Chapter 462: The Heroes Who Saved the Savior

Chapter 462: Chapter 462: The Heroes Who Saved the Savior

Chapter 462: The Heroes Who Saved the Savior

"You jerk..."

Seeing Asagiri standing there safe and sound, Yuuki Asuna hurriedly wiped the tears from her face.

Even so, her voice still trembled from crying.

"Even at a time like this, you still can’t resist saying something ridiculous..."

"Alright, don’t cry."

Asagiri reached out and gently ruffled Yuuki Asuna’s hair.

After comforting her, he looked toward Iwanaga Kotoko, Kato Megumi, Kaguya Shinomiya, and the others.

A mischievous smile appeared on his face.

"This time, we really got the perfect ending."

"So shouldn’t we unlock the special happy ending CG next?"

"Something like me facing eight formidable challengers all by myself..."

"What are you talking about?"

Hayasaka Ai’s face immediately flushed.

Naturally, she understood that the "challenge" Asagiri mentioned had absolutely nothing to do with combat.

Eight of them, plus him...

Nine people together...

Wasn’t that a little too ridiculous?

"Anyway..."

Yuuki Asuna tried to stand.

But there was no strength left in her legs.

In the end, she could only clutch Asagiri’s sleeve like a helpless child.

Despite the tear tracks still staining her beautiful face, a radiant smile bloomed across it.

"It’s good that you’re back..."

"Hey!"

Yamauchi Sakura suddenly exclaimed.

"The Eye Icon APP is gone!"

Everyone immediately pulled out their phones.

Sure enough...

The Eye Icon APP representing the System had vanished from every device.

However, only the System interface itself had disappeared.

Their equipment remained accessible through their inventories.

And more importantly...

Their supernatural abilities were still there.

Asagiri and Iwanaga Kotoko had already considered this possibility long ago.

The System had never truly "given" Players their power.

Rather, it had guided them through successive Dungeons and provided opportunities for them to obtain that power themselves.

What was happening now proved their theory.

Even with the System gone, everything the Players had earned remained.

"It really is over..."

Fujiwara Chika slowly put away her phone.

A faint trace of melancholy appeared on her face.

"It feels a little strange."

"Almost like I’ve lost something..."

Noticing the unusual sadness in Chika’s expression, Kaguya Shinomiya softened her voice.

"Chika, even if the Game is gone, it only means that our identities as Players have come to an end."

"Even without all those dangerous and exciting experiences, we can still..."

"Oh, never mind!"

Before Kaguya could finish comforting her, Fujiwara Chika instantly brightened.

A pure, cheerful smile appeared on her face.

"So where are we holding the celebration party?"

"What are we eating?"

"Ahh, there are too many choices! What a headache!"

Kaguya Shinomiya stared at her in silence.

She suddenly felt foolish for believing this carefree pink haired idiot would genuinely fall into an existential crisis over the end of the Death Game.

This was Fujiwara Chika.

Being carefree was practically her defining trait.

"It’s finally over..."

Yuuki Asuna let out a long breath of relief.

Then she turned toward the clear blue sky beyond Tokyo Skytree’s windows.

For the first time in a very long while, there was no ominous crack tearing through it.

No approaching apocalypse.

Nothing waiting for them.

A slightly lost expression appeared in her eyes.

"So..."

"What do we do now?"

"My suggestion?"

Asagiri sat down beside her and looked out at the scenery.

He smiled.

"First, we hold a celebration party."

"You..."

Yuuki Asuna looked at him helplessly and sighed.

"If everyone knew someone with your personality was the one who saved the future of countless worlds..."

"If they knew you were the savior who completely destroyed Nyx..."

"I really wonder what kind of expressions they’d make."

"A savior, huh?"

Asagiri smiled.

"That does sound pretty good."

Then his tone suddenly became softer.

"Yuuki Asuna."

"Iwanaga Kotoko."

"Kato Megumi."

"Yamauchi Sakura."

"Kaguya Shinomiya."

"Fujiwara Chika."

"Hayasaka Ai."

Kaguya Shinomiya blinked.

"Why are you suddenly being so serious?"

"You’re even calling everyone by their full names."

"I really am the savior who defeated Nyx and preserved the future of countless worlds."

Asagiri looked at the girls gathered in front of him.

Warm sunlight fell across his face.

Then he smiled.

"But you..."

"You’re the heroes who saved the savior."

For several seconds, no one spoke.

Whether it was the usually calm Kato Megumi, the composed Kaguya Shinomiya, or the habitually sarcastic and dishonest Hayasaka Ai...

Every one of them felt their cheeks grow warm.

"Ah."

Miwa Ashikaga sighed dramatically.

"My name wasn’t included."

"It seems this poor old auntie should understand the atmosphere and leave."

She stood with a playful smile.

Miwa Ashikaga could tell that Asagiri and the others had already exhausted nearly all their strength.

So she would handle the remaining responsibility herself.

She would announce to every surviving Player...

Humanity had won.

The final battle was over.

...

That night, at Asagiri’s home.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The knocking at the door was unusually urgent.

