CHAPTER 2: THE KILLER GIANT (Part 3) / Parts: 01/02/03/04
TRANSLATION & RAWS: NARU-KUN
Electromagnetic bullets were fired in quick succession. But they are all evaded by the sword with moves as if they were dance steps. Yukari doesn’t stop. The next moment, he ran straight down the back alley and hit the green wall that was blocking his eyes, the wall was easily broken.
“Now…”
From the other side of the green wall, the shocked expression of the young man and the giant appeared. Seeing that, Yukari laughs.
“The answer is simple. You just have to go through the wall and continue.”
The tip of the sword that was swung successively broke through the giant’s temporal region and knocked him down.
The rifle slipped from the young man’s hands.
Yukari is sorry. The tactics were well put together, but they gave up too soon. With this, it is impossible to share the ideal of the “Green King”.
Contrary to Yukari’s speculation, the young man muttered in a daze.
“Who are you?”
“Do you know my username?”
With a smile, Mishakuji pointed his sword at the young man’s head.
Winking at the duo falling side by side, he says…
“My name is "Beauty☆Angel”. The subjugation mission is still ongoing. Please don’t hesitate to challenge me again.“
++++++++++
After seeing the hidden images, Sukuna gave a simple impression.
"Who is this idiot?”
Kuroko clearly replied with his arms crossed.
“‘Beauty☆Angel’. Of course, it’s an identification name. It’s a J-Rank, which suddenly qualified a while ago.”
Sukuna chose the rented conference room in front of the station as the meeting place with Kuroko. It is near a public place, but it is not visible. And he chose this place because there are many escape routes.
“All of a sudden? You can’t qualify without doing quests, right?”
“Don’t you know? For some time now, the "Jungle” forum has been all about that.“
The bulletin board is primarily used as a communication tool by members of the "Jungle” clan. Of course, important information cannot be exchanged in public places, so on the forums they are exchanged with rambling chatter and rumors of uncertain origin. Sukuna finds no value in such things.
However, if he wishes to understand the situation before and after, it will be worth looking into.
Sukuna opens “Jungle” and accesses the forum.
Suddenly there was an item “About 'Beauty☆Angel’” on the list.
Most of the feedback received was critical of him becoming a J-Rank without experiencing the mission and management that allowed him. To become a J-Rank, you have to complete quests day and night, but many players fail each time and suffer point deductions. To them, their existence as a J-Rank skipping that process is unforgivable.
“Hmm.”
As he scrolled through the messages on the PDA, he checked those opinions and said.
“Most complaints suck. If you don’t like it, you should try it.”
The simple opinion was strangely the same as the words he said “Beauty☆Angel” in the video.
“Jungle” does not address the efforts, research and contributions made so far. True power and result is everything. If you realize that you are better than that man, you can subdue him. As the pictures show, he is not running away or hiding, and on the contrary, he has stated that he will always accept challenges from the clan members.
In a sense, it is an attitude that seems clean.
Kuroko opens his arms and looks at Sukuna with his electromagnetic green eyes.
“I agree. Actions are more important than discussions. That’s why I’m thinking of doing it.”
“So you plan to fight him?”
“'Beauty☆Angel’ is very strong, but if you and I join forces, there is a chance to win. Of course, there is a risk, but the 100,000 point is worth it.”
Sukuna says in amazement.
“Even though you sold me out, you dare to say this kind of thing.”
“I only sell unnecessary information. If you were the master, you wouldn’t have done much to treat the person behind you who hadn’t taken any action.”
Kuroko’s head armor, the eye part of it, lit up a dark green glow.
“I’m not telling you what to throw at it, but they always use each other in "Jungle”. You know that, Five.“
Sukuna pondered.
Kuroko is right.
Both Sukuna and Kuroko are members of the "Jungle” clan, but they are not allies. They are in this place to take advantage of each other. In fact, Kuroko makes heavy use of Sukuna, selling his whereabouts and even trying to conveniently choose him as a partner.
The position is very clear. Kuroko will not betray Sukuna. Because the day will never come when Sukuna believes in Kuroko.
If you don’t trust, they won’t betray you.
It was something he had learned a lot since that day.
Sukuna responded, carrying a long staff on his shoulder.
“There are conditions.”
“I hear you.”
“This is about you. What you’re looking for is a one-shot kill in a surprise attack. So what you want is a role that catches his eye. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s how it is.”
Sukuna smiled.
“There’s no point in you going out when I’m already defeated. Even a U-Rank like me, I can hold my own against this guy.”
“That means?”
“I’ll get a lot of points. It’s 8:2.”
“6:4.”
“So it’s 7:3. If you refuse, I’ll go.”
Kuroko was silent for a while and then answered.
“Okay. Even 30,000 is enough to get the money back. However, if you fail, I’ll abandon you and retire immediately. Don’t think I’ll help you.”
“Like each other.”
Sukuna shrugged and responded, Kuroko taking control.
“Negotiations have concluded. Let’s develop a detailed strategy.”
“First, from the point of identifying where you are.”
“That is not necessary.”
Sukuna is impressed by Kuroko’s words.
“You’re already looking into it. As expected.”
“I didn’t look it up. "Beauty☆Angel” lists his actions and meals on the “Jungle” site.“
"What?”
Sukuna made a strong voice.
Kuroko took out the PDA from his pocket and tossed it to Sukuna.
“Look at it.”
Sukuna looked at the PDA screen half suspiciously.
“Jungle” has the ability to post photos in real time and add comments to them, just like normal SNS.
And it looks like it’s making full use of that feature.
The dinner of the day, the scenery of the urban landscape and the amusing images are projected next to him as a self-portrait, and comments that seem to be a mix of haiku and poem are lined up. All images are reflected at a perfect angle.
Sukuna’s impression was still frank.
“What’s he doing?”
“'Beauty☆Angel’ writes in his diary every day his actions and impressions, as well as his plans for the next day. Among the "Jungle” users, he keeps his personal information meticulously. This guy will be the first to expose.“
Before, Sukuna thought that attitude was clean.
That was not the case. Always revealing his whereabouts is more than a suicidal act. It is said that there is no moment when he feels relaxed, whether he is sleeping or eating.
Kuroko says clearly.
"Based on this information, more than a dozen U-Ranks challenged "Beauty☆Angel”, and it was all revenge. No matter what kind of purchases he made, no matter how many people he was dealing with, this guy survived without any problem.“
"……”
“I’m talking to you because he has the ability, but he has no other talent. You and I are the last of the U-Rank who haven’t challenged this guy.”
“Ku.”
Something resembling a smile reached Sukuna’s mouth.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
He believes that this guy will do whatever he wants. That’s why he posts that self-portrait image and lets everyone know of his plans, inviting other users. He is quite confident in his ability and has decided that “Jungle” users cannot nullify it.
In short, he is irritating Sukuna. He didn’t like that attitude.
“I’m motivated. I’ll show you something. Kuroko, I’ll build a strategy.”
“Umm. First, from "Beauty☆Angel”’s future plans, select a suitable location for the attack.“
"Kuroko. Wait a minute.”
“What’s going on?”
“Every time I hear that name, I lose my strength. Would you like to change it to a different name?”
Kuroko looks at Sukuna seriously and collapses.
“Don’t complain about people’s names, Five.”
Sukuna closed his mouth as if he were before a teacher.
++++++++++
The houseboat leaving the pier heads for Tokyo Bay as it glides downriver at night. Couldn’t even hear the noise of the city until the top of the river. As the scent of the tide began to mix with the autumn breeze caressing his cheeks, Mishakuji Yukari narrowed his eyes.
Sitting on the edge of the boat, he looks up at the sky.
It is an autumn night sky that is as beautiful as it is transparent.
The starlight is dotted and the full moon shines brightly and is white. It’s been a while since the mid-autumn moon, but Yukari still screamed at the beauty of it.
“Autumn night, the moon is similar to a dumpling.”
That is not his phrase. It was a haiku by his teacher, Miwa Ichigen.
The “Colorless King” Miwa Ichigen and Mishakuji Yukari, were teacher and student in the past.
When he was still young, he met Miwa and was fascinated by his beauty. Yukari was for a long time the only member of his clan. He believes it was a close relationship, more like an older brother than a teacher and a disciple, meanwhile disciples were made and the Colorless clan became more and more of a home.
It was a boring but cozy place for Yukari. He once thought that it would be okay to bury his bones in the field where he lived with Miwa.
But that didn’t happen.
Yukari pointed his sword at Miwa. Miwa responded with a smile.
The serious witness ended with a violet defeat. Yukari tried to win or lose with his own life, but Miwa just shook his head silently.
Then Yukari abandoned Miwa.
At that time, he couldn’t explain the psychology of himself well that he challenged Miwa.
He was driven by the need to pump from within. Suffering from death and disease, slowly, but surely, the “Colorless King” weakened, and he wanted to burn his fiercely burning beauty in his eyes before the flames of his life were exhausted.
He doesn’t want to fight; he doesn’t want blood. He just wants to see beautiful things.
However, it seems that Mishakuji Yukari was born with such a nature that he finds something really beautiful in fighting blood.
That is…
The moon that he looks at was still beautiful, even if it was far from the fighting and the blood.
Now, somewhere on this earth, there is a teacher or a disciple also looking at the same moon. Facing a moon-white dumpling, like those three people used to do.
When…
That month was dark.
A slowly gliding ship was about to pass under the bridge. A little awake, Mishakuji shrugged and tried to head back to the houseboat, but stopped.
He may have been the intuition of a good swordsman, or it may have been because he heard the faint sound of an explosion of electricity.
At the same time that Yukari looked up, the moon lit up in the air.
It’s not a full moon in the sky, but a bright green crescent moon. Similar to a guillotine blade, it landed directly on Yukari’s head.
Yukari’s gaze instantly took on the color of battle.
“On top”, given by the swordsman Yukari was attacked at full speed, he received the crescent moon that had fallen on his head. The blade with a different skill, flapped violently with the green crescent, and they eventually moved away from each other.
“Tsk.”
The owner of the crescent moon made a bored voice as he stepped on the edge of the ship and ensured his footing.
“Was it a flop? I thought it would work.”
Yukari looked at him. He stopped trying to ask if he was a member of the “Jungle” clan.
It is not beautiful to hear what you do not want to ask. So Yukari said with a smile.
“What disdain you have for ruining an elegant moment.”
“As if I cared. If you don’t want to be disturbed, you should have hidden yourself.”
An electric blade emerges from the long staff. That was the true identity of the crescent moon. With a weapon similar to the death god’s sickle, the boy spoke bluntly.
Yes, he is a child.
Much younger than Yukari. He doesn’t even seem to be of the age to be a high school student yet. It is said that the “Jungle” clan is a gathering of people of all levels, but this was the first time he had seen such a child among the top ranked fighting on the front lines.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Yukari didn’t fight.
When he appears in front of Yukari with a fighting spirit, he is an enemy. It doesn’t matter if he is a child or an old man. The option of turning your back on an opponent who was willing to fight did not exist in Mishakuji Yukari.
Yukari asks, holding his gaze.
“What’s your name?”
What will you do when you hear it?“
Yukari makes a deeper smile in a childish tone.
"The last surprise attack was pretty good. I’ll give you 65 points, kid.”
The boy’s face was angry.
“Don’t treat me like a child. That’s the most annoying thing.”
“If so, tell me your name. Are you an adult who can’t even introduce himself?”
“I’m Five. Remember the name of the guy who beat you!”
Five kicks the ground. Yukari looked into his eyes.
They face each other.
They used a single attack to connect the blows that rose from the ground. A green spark burns a strand of his hair, but he can’t back down and roars through the air.
The returned attack tried to hit the opponent’s body.
At that moment, a new electric blade was born from the long staff, avoiding Yukari’s strike.
“Haha!”
Five, laughs. The two swords flutter again, and using that as a fulcrum, Five fires a kick out of the air. Yukari protects himself with his left arm and his feet dig into the opponent’s upper arm. As he swung his arm around as he stood, Five’s small body bounced out of the darkness, spun, and landed on the roof of the houseboat.
