Why? Why? Why, why, why, why?
Why did my life turn out like this?
I didn’t do anything wrong…
While being led by a creature in a suit that used to be a salaryman—Kazamidori Gouchi tearfully reflected on his life.
Kazamidori Gouchi was born into an extremely ordinary… no, a slightly poorer-than-average family.
He spent his elementary school days fooling around with friends like anyone else, went through middle and high school… Ah, those were fun times, he thought, but because he slacked off on studying, he ended up going to a low-ranking university.
There, he met the woman of his destiny, fell in love, and they became intimate.
To show her, the most wonderful woman in the world, that he was a reliable man, he recklessly bought a nice car.
He took her for drives, enjoyed the night scenery, and then went straight to bed. His life was at its peak—and then his debt was exposed. It was the money he had used to buy the car.
Then, the woman easily abandoned Kazamidori and moved on to another man.
All that was left was debt and failing enough credits to repeat a year.
Kazamidori dropped out of university, was disowned by his parents, left home, and wandered around aimlessly—until he realized he had been forced to buy expensive weapons by a yakuza-like man as collateral for his debt, and he made his debut as a Dungeon Streamer… and that’s how he got to where he is now.
“…”
Hey. Hey, hey, hey.
No matter how you look at it, my life has just been unlucky, right!?
Sure, it was my mistake to take on the debt, but the woman I was dating also said, “If I can be with you, Kazamidori-kun, I’ll do my best”…
But just because the debt ballooned to about a million… well, yeah, I did gamble a bit… no, a lot, at pachinko and slots, but being dumped by a woman who would leave me over something like that can only be described as bad luck, right? Right?
After that, well, I had relationships with two women… no, was it three?
Well, I accidentally got one of them pregnant and ran away, and now I’m arguing with an affair partner about alimony, but that’s just bad luck, or rather, the women were into it too.
I don’t think it’s right to make only the man take responsibility for things like this, right? Right?
But why, why, why is it always me—
*
“…Honestly, I’m surprised.”
“Right? Right? I’m a really unlucky guy, aren’t I?”
“Yes. —I find it hard to understand, in the opposite sense, that such an empty person exists in this world.”
While being jostled in the back seat of the taxi, Kageichi sighed in a different way.
He had no intention of defending a bad person.
Kageichi’s policy of eliminating anyone who got in his way would not waver.
However, that didn’t mean he felt nothing at all towards those he had eliminated.
For example, the leader of the group called The Numbers—Kujou Shin.
He had no way of knowing his past, but it was easy to imagine that he harbored a distorted heroic image and vanity.
Gouyoku Hoshio, the board member of Re:Trys, who relentlessly targeted him even to the point of mobilizing the Gyokuryu Society—he had never met him, but he felt a certain obsession from him, and it was certain that he also felt that Kiraboshi’s self-proclaimed friends—Kamase Imoya and Jougasaki Kawai—also harbored madness in a different direction, although they were outside his jurisdiction.
But this man really had nothing.
Like gum that loses its flavor the more you chew it, only emptiness spread. …This was the first time he had encountered such an enemy in a different sense.
“Kazamidori-san. I, who lives a life of safety, security, and no stress, will never allow anyone to interfere with me. —However, even those who have opposed me have had their own pride. I have no intention of denying that itself.
But you really have nothing.
A blank. Empty.
You have nothing to show for what you’ve built up, and you’re just a person who’s been swept along by the momentum of the moment—that’s how you appear in my eyes.”
He would dispose of him.
But even if he did, there would be no flavor, just the ultimate garbage… that was Kageichi’s assessment of him.
“W-wait, brother! I’ve been working hard at my life, you know? But, but I couldn’t help it…!”
“Then why didn’t you try?”
“Huh!? No, I tried really hard… but I was unlucky, and I couldn’t do anything about it,”
“Let’s assume that meeting me was a kind of misfortune. But was there really no opportunity?”
He should have given him a chance.
