Shoji let out a quiet breath.
Even Sumida and Utsu had been taken down this easily—utterly helpless.
Just how strong was this mysterious intruder?
"How did you get in?" he demanded.
"Through the front gate. Walking."
"Ha."
A hollow laugh escaped him.
He didn't know how that was even possible, but he didn't think the boy was lying either.
After all, what he'd just witnessed was already far beyond common sense.
"Do you understand what you've done here?"
"I came in through the front gate, beat up a few security guys, and came straight to meet Chairman Sugihara. Oh, and the explosion damaged the building a bit too."
"…Have you had training? Government? The Player Hunter Agency?"
"I'm just a regular citizen."
Sugihara Shoji looked at Sumida and Utsu sprawled across the floor.
"A regular citizen can't do this to them."
"If they hadn't let their guard down, it wouldn't have ended so easily."
For some reason, those two had assumed their opponent would politely wait while they transformed or powered up.
Thanks to that stupidity, dealing with them had been effortless.
"But are you really Chairman Sugihara?" the intruder asked, tilting his head. "You don't seem scared, even though you've got no one left to protect you."
"Me? Scared of you?"
Shoji shook his head.
Yes, he'd been shocked by how pathetically Sumida and Utsu had fallen.
But that didn't mean he'd lived long enough to be frightened by some kid standing in front of him.
"I've lived long enough. If you thought I'd grab your pant leg and beg because I'm afraid to die, you're gravely mistaken."
In fact, Shoji's eyes didn't waver in the slightest. If anything, they burned brighter.
Like someone who had never once encountered the concept of fear in his entire life.
And in truth… he hadn't.
Sugihara Shoji had never learned how to bow his head.
From his grandfather and father, the only lesson he'd inherited was how to trample others and climb higher.
Jinhyeok's lips curved faintly.
"I think you'll understand after a little while."
"Understand what?"
"That being terrified back then… was the normal reaction."
Shoji scoffed.
"You risked your life to come all the way here, and that's what you have to say? Ridiculous."
He straightened, posture tall and rigid.
"I'm bored. Enough small talk. Get to the point. If you came to kill me, kill me. If you came to take something, take it. You've made it all the way to Sugihara Shoji—you've earned at least that much."
"Then let me ask you one thing first," Jinhyeok said calmly. "Why did you kill innocent Korean players? They didn't do anything to you. Thirty of them."
"…Kuh!"
Shoji burst into laughter.
It wasn't a question meant to be funny.
"You risked everything for something like that?"
Jinhyeok hadn't risked death—or even danger, really—but the point still stood.
"Your country really is small-minded," Shoji sneered. "You talk like thirty is some enormous number."
"So their lives were just a small number to you."
"Don't mistake standing face-to-face for being equals," Shoji said coldly. "I'm a pillar. The pillar that has supported the Empire of Great Japan all the way to this point."
As the conversation continued, Shoji seemed to regain confidence. A mocking smile tugged at his lips.
"So what is it you want? Wealth? Fame? Power? Or that pathetic sense of justice?" His eyes narrowed. "Then again, your country has always been like that. If you just kept your mouths shut and crawled, you'd live comfortably. But you keep barking. Again and again. Don't you ever get tired?"
"Justice?" Jinhyeok echoed, almost amused. "Not really. I'm not some comic book hero. I don't have a grand mission or noble cause."
"Oh?" Shoji's grin widened. "So you came without even knowing what you want? What you're doing?" His tone turned contemptuous. "I suppose your ancestors had plenty like you too—idiots swept up in the mood, throwing away their lives."
Jinhyeok stared at him with a strange expression.
Then he laughed.
Shoji's eyebrow twitched at being mocked by someone so young.
"What's so funny?"
"Maybe people have praised you for so long you can't see yourself anymore," Jinhyeok said. "Your ego's out of control. You think I need some grand cause to come meet a dying old man who's ugly inside and out?"
He reached toward Shoji's throat.
"I just stopped by on the way. I was out for a walk, and your place happened to be nearby. I figured if I went through the front gate, I'd be able to see you right away. I wanted to see your face and talk a little." His fingers hovered lightly near Shoji's neck. "I didn't expect you to be this shameless and proud when I'm the one deciding whether you live or die."
"Kill me if you want," Shoji said, spreading his arms. "Even if I die, nothing changes. Sugihara will remain Japan's pillar. And Japan, backed by that pillar, will keep oppressing and crushing you from the shadows. All you'll gain is the life of an old man who's already halfway to the grave."
His smile stretched wider.
"A single death won't change the world, boy."
It was impossible to fully understand Sugihara Shoji after meeting him only once.
But one thing was certain.
He had pride—massive, swollen pride.
The belief that he was the one holding Japan up.
"Go on!" Shoji barked. "Torture me. Kill me. Do whatever you like!"
Jinhyeok stared at him in silence.
Then—
He slowly withdrew his hand from Shoji's throat.
"I've heard a saying," Jinhyeok said. "A painless death is a blessing."
"What nonsense are you—"
"Sugihara Shoji."
The smile vanished from Jinhyeok's face. He locked eyes with him.
Shoji inhaled sharply.
For a split second, a chill swept through his body.
"You're going to destroy everything you've taken pride in," Jinhyeok said quietly. "With your own hands."
"…Nonsense."
