Chapter 26: Rodem
Fifth floor, in the office.
Q-Taro, ecstatic, walked over to the wall.
Mounted there was a skull—not a decoration, but a real human skull.
"His name was Hojo Ryo..."
Q-Taro gently stroked the skull, panting, "Hoo... haa..." He explained to Yako, "He was a magnificent man. To this day, he's the only one who's ever let me enjoy the entire gamble."
Zing!
Q-Taro suddenly drew his sword-cane and split the skull in two, casting it to the floor.
"Hahaha... hehehe! A new record! It looks like I'll be hanging their skulls here soon! How exciting!"
"But speaking of which, Yako-san—"
Q-Taro's tone shifted, his eyes narrowing at Yako Hikoichi. "You seem to know a lot about those men. Why don't you tell me about them?"
"Madarame Baku and Akagi Shigeru." Yako, unsurprised, answered calmly. "—Those are two of their names. They are also known as [Usogui] and [The Man of the Divine Realm]."
"...?"
Q-Taro froze. "It's... them?"
It all made sense.
He didn't recognize their faces, but who in the underground world didn't know those nicknames?
[Usogui] Madarame Baku—at fifteen, he had effortlessly devastated Kakerou's members, possessing god-like intellect and demonic ruthlessness. He was called "the strongest gambler in Kakerou history"!
[The Man of the Divine Realm] Akagi Shigeru—much older than Baku, and famous even earlier. It was said he appeared in the underground mahjong scene at the age of thirteen, a peerless genius who had defeated countless masters over the years, without a single loss!
"Hahaha! I'm so lucky! I'm just so damn lucky!"
"Both of them are legends! No wonder, Yako-san... no wonder you rated them so highly..."
Q-Taro was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.
"[The Man of the Divine Realm] aside, the key is [Usogui]—that legendary gambler, vanished for years, is my opponent tonight?!"
"Haha! They say he was the closest man to becoming Kakerou's leader! If I can just beat [Usogui]—if I can beat him..."
CRASH!
Q-Taro swung his sword-cane, smashing the skull on the floor to bits.
"If I win, I will have surpassed [Usogui]!!"
"And then, sooner or later, I'll stand at the very top of Kakerou! I'll control Kakerou, with all its national-level 'power' and 'force'!!!"
"Now that I know this... no more games. Kill! I'll just kill them all!"
...
...
By now, twenty minutes had passed since the gamble began.
On the sixth floor, the situation was clear. All four mercenaries had lost their ability to fight.
The most injured one had been kicked in the back of the head by Shiraki Kei. His skull was caved in; it was unclear if he was alive or dead.
The tall mercenary's groin was a bloody mess, his face was caved in, a clear fist-print visible.
The short one's neck was likely broken; he couldn't move his lower body. He gasped for air as he struggled, finally passing out from the tear gas.
To say these three were in a "miserable" state was an understatement. Death would have been a kindness.
But even Kaji Takaomi, a normal person, felt no sympathy for them.
Evil men who kill for sport deserve to be punished.
As for the last one—the mercenary with the slicked-back hair—he knew he was beaten and chose to play dead. But Shiraki Kei found him and hauled him to his feet.
There were still many traps in the stairwell from the fifth floor down to the first. They needed a compliant guide to clear the path, which would save them a lot of trouble.
The four of them stripped the mercenaries of their gear, taking what was useful. They then forced the slick-backed mercenary to lead the way down from the sixth floor.
The gamble had started on the fifth floor. Q-Taro and the masked man were still there. Combined with Kure Fusu's earlier warning, this was no place to linger.
Strangely, the fifth floor was completely quiet. Q-Taro didn't come out to stop them.
The group continued down, breaking through the wire traps, heading to the fourth floor.
...
...
Meanwhile, on the fifth floor, in the office.
Q-Taro fumbled along the wall for a moment, then pressed a button. A hidden panel slid up, revealing a wall of LCD monitors.
The surveillance wasn't active yet. The screens were dark.
"I have to win this gamble, no matter what. It looks like it's his turn..."
Q-Taro walked over to the masked man, pulled out a syringe, and drew a small amount of saline solution into it.
Yako, standing nearby, noticed something amusing—
The masked man wasn't just standing still; he was sleeping on his feet. You could even faintly hear him snoring.
Q-Taro, ready, tapped the masked man's shoulder.
"Hey! Maruko! Wake up, it's time for your shift!"
Strangely, Q-Taro called him "Maruko" this time, not "Rodem."
At Q-Taro's urging, the masked man woke, his eyes slowly opening. He looked around, completely lost.
"Huh? Ah... ah..."
He was clearly just groggy.
Yako couldn't help but chuckle. Q-Taro looked exasperated.
"This 'Maruko's' intelligence is a little... low. He's no help at all. The one I need is the other one..."
With that, Q-Taro plunged the needle into the masked man.
"Get up, Rodem! It's time for your favorite... the hunt!"
"..."
Yako, watching this, was confused, wondering why Q-Taro was doing this.
But then, Yako's eyes narrowed.
Oh?
He noticed that the masked man's hands weren't just "behind his back"—his thumbs were locked behind him in "thumbcuffs."
It was a metal restraint used on prisoners, far more secure than handcuffs, designed to restrict flexibility and grip.
As the needle pierced the masked man's skin, his entire demeanor changed. His eyes vibrated rapidly, and he ground his teeth.
His hands, bound behind his back, began to strain. The veins on his arms bulged, bending the metal thumbcuffs.
"Kill... Kill..."
The masked man mumbled, growling like a beast... or even a demon.
"KILL!"
SNAP!
With a roar, the metal thumbcuffs were torn apart. The masked man's arms were free, and he began to mutter incessantly.
Q-Taro was extremely pleased.
He attached a portable camera by the masked man's ear. "Alright, Rodem. I'm putting a camera and a comms unit on you. You're going to do exactly as I say..."
Q-Taro was still smiling, but his face was now utterly twisted.
He said softly, "Now... go and kill everyone else in this building."
"..."
BOOM!
The office's wooden door was torn to shreds.
The masked man—Rodem—burst out at incredible speed, a sharp dagger in his hand. He ran on all fours, slamming into the concrete wall of the hallway.
CRACK!
Rodem's fingers dug deep into the concrete, allowing him, like Spider-Man, to cling to the wall in a vertical, gravity-defying crouch.