After saying this, before Asagiri could speak, Asuna seemed to have already anticipated it and sighed slightly.
"Ah, I know, I know, you must have already searched and found out about this information, right?"
"Yes."
Asagiri nodded, then suddenly said righteously.
"Asuna, I'm cultivating your ability to analyze situations independently as a Player. This is all part of your growth—an act of great care and mentorship from me, the Emperor!"
"...He actually calls himself the Emperor."
Asuna muttered under her breath, half exasperated, half amused. Then, tucking a strand of her long hair behind her ear, she added with a sigh,
"Are you seriously treating yourself like royalty now?"
"Still," Asagiri said, "from what I read online, the real story behind that game involves experiments on mental patients. The final boss isn't some ghost or Banshee—it's actually a next-gen nanotech robot. So yeah, not exactly a supernatural horror story."
He paused, glancing around the eerily realistic surroundings.
"And definitely no nearly three-meter-tall, blood-covered attendants either. It seems like the dungeon created by that app might be inspired by the game, but it's not an exact copy."
Asuna nodded slowly, absorbing his words.
"Which means," Asagiri continued, "being too clever for your own good—thinking you know everything and letting your guard down—is the kind of mistake a real Player can't afford."
"Right... that makes sense..."
Asuna lowered her gaze, her fingers curling slightly on her lap. Then, after a short pause, she gathered her nerve and spoke, her voice quiet but firm.
"By the way... that app—the one with the glasses icon—it doesn't seem to have any function for contacting other Players..."
Asuna paused, then coughed lightly twice, hinting.
"Um... have you heard of LINE?"
"I know about it."
Asagiri smiled and said frankly.
"That day, there were a few girls from our grade who came to ask for my contact information during lunch break."
"Then why didn't you give it? Were they not good-looking?"
"That's not it. They were indeed quite pretty, but..."
Asagiri said up to this point, suddenly became serious, and said righteously.
"As a Player, how could I use my phone in front of others? What if the other person is also a Player and sees the Glasses icon APP on my interface? I just cruelly refused them directly at that time!"
Hearing this, Asuna first nodded in sudden realization, but then suddenly reacted.
"Huh, that's not right, is it? Couldn't you just give them your email or phone number?"
Asagiri shook his head and pointed to his head.
"I have a bad memory. I can't remember my email address or phone number at all."
Asuna was silent for a few seconds, then looked directly at Asagiri's face and slowly spoke.
"That excuse you came up with is too lame..."
"Oh, you saw through it?"
"Who wouldn't see through it? So, at that time, you used this lame excuse to reject those girls?"
"That's not it. I've always been about honesty and bluntness. I just directly said I didn't want to give it."
"So that's how it is..."
For some reason, Asuna felt a little happy when she heard that Asagiri didn't make any excuses but directly and firmly refused those girls who asked for his contact information. Her lips couldn't help but curl upwards.
"Then...do you have a type of girl you like?"
"Of course I do."
"What kind?"
Facing Asuna's curious, expectant gaze, Asagiri responded with surprising sincerity.
"My ideal partner should have a unique inner light… a deep, soulful connection with me."
Asuna blinked. For a moment, she was caught off guard. That's… surprisingly normal, she thought.
But then—
"Of course," Asagiri continued without missing a beat, "she should also have a great figure, a cute and refined face, and be willing to wear different sexy outfits every night to make our evenings exciting. Black stockings on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. White ones on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Fishnets on Sundays. And ideally, there should be a weekly cosplay theme. For example, tonight she could be a gentle maid waiting for her master to return. Tomorrow, a stern office lady in glasses. The day after, a shy shrine maiden torn between duty and desire. Then a sultry bunny girl—"
"Stop. Stop, stop, please just stop right there."
Asuna held up both hands like a referee calling a timeout, her face a mix of disbelief and secondhand embarrassment.
"I asked you what kind of girl you like—not for you to go completely off the rails."
"Ohh, so that's what you meant."
Asagiri nodded, as if he'd only just now understood—and then immediately followed up with a line that made Asuna's entire face turn crimson.
"In that case, you should work hard and aim to meet my preferences. Oh, and for the record, the black and white stockings should be the sheer kind—the kind that shows just enough skin. Thick pantyhose? Total mood killer."
"Wh—who would ever wear something like that for you?!"
Asuna's voice cracked as she half-shouted, teetering on the edge of emotional collapse. But just before she could properly explode, Asagiri's next move caught her completely off guard.
He casually pulled out his phone, gave it a little wave, and flashed her a smile.
"Let's exchange LINE IDs and phone numbers."
"Huh? Oh… oh, uh, okay…"
Asuna's slight anger, which was caused by Asagiri's teasing, instantly disappeared without a trace. After softly agreeing, she took out her phone and exchanged phone numbers and LINE email addresses with the other person.
"Alright, since things have come to this, let's eat first. Are you eating?"
Seeing Asagiri take out two buckets of instant noodles from the cardboard box next to the refrigerator, Asuna couldn't help but frown slightly.
"You usually eat this at home?"
"No, I usually eat bento or order takeout."
Asagiri explained with a smile: "But, as soon as it's past midnight tonight, we could enter a dungeon at any time. If I go eat bento or order takeout, there's a small chance of getting stale ingredients or food poisoning, which would affect my state when entering the dungeon. So, it's better to eat instant noodles."
"You can't eat instant noodles either..."
Asuna first said this, then stood up and walked to the door, put on those small leather shoes again, gently tapped the ground with her toes, and revealed a gentle smile.
"How about this, what dishes do you like to eat? I'll go out and buy them. After buying the ingredients, I'll cook for you. That way, you won't have to worry about problems like stale ingredients."
--------------------------------------------------------
Please support my work and gain access to 15 advanced chapters at [email protected]/Dannycifer.