25 / 04 / 2019 - Yao, Osaka Prefecture, Japan.
2:45 PM, Saturday. Oihara, Yao City. Three days later.
"Mmm…"
Licking a stray bit of cream from the corner of his lips, Akane continued to munch on the crepe held in his right hand. His left hand remained stuffed deep inside his tracksuit pocket as his head casually panned across the neighbourhood.
The midday sun hung directly overhead, beating down with a radiant warmth that was rapidly bordering on uncomfortably hot. Still, the sky was a flawless, piercing blue, dotted with white clouds drifting lazily across a crisp, breezy horizon.
'What absolute perfection… It would be a million times better to spend the entire day sleeping in front of the living room TV instead of dragging myself around on a miserable walk like this.'
And that was precisely why he had bought the crepe — a mandatory psychological reward for his labour.
Leaning his back against a concrete wall, he stood surrounded by the narrow, maze-like roads of a quiet residential area, flanked by dense rows of two-story houses.
Half-lidded and languid, his eyes focused on the crepe. It was packed with fresh cream and strawberry fillings, drizzle-topped with an elegant zigzag of chocolate sauce.
Neat. It really would have been a lot better to eat this right in front of Irina just to watch her pout in pure distress.
Thinking of that little goblin puffing her cheeks in annoyance, a faint, genuine smile flickered across his lips.
Well, it wasn't like she could actually bother him right now. All of her dramatic warnings on that day were nothing more than empty threats.
'After all, who would actually volunteer their spare time to babysit a guy like me?'
It wasn't like his family didn't have their own lives to manage.
Reluctantly or not, even if that little goblin desperately wanted to monitor his movements and follow him everywhere, she had to bypass three insurmountable walls:
The barrier of her school schedule, the barrier of her weekend homework, and the irresistible temptation of afternoon sweets.
A kid, all in all, was easy to read. No matter how clever Irina tried to be, her strategic thinking was still inherently flawed.
Pulling his gaze back to reality, Akane scanned his surroundings. The single, straight road was mostly deserted, completely lacking the standard foot traffic of a public road.
Absentmindedly, as he took another bite out of the crepe, his mind drifted back to the initial investigation he had conducted on Wednesday night.
Ever since he had consciously shifted his immediate attention away from that first crime scene, he hadn't bothered to waste energy obsessing over the case.
Looking up at the drifting clouds, the back of his head lightly grazed the hard concrete wall.
He had spent the last three days living as normally as humanly possible — attending school as usual, grinding through his mandatory Kendo club as usual — and honestly doing absolutely nothing extraordinary until he had an open window of free time.
'Yeah… Come to think of it, school and club activities are an absolute hassle.'
He didn't lack education. Any academic data he required could easily be parsed and absorbed through his own independent means; as technology advanced rapidly, the internet was his domain.
Then again, sitting in a classroom and expending time so inefficiently was completely contrary to his style.
If he had to be entirely fair, the Kendo club was the only useful part of his routine, and even then, only by a bare margin.
Commuting to school at 7:00 AM, returning home at 6:00 PM every single weekday… and to add insult to injury, he had to sacrifice his Saturday morning to train from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
Arriving at this conclusion, a faint sound slowly drifted to his ears. That was the sole reason his investigation schedule had been pushed back to this exact hour.
Rising, the billowing sound of ocean waves in his ears. Re-evaluating his routine, his narrowed eyes slowly opened in full.
A sudden pulse of raw annoyance and deeply suppressed anger rippled out from the dark void inside his heart.
'I am forcefully drowning my limited time in inefficiency… And now, after walking around this second crime scene for hours, I've still come up completely empty-handed!'
As the friction of his thoughts accumulated, his chest filled with a sticky feeling of despair. Deep within the flowing darkness of his mind, a dangerous spark suddenly flashed.
Akane instantly forced his eyes shut, squeezing them tightly.
For a terrifying moment, he made his physical body go completely motionless, relinquishing every ounce of manual control over his inner and outer self.
His senses rapidly amplified as a result; the heavy warmth of the sun, the rushing breeze, the crisp mossy scent of the suburban air all slammed into his consciousness.
'Please… not right now. Not the Maroon Door.'
Just as he feared, slowly and with absolute certainty, the feedback loop began. The vivid colours painting his sensory world began to rapidly grey out, dissolving into a bleak, monotone landscape.
After a moment, as his world was replaced and the waves ceased, Akane let his eyes open and let out a long, controlled sigh.
Slowly, his racing heart forced itself back into a steady, flat rhythm.
Looking toward the ground, sweat slid from his temple as his pupils returned to normal, his breathing slightly ragged.
Diagnosis: ever since the catastrophic event in Khtonres, the malicious influence of the Maroon Door had become as persistent as a background radio station.
If the frequency of his passing, negative thoughts happened to sync up with that dark static for even a few seconds, he would instantly be dragged back into that agonising quagmire. A total drowning at the bottom of nihilism and despondency.
He had absolutely no desire to test what would happen to his mind if he let himself hit rock bottom, but the stress of the past few days and the rising urgency of his heavy routine had been accumulating, heavily suppressed within his subconscious.