The ferryman jumped out in a hurry.
“Client? What’s up?”
The ferryman loses his word when he sees Yukari holding his sword. Yukari says, without looking at him as he opens and closes his mouth.
“It will be over soon. Back off.”
“Yes, but…”
“Do you want to be cut too?”
The boatman retracted.
“Hey, he’s a noisy jerk.”
Five pulls the long cane from him as he places his foot on the roof of the houseboat.
The edge is different from the previous one. It is not a sickle, but a three-pronged spear. Apparently, that weapon changes shape at Five’s will. Not only that, the sheet can be generated from anywhere.
Yukari, however, focused more on Five than on his weapon.
Five was working.
In the dead of night, a green smile floats in the reflection of the electric blade. It seems that this battle itself is fun and unavoidable. As if waiting for the moment to kill Yukari.
Yukari gasped as he held his sword “Ayamachi”.
“Five. What do you want to be a J-Rank for?”
It is a question he has asked many times.
Most of the answers have caused disappointment in Yukari. Far from the endless possibilities that Nagare dreams of, the members of the “Jungle” clan had only one purpose that was so familiar they could look down on it.
Is the guy in front of him really different from them?
Five clearly answered Yukari’s questions and hopes.
“I do not like it.”
Yukari blinked his eyes at him.
He doesn’t answer the question. He thought so, but Five doesn’t seem like a stupid kid who misunderstands the question. Rather, he felt that something deeper was hidden there, and Yukari was fascinated.
“What don’t you like?”
“What’s decided. That’s all.”
Five’s eyes did not resemble a child’s. Far from innocence, there is a deep darkness there.
“I don’t like him, the "Green King” who is trying to do something with you, and “Jungle” who just dances without thinking about anything. I hate him. Behind the scenes, I feel like they are trying to rule the people.“
Then, Five distorted the edge of his mouth.
"I feel sorry for you. Then I’ll get points, become a J-Rank, meet the 'Green King’ in person, and if I don’t like him, I’ll beat him up. I’ll blame you for sure.”
Yukari sighed and looked at Five seriously.
He doesn’t like the King, so he tries to become a J-Rank.
He has never heard of a clan member, who belongs to a clan but does not respect or admire the King, instead trying to challenge him with hostility.
“No.”
Yukari reconsiders and laughs inside.
Because he knows a member of the clan who defied the King without hostility.
However, there is a huge gap between Five and that man.
“You’re lost.”
At Yukari’s mumbled words, Five makes a suspicious voice.
“Huh?”
“No, I wonder if it will be exciting, because if you lose, there should be a place to go home.”
Five’s expression changed completely.
“I have nothing. I have no place to go, no place to call home, or even where I am right now. I don’t care because there is nothing.”
“……”
“So, that’s right. You’re not lost. You're…”
Yukari laughs softly.
“You are a beast.”
It is the same word that Nagare once described Yukari with.
He feels weird about it. If so, is it a battle between beasts? It seems that it has nothing to do with beauty, or that is why it is pure and beautiful.
“That’s how it is.”
Five responds with a lip smack. Dangerous colors inhabit his eyes.
“The beast will eat your throat from now on!”
Five flexed a lot and ran like a bullet.
A three-pronged electromagnetic spear attempts to directly pierce Yukari’s neck. Yukari quickly flashed his sword and tried to dodge.
For the time being, Five twisted his hand.
The three forks rotated like a mixer, mimicking the blade. The sword does not move as if it is firmly fixed.
Five, scream.
“Now!”
Almost at the same time, a black ninja appeared from behind, and under Yukari’s feet.
The ninja, who had his entire body covered in water, turned his dark green glowing gaze to Yukari’s motionless back. Two weapons move smoothly, trying to cut Yukari’s back.
Yukari drops the sword.
The sword, which was fixed by the balance of power, spun in a circular motion in the air. Taking aim the moment he turned exactly 180 degrees, Mishakuji grabbed the handle with his opposite hand and jutted out to the rear. The black ninja withdrew both weapons and prevented the dangerous stab.
“This!”
Realizing that the surprise attack had failed, Five attempted to forcibly kill Yukari. He takes another step and tries to plunge the spear into Yukari’s chest.
Yukari’s supple body turned.
The tip of the spear grabbed his side and pierced the ninja behind him.
“Huh?”
A clear impatience appears in Five’s expression. Yukari’s mouth loosens and he approaches Five.
“If you want to go through my throat, wait a little longer. You little beast.”
Young facial features distorted by anger.
Yukari hit his face with his fist.
A small body flies and crashes against the edge. Yukari spins his sword and approaches a five who is drooling slightly.
There was a voice behind his back.
“You are ruthless with children.”
Yukari looked back.
The ninja was frail on the spot and was holding his face. The mechanical mask is fluttering and sparking.
It looks like it was destroyed by the previous blow.
“I’m not in the habit of forgiving my enemies.”
“I see. That’s correct.”
Yukari shook his head and struck the point of his sword.
“I haven’t heard from you yet. Why are you trying to beat me?”
The mask shorted out and the ninja removed it after a moment’s hesitation.
Yukari was a bit surprised to see the real face.
“I am a professional. I work for money and business.”
The ninja’s body sank into the houseboat.
It was time to go. Even if he moved fast, he wouldn’t have been able to finish it.
Yukari looks over to where Five was.
As he expected, Five was not there. Maybe that ninja took it with him. The vivid withdrawal technique seems to have been expected in advance.
Peace of mind is back on board.
“For a professional, he’s sweet with kids.”
Yukari answered bluntly and shrugged.
++++++++++
He woke up in pain.
At the same time that he wakes up, he also realizes that he is suffocating. He has trouble breathing. When he opens his mouth and takes a deep breath, the oxygen finally spread to his lungs.
When he touches his nose while he is confused, he feels unprecedented pain.
“Ugh…”
A calm voice called out to Sukuna, who shook his body and endured the pain.
“I’ve already given you first aid. Don’t touch it.”
There, Sukuna finally noticed that someone was sitting next to his bed. A woman of strange age.
Her golden hair is tied up with a black ribbon and her sleepy eyes peek out from behind her glasses. She seems like she was watching Sukuna asleep. She is wearing a yukata and her knees are propped up on a cushion.
Sukuna moved away from her and is attacked by pain.
“Stay away.”
Sukuna looks around him, exhibiting his alertness.
It was an empty Japanese room of about eight tatami mats. The light bulbs placed in the four corners illuminate the interior of the room with fantastic lights. The furniture is surprisingly small and there is nothing but a white futon in the center and a Japanese bathtub near the wall.
“What is this? Where am I?”
The woman shrugs to answer Sukuna’s questions.
“It’s one of my hideouts in Tokyo. You’re the first stranger to set foot here. Be honored.”
As she spoke, he knew who was in front of him. Sukuna looks into her eyes.
“Are you Kuroko?”
Her glossy lips formed the shape of a smile.
“I’m not satisfied with having to expose my face, mainly because my mask was destroyed, but I’m not so cornered that I have to hide my face in private.”
Sukuna can’t react to her words. He is doing his best to understand the situation that he has in front of him, opening his mouth.
There are many questions that he would like to ask her, but the first thing he does is ask…
“You are a woman?”
Kuroko has a clean face.
“Yeah. What’s up with that?”
“Isn’t that right now?! I’ve always thought of you as a weird old man who’s been dressed up as a ninja all along?!”
“Old stranger…”
Kuroko snorted a little and looked at Sukuna.
“Don’t define me by your own beliefs. I hid my identity, but I didn’t want to hide my gender.”
“What do you say?”
“I would have been wearing a seami.”
Sukuna thinks about Kuroko’s fighting clothes. Certainly, he feels that the image was sharp. However, humans who see Kuroko’s appearance will not notice that place. Rather, they are more attracted to the mechanical mask on her head, the clothes like a special unit, and the sword-like weapons on her back.
Kuroko’s true face, laughing, was somehow good.
“What I want from the team is functionality, but that doesn’t mean I’m neglecting design, although no one has identified my gender in that.”
“That’s how it is…”
At the same time, Sukuna’s belly screamed.
Involuntarily holding his stomach, he looks at Kuroko with a bad feeling.
Kuroko wasn’t laughing, and stood up.
“I’ll bring food. What do you prefer, sushi or pizza?”
Sukuna barely answers.
“Pizza.”
“Ok.”
Kuroko quietly opened the fold and left the room.
After that, only Sukuna remained.
Questions fluttered through his head nonstop, thought moving freely from his body.
Anywhere, the first thing you need to do is test your strength and secure an escape route.
As he stood up, he saw his PDA and his long cane placed on top of the Japanese bowl.
He opened a window in the wall on the opposite side of the model, so that the night view of downtown could be seen.
The window is also unlocked. The PDA was able to boot without any problems. He can also use some special ability. If he wants to escape, he can escape right now.
Knowing that, Sukuna crouched down on the spot.
He took off his tie. He fingered the bandage around his nose. Tearful pain ran through him and brought back the memory.
The attack was completely unsuccessful.
Sukuna and Kuroko couldn’t compete with that man at all. A killing blow was evaded and Sukuna received a bitter blow to the face.
When he found out, he was here.
“……”
“I should have advised you not to touch it.”
Kuroko, who returned with a basin, narrowed her eyes at Sukuna’s thick, stagnant eyes.
She didn’t say anything and put a tray next to his bed. On top is a package of sushi and a small size pizza. Kuroko removed the lid from the sushi pack, picked up the roll and then mysteriously looked at Sukuna.
“You do not eat?”
“I will eat.”
Sukuna moved in front of Kuroko and took a piece.
After eating the first slice of pizza and picking up the second, Sukuna finally asked Kuroko.
“What happened after that?”
“I escaped the ship with you. That man didn’t follow me.”
“So you bothered to take me, when I was passed out, to your hideout?”
With open suspicion in his voice, Sukuna said that.
“What are you planning, aren’t you to do that?”
Kuroko shrugs.
“I helped you because I decided I wouldn’t increase my risk. With my "ability”, a boy is easy to carry.“
"Is a lie.”
“If you can’t believe it, that’s fine. You don’t have to trust me.”
In response to Kuroko’s simple words, Sukuna turned around, a lump forming in his throat.
To think that he lost, that fact alone is eroding Sukuna’s chest.
It’s not like he’s never failed a mission so far. He clashed with other players and was defeated, but those losses were not decisive. At that time, even if he couldn’t compete, he climbed up the ranks, he was filled with different abilities, he challenged them again and always won. So he will do it again.
“So…”
After finishing the meal and taking a break, Sukuna asked.
“What’s next?”
“What’s next?”
Kuroko repeated the question like a parrot. Sukuna was frustrated and picked up the PDA and showed it to her.
“It’s the next strategy. The subjugation mission is still going on. If I don’t beat that madman at some point, I’ll fail.”
“There is no such thing.”
Kuroko’s voice was as solid as her common sense.
“I’m leaving this mission. We and that guy are very different.”
Sukuna frowned severely.
“What’s wrong? Are you scared?”
“I can accept it that way. I’m not a dreamer to challenge him in a battle I can’t win. It’s painful to deduct points for mission failures, but I’m happy with other business.”
“……”
She falls silent and looks at Sukuna depressed, Kuroko continues saying,
“Somehow… are you going to challenge him again?”
Sukuna looks at Kuroko askance. He didn’t reply, but his gaze seemed to convey his intentions.
Kuroko takes a sip of tea from a bottle and exhales.
“Why?”
“Why?”
Sukuna opens his mouth and repeats the question.
When asked why, there was no response from Sukuna. However, only the determination to do so fills the place.
Sukuna challenged that man and lost.
So he has to win next. He has to keep trying until he wins. Or until he loses and dies. It wasn’t something Sukuna could forgive, like losing and doing nothing, because that means running away.
Sometimes you can’t help but lose, but you’re not allowed to just lose and run away.
Kuroko looks at Sukuna, sighs and tells him…
“I really appreciate that about you.”
“I saw that you were someone driven by calculations rather than emotions. It would be easier for me to do business in the future if there was such a person. That is also the reason why I helped you.”