Almost rude.

Yuuki Asuna, who had been sitting on the sofa, frowned slightly.

She cautiously approached the entrance and looked through the peephole.

Outside stood three girls.

One was a fair skinned blonde with twin tails.

Beside her was a black haired, red eyed girl whose mature appearance gave her a striking presence.

And behind those two...

Shijo Maki.

"They..."

Yuuki Asuna quickly remembered something.

"Oh. Asagiri mentioned them before."

She had never personally met Eriri or Kasumigaoka Utaha.

But based on their appearances, she could already guess who they were.

Without hesitation, she opened the door.

"Yuuki-san?"

Shijo Maki froze when she saw Yuuki Asuna instead of Asagiri.

Then she cautiously asked,

"Um..."

"We’re looking for Utsunomiya-san."

"Is he home?"

Her voice carried a subtle trace of guilt.

It was understandable.

Any girl who went to visit a boy, only for his girlfriend to open the door, would naturally feel slightly awkward.

"I thought so."

Yuuki Asuna smiled gently.

"Please, come in."

To Shijo Maki’s relief, Asuna showed absolutely no hostility.

Instead, she warmly invited them inside.

"Excuse us..."

However...

The moment Shijo Maki, Eriri, and Kasumigaoka Utaha stepped into the living room, all three froze.

Shijo Maki silently counted.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five...

Including Yuuki Asuna, who had opened the door...

There were eight girls inside Asagiri’s home.

Eight!?

Among them were Kaguya Shinomiya, Fujiwara Chika, and Iwanaga Kotoko, whom Maki already knew.

There were also several girls she had never met.

And then...

Her gaze stopped on Sakurakawa Rikka.

The elegant woman sat quietly on the sofa in a dress.

Her pale complexion and delicate, sickly beauty gave her the appearance of someone slightly older than the rest.

Shijo Maki’s thoughts immediately stopped functioning.

That beautiful older sister...

She looks like a university student, doesn’t she?

Does Asagiri even have an older woman preference!?

"Eh?"

Fujiwara Chika, who had been fighting Iwanaga Kotoko over a chocolate bar, suddenly noticed Eriri.

"Eriri?"

She tilted her head.

"Did you come to see Asagiri?"

"Uh..."

"Well..."

Eriri’s face immediately turned red.

Her feet unconsciously shuffled backward.

If she hadn’t been genuinely worried about Asagiri’s safety, then with her tendency to lose courage at crucial moments, she probably would have already turned around and fled.

I...

I just...

"Pfft!"

Seeing Eriri frozen there with a bright red face, Fujiwara Chika couldn’t hold back her laughter.

She waved cheerfully.

"Whatever you came to say, just sit down first."

"Oh..."

"Okay."

Unlike Eriri and Shijo Maki, Kasumigaoka Utaha barely knew anyone in the room.

She wasn’t a Shuchiin student.

Nor was she a close friend of Fujiwara Chika like Eriri.

The crowded atmosphere made her feel slightly out of place.

"I’ll wait at the café downstairs."

She turned toward the entrance.

"Just send me a message when you’re finished."

But before she could leave...

The master bedroom door opened.

Asagiri walked out with slightly messy hair, yawning lazily.

"Yo."

"Everyone’s here."

Kasumigaoka Utaha stared at him.

She desperately tried to suppress the urge to make a sarcastic remark.

She almost succeeded.

Almost.

Everyone’s here?

Why are you saying that so casually!?

Counting herself, Eriri, and Shijo Maki...

There were eleven girls gathered in this room.

Eleven.

Every single one attractive in a completely different way.

The normally spacious living room was starting to feel crowded.

And yet Asagiri acted as though this were an ordinary evening.

Did his house look like this every day?

"Utsunomiya-san!"

Seeing Asagiri walk out alive and perfectly fine, both Shijo Maki and Eriri immediately brightened.

"So you’re really alive!"

"Hmph."

Asagiri rolled his eyes.

"What a refreshing greeting."

"If I didn’t know better, I’d think the two of you came here hoping to collect my remains."

He chuckled.

"But your timing is good."

"We can all go eat together."

"Eh?"

Shijo Maki and Eriri exchanged hesitant looks.

Fujiwara Chika immediately jumped off the sofa.

She ran over and threw an arm around each girl’s shoulder.

"Come on, let’s all go!"

"Asagiri’s paying anyway."

"And the more people we have, the livelier it’ll be!"

Eriri glanced around the already crowded room.

She couldn’t help muttering,

"Isn’t this already enough people...?"

"How many does it take before you consider it ’a lot’?"

Asagiri immediately replied with righteous confidence.

"Compared to the average protagonist created by Eroge Shooter, I’m practically reserved."

"Devoted."

"Pure of heart."

"And completely unmoved by temptation."

Yuuki Asuna opened her mouth.

She had been fully prepared to destroy that ridiculous argument.

Then...

She saw Eriri nodding with surprising seriousness.

"When you put it that way..."

"It actually does sound true."

Yuuki Asuna fell silent.

For once, she had no idea which of them she should be more concerned about.

....

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