Helpless, the corner of his mouth twitched. He had no alternative available other than to keep suppressing it.
Rationally, he knew he shouldn't feel discouraged; finding no clues was standard, and he couldn't know everything on day one. But the Maroon Door didn't operate on logic.
How dare you fail? How dare you stand there incapable of solving this? How dare you harbour fear? How dare you slow down your progression? Why aren't you strong enough? Why can't you calculate a solution?!
The intrusive questions swarmed inside his skull like a cloud of buzzing flies.
'The balance has tilted, huh…'
At the beginning of his awakening, his
But now, the false, parasitic emotions bleeding out from the Maroon Door had taken a dangerous step further into his mental baseline, filling the void inside — as if they belonged there.
Still, some of what the noise screamed wasn't entirely wrong. Rationally, there was no objective need to panic.
Everything was ultimately moving toward a preordained expectation; he simply needed to execute his parameters step by step.
"Tch…"
Spitting flatly onto the dirt path, Akane pushed his shoulders away from the concrete wall and raised his head.
His expression smoothed back into his default, pensive mask, his brows faintly relaxing as he reclaimed total system dominion.
Smoothing his fringe back. Whatever — it was a waste of resources to obsess over it.
He needed to flush the noise out of his head. He had to secure a definitive lead either today or tomorrow, period.
Pivoting smoothly on his heel, he resumed his walk, quickly finishing the final bite of the crepe.
The sudden, overlapping jolt of sweet sugar and sour strawberry flooded his taste buds, instantly clearing the lingering grey from his mind.
'
"Let's get this over with quickly…"
———
Fifteen minutes later.
Akane had already expected it: the body count on this case would rise. As to why?
Though it felt like a heavy dose of déjà vu from his very first investigation, it stemmed from entirely different structural reasons.
He had caught a critical nuance in the original text of the bulletin itself. The poster had used a highly specific choice of words: the "identifiable" body count was twenty-four.
Walking slowly around the perimeter of the second crime scene in a broad circle, Akane slipped into a narrow alleyway wedged between two residential complexes — a particularly shadowy pocket of the neighbourhood.
Activating his
'If twenty-four is merely the pool of "identifiable" targets, then an unidentifiable pool must logically exist,' he reasoned as he walked.
'What about the homeless population? Or illegal immigrants? Or transient citizens whose disappearances wouldn't trigger a standard police report? Since this is an intentional mass murder, it's highly probable the true casualty count is vastly higher. It makes perfect sense.'
That much was settled. After checking when he left the dojo earlier, the count had already been updated to fifty-two in just two days, the scenes scattered across the entire Prefecture — Yao, Higashiosaka, Osaka City, and his home district of Daito among the highest concentrations.
Pursing his lips into a flat line, his radiant-silver gaze sliced through the gloom of the narrow passage.
The dark corners of the concrete alley were immaculate, decorated only by a few neatly kept pots of domestic plants. Not a single physical trace remained.
'There's not much of a chance, actually…'
In a country governed by an intense cultural habit of cleanliness and strict neighbourhood cooperation, even the city's blind spots refused to offer a refuge for lingering malice.
Shaking his head at the total lack of results, he adjusted his footing and kept moving. Still, a probability of zero wasn't a certainty.
In the end, he needed to rethink his assumptions and what he was looking for. He stopped, pausing to gather his thoughts for a few seconds.
'There is still too much possibility at the moment — too vast to make a concrete conclusion…'
'Based on the assumption that the immediate internal environment remains perfectly undisturbed at the exact moment of cardiac arrest, we can assume the biological transition is entirely clean. Therefore, the focus must be entirely on the external sequence.'
Placing his hand on his chin, he surveyed his surroundings. The afternoon light had begun to slant dramatically, the sun dipping to a sharp 45-degree angle, signaling the approach of sunset. He paid the passage of time no mind, keeping his thoughts locked in.
'To isolate a pattern, one must arrange the conforming data into a chronological sequence. But I haven't acquired the core data yet. What I am doing is essentially still at the stage of searching the external environment…'
His head hung slightly downward as he stared at the uniform grey pavement, letting out a low, thoughtful hum.
'Then this leaves me two choices: continue looking over the current external environment, or begin trying to find a pattern to work on…'
So what would he choose? It was frustrating. He had already expended the time to commute to this specific crime scene, so abandoning it felt wasteful.
"Haah… 6:00 PM," he muttered aloud. "If I can't isolate a tangible lead by then, I'm heading straight back home."
Shrugging his shoulders, he shoved his hands deep into his tracksuit pockets. Realistically speaking, pattern recognition would be more efficient.
After all, the one who had posted everything was an official from Heaven Gate, and he —
'Wait…'
Akane stopped dead in his tracks. He snapped his head up, his crimson-ashen eyes widening in full.
The poster was from Heaven Gate. The first case he had taken involved a contact with Heaven Gate — yes, Takahashi-san! He had a contact from Heaven Gate sitting right around the corner.
'Duh, silly me…'
He really needed to contact people more. Being seen as outgoing in a social circle like the Dark Network was far better than lying around in the dust gathering nothing.
