Mash-up Anime World: Creating the SCP Foundation to Contain Anomalies

"Speaking of which, I've still got some ingredients from the dungeon drop."

Haruto suddenly remembered the spoils from the hidden underground dungeon and spoke up.

Asuna, who was walking toward the kitchen, froze for a moment. Then her expression dramatically changed.

"Nooo!!"

But it was already a little too late.

Haruto opened his system menu and took out the "ingredients" from his inventory.

A frog leg, about the size of a human arm, appeared in Haruto's hand. The ingredient had already been skinned and prepped—ready to cook.

Ah, those tempting muscle lines. Ah, that tender and tight meat texture.

"AAAHHHH! Haruto-senpai!"

Asuna let out a high-pitched scream and immediately snatched the frog leg, throwing it out the window.

Even though it was a good ingredient, it seemed a little too... exotic for her.

Haruto watched the food fly out the window, finally shattering into data fragments in the distance.

He twitched the corner of his mouth.

Well, that made sense. In Japan, frog meat wasn't exactly mainstream.

Especially for a girl like Asuna.

But her reaction was so cute that Haruto couldn't help but chuckle. Asuna puffed up her cheeks and glared at Haruto, both embarrassed and annoyed.

"Geez, Haruto-senpai, you're teasing me again! That kind of food is absolutely dame!"

Haruto cleared his throat.

"Well, maybe it looks unappetizing, but it's surprisingly delicious? I have some friends who really like giant frog meat. They say it's actually pretty good."

Asuna shook her head like a rattle drum.

"Absolutely not! That stuff is completely dame dame! Who would ever want to eat something that ridiculous!?"

She was convinced no such giant frogs existed in the real world.

And in-game, only Haruto, her, and Argo had explored that hidden underground dungeon.

That "I have a friend" excuse... just sounded fishy.

"There is someone. His name's Kazuma."

Haruto added quietly.

Watching the two of them bicker, Yui, who had been sitting quietly to the side, also began to giggle, seemingly infected by the cheerful atmosphere.

Asuna pouted, "Ah! Yui, even you're laughing at me now!"

In the midst of all the cheerful noise, Asuna managed to whip up a standard meal in the kitchen.

Thankfully, SAO's cooking system had support programs.

As long as your cooking level was high enough, you didn't have to put in much effort to create delicious food.

Otherwise, with all the chatter going on, the meal would've likely burned.

After dinner—

Haruto leaned back in his chair with a satisfied look, completely relaxed.

Yui mimicked him, leaning back too. But she was so small that she practically melted into the seat.

The scene made Asuna giggle.

But as she laughed, her expression slowly froze.

This... might be the first time she'd truly felt happy inside this game.

That thought made her eyes dim with a trace of sadness. This was supposed to be just a game—so why did it end up like this?

Haruto noticed her gaze and straightened up, tapping his fingers lightly on the table. The rhythmic tapping brought Asuna back from her daze.

"Asuna... Yuuki Asuna."

Haruto's soft voice made her freeze.

She immediately felt—he was about to say something important.

"Haruto-senpai, what is it?"

While she asked in confusion—

Haruto said seriously:

"Tomorrow, SAO will come to an end. We're going back to the real world."

Asuna froze completely.

The news came too suddenly.

She couldn't react at all.

But—since Haruto-senpai was the one saying it—

Then it had to be true.

And just like that, a storm of emotions swirled inside her.

For the first six months after entering the game, she'd thought of nothing else but escaping SAO. Even after learning from Haruto that the game wouldn't actually cause real death...

She'd still longed for the real world.

But half a year later, that desperation had slowly faded.

Instead, she held on to the belief that she'd return eventually—and focused on living well in the present.

That house on the 61st floor was something she'd saved up for during that period.

And now, another half year had passed.

Hearing they would return to reality, Asuna didn't feel joy—only complicated emotions. Meanwhile, Haruto's gaze was focused on the chat window in the game UI.

Not long ago, Argo had sent him a message.

She'd located the boss room and shared the map.

Some players in the clearing group had already gone in to scout.

This floor's boss was a humanoid monster named "Sword Dominator."

Level 94.

Within the clearing group's capability. Its skills and behavior were still unknown. But that's how high-floor bosses worked—strategies had to be developed mid-fight.

So tomorrow, the clearing group would meet to discuss strategy.

And once the boss was down...

Haruto would reveal Kayaba Akihiko's identity, then challenge him one-on-one to end SAO.

Just as Haruto was lost in thought, Asuna snapped out of hers too and gave him a wry smile.

"What a huge surprise… I just wonder what state my real body's in."

To which Haruto casually replied:

"I moved you to the Momobami family's private hospital a long time ago, so there's no need to worry. Even though you've been in a deep sleep, they stimulate your muscles with bioelectric pulses regularly.

So there's no risk of muscle atrophy or anything.

At most, your hair got longer, and your skin's a bit paler from not being exposed to sunlight.

I even trimmed your nails for you recently. So you don't have to worry about it looking like the claw of a monster."

Asuna's eyes slowly widened.

"Eh!?"

Big round eyes filled with confused innocence.

Haruto tilted his head.

"What? Is something wrong?"

Asuna still looked dazed.

"Eh! No, I mean—eh!? Haruto-senpai… eh eh eh!!!"

The amount of information in Haruto's words was overwhelming.

She was stunned speechless.

Seeing her adorable dumbfounded face—

Haruto reached out and gently ruffled her hair.

"Hmm? Don't trust the hospital's tech? The Momobami family's hospital has top-tier biotech, you know."

Asuna quickly waved her hands.

"No! I was just… wait, Haruto-senpai trimmed my nails? You can log out of the game!?"

Haruto nodded as if it were obvious.

"Of course. Didn't I tell you before? I left a backdoor in the SAO system. My account is a special one—I can log out normally, without restrictions. You can tell just by the way I don't return to town often and spend so much time in the field. No way I'd be grinding nonstop without sleep.

Wait… didn't I mention this before?"

Asuna: o.O?

"You definitely never said anything like that!!!"

She shouted in protest.

Her real body—had been moved to Haruto's private hospital.

He'd been taking care of her all this time.

Even doing things like trimming her nails himself.

The thought of her real-world body—unconscious, but being looked after so carefully by the boy in front of her—

Asuna was overwhelmed by shock and emotion.

An entire year.

She'd never cared for a comatose person herself...

But she could imagine how exhausting it must be. And now her heart felt like it had been fiercely struck.

She already had feelings for Haruto—

But now, she was on the verge of falling completely.

When she heard that SAO was ending—

She'd thought that once this world disappeared...

She might never again have the chance to sit next to Haruto like this, eating and laughing together.

After all, the gap between game and reality was huge.

But now—he told her—

That in the real world, Haruto had always been silently watching over her and caring for her.

What a precious surprise.

Watching Asuna getting teary-eyed, clearly moved—

Haruto blinked in confusion.

Did he just say something... super impactful?

Well, it was his mistake not to mention the real-world situation earlier.

Tsk, a small misstep, perhaps.

But it wasn't a big deal.

Surely she wouldn't blame him for trying to help.

Right?

Asuna wasn't that kind of unreasonable girl.

Still... why was this girl crying all of a sudden?

Sigh... a woman's heart is truly like a needle lost in the ocean.