Having arrived and taken in the sight of the multi-tenant building standing in the back alley—the headquarters of the Gyokuryu Society, a group of fraudsters—Kageichi took a breath.
Kageichi wasn’t an expert, but he’d heard that normally, these kinds of fraud groups operated out of rented rooms in apartments or buildings, and it was rare for them to occupy an entire building like the yakuza.
However, they were a group specializing in activities within Dungeons.
Considering the need to adjust Skills and check their Inventories, they inevitably had to possess their own Dungeon, hidden from the Labyrinth Agency.
Most likely, there was a Gate somewhere in the multi-tenant building.
Kageichi distanced himself from the building and observed.
The Recorder Break effect didn’t work above ground, so he couldn’t disable the security cameras at the entrance.
Naturally, he couldn’t disable Smartphone communications either, and even if he infiltrated and took them out one by one, it would be troublesome if the commotion was discovered and they contacted the outside.
Poison Gas was out of the question. In the first place, it was less effective above ground where the Magical Power density was low.
Naturally, if he were to blow up the office with landmines, the police would rush over.
“I would have preferred to leave the surface-level opponents to the Labyrinth Agency if possible…”
Enemies above ground, not in a Dungeon—Kageichi, even with his abilities, found dealing with an organization, as opposed to individuals, a heavy burden.
One or two people disappearing might be overlooked, but the disappearance of dozens, especially an entire organization, couldn’t possibly go unnoticed by the world.
“However, I’m prepared for the risks. Let’s proceed with the understanding that it’s okay if it gets out to some extent this time.”
If he carried out this plan, Kageichi would undoubtedly attract the attention of the Labyrinth Agency.
The Labyrinth Agency was aware that he was at odds with Re:Trys and confronting the Gyokuryu Society.
If their rival organization disappeared under those circumstances, there was no reason for them not to be suspicious.
Even so, he was doing it for his own pride—
If he hesitated and endured because it was too dangerous, accumulating Stress, he would be no different from his days as a corporate slave.
For his health. To live a comfortable life, it was better to properly deal with the problems in front of him.
Now then, Kageichi used “Hide Cloak” to disappear.
He slowly circled the multi-tenant building where the office was located, making sure not to pass in front of the entrance.
He gently touched the concrete floor at the corners of the building, marking each spot.
After finishing all four corners, he closed his eyes.
It was the first time he had handled so much Magical Power above ground, and Kageichi, uncharacteristically, felt nervous.
Someone with a keen sense might be able to detect the wavelength of Magical Power even from a distance.
It was a risky tactic for Kageichi, but… it was still better than them contacting the police with their Smartphones, he decided.
He steeled himself and placed his hand on the asphalt.
What he was about to activate was the most powerful Skill in Kageichi’s arsenal.
Yet, it left almost no evidence, and it was a mandatory skill known even to ordinary people, let alone Hunters—
“Inventory.”
“Inventory.”
A basic Skill that used one’s own Magical Power to store and retrieve items.
Originally, it could only be deployed within a Dungeon, and the items that could be stored were limited to those imbued with Magical Power, but Kageichi could activate it while ignoring these restrictions due to his vast Magical Power.
This had been proven by the countless times he had disposed of corpses.
And the storage capacity depended on the amount of Magical Power the person activating the Inventory possessed.
The reason Kageichi could endlessly pull out countermeasures like Flamethrowers and upper body armor was because of his immense Magical Power.
If he was serious, that capacity was—
“Store. Multi-tenant building.”
With a creaking sound, the multi-tenant building tilted slightly.
And then—it disappeared.
Just as equipment was automatically put on and taken off without changing clothes when selecting it in a Dungeon, anything that came into contact with the Inventory instantly appeared—or, conversely, was instantly stored, and its existence vanished.
On the other hand, there was a rule in Inventory that “living things cannot be stored.”
It was common knowledge, not only among Hunters but also among ordinary people, that living humans could not be stored and kidnapped within a Dungeon.
What would happen if those two rules were combined?
Before Kageichi’s eyes, as they blended into the dark night…
Monsters in human form began to freefall in pieces.
They probably didn’t even understand what had happened.
Suddenly, the building disappeared—losing their footing, the monsters fell into a Pitfall, their faces or spines slamming into the ground in agony.
No matter how strong they were in a Dungeon, they were just ordinary people above ground.
The third floor of the building was about 10 meters above the ground, and the freefall time was about one second.
It would be easier to understand if you imagined being hit by a dump truck traveling at about 50 kilometers per hour.
It wouldn’t be an instant kill, but it was easy to finish off those who couldn’t move from the impact of hitting the ground—and those who happened to be on the first and second floors were crushed by the monsters falling on them, taking damage together.
The remainder, who were fortunately or unfortunately near the ground—Kageichi silently approached, grabbed their throats, and blew them up.
“Ugh…”
He crushed their throats to silence their screams, and the ones he finished off were sucked into the black Inventory that unfolded at his feet.
—Another advantage of Inventory was that it could determine whether a monster was alive or dead.
Taking advantage of the fact that it wouldn’t swallow them if they were alive, he judged that all the monsters lying on the ground were still alive and finished them off.
Kageichi Futsuu didn’t need flashy battles.
Subtly.
Calmly.
Processing with the minimum necessary steps, pursuing maximum efficiency—that was his greatest special move.
Having cleanly swallowed everything, Kageichi finally—retrieved the multi-tenant building from his Inventory.
He simply reappeared it on the surface.
Of course, it couldn’t be unscathed.
He didn’t know how far the accurate item identification of the “multi-tenant building” extended, but from previous experiments, the underground steel frames, underground pits, and sewers were damaged somewhere.
Unfortunately, this world didn’t seem to be constructed with the use of Inventory on the surface in mind.
…Well, even if the building happened to collapse tonight.
It was already empty inside, so there would be zero casualties, and it would be safe.
“However, it would be dangerous if it collapsed when a passerby was nearby. To avoid harming ordinary citizens, let’s blow it up and destroy it late tomorrow night. …Ah, but that would be a big deal on the news from early in the morning…”
Crime on the surface was difficult, Kageichi thought, crossing his arms again.
He really didn’t want to do this, but… that’s how work was. Sometimes, you had to do things you didn’t want to do, which was the hard part of being a working adult.
With a sigh, Kageichi shifted his gaze.
He smiled at Kazamidori, who was completely pale and trembling, and reiterated…
This was the last job.
“Now, Kazamidori-san. As you just saw, I have some powers that are a little different from other people. I’ll skip the explanation, but you can’t escape from me no matter what you do. Understanding that, I’ll ask you.”
Kageichi Futsuu didn’t break his promises.
He completed what he decided to do to the end, that was his pride, and… he had already given this man enough fear.
On the other hand—he knew that if a person sincerely regretted and genuinely wanted to change, they could change.
Even for this man, who was the embodiment of scum, the possibility wasn’t zero—
“Earlier, you said you wanted a chance to start over. If those words are true, I’m willing to give you another chance. …What do you say?”
In response to Kageichi’s question, he trembled.
Tears welled up in his eyes with gratitude, and he knelt deeply on the concrete floor…
“I… I was wrong… I was wrong, ahhhh!!!”
Tearfully regretting his life, he prostrated himself deeply.