Slapping his head with his right hand in a moment of self-reproach, he quickly reached for his phone with his left. Opening the Dark Network and navigating to the conversation tab.
'There she is!'
A surge of genuine delight flared within him as he saw the user named "ItsRedMaples" was coincidentally online right now. Tapping on her name, his fingers moved fast to type.
…
Miserables: Moshi, moshi, Takahashi-san… you there?
…
One second passed. Five. Ten. Then twenty.
As the silence dragged on, the initial rush of adrenaline receded, leaving his mind to hyper-analyse the sent message.
First, he had unknowingly used her actual name. Second, someone as busy as her was probably deployed on a mission right now.
Had he just committed a gross operational blunder by interrupting her? His thumb hovered over the message hesitantly. Should he delete it? Was he being too familiar by using her name?
Technically, they were nothing more than transaction-bound strangers.
'Bah, what the hell…'
Who cared! In a world governed strictly by raw utility, the market drastically lacked straightforward, pragmatic individuals like him. So his logic was sound. Finding this conclusion satisfying, his thumb rested at his side.
Minutes continued to tick away without a response. Akane let out a loose shrug. She likely wasn't going to reply anytime soon. He might as well keep walking rather than wasting time.
"Off we go then…"
Just as he spoke, lifting his right foot to take a step, a vibration came from his left hand.
His foot slammed back down onto the concrete with a dull thud. Executing a lightning-fast draw, he pulled the device back up to eye level.
…
ItsRedMaples: Oohhhh! It's Miserables-san! We haven't exchanged data in such a long time! Are you doing all right? (>ᴗ<)
…
Wow — she hadn't changed a single bit. The exact same hyperactive Takahashi-san.
A sudden, uncharacteristic wave of warmth bloomed within his heart. When stripped of his calculations, she was the very first extraordinary person he had genuinely cooperated with in this world.
Look at that familiar, absurdly cute emoji. His deadpan, perfunctory face was biologically incapable of shedding a tear of relief, so he simply allowed himself to be glad inside.
…
Miserables: Oh, I'm fine… I managed to remain slippery enough to survive that entire expedition into the First Seas.
Miserables: At that, I also got some fortune at hand, but we'll talk about it later! Now, I don't know if it's a hassle, but do you perchance know the user named "TulipForYou"?
…
A small attempt to appear competent. Akane felt a flicker of pride — look, he had followed the expedition; he wasn't a small mob, at the very least.
Silence for a moment as Akane waited. Feeling a slight, familiar ache creeping into his calf muscles from his morning Kendo drills, he resumed a slow walk down the alleyway, his eyes glued to the screen.
Knowing the danger of looking at his phone while walking, he occasionally snapped his head up to check his surroundings.
Bzzzz.
A vibration came again, prompting him to look down in anticipation.
…
ItsRedMaples: Ahhhhh! Miserables-san, perchance this inquiry is related to the active "Strange Death" investigation in Osaka Prefecture, isn't it?! I knew it! A high-tier informant of your caliber would definitely be tracking this asset! Good, good! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
ItsRedMaples: And yes… uhhh, hehehe… What an absolute coincidence, Miserables-san! That user, "TulipForYou"… is actually a member of my unit! My team is the one currently holding the executive jurisdiction over this entire case, y'know! (ᵕ—ᴗ—)(ᵕ—ᴗ—)
ItsRedMaples: But… honestly, it's been a massive, massive headache lately. Securing a definitive lead on this entity is proving to be incredibly difficult. We have gathered a few physical findings, but we're missing the core link! (╥﹏╥)(╥﹏╥)
ItsRedMaples: Though, I'm super glad you're participating! (˶˃ ∇ ˂˶) Perhaps your intellectual contributions will ease our burden in the future! If you need to cross-reference basic parameters, my comms are always open for you! (..◜ᴗ◝..)
ItsRedMaples: Albeit… I legally cannot reveal our crucial, high-level findings. That would technically invalidate your eligibility for the Dark Network contract rewards! So our official data is a total no-no for now, okay, Miserables-san? (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)
…
First: Takahashi-san had completely ignored his survival story from the First Seas. His attempt to appear competent had failed entirely. A dramatic internal sigh.
Then, the second crucial thing — the word she had used. Entity. That actually matched his wildest assumption.
'So it is true that this is intentionally caused by some party?'
He might call it "Party A" for now. Following that line, why was Party A doing this? Did it possess a sliver of desire or consciousness, or was it completely uncontrollable? If Party A existed, did Party B or Party C exist on its tail?
Raising one eyebrow by an inch, there was so much to ask. But since it was confirmed once again as an "Entity," he had a theory he wanted to test — though it was more trial and error than certainty.
…
Miserables: Thank you very much then, Takahashi-san! I'm currently in need of a chronological order of all findings of their death along with their place of death (ᵕ • ᴗ •)
Miserables: If you could provide this, I'll repay it later with some hot topic regarding Khtonres — rest assured, I'll promise that this information will be useful and different from anything you've found from the surrounding countries on the First Seas!