But Kuroko shook her head.
“That’s exactly what that man said. There’s nothing on you.”
“Tsk!”
“I don’t know about the future, the purpose, or even where I’m headed. I was driven only by anger and irritation. I couldn’t stand the pain and was swept away, just like a beast in their hands.”
Sukuna’s heart pounded. Like a flash, the scene came to life in his mind.
The back road that the two of them passed. The cheesy taste of the sweets and cider they drank together. A childish vow to run through “Jungle” together and a cheerful smile shining at his side.
For the first time, he had met a person he could respect. He really wanted to be like that boy.
His first friend in life was a fake prepared by an adult.
So there is nothing in Sukuna. When he knew that what he had grabbed was fake, Sukuna threw it away. He abandoned everything around him and ran away to live alone.
Sukuna only has irreparable injuries.
He is still bleeding. He is suffering. So, being touched by that was just a pain for Sukuna.
When he noticed, Sukuna leaned forward, reached out and grabbed Kuroko’s chest.
“You…”
Sukuna tells her grabbing her.
“What do you know? What is my purpose?”
Kuroko’s reaction was always cold.
“I don’t want to understand. If you want understanding and sympathy, you should run to "Homura”.“
She lightly dispelled Sukuna’s hand and stood up with the yukata collar straight. The eyes behind her glasses are cold and clear.
"If you’ve finished your meal, you must leave quickly. You are free to continue the mission. It’s useless to help, but it’s probably your choice.”
Kuroko suddenly stopped trying to get out of the Japanese room.
“What are you fighting for?”
It was like loneliness. He slumped over, looking up at the ceiling slightly.
“That man asked a very central question despite his playful tone and appearance. In a clan like "Jungle”, it may be more important than you think to determine your own purpose.“
As you may have noticed by now, I’m posting my English version of “Side Green”, which was incomplete.
Maybe in the future I will also translate or edit the K’s manga that are not currently in English, it will depend on my free time, and K’s news has priority.
English is not my native language, so please excuse any grammar errors.
Note: When I finish translating, I’ll be making an index on Tumblr.
CHAPTER 2: THE KILLER GIANT (Part 2) / Parts: 01/02/03/04
TRANSLATION & RAWS: NARU-KUN
“Wah, I’m sorry!”
The super bag that he was holding with both hands was forcefully thrown to the ground, and Iwafune Tenkei sat on the cushion.
“Iwa-san! Okaeri! Okaeri!”
Kotosaka, with his green feathers, flies into a room that isn’t that big. The broken front door, the old tatami, and the refrigerator door, which is about to become suspicious, have notes with various wisdom of life.
In the center of the old four and a half mats, there was something that looked nothing like it.
“Welcome back. Iwa-san.”
The “Green King”, Hisui Nagare.
He has his entire body bound with restraint clothing and is in a wheelchair. The mechanically designed chair is a custom-made item, and the arm he usually keeps allows him to do a number of things.
So he shouldn’t worry if he leaves Nagare alone.
“Hey, Nagare. I told you to eat!”
Iwafune does a preaching when he sees that he left the cold breakfast in the chabudai.
“Sorry. I’ll eat it as soon as I’m done.”
However, as he answers, Nagare doesn’t even see Iwafune. Not because he looks down on him, but because he is absorbed in the sight in front of him.
“Jungle” floats in front of Nagare.
Several hologram windows float in the air, constantly projecting information. Iwafune Tenkei is “King” like Nagare Hisui, but he still doesn’t know what that information means. There is probably no one in the world who is comparable to the “Green King” in terms of information processing.
But that is not all.
“You said the same thing when I came out! It’s cancelled! It’s cancelled! If you don’t finish, I’ll take your battery!”
When Iwafune, who had seen his work screwed up, put his hand on his wheelchair battery and threatened him, Nagare suddenly reacted. After a moment, the holograms go dark one after another.
“I’ll eat it right away. So don’t remove the battery.”
“Wow…”
His arm reached out from the wheelchair and began to fill the bowl with rice from the rice cooker. He is right-handed. With more than a decade of life in a wheelchair, Nagare can move his arm like a limb.
“Itadakimasu.”
He cuts the egg batter with a fork and knife and pops it into his mouth with rice. Iwafune asks Nagare what he’s eating, as he scratches his chin.
“But again, you were very focused. Did you find anything interesting?”
“Yes. I found something that looks interesting. Really interesting.”
Nagare narrows his eyes as he sticks his shinko on his fork. Only a green electricity ignited in the cutlery.
“From the information I got from the attack three months ago, I finally got the identity of the existence called "knowledge system”, which was classified as the top secret.“
"Uh…?”
Iwafune bows his head. He is also a member of “Jungle”, but he was a child when it came to the practice of such attack instructions and confidential information.
Nagare continues as he chews on the shinko.
“As I explained before, the "intelligence system” is officially hidden because it seriously violates people’s human rights and privacy.“
Nagare seems animated having a conversation about this. It was good, but he wondered if he made a mistake bringing it up.
"The essence of the "single system” is the establishment of a complete monitoring system using a wide area network. Once this system is activated, not only the surveillance cameras installed in the public, but also the PDA calls owned by each citizen, all information, up to registration, will be under state control.“
"On top of that, they are extremely powerful and therefore dangerous in identifying the information and people they target.”
Iwafume is confused and answers.
“I see. I didn’t get it.”
“……”
Nagare then briefly sums it up.
“In short, it means that our whereabouts may be lost.”
“Hey, really?! Oh, should I dress up when I go shopping next time?!”
Nagare shook his head at Iwafune, who finally became alarmed and fluttered hastily.
“For now, that’s not necessary. The "intelligence system” hasn’t even passed the testing stage yet. It seems that practical use is still ahead.“
"Hmm.” Iwafune crossed his arms.
“But we have to take action.”
“Yes. For the time being, I have put under control all the public surveillance cameras within the "upper” range of action. Even if Iwa-san appears in front of the camera, the ‘intelligence system’ will not recognize you.“
Iwafune exhaled in relief.
He would say so himself, but Iwafune Tenkei is the "trump card” for Nagare. That is the significance of why he is hidden. He doesn’t know if it’s just a matter of fact, but he has to hide his existence until the crucial moment.
“The elder from the "Golden Clan” took a lot of risk, right? Won’t that system be a big problem when it activates and tries to catch us?“
"Well, that’s going to happen. However, the "Golden King” and “Tokijikuin” don’t seem to be extremely involved in this system. The main participant in the operation is “Scepter 4”.“
Since the Kagutsu incident 12 years ago, of the seven missing kings, the last to appear was the current "Blue King”, Reisi Munakata. The “Scepter 4” clan left behind by the predecessor “Blue King” was quickly unearthed and regained its function as an organization to suppress the crimes of foreign Strains.
While tilting the bowl of miso soup, Nagare gives his impressions.
“To enter such a dangerous system, the new "Blue King” seems to be quite confident, but it is doubtful that he has the ability to match his confidence.“
Then he adds fish.
"Habari Jin would not have tried to use something like this.”
Hearing the words, Iwafune looked up at the ceiling and thought.
(“That’s it, Habari.”)
Iwafune was familiar with his predecessor “Blue King” Habari Jin and his clan “Scepter 4”. It was when he was still called Otori Seigo and led the Gray clan, “Cathedral”.
But now all that does not exist.
Habari was killed, Seigo became a missing person, and “Cathedral” was razed to the ground. He hears that Munakata has almost completely revamped the old “Scepter 4” human resources. Only the name is the same, now it is a different organization.
Everything has flowed into the past, leaving him alone to remember.
Iwafune breathed out those feelings with a sigh.
“Oh. Although with "Tokijikuin” we have enough, even the rookie is our enemy.“
"Affirmative. "Jungle” has not yet formed a clan body to counter it.“
It has been seven years since he decided to form "Jungle” for the first time. After several test versions, Nagare created the current “unlock”. The number of users is constantly increasing and there is no problem moving them like limbs.
“The lack of human resources is our bottleneck…”
“Hitobusoku! Hitobusoku!”
Kotosaka, who stopped by Nagare’s side, yelled loudly.
In “Jungle”, the user is the clan member. So there are many.
However, the number of people who can “use” it is extremely small.
Jungle rank is not something that increases as your complete quests. From N-Rank, the points required to rank up increase dramatically, and you can’t continue unless you complete dangerous missions and earn high reward points.
Few players try to take on the danger and get promoted, and the number of people who can get past it is even rarer.
Currently, no one has risen to J-rank through quests.
Iwafune put the boiled seaweed on rice and poured kyusu tea into it. It’s Ochazuke.
“The raid mission three months ago went well. The user who took the tip of the spear got enough points to be promoted to J-Rank.”
“No way, he doesn’t feel that way…”
Iwafune tweeted more and more, and Nagare took the soft Ochazuke.
“He is a very talented person. Therefore, he wants to maintain a certain degree of independence. Also in "Jungle” in a certain way, each member of the clan makes his own decisions. Thanks for the food.“
"Yeah, bon appetit. Well, the form is good, but thanks to that, I want to say that there are no more people who can rank up.”
“Sure, we may need to hurry up a bit. I’d like to secure a bit more human resources before the "single system” kicks in.“
Saying that, Nagare lifts his face.
A hologram screen loomed in front of that line of sight. The photos of the members of the clan that are active and the profile of "Jungle”, accompanies it.
“Offers up-and-coming players with high-difficulty quests. If they complete enough quests, they’ll soon be promoted.”
“What kind of mission?”
“Fulfill your wishes.”
He quickly knew who he was.
Iwafune has a color of anxiety.
“That guy? Are you okay?”
“I want to do it. It’s not nice to be picked up by an executive without doing anything. I understand that we need a demonstration to motivate other players.”
“No, that’s not what I’m worried about. I’m asking what happens if that mission fails.”
When asked, Nagare mysteriously shook his head.
“If you fail the mission and lose all points, you will have to start over from the starting rank.”
“That’s the point! You are…! That’s why it’s hard to get human resources!”
Iwafune insists as he hits the chabudai, but Nagare doesn’t seem to get it yet. This young man is an unmistakable genius, but there is a point where the demands on others are too high.
Nagare muttered “Hmm.” and said:
“I understand. If Iwa-san says that much, let’s make some adjustments.”
“Are you sure?”
Then Iwafune notices.
One of the people in the image of “Jungle” players floating in the air, is very young. Or rather, he is…
“Isn’t he a child? What has he been doing in "Jungle” so far?“
"Rather, it seems that children tend to rank up faster because they aren’t bound by additional ethics or common sense. That player is… Ah.”
Nagare narrows his eyes. Iwafune knows that he finds him “funny”.
“Gojo Sukuna. He is the player I look forward to the most right now.”
He probably has hidden potential. Contrary to the neat appearance of consuming boring fast food and drinks, he has a rough atmosphere.
“Over the past three months, he has risen through the ranks at an amazing rate and was recently promoted to U-Rank. Will he be able to make it to this "secret base”? Attention.“
Saying that, Nagare just laughed.
++++++++++
At the window railing, a parrot stopped.
"……”
When Sukuna noticed, he shook his head. It is a gesture as if he is asking what he is doing here. Sukuna walks over, opens the glass window and groans at the same time.
“Well, you stop coming to this house like that.”
“Why?”
H.N. The “Green King” returns such an answer through the parrot.
“This is my "hideout”. I don’t want to stand out. And if a colored bird like you stops by, everyone will pay attention!“
Sukuna speaks rudely to him. The parrot jumped to the window, looking at Sukuna with a bowed head.
"This won’t stand out.”
Sukuna searched for a counterargument, but in the end he couldn’t find one.
This is the fifth time that the “Green King” has appeared around Sukuna.
At worst, he showed up during the mission. In such a situation, he was different, so he just watched him, but it still distracted him. “The next time I see you, I’ll turn you into a roast bird.”
He eventually disappeared during the mission.
Instead, he started showing up at Sukuna’s hideout.
