After teasing Shoko, Natsuki felt refreshed and set off again with the timid girl in tow.
The pair dodged various wandering monsters along the way and made it safely back to Happiness Residential Complex.
"Junior!"
Seeing Natsuki return, Tsubame happily came out to greet him. "Did you find Shoko-chan?"
"Senior..."
The timid girl called out softly.
"Not only did I find Shoko, but I also found Juju. It's just that Juju is tied up with a mission right now and can't come over for the time being..."
Natsuki walked up to his senior and recounted what had just happened.
"It's a relief that Juju is okay." Tsubame patted her chest and said softly, "I just got a call at the security booth. Someone in Building 4 complained that a resident upstairs makes all sorts of noise every night, disturbing the neighbors."
Natsuki asked:
"Are there any other requests?"
Tsubame shook her head:
"No, that's it."
Natsuki said:
"I took a request earlier—a housewife called asking me to come over and unclog a drain..."
Upon hearing this, the three girls exchanged knowing, subtle glances.
Natsuki looked completely earnest as he said:
"Don't let your imaginations run wild; it really was just unclogging a drain..."
After briefly explaining the details of the mission, Natsuki mused:
"Any phone call could potentially be a side quest—though, of course, it might not be... Do you want to come with me? We might trigger a side quest."
Tsubame nodded:
"Of course we're coming."
After walking a few steps, she noticed the "The passerby player" still standing where she was, so Tsubame turned around and said:
"Ami-san, hurry up and catch up."
The passerby player's eyes lit up; she took a few quick steps forward, then hesitated:
"Um, can I go too?"
Tsubame smiled:
"Of course, no problem."
Guiding newcomers wasn't a new experience for them; Natsuki and the others certainly weren't that stingy.
"Th-thank you!"
The passerby player expressed her gratitude and hurriedly caught up with them. Natsuki led the three girls along a gloomy path and soon arrived at Building 4.
Knock, knock, knock.
Natsuki raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Footsteps approached, and the door opened a crack, revealing the face of a middle-aged man. His gaze fell upon Natsuki as he asked hesitantly:
"Are you... the security guard?"
Natsuki pointed to his uniform and said:
"The genuine article. I'm the new security guard."
The middle-aged man hesitated:
"But the person who spoke on the phone earlier was a girl, not a man."
Natsuki reached out and took the upperclassman's delicate hand, saying matter-of-factly:
"I had stepped away to the restroom; my girlfriend answered the call."
Hearing Natsuki call her "girlfriend" in front of everyone, Tsubame blushed and hurriedly glanced at the "quail-like" girl.
The shy girl happened to look up at that moment; their eyes met, and then both quickly looked away.
Natsuki said:
"Sir, please state your complaint again."
"I want to file a complaint!" the middle-aged man said indignantly. "Every night, there's all kinds of noise coming from upstairs—it's so loud I can't get any rest. I've complained plenty of times, but it hasn't done any good."
"Please, sir, try to stay calm," Natsuki said, his tone composed and respectful. "We'll go upstairs to verify the situation first, and then we'll handle it."
"Hurry it up, then."
"..."
The group climbed the stairs and knocked on the door.
Knock, knock. The door soon opened a crack, and a middle-aged woman wearing an apron stood in the doorway, looking out hesitantly.
"May I ask who you are?"
Natsuki pointed to his security guard uniform and said:
"Good evening, ma'am. We're the new security guards. We just received a complaint from a resident downstairs saying that your household makes all sorts of noise every day, disturbing everyone's rest."
"Oh, so you're the security guards. Please, come in." The woman in the apron stepped aside to let them enter, a look of distress crossing her face. "I don't want to disturb the gentleman downstairs either, but I really have no choice..."
Natsuki stepped into the apartment, calmly taking in his surroundings.
A sofa, a dining table, lamps, chairs—there was even a skateboard and a rocking chair. Compared to Mrs. Kato's place, this home certainly felt more lived-in.
Of course, whether the woman standing before them was actually a real person remained to be seen.
After briefly exchanging names, Natsuki got straight to the point:
"Mrs. Takagi, may I ask why your household makes so much noise every night?"
"It's a long story..."
Mrs. Takagi let out a melancholy sigh, her expression growing even more troubled, and spoke softly:
"Ever since I bought my son a computer, he's been obsessed with it. He refuses to bathe, refuses to study even more so, and won't even leave his room to eat in the living room."
I see.
So, he's a kid addicted to the internet.
Tsubame couldn't help but ask:
"Why don't you just confiscate the computer?"
"I did try that." Mrs. Takagi shook her head with a bitter smile. "But the moment I took it away, Ken would start smashing things, screaming, rolling around on the floor, and even trying to hit me. Whenever I tried to have a heart-to-heart with him, he'd be incredibly impatient—it went in one ear and out the other... I had no choice but to give it back to him."
Heart-to-heart talks and pleading with him to kick the habit?
