocket Mita appeared before him, and Asagiri said with a faint smile, "Go on, little shorty."

"You’re the shorty! Is being tall such a big deal?"

Pocket Mita huffed indignantly, yet still obediently followed his instructions. Her two tiny legs moved so quickly that, while it looked a little comical, she rushed off into the distance at a speed no normal person could clearly catch.

Less than ten seconds later, Asagiri sensed that Pocket Mita had stopped moving.

"Forty two meters... close enough."

"Kings Gambit."

After exchanging positions with Pocket Mita again, Asagiri returned to the Student Council room.

He put away the dark gray mask and hunter’s windbreaker in his inventory, instantly returning to the ordinary look of a Shuchiin Academy student in uniform. Then he sat down behind the spacious Student Council President’s desk, looked at Yuuki Asuna, Fujiwara Chika, Kaguya Shinomiya, Hayasaka Ai, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Ashikaga Miwa, who was seated on the sofa, and said with an easy smile, "It’s done."

Yuuki Asuna, who had already been prepared, immediately handed him the ice cold Coca Cola in her hand.

"You worked hard."

Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko both knew Asagiri’s abilities, so they fully understood what he had just done.

First, Pocket Mita had been sent out. Once she reached a surveillance blind spot, Asagiri used Kings Gambit to swap with her, then canceled the summon and summoned her again. After that, Pocket Mita ran to the parking lot and climbed onto Oko’s limousine. Once the car left Shuchiin Academy, Asagiri swapped with Pocket Mita again. After killing Oko Shinomiya, he used Kings Gambit once more with the Pocket Mita left in his original position.

Then he reversed the entire process and returned silently, without leaving a single trace, to the Student Council room.

The straight line distance from the Student Council room to Shuchiin Academy’s main gate was about two hundred meters, but the straight line distance to the one way road outside the school was only ninety four meters. Since the maximum range of Kings Gambit was fifty meters, that meant he needed two transfers for a one way trip. That was what Kind Mita had meant by "two jumps."

With Pocket Mita, the upgraded Kings Gambit, plus Kind Mita’s information gathering and her ability to disable the surveillance cameras near the one way road, Asagiri had completed the entire operation flawlessly.

But...

At that moment, Hayasaka Ai, Fujiwara Chika, and Kaguya Shinomiya all wore blank, stunned expressions.

What had even just happened?

They were not fully aware of the specifics of Asagiri’s powers. From their point of view, he had merely opened the window, sent out something like a small doll, vanished a few seconds later, and then returned to the Student Council room about ten seconds after that.

Not only had he returned uninjured, even his clothes were perfectly neat.

This ability of his...

Wasn’t it a little too absurd?

They could not even begin to analyze it. They could barely imagine what type of power it was at all.

Just then, Asagiri took a phone out of his pocket. Looking at the locked screen asking for a password, a faint golden light appeared in his black eyes.

The screen immediately warped and cracked open, forcibly broken by Crazy Mita’s power.

"Ashikaga sensei, catch."

Ashikaga Miwa coolly caught the phone Asagiri tossed over. Looking at the eye shaped icon APP on the screen, she nodded slightly.

"So this is it... the APP that represents a Player’s identity..."

"Any tracking programs or similar stuff installed on the phone have already been destroyed and cracked by me," Asagiri said. "But just to be safe, you should register as a Player first, then destroy the phone entirely."

"Understood."

Listening to the conversation between Asagiri and Ashikaga Miwa, even Kaguya Shinomiya and the others, who did not know the exact truth, could more or less guess now that the phone in Ashikaga Miwa’s hand belonged to one of Oko’s bodyguards, and that Oko, as the eldest son of the Shinomiya Family, had indeed hired Players to serve as his personal protection.

As for why it was a bodyguard’s phone and not Oko’s own, Kaguya Shinomiya understood that perfectly well.

She knew very clearly what sort of person her nominal elder brother was.

He did not have the courage to enter a dangerous Dungeon himself. The so called eldest son of the Shinomiya Family was merely a coward who relied on the advantages of wealth and status in the real world to throw his weight around.

However...

Disbelief still surfaced in her eyes.

Just like Fujiwara Chika and Hayasaka Ai beside her, she found it difficult to accept.

In the twenty odd seconds Asagiri had just disappeared, he had not only intercepted a moving limousine, killed Oko while he was under the protection of Players, but had even effortlessly taken a dead Player’s phone and returned safely.