His hideout is a room in an ordinary apartment in Tokyo. He can’t rent a house because he’s underage, so Sukuna through “Jungle” recruited a stranger whose face he doesn’t even know to do it. No one knows this place more than Sukuna and the guy he recruited, but he doesn’t like the fact that the “Green King” found it easily.
When Sukuna returned to bed, the parrot entered through the open glass window. Sukuna looks at him and then collapses.
“Do not do it.”
Immediately, the parrot spread its wings in anger.
“Kuwa, Kuwa! Shirei! Shirei!”
He flies up and tries to attack his obsession with his claws. Sukuna shrugged hastily and evacuated to the corner of the room.
The parrot was intimidatingly stagnant for a while, but finally landed on the table. He makes a calm voice as if the constitution has fallen.
“I apologize. Kotosaka was excited, but please don’t be too rude to Kotosaka.”
Sukuna arches his eyebrows as he holds his heaving chest.
“What is he? He’s just a parrot.”
“Kotosaka is my clan member. He’s not a human, but he has personality and pride. Treat him like a worthy person.”
“Sonotori! Sonotori!”
Kotosaka yells. Sukuna looked at Kotosaka and the “Green King” over there, with eyes that looked like monsters, but he finally shrugged and replied.
“Well, it doesn’t surprise me anymore that an animal is a member of the clan.”
Since he entered the world of different abilities, he has already encountered many amazing things.
Seven kingdoms and the seven kings that rule them, the true map of power that rules this country.
One of them, compared to being on the other side through Kotosaka, there is no such thing as an animal with a will.
Anyway, Sukuna thinks.
“Even if you don’t use that, there are plenty of other ways to do it.”
Kotosaka shook his head as he flapped his wings.
“What other method would there be?”
“You can set up a surveillance camera or let an appropriate player record. If you use jungle points, you should be able to gather as many people as you want.”
“We do it for low priority observations. I only use Kotosaka with the highest priority to talk to whoever I want.”
“And you want to talk to me?”
“Affirmative. I am very interested in your actions.”
Kotosaka’s crystal ball eyes really look at Sukuna. Sukuna flinched at the inorganic gaze.
“Gojo Sukuna. The only son of the Gojo family. Ever since you left home three months ago, you have survived this society using all means. Making the most of "Jungle”, you hid your identity, hired people to act as points contact and secure food, clothing and shelter without relying on anyone. It’s not something elementary school students can do.“
Sukuna frowned.
No wonder the "Green King” has his own information. With “Jungle”, the information clan and their king, H.N., it would be easier to find out than to break an eggshell.
That does not mean that the discomfort decreases.
“Don’t surround people. Don’t make me angry.”
“I have no intention of offending you. I just want to let you know why I’m interested in you.”
“Hm.”
Well, he can believe it. H.N. he’s a freak, a big guy, a black curtain, but he doesn’t seem like a bad guy. He investigates Sukuna only because, as stated, he is interested in Sukuna.
The “Green King” keeps saying.
“There are many other players who do not choose any means to get up in "Jungle”. However, very few on their own can complete dangerous missions and continue to be successful. If you become a younger player to achieve it, it can be said that it will be the first time in “Jungle”.“
Sukuna sits on the couch and looks at Kotosaka with piercing eyes.
"What do you mean?”
“Why don’t you join the team and take action? Most players do, though they say it’s much safer and more efficient.”
Sukuna squeezes the long staff. He looks away from Kotosaka and in a careless voice he says,
“I can do it by myself, so I don’t need that. I hate swarms.”
That word was half true.
The feature of “Jungle” is that it is “free”. No matter what the members do, the above has little to do with it. They just use “Jungle”. They can’t even see each other’s faces, they are only connected by interests.
The relationship was comfortable for Sukuna.
That’s because he doesn’t have to trust anyone from the start.
Kotosaka turned his head several times, as if chewing on Sukuna’s words.
After that, the “Green King” had a light tone.
“Is it related to what caused you to leave your house?”
He entered the danger zone.
No wonder the “Green King” knows this. Since he has researched it, he probably knows their relationships as a matter of course.
However, the moment someone else spoke the name “Him”, he realized that he would lose control.
“If so, what’s up?”
Sukuna echoes a voice like a cold copper plate. Whether he noticed it or not, the “Green King” still says in a light tone.
“If so, you are reducing your potential. I feel like it’s a waste. It’s a loss. You shouldn’t be stuck in the past and close off the future.”
Skill “Thunder Blade”, activate.
A glowing electromagnetic blade emerged from the long staff. Sukuna answers quietly, with an equally dangerous look at the helpless parrot.
“Are you talking about the future and the past? I just live in the present.”
“For what?”
Sukuna couldn’t answer the question he suddenly asked him.
So that he lives, Sukuna is stunned when he realizes that he has no answer for returning in the middle of a cliché sentence.
Now, he is here to escape from his parents’ house. Sukuna believes that he will go crazy and compromise if he stays in that house for a second. Therefore, for Sukuna, fleeing and living are synonymous.
But what’s the point of a life of just running away? Isn’t that what it means to be stuck in the past?
“If you find the answer, I will come to hear it.”
By the time Sukuna reacted, Kotosaka was already flapping his wings and jumping onto the window railing.
Sukuna stood up and shouted an angry voice at Kotosaka looking back.
“What are you doing? What is the purpose?!”
“My hope is to expand people’s possibilities. There is nothing else.”
With just that, Kotosaka took off and disappeared into the sky.
Sukuna angrily closed the glass window and bit his teeth.
So, ignoring his hiding place, a desolate room with the bare minimum of necessary furniture, it was also similar to Sukuna’s world.
There is nothing he wants; he only has what he needs. If there is something extra, he will get in the way when he runs away. Sukuna knows this well.
But…
Just to escape, to live, to want nothing, isn’t it that you’re stuck in the past?
When Sukuna had such a thought in his mind, a noise echoed.
Sukuna raised his face as if it had been turned around and confirmed the direction of the sound.
It is the front door. The lock that should have been locked is unlocked and the doorknob turns slowly.
Sukuna’s actions were swift. When he opened the door, Sukuna had already jumped out the window with his long cane and PDA in hand. He pinned the door, but he doesn’t know how much time he can buy until someone breaks in. This hiding place is no good anymore. He has to find another.
Sukuna jumps from the hallway, grabs onto a pillar and jumps higher. Landed on the rooftop of a private house.
On the back of Sukuna who tried to run as he was, a voice dubbed with a megaphone was heard.
“Wait! Gojo Sukuna-kun!”
The thought of being stupid stopped Sukuna. He doesn’t know what he thinks, but he shouldn’t say someone’s name out loud in a place like this.
Sukuna turned around and saw a man standing near the hallway. He has a megaphone and looks at him. There is no tension in the expression. This eliminates the possibility of the chase being from “Scepter 4” or “Jungle”.
He wishes had escaped like he was.
“Your mother is worried! Let’s go back!”
That word stopped Sukuna, because he knew the identity of the one who was chasing him. These guys are the minions of the “house of his parents”.
The past came to capture him.
“……”
Sukuna looks at him with his feet on the ceiling.
The guy with the megaphone who succeeded in naming his mother may have thought so. Even with a smile on his mouth, he raised his voice even higher.
“Your mother says that if you come back, she won’t tell you anything! Are you satisfied that you’ve been worrying her for so long? A child can’t live alone! Come with us.”
“Shut up!”
A cloudy voice interrupted the joke.
Or maybe he wouldn’t have done it without the “Green King’s” contact.
Sukuna descended from the rooftop to the street. The guy with the megaphone has a relieved look, men dressed in black appear from the car behind.
Activates the skill “Physical Strengthening”.
He activates the ability “Thunder Blade”.
The unique ability of “Jungle” runs through his entire body. The beating of the heart carries black emotions to every corner of his limbs. An electric blade extends from the long staff like a sickle, and Sukuna carries it on his shoulder.
The guy in black took a step back in a hurry. Sukuna smiled like an imp.
After a few minutes…
Crushed concrete walls, sheared pillars, overturned cars, and the men in black bending and falling. A very destructive sight was spreading over the ground.
He can hear the patrol car’s siren from a distance. It will take less than a few minutes to arrive. Before that, he has to do what he has to do.
The guy with the megaphone crossed the street and looked at Sukuna with a scared expression.
“So? Who did you hear about my whereabouts from?”
Sukuna’s power is concentrated in his chest. The guy with the megaphone rages to escape from him, but the strength of Sukuna, who was pushed by his power, far exceeds that of a normal person. All man can do is raise a voice of anguish.
“Uhhhhhhhhh…”
He can see that the compressed auxiliary bone makes a cracking noise. If he pushes it any further, it will break.
The bone could pierce his lungs and heart and kill him. Sukuna narrowed his eyes and dropped it.
“I haven’t killed anyone yet.”
“……”
“But now I feel like I can do it. It’s your fault.”
Heaving a sigh from the edge of his mouth, the megaphone bastard showed pitiful horror. Sukuna says more, looking mercilessly at the one who shakes his head desperately.
“If you don’t want to die, answer the question. Who sold me?”
“I do not know!”
“Hey, tell the truth.”
He pushed him further. A sound of flapping and cracking in the bones. His eyes go black and white with severe pain and he screams as he spits.
“That’s true, I swear! They just gave us the order to catch you! I don’t know anything!”
Due to his fear and pain, Sukuna decided that what he said was true and clicked his tongue. He can’t use it.
“Then I’ll change the question. Which side are you on in the first place? Front or back?”
“Oh, it’s the back. We belong to the Shinonome group and have some connections with the backup agent. Maybe this information is from that agent as well.”
“Who told you I was here?”
When he waves the electric blade and show it, the guy with the megaphone got angry.
“If I had known you were a talented person, I wouldn’t have done such a stupid thing. Damn, your parents, what should I say if it was an extra request!”
It seems that it was his mother’s idea, that made Sukuna give up. Sukuna gave a dry laugh.
“I’m sorry for you.”
Saying that, he jumps from his heart.
The pressure is suddenly gone and the bastard with the megaphone coughs. Sukuna buried a green leaf in his neck. When he poured the green stream as much as he wanted, he jumped up and shot it into the wall, and it finally fell down.
Sukuna muttered.
“It’s Kuroko.”
The “backup agent” is probably Kuroko. He hears that he’s not only fulfilling the “Jungle” mission, but he’s also using his skills to do normal back office work (although it’s a strange expression). Theft, sabotage, kidnapping and murder.
Kuroko didn’t catch Sukuna. It’s not because he couldn’t, it’s probably because he’s sorry to spend points on it. Instead of stopping him, he sold his personal information for money.
So Sukuna had a question.
Why didn’t Kuroko tell him that he was a talented person?
Regardless of society at large, the existence of people with powers is open to the public in the underworld. The lost talents that do not belong to the clan are called “Strains”, and there are many who become children of the subsequent organization. If they were with a talented person, it would not have been so easy to escape.
As he was asking himself that question, the PDA rang with an incoming call.
Unannounced incoming call. Sukuna frowned and answered the call.
“Have you been successful?”
“Looks like you got away from the chase, Five.”
Angry, the power went into the hand holding the PDA.
“Hey, Kuroko. Are you playing with me?”
“I have no such intention and no time. Therefore, I will go to the main topic.”
Then Kuroko said,
“I want to fight with the Lord.”
++++++++++
The reason Yukari Mishakuji became a member of the “Jungle” clan is because he was fascinated by Hisui Nagare.
He first saw it seven years ago. At that time, Nagare was a child who was still innocent. The king in the form of a child appeared and revealed himself in front of the “Golden King” and the “Colorless King”.
He wanted to defeat the “Golden King”, he was strong and hostile.
Yukari doubted what he saw.
He once witnessed many kings, but it was the first time he saw a person that he challenged Daikaku Kokujoji in battle head-on. Even Kagutsu Genji would not imitate such a thing.
That is, the younger king declared war on the stronger king.
He can laugh at the child’s recklessness. The boy who obtained the power of the king was out of control without thinking about anything. He was pried out of ignorance and fascinated.
However, Nagare was serious.