"It's going to happen. You talk like you lived for some grand cause, like you're a pillar, but all you've done is feed your twisted desires. In the end, you'll choose to break the pillar to save yourself."
Jinhyeok slipped a hand into his coat.
When he pulled it out again, his thumb was smeared with someone's blood.
Before Shoji could react, Jinhyeok pressed it against Shoji's forehead, smearing a red mark across his skin.
Then he began to recite—words belonging to Camela Sirin, the Reader of the Heavens.
"From this moment on, what is carved into you is the Mark of Retribution. The mark will spread, infecting every trace of karma around you like a plague. The weight of your sins will determine the pain you suffer. If you desire peace, then you must cleanse the karma you have accumulated with your own hands."
When he finished, Jinhyeok simply watched him.
Silence filled the room.
Then voices crackled urgently over comms.
The entire estate has been searched! The intruder isn't visible—he may have escaped!
We've lost contact with Sumida! Check on the chairman first!
Each team is moving to the annex now!
Jinhyeok stood.
And with that familiar, relaxed smile, he spoke.
"I hope you slept well last night."
His eyes curved slightly.
"Because from now on… you won't have peaceful nights anymore."
Rustle.
"…?!"
The moment he turned to leave, Jinhyeok vanished.
As if he'd never been there at all.
"Chairman! Are you all right?!"
Less than a minute later, security personnel flooded into the annex.
Shoji gritted his teeth and wiped the blood from his forehead violently.
I am Sugihara Shoji!!
His opponent was just a child.
That was why he hadn't been afraid.
He was sure of it.
So why—
Why were his hands shaking so badly?
Sato Tsubasa, who had been crouched low in the distance, finally stood up.
It was because the lingering trace of Jinhyeok's presence—faint but unmistakable—was drawing closer again.
"…Ha."
Tsubasa let out a disbelieving laugh.
—He said he'd go in through the front gate… and come out through the front gate.
At the time, it had sounded completely insane.
Sneaking in would have been hard enough. But walking in through the front gate?
It had felt too unrealistic to even argue with.
Yet now, seeing that very trail of presence leading straight from the front gate…
Tsubasa had to admit it again.
His sense of "what's possible" was far too small.
"You've been waiting," Jinhyeok said casually as he approached.
Tsubasa checked his watch.
Thirty minutes.
That was all it had taken for Jinhyeok to enter Sugihara's estate and walk back out.
"Did you accomplish what you wanted?"
"Yes," Jinhyeok replied. "Completely. And just like I promised, no one died—so you don't need to worry."
As expected of Dark.
He kept his word.
"But… why would you—"
Tsubasa stopped himself.
That expression on Jinhyeok's face said it all: even if he asked, he wouldn't get an answer.
So he changed the question.
"You know the saying, right? Politicians are the same as merchants." Tsubasa's gaze sharpened. "If you got what you wanted, then what you said earlier… will it really happen?"
Sugihara's downfall.
Rationally speaking, realistically speaking, it was impossible.
But this was the kind of person who could turn the impossible into reality without blinking.
"Of course," Jinhyeok said. "Just wait a little. Time will take care of it." He paused, then added, "By the way, Congressman—if the Gamin Party collapses, do you become Prime Minister?"
Sato Tsubasa wasn't merely influential within the party.
Public approval for him was strong, and in the regular popularity polls among lawmakers, he ranked first almost every time.
Unlike the stagnant old politicians, he wasn't bound by tradition or empty custom. He pushed forward with his beliefs.
That uncompromising, fighter-like image drew people in.
"If the Gamin Party collapses…" Tsubasa said slowly. "Maybe. But that's a long way off. They've been in power for too long—the ruling party's foundation isn't something you can dismiss. Even if something gets exposed, they won't crumble like a sandcastle."
"This might be a bit of a rude question," Jinhyeok said.
"Now you're worried about manners?"
"What kind of Prime Minister would you want to be? Like—do you have a vision? I've never met a member of the National Diet before. Let alone a leading one."
"A vision…?" Tsubasa frowned slightly. "Honestly, I've never thought I'd become Prime Minister, so it's hard to answer."
He thought for a long moment, then smiled in a strange way.
"…I've got one."
"Oh? What is it?"
"To make sure I never give Yoo Jinhyeok a reason to visit me in the middle of the night."
"…Huh?"
"It probably won't happen," Tsubasa said. "I didn't get here by taking bribes. I studied my way into this position. I don't have weaknesses to be grabbed. Even if I become Prime Minister, I won't be someone who can be controlled."
"Oh…" Jinhyeok said, blinking. "I don't know much about politics, but that sounds good."
He gave a thumbs-up.
He didn't understand politics, but he had a feeling Japan would be a much better place with Tsubasa as Prime Minister.
Watching him, Tsubasa let out a quiet sigh.
I meant it.
He didn't even want to imagine a world where the man in front of him became an enemy.
"Shall we go?" Tsubasa asked.
"Yes," Jinhyeok said. "That's probably best. Things are about to get loud."
"Eating nearby seems risky," Tsubasa added. "Want to just have airplane food?"
"I'm too hungry to refuse," Jinhyeok replied. "Thank you. I'll treat it like a last supper before everything falls apart once we get back to the Diet."
The two walked side by side down the steps.
And in the place they left behind—
Camela Sirin, the Reader of the Heavens, appeared.
With a cold smile, she stared toward Sugihara Shoji's estate.
It was time.
Time for karma to come due.
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T/N:
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