In a situation like this, the obvious solution is a good, hard slap across the face.
And if that doesn't work? It just means the slap wasn't loud enough! Natsuki mused:
"Mrs. Takagi, how about I try to talk to your son?"
Mrs. Takagi didn't refuse; instead, she said hopefully:
"Then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Security guard."
At that moment,
a game notification popped up before Natsuki's eyes:
[Side Quest: Redemption of the Internet-Addicted Youth—please use a gentle approach to help Ken break his internet addiction.]
Tsk...
"So, a 'gentle approach' means no hitting or scolding, right?"
Natsuki clicked his tongue softly.
The best way to cure internet addiction is, in fact, force. Some addicted youths listen to reason, but others simply won't—it goes in one ear and out the other; they don't take you seriously at all. It's enough to make even a clay figure lose its temper.
Trying to reform them through "loving care" is far too high-level a tactic; it's something Natsuki simply couldn't pull off.
"Senpai?"
Natsuki turned to look at Tsubame beside him.
Tsubame nodded gently and whispered:
"Understood."
Natsuki then looked at the timid girl and the "random player"; both girls nodded in unison.
In that case, the internet addiction was getting cured today, for sure!
Natsuki smiled and said:
"Mrs. Takagi, could you take us to your child's room?"
Mrs. Takagi nodded hurriedly:
"Please, follow me."
Upon reaching the door of the spare bedroom, Mrs. Takagi knocked first before opening it.
Natsuki peered inside. In the dim room, a boy who looked like a junior high student was wearing headphones and furiously clacking away at a keyboard, while an old desktop computer hummed incessantly.
Mrs. Takagi said nervously:
"Ken-chan, stop playing games..."
The addicted youth turned his head, glanced at them briefly, then looked away and went right back to clacking at the computer, snapping impatiently:
"Get out."
"You..."
Mrs. Takagi clutched her apron with both hands, a look of awkward shame and distress on her face.
Tsubame couldn't stand by and watch; she furrowed her brows slightly and said:
"She's your mother. Why are you speaking to her like that?"
"I'll speak however I want," the boy retorted impatiently. "Don't bother me. Just get out, all of you."
Natsuki raised his eyebrows slightly.
It was happening.
His fist was clenching tight.
This wasn't just an internet-addicted youth; this was clearly an ill-bred, unfilial brat lashing out at his own mother!
"Junior, what do we do now?"
Tsubame looked at him, seeking his decision. Natsuki pondered for a few seconds, exchanged a meaningful glance with his senior, and whispered:
"Get Mrs. Takagi out of the room first."
"Leave it to me."
Tsubame understood immediately; she quickly found a pretext to call Mrs. Takagi out, leaving Natsuki alone in the room.
Natsuki clasped his hands behind his back and, without wasting a word, paced around the room to observe his surroundings. He walked up to the bookshelf and casually pulled out a book.
"Don't touch my stuff!" the gaming-addicted youth shouted angrily from behind him. "Get out!"
Natsuki didn't get angry; he calmly replied:
"I accepted a commission from your mother to help you break your gaming addiction."
"Hah." The youth sneered. "Even my mom can't get through to me. Who do you think you are? Why would I listen to you?"
Natsuki turned to look at him:
"I know, which is why I never intended to try and persuade you with words... By the way, did you know that when you visit a webpage on a computer, a browsing history is saved even after you close the page?"
The youth was taken aback:
"Browsing history? What's that?"
Natsuki explained how to view the browsing history, then said:
"...You can try it yourself."
Skeptical but curious, the youth closed the game and opened the browser; sure enough, he saw his past browsing and download records.
Natsuki stepped closer to look at the computer screen.
"What are you looking at?!"
Noticing Natsuki approaching, the youth hurriedly tried to close the webpage.
Natsuki didn't waste time; he reached out and produced a length of rope.
"You..."
The youth was startled and immediately tried to call for help.
But the very next second, a towel was stuffed into his mouth, stifling his cries. Immediately after, Natsuki tossed out a magical rope, binding him tight. "One more thing..." Natsuki gripped the mouse and opened the hard drive folder. "Every movie you downloaded is stored right here on this drive."
As he spoke, Amamiya pulled the hard drive out of the computer tower:
"You wouldn't want me to make those movies public, would you?"
"Mmph—!"
The internet-addicted youth immediately began to struggle.
Amamiya reached out, pulled the towel from the boy's mouth, and—weighing the hard drive in his hand—smiled:
"Does what I say carry weight now?"
The boy became completely submissive:
"It does..."
Amamiya said impassively:
"Speak up; I can't hear you."
The boy shuddered and hurriedly added:
"It carries a lot of weight!"
Junior high and high school are arguably the periods in a person's life when self-esteem is most intense; the boy before him might ignore his parents' nagging or the downstairs neighbor's anger, but he absolutely could not tolerate the prospect of total social ruin.
Right now, with the evidence of that social ruin in Amamiya's hands, his words carried immense weight indeed...