In his eyes, the coolness to discern the situation and the passion for his hidden ambitions were equally present. The revolutionary’s eyes sparkled as he determined the difference in his ability and still defied difficulties.
Yukari was fascinated by the brightness of him. He thought he was beautiful.
His beauty was still imprinted on Yukari’s heart.
His beauty was not spoiled at all when he passed the time and he reappeared before Yukari. On the contrary, Hisui Nagare, who dreamed of “transforming the world”, was dazzlingly shining.
That is why Mishakuji Yukari decided to serve Hisui Nagare.
He promised to be an embodiment of that cold ambition and hidden passion.
Because he found a different brilliance than his former king, Miwa Ichigen, in his way of life.
And now…
Mishakuji Yukari walked the alleys of the city as the top executive of “Jungle”, a J-Rank.
The time is around midnight and the area is quiet, without people or noise. The moon on an autumn night hides behind the buildings to the left and right, and the light does not reach it.
Even in such a dark place, Mishakuji Yukari did not break his smile. The appearance of walking with a long sword on his back and fluttering dark purple hair was dignified, and he couldn’t find a full-fledged loophole.
Yukari continued to walk behind the fortress in the dark alley, and finally his foot stopped.
It was a vacant lot like an air pocket between the buildings. Surrounded by buildings on all sides, there is no room for people to escape. The only way back is to go back the way you walked.
Yukari spread his arms and looked up at the square night sky, saying,
“Isn’t it boring just watching? Why don’t you come play with me?”
A slight unease shook the night air.
The silence continues, a few seconds. A voice echoed from the back alley.
“Eh?”
It was a pair of men who slowly appeared from the darkness.
“I knew you were looking, but you came with an unpopular cousin? Isn’t that right?”
One is a young man with a frivolous smile who carries a guitar case on his back. The other is a muscular giant. They both look at Yukari, clenching his fists.
Yukari laughs a little and looks at them with his arms outstretched.
“Because no matter how long you wait, it won’t work. That’s why I created a situation that’s easy to do. I want you to thank me.”
The giant narrows his eyes and mutters like a soliloquy.
“Did you invite us?”
“Hey. Thanks. I don’t want to bother getting points.”
As the young man raised his hand while he laughed, multiple figures appeared from behind. They all wear a mechanical mask that emits green electronic light.
“They’re N-Rank. It’s our advantage, but they’re pretty good. Don’t think you can escape.”
The rankers took out their PDAs and weapons. Some are armed with something that looks like a gun.
However, there was no influence on Yukari’s expression.
First of all, this is the situation he wanted. When he saw the scene he expected, he couldn’t have shaken his heart, and, on the contrary, he felt the heat welling up.
It is the heat of battle.
The young man saw Yukari and snorted.
“Even so, what did you do? Right after becoming a J-rank, you were able to get a prize of 100,000 points. Did you aim for the king’s life?”
The voice was a mixture of ghosts and jealousy.
It is not impossible. Yukari didn’t become a J-Rank after a regular mission. He was promoted to a J-rank executive, upon being directly invited by the “Green King” Hisui Nagare. For clan members who challenge high-difficulty quests every day to get that position, it wouldn’t be convincing at all.
Yukari shrugs and says nothing.
“I haven’t done anything weak, because I asked for a subjugation mission.”
The giant frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“That’s all. I offered a reward so more clansmen could challenge me.”
The young man and the giant looked at each other.
“In other words, what? Did you give yourself a reward?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
The young man murmurs from the bottom of his heart.
“Oh, is it also a desire to kill yourself?”
Yukari made a deep smile.
“I gave myself a bounty to prove that I am the right person for a J-Rank, so that all members of the Jungle clan will know.”
Then he gently draws the sword. The boys wearing the green masks buzzed.
“If one appears to defeat me, it should be a J-Rank. The stronger our king’s arm, the better. I’m the test stone for that.”
The duo’s expression tightened.
What Yukari said was something natural in “Jungle”. The strong and the smart rise. If they weren’t satisfied with Yukari becoming a J-Rank, they can prove that they are better than Yukari by overthrowing him.
At the thought he laughed brightly, confirming that the carelessness was gone from his face.
“Since I answered your question, can you answer my question?”
“What is?”
“What are you going to do if you beat me and become a J-Rank?”
“Ah. If you think about it, gain power?”
The young man shook his head, snorting like a fool.
“It’s decided. If you go "up”, you can get even greater power. The best way to do something greater is to be close to the King!“
The giant was silent for a while and then answered.
"It’s all too narrow now. If you go up, you’ll have a little more freedom.”
Power and freedom.
That’s what “Jungle” marks. It is natural that they want it. Clansmen Mishakuji has clashed with so far have said something similar, though the details are different.
For this reason, he was thinking of waking them up.
Hisui Nagare’s dream is to make all mankind kings. Nagare thinks that everyone has the possibility of all colors, he sees the world with another look.
However, for that reason, the dreams of the “Jungle” clansmen were too uniform. Although he is the person who chooses what to do with the power, the options are too limited.
Nevertheless…
What attracted Yukari was the brilliance of the person himself. He is not really interested in the “Jungle” that he created. Now, asking this question is nothing more than Yukari’s interest.
Therefore, Yukari dispelled the sword and showed a gesture to end the story.
“Yes, I understand.”
He points the tip at them and declares war.
“Let us begin.”
The giant muttered under his breath.
“Just do it.”
The N-Ranks are distributed in a fan shape. The attack aimed at Yukari who was against the wall at once, and the appearance of him disappeared.
“Uh…”
“Up!”
By the time the young man shouted, Mishakuji had already run up the wall to the left of him and was about to attack the nearest N-Rank. He cuts the green mask looking at him and drags the real face. Yukari turned his bright smile on him and plunged the sword into his nose.
“Damn, keep your distance! That’s a weapon! We can’t lose with that!”
“I think so?”
With a soft voice, Yukari runs through the gaps between the N-Ranks. Each time, the sword looked and pointed at Yukari.
Yukari understood. That is that young man’s weapon. It must be the style of the duo, where he defends the giant and shoots the young man.
Yukari makes a deep smile. He doesn’t know that he’s scared, even if he has a sniper gun in a long straight line. Carrying a sword, he is still speeding up and closing in on the duo.
“Even so, take this!”
The young man screamed and his muzzle sizzled.
Yukari’s sword moved at God speed.
A green spark lit up the darkness behind the alley at the same time as the discordant sound.
Yukari keeps running as if nothing happened.
“Uh…”
After all, the young man provoked even more. Two shots, three shots. The sword flashes at an invisible speed, and each time the green spark flashes, it scrapes the wall of the building approaching left and right behind Yukari.
At that moment, the young man seems to finally understand what is happening.
He is cutting the incoming bullet in two.
A voice close to a bad sound comes from his throat.
“What? Is it an electromagnetic bullet? It’s fast enough to react!”
“Whether it’s a tortoise or an eagle, if there’s a wall in the way, I won’t stop.”
The masks, the weapon and the PDA are cut. Yukari approaches the youths who have impatient expressions.
A green wall blocked the way.
The green wall repelled the sword that flashed at once. Yukari gets caught up in an unexpected thought and kicks the ground to get away.
The green wall seems to come from the giant’s PDA. He calmly spoke to the young man next to him.
“I will withdraw.”
“I know!”
Then the duo turned towards the back alley.
Yukari looked around him. The N-Ranks, who were still fighting, also dropped their weapons when they saw the bosses escaping. Yukari is amazed at the lack of preparation, but it would be a mistake to expect such things from those who are only used.
Yukari runs into the back alley with a sword in one hand.
Aside from the others, he has to get rid of the bosses. Otherwise it cannot be a “test”.
Then, Yukari who entered the back alley knew that he had been ambushed.
“Oh.”
There is a wall that glows green in the dark about 100 meters ahead. From that space, a long rifle pistol turns towards Yukari. Like a carnivorous beast facing his prey.
CHAPTER 2: THE KILLER GIANT (Part 1) / Parts: 01/02/03/04
TRANSLATION & RAWS: NARU-KUN
The rain hits the dark green raincoat.
It’s been about 30 minutes since he burned the wire netting on the rooftop and sat on the edge. Sukuna took the PDA out of his raincoat pocket and looked inside. The green light emitted by the PDA illuminates the face of the young man who is hiding behind the hood.
A map of the surroundings is projected on the PDA. There are two green dots that move on the map. There are several blue dots to track them down.
The “Jungle” clan member and the “Scepter 4” clan members.
Tonight’s mission was very important. The latest PDA model, which is scheduled to be sold next month, and the IC chip embedded in it will be stolen along with the design data. 1500 JP per success fee. More bonuses are available to players who bring the IC chip to the destination point. It was quite a “delicious” mission for the top rankers.
Of course, it is a serious crime. If he is caught, he will not be exempt from prison sentences. Therefore, the only players who can participate are those who are spending their lives in the “Jungle” that is, “seriously”.
At first, the plan was carried out successfully.
“Shooting Team” makes full use of a talented app to attack the development company and steal data and the 1C chip. After that, he quickly left and joined the “escape team”. The plan is to disperse using the escape route prepared in advance, meet up later, and then hand it over to the mission sender.
It went well until the merger.
What was unexpected was that the confluence was stretched by “Scepter 4”.
The team was exhausted. The other two who barely escaped are now the rats in the bag. The back alleys they are escaping through have already been blocked off by “Scepter 4”.
“They are there!”
“Discover the objective of Route C! Please support us!”
He can hear the blues calling with the sound of heavy rain. It’s only a matter of time before they get caught.
Sukuna stood up.
The long cane that he carries on his shoulder is his weapon. He can create weapons for all situations using the unique app.
Sukuna operates his PDA as he hears footsteps approaching.
U-Rank, he activates the skill “Physical Strengthening”.
U-Rank, activates the skill “Denrai no Blade”.
A green beam flashed from the PDA and ran through Sukuna. A particularly powerful current flows from the right arm to the long staff, forming a blade of energy that glows green.
Sukuna screams as he listens to the sound of raindrops evaporating.
“The mission begins!”
Sukuna stepped into the air in front of them.
Gravity quickly caught the small body. He kicks the outside unit or the wall of the building to add more acceleration to the acceleration of gravity. Sukuna falls round and round faster than the rain.
He lands in front of two “Jungle” users.
“What?!”
The two hide their faces with a mask. It is common practice for “Jungle” users to hide their identity, but Sukuna finds it a cowardly test.
Because he wears such a thing, he ends up running away.
With his knees on the ground and his long cane on his shoulder, Sukuna looks back. A blue around the corner points at him and yells something.
“They’re here!”
With just that, Sukuna ran away.
A dark green raincoat jumps into the rain. The blue-clothed duo meanwhile approaches.
Perhaps he did not expect to be counterattacked, he was trying to deal with them until now.
“Sayama, batto…!”
Hmm, Sukuna laughed. Too late. Is it stupid?
The moment he got a few steps closer, Sukuna took a big step and jumped, hitting the energy sword from above. Half of the blue was pierced by the energy blade that slid out as he tried to raise the saber and avoid it.
“Gah!”
It’s just an iron bar, like a surveying bell, which does not stretch the “field”. Either he understood that at the expense of his partner, or the other showed a slightly better move. At the same time as he drew the sword, he developed the “field” and passed through it.
“Kuku!”
Sukuna laughs, turns his hand around the cane, Blue’s chin is up with the cane. Blue defended himself with his sword, and tried to hold the long staff as it was.
An energy sword was born at the tip.
Characteristics of the “spiritual sword”. The energy given to a substance can be changed into any form and generated from anywhere.
An energy blade that looked like the tip of a spear jutted straight out and pierced the side of the blue. The green electricity “modifies” the blue protection, pouring as much powerful current into the unprotected body.
Finally, the blue was exhausted and fell on top of his partner.
“Did you kill them?”
One of the “Jungle” users asked with a broken voice.
Sukuna replies as if that is stupid as he steals Blue’s PDA.
“You can’t cross such a dangerous bridge. I stunned him.”
“Seventh group! What’s up? Answer!”