He told him that he would forgive him if he never laid a hand on them again. Nevertheless, she tried to harm Kiraboshi.
“T-that’s because, um… it was, work, an order.”
“You should have said one word, ‘I quit,’ before laying a hand on Kiraboshi-san. You shouldn’t have taken on a shady part-time job in the first place. You should have understood your own limits and not taken on debt. Am I wrong?”
People unknowingly pass through many turning points.
There should have been plenty of opportunities to correct himself.
At least his disciple, Kiraboshi Yoshiko, came to seize that opportunity herself.
When they first met, she had a childishness that couldn’t shake off her slave mentality, but after going through the trials, she was now flapping her wings splendidly.
“I’m not saying you have to make endless efforts. I understand the desire to be lazy, too. But there are limits to things.”
“…”
“Affairs are out of the question. And knowing you, you probably lied to try to gloss things over, right?”
“T-that’s because, if I told the truth, I thought it would hurt the other person… I’m a kind man.”
“That’s not sincerity. That’s called condescension. If you’ve lived your life properly, you should know that such words will only hurt the other person. …Ah, driver. That’s fine there.”
“Thank you,” Kageichi said to the elderly taxi driver, and paid him a little extra in cash.
The white-haired driver narrowed his eyes and quietly put it in his pocket.
“It’s a small fee for the trouble of having a noisy customer.”
“Thank you for the hush money. I didn’t have any strange customers today. Is that okay, sir?”
“What’s the reason for that?”
“I’m retiring soon. Finishing the day without any unnecessary trouble—that’s the most important thing for me now.”
His dream was to live a leisurely life in his old age, watching his grandchildren’s faces.
After hearing the driver say that, Kageichi added another bill and finished paying, then had Kazami guide him to the last hideout.
After arriving at the fourth location, Kageichi eliminated the lookout standing at the entrance and executed the same process.
The convenient thing about “Recorder Break” is that it can uniformly destroy all surveillance cameras and smartphones, as long as the target is inside the Dungeon.
There is no need to worry about differences in frequency or exceptional machines.
Truly, Dungeons are suitable for criminal activity.
Having completed all the Dungeon cleaning work, Kageichi checked the sky.
The sun had already set, and as people gradually retreated into the time when they held their breath—
“Now then. Let’s head to the last destination.”
“Huh? L-last…?”
“The main camp. The office on the surface.”
The Gyokuryu Society is a fraud group that mainly operates in Dungeons, but they also have an office on the surface.
Anyone with knowledge of Dungeons understands that Dungeons are escape-proof, sealed rooms. Therefore, it is essential to place the main camp on the surface.
“Huh? N-no way, that’s impossible! Besides, the other party isn’t in the Dungeon…”
No matter how strong they are in the Dungeon, they are just ordinary people on the surface with low Magical Power density.
Kazami thought so too, but when he thought about it, this man caused an explosion even outside the Dungeon… Huh? Why?
“Then let’s go, Kazami-san. By the way, do you understand why I’m dragging you around?”
“…Um, a, guidance…?”
“I’ve already investigated the location of the office on the surface. There’s no need to ask you for guidance.”
“T-then, then why?”
Kageichi pushed up his glasses, raised the corners of his lips slightly like a devil, and smiled, saying, “It’s simple.”
“You have no substance as a human being. Therefore, there is no dignity to take away. So, I thought that at least by showing you the sight of people disappearing before your eyes, I could instill fear and make you tremble and die in tears, or else it wouldn’t be a punishment for breaking the promise.”
Salt and pepper in cooking.
He explained that it was a kindness to make even tasteless gum somewhat edible by sprinkling it with the spices of fear and despair, and Kazami clearly contorted his expression, trembled, and—
“I-I’m sorry… my life was wrong…! But please give me a chance to start over…!”
He bowed deeply to Kageichi while shedding tears.
Hmm, Kageichi put his hand to his chin and slowly began to walk towards the Gyokuryu Society’s headquarters office.