Just how terrifying was the strength of this man?

At that moment, Ashikaga Miwa had already tapped the eye icon APP on the phone screen. A line of text formed from red mist gradually appeared.

[Congratulations, Ashikaga Miwa. You have registered as a Player and obtained all items and equipment owned by the original Player. Furthermore, as a newly registered Player, you will receive a significant enhancement to your physical fitness and mental strength in your next Dungeon. Note: This enhancement effect will permanently disappear after the Dungeon is cleared.]

"Ashikaga sensei, are you really going into the next Dungeon alone?"

Hearing Yuuki Asuna’s concerned question, Ashikaga Miwa stood up from the sofa and gently stroked Yuuki Asuna’s hair, revealing a warm smile.

"I know you’re worried about me, but there’s no need. As a newly registered Player, I can inherit all of the original Player’s items and equipment, and the system also seems to have taken the strength gap into account by giving new Players a one Dungeon enhancement buff. That is already more than enough for me. Besides, according to the information you gave me, this game system won’t create impossible death traps for Players, right?"

Worry still lingered in Yuuki Asuna’s eyes as she hesitated.

"But even with a one Dungeon enhancement, you’ve never entered any Dungeon before. What if..."

"Asuna."

Ashikaga Miwa interrupted her and spoke softly.

"I have my own pride as well. If I die in the game, then it simply proves I was never qualified to become a Player, never qualified to pursue that kind of power. I don’t want to become a burden on the road you’re all walking toward your goals. I am certainly not a coward like Oko Shinomiya. If you aren’t prepared to wager your life, then you aren’t qualified to pursue power in the first place. Isn’t that right?"

"Ashikaga sensei..."

Yuuki Asuna seemed to understand the resolve in Ashikaga Miwa’s words. In the end, she nodded with a smile.

"I understand."

"Good. Then that’s enough."

Ashikaga Miwa stroked her head again before turning her gaze to Asagiri. The warmth vanished from her expression, and her tone became flat once more.

"I’ll be going now. There are probably quite a few things I’ll need to deal with soon."

Hearing that, Asagiri chuckled.

"The way you talk to Asuna, all warm and maternal, and the way you talk to me really are two entirely different people."

"Isn’t Asuna a lot cuter than you?"

Ashikaga Miwa shot back irritably, then waved over her shoulder as she turned for the door.

"Alright, I’m leaving."

After Ashikaga Miwa left the Student Council room, Kaguya Shinomiya spoke in her usual calm tone.

"Now that the most important matter has been dealt with, since everyone is here, let’s discuss Student Council related affairs. Hm?"

She had only gotten halfway through the sentence when she saw Asagiri stand up and start walking toward the door.

"Where are you going?" she quickly asked. "We need to discuss Student Council matters together."

"Hm?"

Asagiri gave her a baffled look and replied with absolute righteousness, "I’m just the vice president in name only. I don’t handle Student Council affairs, okay?"

Kaguya Shinomiya frowned slightly and let out a sigh.

"It’s only just begun, and you’re already acting like a hands off manager?"

"What do you mean hands off manager? I’m not even the president."

Asagiri shrugged and flashed a carefree smile.

"So please, Shinomiya san, shoulder the responsibility of being Student Council President properly. As the Vice President, I have no obligation to deal with all that boring, tedious work. I’d much rather spend my precious youth hanging around cute, beautiful girls."

...

A little later, outside the gates of Private Shuchiin Academy.

"Go ahead. What exactly do you need from me?"

A middle aged man in a neat black suit, mature and steady looking, stood there with a younger subordinate at his side. He looked at Ashikaga Miwa standing before him and forced out a careful smile.

"Um... Ms. Ashikaga, may I ask what exactly you did today?"

Ashikaga Miwa’s expression remained calm as always. She merely replied coolly, "Do I need to report what I did today to you?"

The reply was not exactly friendly.

The younger man immediately frowned and said in a low, stern voice, "Ms. Ashikaga, there was an incident on the one way road outside Shuchiin Academy. I can’t reveal too many details, but it concerns a case involving Director Oko of your academy. According to what we have learned in our investigation, he was coming to Shuchiin Academy today to deliver the cash portion of a gambling debt from a duel match to you. In other words..."

He stared directly at her.

"You knew his schedule in advance. That makes you a suspect, and you are obligated to cooperate with our investigation."

.....

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