From the PDA of “Scepter 4” resounded the voice of what seems to be his superior. Sukuna puts his mouth in front of his PDA and activates the voice change function.
“This is Sayama. The target has moved from route C to route D. Request a block.”
“Understood! Start blocking Route D! Concentrate the staff there!”
“Idiots.”
Abandoning the PDA in the falling blue, Sukuna sticks out his tongue.
Sukuna then looked at the two stunned men and said…
“If you want to run away, now is the time. If you don’t want to get caught, follow me.”
He then turned to the front and began to walk.
“You saved us! Thank you very much!”
“Top qualifiers are totally different!”
In a dimly lit underpass, the “Jungle” user duo thanked Sukuna in a loud and booming voice.
On the other hand, Sukuna carries a long stick on his shoulder and says without looking back.
“I often use this place as a loophole, but it’s actually a clandestine route to work in shopping malls.”
“Hmm! That’s it!”
“I know him well!”
“What I mean is that we’re on the run and we don’t know where the blues are, so why are you raising your voice so stupidly?”
When Sukuna said that, the duo fell silent as if they were silenced.
As they were, the three of them continued to walk in silence.
From the underground passage to work, they go out to the subway line. They walk for a while while stepping on the wet ground, open the door and go further down. They walk down the winding hallway, frowning at the strange smell of the sewer, and finally come to an open space.
It is an underground parking lot of a commercial facility on the edge of Shizume.
Says one member of the duo, looking around uneasily.
“Have we already lost them?”
Sukuna confirmed on the PDA and nodded.
“Ah! If you run away too far, you’ll be fine.”
When he said that, they smiled.
“Oh, yes! I’m glad!”
“Oh! I’m glad.”
Sukuna didn’t smile and hit them with his “Thunder Blade” in the chest.
“Eh?”
They couldn’t even remove the smile. They were looking at the green electric blade that stabbed into his chest like it was a joke.
Immediately after, the blade was pulled out, and at the same time, it hit hard and they fell to the ground.
One fluttered and took a step back.
“What are you doing?! You helped us.”
“I helped you. So I’m thinking of getting a thank you.”
While twirling the long staff, Sukuna approaches them.
“I want the IC chip and design data that was stolen.”
“Huh? No way, was that the purpose all along?”
Sukuna distorts the mouth. He didn’t laugh. He was impressed.
“Did you say that? Of course. Why do I have to help you without any merit? I just looked at the mission details and thought I could get rid of it from the side, right here.”
Sukuna approaches mercilessly. They tried to back up further and fell with their legs entangled.
“Who’s got it? Honestly, it doesn’t matter, but hand it over and you won’t get hurt.”
Still, one of them reaches out and tries to stop Sukuna.
“Wait! Wait! Okay! I’ll give it to you! Wait a minute!”
“What are you waiting for!”
“Ah. I’ll give it to you, can you decide to complete this quest in collaboration with us?”
In a desperate plea, Sukuna snorted.
“You mean, if you delete the cooperative mission, you’ll get a spill?”
“Oh, that’s right! I’ve always used all the items to participate in this quest.”
It is common. High difficulty quests can get great rewards, but you have to use a lot of items to do it. As a result, there are often “deficits” where more points are erased than rewards. Also, the mission may fail despite using many items. He looks at his partner and says…
“I’m still fine, but this was a "robbery team”, so I’m using a lot of “items”. If I fail here, the points will drop to zero. If that happens, my account will be deleted.“
Sukuna narrowed his eyes.
"I’ve been with this guy the whole time. I’m an important friend! So if you ask me to miss it, make sure you give it to him later.”
Without hearing the end, Sukuna’s “Thunder Blade” pierced his throat.
“I don’t need the help of others.”
Sukuna muttered as he looked at the collapsing player with stagnant eyes.
“I’ve always been a solo player.”
++++++++++
When he came out, the rain had already stopped.
Sukuna takes off his dark green raincoat and heads for the fence. A wire mesh of about 2 meters does not make any sense to a Clansman. Sukuna jumped the fence and landed on the sidewalk.
“Hard work.”
He made a sudden call to his back.
Look back as if it had been played. At the same time, he takes out the long staff so he can activate “Thunder Blade” at any time.
In the dark, under the light that shone from the streetlamp, he silently appeared.
If you want to express that look in one word, “Ninja”. A black outfit that gives him a special drive. Sukuna knows that the head armor, which lights up with electronic light in several places, resembles a hood, and the last thing is a huge rear sword on his back. This rear sword converts into 12 weapons.
Sukuna called him by his name.
“The receiving point is not here, "Kuroko”.“
The jet black ninja Kuroko shrugged slightly.
"Because the predetermined time has passed. I came to see the situation.”
He cannot tell his gender or age from an electronically distorted voice. Kuroko’s mask was a custom-made item that was different from other “Jungle” users. The purpose is the same as hiding the identity, but the degree of thoroughness is different.
The identification name is “Kuroko” and he is a first-class U-Rank.
No one knows his true face or identity. Most of the missions he does alone, but sometimes he participates in the collaborative missions that are done, one in ten.
When he was still a low rank, Sukuna had a mission in collaboration with Kuroko. Even in a dangerous battle against “Scepter 4”, Kuroko displayed excellent situational judgment ability and led the mission to success.
There are many excellent rankers in Jungle, but Kuroko is by far the best among them. However, he is not good at fighting. Sukuna thinks that his ability to calmly analyze the situation is his strength.
Kuroko was the editor for this mission.
“Look at it.”
He throws away the data and chips stolen from the players earlier along with the PDA. Kuroko deftly took it and held it in front of the head armor. The viewfinder part flashes and the laser scanning light penetrates the PDA.
“Confirmed. By your rank authority, we notify you of the achievement of Category C mission 3781.”
Immediately, Jean-Bi appeared from Sukuna’s PDA and scattered bright voices out of place.
“Congratulations! You completed the mission! Jungle Points, 1500 points.”
Sukuna canceled the sound of the report on the way.
He then looked at Kuroko with a suspicious look.
“What kind of data is it? You could have done that mission by yourself.”
He didn’t expect the answer to come back. Kuroko hates pointless talk, and even more he hates not being able to find a purpose for it. Sukuna expected to be interrupted with a single word: “It has nothing to do with you.”
That expectation, however, was betrayed.
“I had other business to do. That’s why I replaced him with a free player.”
“…?”
He felt awkward as he wondered if Kuroko had answered. The feeling of incongruity quickly turns into vigilance. He asks more as he slowly lowered the long cane.
“What are those "other business”?“
Kuroko replied.
"It seems that the son of a high-ranking government official disappeared three months ago.”
The color of the alert has become thicker and darker.
Sukuna remained silent and searched for signs of the surroundings. He doesn’t feel any sign that someone is lurking, at least not yet.
Kuroko continues as he stands like a statue under the street light.
“At first, a kidnapping was suspected, but eventually there was no ransom demand. Further investigation revealed that their son had taken a large amount of cash and precious metals from his parents’ home. He was out of the house.”
“……”
“But even with the investigative power of the police, the whereabouts are not known. A high official who was injured by the clumsiness of the "front”, asked for “help” to look for him. The announcement arrived and I took the job.“
He wondered if he could beat this guy.
It will be difficult. The reason is different from the previous two players. As far as Sukuna knows, Kuroko is the strongest player. He might succeed even if he tries to escape.
But that option was not in Sukuna.
He won’t run away.
From the time he left home to the present, he has used every means to lose himself. He has been removing precious metals through the “Jungle”, blinding his whereabouts and keeping an eye on hunters.
Still, if he was found, he decided to go crazy as much as he could.
It’s not good to lose, but he doesn’t want to run away either.
His heart beats faster. Neither fear nor tension, so uplifting, similar to despair.
"So?”
Black emotions mix with the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body.
“Is he likely to get caught?”
That feeling is Sukuna’s driving force. Anger, hatred towards adults and others who tried to push him into the fake world became the way to survive in “Jungle”.
“It is easy.”
Kuroko replies, turning his vacant gaze to Sukuna.
Sukuna laughed provokingly.
“Try it.”
He won’t be able to fight and win, but he can fight to the death. It is better to die than to return there.
Sukuna thought so, he operated the PDA with one hand, to activate “Thunder Blade”.
“Kwaah!”
Sukuna was taken aback and stopped at the sudden sound of a bird.
He moves only his eyes to locate the sound.
A parrot stopped at the traffic light shining on Kuroko. As they stop, the parrot looks at them with his head tilted to invite them to wonder why they are not fighting.
“Green King.”
Kuroko didn’t even look at the parrot, but muttered. In his hand, before he knew it, two pictures appeared.
“I hope you have nothing to do. This business has nothing to do with you.”
The bird shook its head several times and spoke in human language.
“Affirmative, "Kuroko”. I have nothing to do with the tranquility of the players.“
The voice of a young man. Flat and inorganic. That’s why it makes you feel like something bottomless.
Who is the "Green King”?
This was the first time they referred to a true rumored existence in “Jungle”. The parrot with skill is not the “Green King”, he is just an intermediary. In a sense, he is a police officer.
The “Green King” never shows up, but he knows all about “Jungle”.
Kuroko still opens his mouth without looking back.
“So what is it for?”
“Now, a new "subjugation mission” has been launched. I came to inform you of that.“
"……”
Kuroko’s mask is flashing. He is sure that he is reviewing the details of the mission that the “Green King” said. Sukuna looks for an opportunity to launch an attack, but both sides are on alert. There is no chance to take advantage of it.
However, Kuroko raised his stance.
“Understood. It’s probably a more efficient business.”
“Thanks for your understanding.”
Sukuna looked up. It was the most irritating thing to be out of it.
“What are you talking about? Let’s start!”
“Get out.”
“Huh?”
“Capture canceled. You’re safe.”
“Oh!”
He has reached the limit of his patience. Sukuna activates “Thunder Blade”. From the tip of the long staff, an energy blade glowing green appeared.
“If you quit, I can’t do that!”
Screaming, Sukuna kicked the ground. A curved blade like a sickle rips through the air and approaches Kuroko.
Kuroko avoided it with a single move. He deftly dodges as Sukuna continues to chase after him, jumping high and connecting further. He somersaulted, landed, then retreated after repeated backlashes and landed on the fence.
Kuroko with his helmet looked down, with his arms crossed he dimmed like a statue.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to deal with a child’s tantrum. You better use the points I gave you to hire a babysitter.”
After saying that, Kuroko suddenly collapsed to the ground and was sucked into the ground leaving green ripples.
Skill “Modification”. It “modifies” the material he touches, allowing it to permeate for a moment. The ability to modify is the reason why Kuroko is said to be the strongest U-Rank.
“Damn!”
Sukuna was angry and hit the ground with “Thunder Blade”. The asphalt was scraped with the sound of electromagnetic waves.
Then Sukuna looked at the parrot.
“You bothered me more.”
The bird bows its head two or three times.
“I don’t think it was a hindrance now. Rather, considering the difference in strength between you and Kuroko, I think it helped.”
“What?!”
“Why are you mad, Five? I wonder. If you’re smart, you know that.”
Sukuna bit his lip and just looked at the parrot.
What this guy is saying is correct. Even if he had fought Kuroko like he was, he would have been defeated and taken to that prison-like house.
Given that, he knows the parrot voice helped, but he still doesn’t like it.
“Who asked for that? I’m mad, you…”
“Did you want a battle with defeat?”
“You look down from a high place with a kingly feeling, and I don’t like the way you look at everything.”
The bird flapped its wings. It turned its yellow neck towards the night sky and made a high-pitched noise.
“Omae! Namiki! Namiki!”
He then quickly comes back and makes a clever voice.
“Kotosaka, please shut up. Excuse me. My friends don’t do much to suppress their feelings.”
He felt the word “friend” aching in his heart.
Sukuna tries to hit him to kill him.
“Hmm. Birds are friends?”
“Affirmative. Kotosaka is my friend, my eyes, and the only freedom.”
The “Green King” says nothing, and the bird shakes its head again.
“I’m obliged because Kotosaka wants that. Because of that position, I can’t help but look at you. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Eh?”
“The reason why I’m talking about this is because I actually get more information than you. After all, there is no other intention.”
Sukuna purses his lips and thinks, is this an excuse that “I’m not going to be cool”?
No, he thought again. It’s not like an “excuse”, this is an “explanation”. “I’m not going to look great” and “explain” that it’s true.
Sukuna opened his mouth.
“You’re stupid?”
The bird tilts its head and responds.
“I don’t know. It’s the first time I’ve been told that.”
“……”
Sukuna was silent for a while and then withdrew the “Thunder Blade”.
It is because he feels that he is playing. The “Green King” had the image of manipulating everything from behind and laughing, but it seems that was a mistake. It’s more of a freak than a black curtain.
With a long staff on his shoulder, Sukuna shone again.
“Go home.”
He heard a buzz from behind. Shortly after looking back, the “Green King” echoes a calm voice to Sukuna, who looks towards the post in the path where the parrot descends.
“Gojo Sukuna. I’m interested in you.”
“What?”
“I want to know the answer to why you wanted a fight you could lose. For a while, I’ll watch you.”
“Stop. Why do you say…?”
He decided to say that, and when he started to open his mouth, he changed his mind. Whatever it says, it does exactly that. Escaping from the observation or surveillance of the “Green King” would be a great effort, if not impossible. Speaking of frustration, that’s true, but he didn’t feel like escaping with such effort.
So Sukuna said instead of that.
“What’s your name?”
The parrot bows its head. Looking at him, Sukuna snorted.
“Unilaterally, I don’t like the fact that everything is known. At least tell me your name, "Green King”. You can use the identifier name, if you don’t even like it.“
Sukuna smiles as he hits the ground with a rock.
"Can I eat the parrot?”
“Kowah?!”
The parrot reacted and left reflexively. Still, he doesn’t fly away from him, and as he flies, the “Green King’s” calm voice echoes.
“I understand. I want to ensure Kotosaka’s safety. I’ll tell you.”
Sukuna smiles. This is because he feels that he has defeated the “Green King”.
However, the smile soon disappeared.
“My name is "H.N”. Please remember it.“
"……”
"H.N.“
The name was familiar to him.
He is the issuer of the emergency mission that he carried out with Hikotarou.
At the time, he did not know how the information they collected would be used.
No, he expected it, but he didn’t have the "preparation” to make it happen.
For Sukuna, “Jungle” was a fascinating game and he didn’t think it was life-threatening.
It was that day that he realized that.
Three months ago, on the day Sukuna left home, a large group of thieves appeared in Kamigami.
They raided the homes of many high-ranking government officials and stole sensitive information from them. The great incident that captures the roots of Japan, however, has not yet issued a single arrest.
It was a well-known fact to gamers that it was led by “Jungle”.
It is said that they fled by driving through the back streets and lagoons of Kamigami as if they knew in advance.
When Sukuna found out about the incident, he felt a cold feeling deep in his heart. After all, they were the ones who investigated the area.
“That’s how it is.”
Sukuna muttered in a weak voice.
Whether or not he saw that in his heart, H.N. continued to fly around him.
“So, thanks from now on, Five.”
Sukuna did not reply. He quickly started walking towards the city that was in the dead of night.
Many people remember “that day” in 1999 as a special moment.
For some, a shocking disaster that suddenly hit them. For others, the moment when an extraordinary catastrophe was felt through distant rumors.
The sun shining from above. A cicada screech they can’t even talk about. Sweat running down the cheeks. Some will remember such a scene.
But that was a little further.
The temperature had already started to rise every day, but it was still far from summer production.
In a fate similar to high pressure magma that swallows everything and burns it, the daily life of thin skin remained, that is the history of that time.
++++++++++
It was awkward getting on the train after a tough event.
A black suit with holes here and there and fraying. Burning smell. A soot-smeared face floated on a crowded station platform.
Just a few hours ago, “Purgatory” was attacking a gangster headquarters, a few miles away from the area where it was approved to live.
Number 2 splitting the plan, what Soma calls “room hunting”. At a minimum, to get a place to live in the land where the infrastructure is alive, he said, “I have a star in the correct yakuza”, but in reality, there may be strategic reasons such as expanding the territory of control, threatening the security system and secure a bridgehead.
However, such a “room search” failed due to the outburst of the “Red King” Kagutsu Genji, and ended in vain enough to destroy the unlucky gangsters.
The large car used on the outward route was also wrecked, so clan members procured their return journeys locally. Specifically, it was decided to divide into several vehicles and motorcycles that were stolen from the owners through threats, but it happened that two young people were run over by the number of members.
The baby-faced boy Kyoji and Takuya Choya. They didn’t care if they had a license or not, but they didn’t know how to drive either.
“No, Jibun and the others are going back by train.”
In response to Soma’s amused instructions, the boy was in a bad mood and Choya bought the ticket with a nihilistic mood. At that time, the transportation IC card service had not yet started.
“It’s better to go home… than stay and die today.”
As he waited for the train, Choya said that.
“Why, will we live long? No way.”
And, the boy answered that on the train platform.
In the battle that day, some members of “Purgatory” also died.
Most of them were influenced by the power of the “Red King”, and their bodies exploded due to a leak of different abilities, but there was only one man who died when he was hit by a yakuza’s ammunition.
Yusuke Kadota. He looked to be in his early thirties, but he still looked like he was in his early twenties due to his baby face and hip attitude.
About a month ago he had entered “Purgatory”. Immediately before, he killed 13 members of the antisocial organization he belonged to and got out. The case was registered as a normal criminal case, not an extraordinary case. Before the installation and manifestation of dysphoria, the man caused a mass murder with a single gun.
“Uh, I don’t think he shot. The yakuza and the police often shot, bang bang.”
The boy liked the “newcomer” Kadota. Unlike other members of the clan, he did not treat children lightly due to their age and appearance.
“Hey, how does it feel to shoot and kill a person compared to doing it with extraordinary power?”
Faced with such an unscrupulous question, Kadota did not seem offended and replied politely.
“Here we go… what’s up? I haven’t had a chance to compare. I’ve never killed a person with this power.”
Kadota extended his right hand and showed it. His index finger was missing and the cross section glowed red like a flare.
“I can’t shoot with this finger anymore.”
As you could see, Kadota’s stigma was that he was “missing his right index finger,” probably because one of the guns was traumatic. The power of extraordinary power was the “bullet” emitted from the missing finger, but the extraordinary power of the bullet was rarely used after only a few test shots.
“Then let’s shoot the yakuza in that area the next time we go in and out.”
“No, that’s a bit… what do you think?”
“I don’t care. He who hits and dies is bad!”
Kadota smiled a little embarrassed at the boy’s laughter, and today he was hit by a bullet and died. He wasn’t killed by the power of an extraordinary skill, he died like a normal man by mere ammunition.
“He could have shot, but he didn’t. He didn’t prevent it, even though he could prevent it. That was suicide… I think he chose to die like a normal person. I’m sure that’s what he wanted.”
“What is that? I don’t understand the meaning.”
The boy had a sharp mouth. Every time he was told a complicated story, he was in a bad mood. And…
“I think that old man was a bit tough, maybe he was too nice.”
He said it lightly.
“That’s right. I’m sure his personality was calm.”
“Whatever way you hit the weapons, which way, the guys above will disappear the weak guys.”
“Well, that’s right. I’m sure that’s correct. The train has arrived.”
Choya tried to round off the topic by saying that.
“Most of all, that old man was…”
The boy was eating even more.
Miscellaneous words about Kadota continued for many train stations after that. He was feeling a little upset, but he knew it was a shame for a child.
In everyday life, the children sometimes talked about people close to them and sometimes said mean things.
Mothers who couldn’t live with them, grandmothers who raised them, local childhood friends, etc. None of them were in the world now.
According to them, they were bulls. They were angry. She was a careless woman. She was a messed up slap. It was heartless shit, and the fight was weak. In this way, the children enumerated the reasons why they had to die. This is how he was trying to convince himself.
Choya’s idea was different. The outlook on life was simpler.
There was no meaning to life or death.
― So you don’t have to say bad things to someone you like.
He thought would say that, but he stopped himself.
Emotions, souls, life, life that has no meaning, he believed that it was not correct to think like that. In that way, he who lived as a zombie was meaningless and unnatural. That’s what he thought.
The boy lived in a slightly better world than himself as a dead person. He just stared through the glass at his sparkling emotional displays.
When five train stations passed after the criticism of Kadota began, the topic broke and she was supposed to be the grandmother of a child.
That grandma, she put a candy ball in her pocket and walked over to her and gave it to a kid in her neighborhood. That’s why the kid could lick it and also look at the bad guys. Even though she said that, he couldn’t hear it.
The train stopped at the station and a large number of students entered. It was the closest station to a famous private high school. Boys and girls in English-style blazer-style uniforms filled the seats, chatting like a flock of birds.
― It is bad.
Choya wondered about the boy’s situation.
Student, rich, nice guy. The boy hated “hanging out together and seeing their own faces”.
It was a complete alienation; it would be a source of fire if the stalemate turned out to be extreme.
“Smells like burnt?”
“Funeral… Coming back from the crematorium?”
“No, he’s a yakuza.”
He heard such whispers that they were exchanged.
“Kyoji… do you want to move to another platform?”
Although he tries to say that calmly so as not to irritate him, the boy’s line of sight was already fixed on a point ahead.
“Hey!”
The boy screamed. It was a loud voice that echoed throughout the vehicle.
“Sorry! You’re sitting there!”
Several male students sitting in the priority seats at the front of the vehicle looked at each other.
“Give your seat to the elders!”
“Uh…”
Choya finally caught on. An elderly woman, in her 80s, boarded through the vehicle entrance. Her waist was bent and she used a cane. The step was small and she was swaying a bit.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Please, Grandma.”
The students who hurriedly stood up bowed their heads to the boy and urged the old woman to sit down. There was no need to shout. It was easy.
Rather, the old lady suddenly made a noise and attracted attention, and she stood still.
It would be a problem if she was told to sit cross-legged in the middle of that situation.
The door closed and the train began to move while the situation was awkward and stuck.
“Hmm… I’ll be by your side.”
“Uh…”
At least if they were out of sight, the old woman would be able to sit down and the students would be quiet.
That was the world of ordinary people, and they were the obstacles. He was aware of that.
When the children were about to start walking…
“Uhahahaha! What is it?! What is it?!”
From behind, he heard crazy laughter.
Looking back, there was a strange girl there.
The girls in the vehicle were all girls who were wearing uniforms from prestigious private high schools and seemed refined. It wasn’t just about appearance, but behavior. They were elegant creatures carefully bred in a greenhouse.
On the other hand, the one in front of them was a completely wild species. Poor pedigree or poor growth, short, old-fashioned body shape. Her skin was dark, her hair was coarse and she laughed with bad makeup like a dark circle. The teething was also terribly bad. Her clothes were the same as the students, but she was also poorly dressed. She loosened her collar, tucked her skirt in, and loosened her stockings on one side. It was almost a costume from a fairy tale.
In a word, she was like a raccoon dog that failed to become a young girl.
“Mika-chan, you can’t do it. It’s rude if you suddenly laugh.”
“And they’re a little scary. They might get mad.”
From among the animal-like girls who were worried and whispering, the raccoon dog took an open step and stood in front of the boy. She was even smaller than a toddler.
“Fufufu, you’re weird. Aren’t you the kind of person who secretly picks up a kitten on a rainy day?”
“What… what the hell are you saying?!”
“It’s a waste to make a loud voice. I don’t know if you’re a good guy.”
“Ku…”
“She’s not your grandmother, right?”
“What did you say?!”
― If he thinks she’s just a stupid woman, he’ll be looking at her unexpectedly. No, were she listening to the conversation?
“You…”
Choya intervened.
“No matter what this guy and Grandma are, it’s not something that others should make fun of.”
The Tanuki laughed with a “Hehehe.” unafraid, and she put her hand in the pocket of her uniform.
“Sorry, do you want candy?”
Her palm, which was filled with individually wrapped sweets, was presented in front of the boy.
“Hm… I don’t need such a thing!”
“Hahaha, don’t hesitate.”
The Tanuki leaned towards the boy and put a piece of candy in the pocket of his black suit.
“What… what are you doing?!”
When the boy tried to push her away, the Tanuki quickly reached down, sat in the priority seat and touched the empty seat next to her.
“Bah, come on, it’s free here! Come on, sit down!”
It was a strange behavior, but when he noticed it, the tense air inside the vehicle was loose.
“Thank you…”
The old lady bowed to the boy and the boy gave up his seat, and with the help of the raccoon dog, she slowly sat down.
“I’ll get off next station, Taku.”
“It’s not the station to get off yet…”
“We can get on another train.”
When Koji and Choya spoke in a whisper…
“Haha, it’s a TV store!”
The Tanuki pointed at him.
Finally, when the train stopped and the door opened, a loud voice was heard from the back of the two descending.
“Bye, Kyoji, Taku, bye! Take care of yourselves! Stay together! Bye!”
Even after the train left the platform, the reverberation remained for a while.
After that, the two of them walked out onto the street from the station. They had to walk for more than an hour to the base of “Purgatory”, but they did not complain, they chose to go home on foot. It was so awkward that they couldn’t wait a few minutes for the next train.
“Hmm… who the hell is that woman?”
“I don’t care. We won’t see her anymore.”
“She’s like a raccoon dog.”
“Oh, I thought that too.”
“She asked me if I wanted a candy? Damn.”
The boy reached into his pocket, pulled out a piece of candy, and handed it to Choya.
“Eh?”
“Look, I’ll give you half.”
Saying that, he peels off the packaging and throw it in his mouth.
― Oh, you eat it…
“Eh?”
When she noticed Choya’s line of sight, the boy looked intimidating and…
“I can’t turn it into a poor morsel!”
“That’s how it is.”
Choya also put the candy in his mouth. He couldn’t turn candy into food. He thought so, even if he said that, the boy would not be convinced. On the contrary, he would think it rude to refuse the food served.
“I see, Grandma…”
“Oh?! Grandma doesn’t matter!”
The boy was poisoned again. However, since he had the candy in his mouth, he didn’t spit it out.
++++++++++
The two met the “Tanuki” a few days later when they went out into the city as messengers for Soma.
In the post-processing of the gang attack case, there were some things that he had to talk about “Tokijikuin”. As a return to that, he delivers the documents to the nearest branch.
Order and deviation to “Tokijikuin” which represents law and order. Soma from “Purgatory” was always kept in the gray zone and as a result behaved freely without social or anti-social restraints. It was just a devilish twist.
“Wow, it was easy, right? I’m just a middle manager. My general and my junior boss, and the politicians and citizens, somehow, while they push me here and there, I managed to put him in a circle. I’m on his side. I am working for everyone. You can get a salary from your country.”
It was a man holding a poker card in his left hand, lighting a bomb detonator in his right hand, smiling a bottomless smile, and distorting his mouth.
Contact with “Tokijikuin” was often made by the boy and Choya. Among the mischief makers in “Purgatory”, he had an appearance that was exceptionally close to the general public and was rarely noticed in the city. He was a rare human resource in “Purgatory”, who could act as a courier without causing any trouble.
“I really don’t like this kind of use of children.”
That day there was no driver, so it was a train movement. As they headed to the nearest station, on the way, Koji told Choya.
“Soma-san says that he believes in us and leaves it to us. We have to live up to expectations.”
“No… that person wouldn’t wait for others. If we were wrong, we would just use it as a source to move another plan.”
“Huh? You’re like that.”
At that moment,
“Oh, Kyoji! Kyoji!”
A loud voice came from behind.
“Eh?”
Looking back, some kind of raccoon was constantly running and stopped in front of them. It was the raccoon dog from the other day.
“Oh, Kyoji and Taku!”
“You… don’t disrespect people.”
“Oh, sorry, Kyoji and Taku.”
“I’m telling you to put the "kun” on it.“
"Hahaha.”
“You were called "Mika-chan” by your friends.“
Choya yelled from the side.
"Looks like the uniform is different today.”
“Oh, that’s right. Taku-kun, are you a person who knows about this kind of thing?”
That day, the Tanuki was wearing a uniform from a local public school. She wasn’t as floaty as the prestigious private uniform from the other day, but after all, she was in disguise somewhere.
“What is that? What do you mean?”
Choya answered the boy’s question.
“Maybe she’s walking around in another school’s uniform. I don’t know if it’s private or public, but I don’t know if she’s actually enrolled…”
“I will hit you!”
When the Tanuki said that without being afraid,
“Hey, Somekichi.”
Across the street, high school students in the same uniform and various men and women waved their hands.
“What are you doing?” “Are you going to karaoke?”
Thereafter,
“Oh, right~”
The Tanuki turned to the students as she said…
“I’m going to work part time!”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” “I’ll call you later.” “Do your best at the part-time job.”
The students started walking again.
“Part time job?”
“What is Somekichi?”
When Koji and Choya asked her…
“Huh, are you interested in that? It’s me.”
Saying that, the Tanuki smiled. As usual, the alignment of her front teeth was poor.
“Somekichi Mikako, part-time worker, 17 years old.”, the Tanuki called to herself.
Although she did not go to high school, she wore a uniform and went in and out of various schools, and she had many friends.
“Are you a fake student?”
“Well, it’s the value of the Joshi Kose, that’s why it’s in demand. Fufufu.”
“No way, you’re doing suspicious work.”
Before the boy, Tanuki-Mikako slammed the palm of her hand against the large cardboard box that had been strapped to the mamachari’s loading platform.
(Note: Mamachari is the shortened expression in Japanese for mama no charinko (mom’s bike). These types of bikes are equipped with a basket in front or behind, and a special seat can be placed on them to carry a child and circulate safely.)
“Fufufu…money to watch? It’s my job.”
The contents of the box were tightly packed pocket tissues. The phone number was printed on the package.
“Tissues distribution?”
Looking around him, there was a part-time job handing out similar tissues in front of the busy station. She will take a long time to complete the quota for a large box, as passersby often ignore her.
“Well, it’s okay to work seriously, but… it’s a normal job for a while.”
“Although my work is futuristic, "Puri” is different, “Puri”.“
"What is "Puri”?“
"Fufufu, look at me, look at me.”
Perhaps it was a part-time job uniform, Mikako put on a fluorescent cap that shone on her uniform, reached into the box, and held a bunch of tissues in her left and right hands. And…
“Love & Peace!”
“Eh?”
As she ran through the crowd in front of the station at full speed, she hugged the waist of a middle-aged office worker in front of her.
“What?!”
Several tissues swirled in the suit pocket of a salaryman who made a strange voice and stiffened.
“Uhahahaha! Uhahahaha!”
“Hey, peace, peace! Thanks!”
Mikako ran towards the children as she one-sidedly thanked the clerk who took it away.
“How about? A part-time job I thought up.”
“No… no matter what you say.”
“What is this "part time job”?“
"I call it "Aggressive Free Hug”. Fufufu… With this trick, the tissues will be sold 10 times faster and there will be no conflict in the world. Imagine…“
"It’s far from a Tsukkomi.”
“It’s a technique or an eccentricity, it’s almost the work of a youkai, that’s all.”
“Oh? I don’t know either.”
Mikako filled her hands with tissues again and…
“Fufufu, there is a secret in the low pass when tackle.”
“Don’t ask. She just said tackle. It’s not a hug.”
“So, next time I’m targeting that onichan, take a closer look.”
The target was a tanned young man in a tank top. He maybe he went to the gym, he had a good physique and was muscular.
“Come on! Love & Peace!”
Mikako ran towards the man and…
“Gak!”
The next moment, she rolled onto his back.
“Eh?!”
The boy hurried.
“Hey, Mikako, are you alright?! Wow, there’s blood coming out!”
“Uh…”
Mikako pointed at the man.
“I was able to adjust my knees to the tackle…”
“Hey, hey!”
“Wait.”
Choya stopped the boy who was about to activate his fire power towards a man.
Then, turning back to the confused man, he said…
“I was watching. Do you practice martial arts too? Something jumped out like a strange animal, so I tried to lift my leg and stop it. It came running out of his face.”
“Oh, yeah… Hey, Mikako, show me where did you hit… Oh, your front teeth are messed up!”
“That… isn’t that…”
“Oh, this is a row of teeth. Did you hit your nose? The nose isn’t crushed either. Does it originally look like this? You just had a nosebleed.”
“Sorry, I got involved in something strange. It’s okay, go away.”
Choya urged him to do so, but the man left at least 5,000 bills for medical expenses.
And…
“Hehehe, I made a profit.”
Mikako, who covered her nose with a tissues, looked at the boy and Choya.
“I have cash, maybe I’ll have some tea. I’ll treat you!”
“Tea… what about your part-time job?”
“Well, it might not be a job if her nose bleeds…”
Mikako paced back and forth with a large box as the boy and Taku said so. And when she hit the side of the box and draw the attention of passersby…
“Hey, hey! Attention, free tissues! Free tissues! Take them away!”
She left the box in the middle of the street and came back.
“It’s finished. Let’s go!”
“It’s not finished. I’m going to get sick when I do technical work.”
“First of all, I’m not saying I’ll find you.”
“Hehehe. Don’t hesitate.”
While saying that, when she tries to pick up the mamachari parked on the side of the street, the ringtone of the mobile phone sounded from the pocket of Mikako’s uniform.
“Oh, the phone.”
The clamshell mobile phone was a type of clamshell that was common before PDAs. Many pets were hanging in the leash hole.
“Hello, this is Some-san. Eh, Nanisore, really? Ah… yeah, that’s fine. Thanks for helping me out. Hahaha. See you soon.”
She closed the mobile phone.
“Sorry, I have another part-time job. Maybe next time we’ll go for tea!”
“You don’t have to apologize. Go on your own.”
“Hmm…?”
Mikako stopped and looked at the boy’s expression.
“That’s right. Well, I’m glad Kyoji has recovered.”
“Ah? What are you saying all of a sudden?”
“Actually, I was a bit worried. When I met him on the train, he surprised me.”
― She look closely.
Choya thought.
It is true that the boy that day was depressed about Kadota’s death. That’s why he constantly said bad things about Kadota and his dead family.
“Shut up…! What are you saying?”
Mikako suddenly hugged the boy who turned red and denied it.
“No…”
“If you feel sad again… wipe your tears with this.”
“You…”
The boy grabbed Mikako’s shoulder and pulled her away from him.
“That’s how you put your used tissues in the pocket! Also, you got a little blood from your nose! It’s dirty!”
“Uhahahahahahahahahahaha!”
Mikako jumped on the bike and ran off.
“Love & Peace!”
After that, on the train back, the boy was slandering Mikako.
Later…
“What’s wrong with that chibi?”
“Raccoon dog.”
“Gnashing teeth and laughing.”
“I don’t know… I can’t forgive her, a woman without manners.”
― Oh, this is… a lovable boy every time. If you are a little nice, you can understand immediately.
Choya thought that.
― I wonder why.
He also thought the same.
In a life where you see a dead body three times a week, how can this guy not be dead?
How can he grieve over people, get angry over irrationality, and people like him?
How can the light of the soul be kept forever as a tiny spark?
“Well, we won’t find her anymore.”
The boy leaned against the exit door and looked at the scenery outside the window. The setting sun shone red on his cheeks.
“I could be dead tomorrow… right, Taku?”
“Come on…what was that?”
Choya looked away with a dazzling sensation and at the same time a small backlash.
“Hey, what are you asking with that?”
This time, the point was directed at Choya. The boy said, narrowing his mouth as if he was sulking.
“Oh, you know, that guy is crazy, really crazy.”
++++++++++
Boys meet girls.
This is that summer story. It is the story of three children who shone and disappeared like sparks that summer.
One of the three did not wait for “the day.” The other was right in the whirlwind of “the day.”
