Chapter 23
My Reality is a Romance Game
Chapter 23
This whole time I’ve always been thinking of her as a kind person and the first woman to ever be worried for me . I was happy that she would no longer have to be dragged into the social parties . That’s why, I prayed that it wasn’t the case . However, no matter how many times I checked, the name at the top of the memo was indeed Kusora Yurea .
Was it a miss? Even if it was done by that wicked, thorough-evidence-gathering Akemine? There’s no way .
Let’s try going over my incidents with her . Thinking about it after cooling off a little, there were two things that came to mind .
The first was her ranking displayed by the scouter . A mind-numbing ‘A’ .
Frankly speaking, this alone should’ve been enough for me to stay doubtful of her . But at some point, all the distrust I had for her had completely vanished .
The second was when she spoke to me as if she was giving a hint — about things being shaky between Akemine and the yakuza . They were supposed to be at odds with each other these last few days, but in fact they were not . I tried to aggravate the discord between them by believing Kusora’s words, but I ended up getting counterattacked by them and dying .
In the end, the only absolute method was this . There was no choice but to hear it from the person herself . I immediately grabbed my phone and called her place . The call rang for a few seconds . But remembering how it took a while last time, I waited a little . After waiting to the point when it started to get on my nerves, I finally heard someone’s voice from the receiver’s end .
“Hello . ”
A voice that I had gotten used to hearing .
“Hello . ”
For the time being, I decided to reply back in my usual tone . However, when I actually thought of asking her, I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth .
“Um…”
As I struggled to talk to her directly, she seemed to have realized that it was me .
“Oji-san?”
“Yeah . ”
“What’s the matter?”
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“Could we meet up for a bit?”
I couldn’t completely break the ice on phone .
That’s why I thought of showing her the memo directly to get an answer out from her .
“Eh? Right away?”
“Yeah… I’ll be waiting at the same bus stop . Could you come asap?”
“Eh? Hello? Oji-san?”
Without even waiting for a reply, I cut the call… and promptly made my way to the place where I first met her . There were no changes in her voice or tone at the other end of the receiver . A voice with the warmth that wouldn’t discriminate against even me . And to think that she could be a backer of that Akemine . There has to be some kind of mistake .
As I waited sitting on the bench at the stop for about thirty minutes, she finally showed up . In her usual parka and jeans . Just like that morning when we met up after the social party had ended, she approached me and sat next to me on the bench .
“Calling me out so suddenly… Is something the matter?”
There were no signs of any changes in her . With my heart thumping wildly, I inadvertently handed her the memo . With doubts creeping up her expression, she still received it and took a look . And then all of a sudden, with her shoulders springing up and down, she burst out in laughter .
“She wrote down all of this? I did think of her as an incredibly dull woman, but turned out to be even duller than I anticipated . ”
And so, she let go of that memo piece . And just like that, it gently fell onto the bus stop pavement . Just as I was about to look at her reaction, the answer had already been given . There, I asked her, my voice trembling .
” … What on earth are you?”
“Oji-san! If you ask pointless stuff like that, I’ll get really pissed off . ”
“Eh?”
Suddenly, her whole formal dialect took a turn to the casual . An abrupt change in her manner of speech . Although the way she addressed me as ‘Oji-san’ still sounded as gentle as usual, her expression had no signs of it . It was incredibly haughty . The anger I held repressed in my heart came rising up . My hands startled to tremble . My trauma from high school was resurfaced .
“Don’t make that face . It’s incredibly dull . ”
“Wh… what… is your true identity?!”
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“I am simply me . Although I was indeed one of Kimoto’s backers, that was simply playing around? I was really bored . It was so incredibly dull that I wanted to hurry up and ready my hands, but… you came in . Ah right, she wasn’t really Kimoto, but… Akemine, right?”
“What!?”
“To be honest, even I didn’t know that . I have no interest in that woman’s real name or whatever . It was all… due to the course of events? Since Oji-san asked me what her full name was, I had it be investigated .
Kusora continued to smile as she spoke away . And then as she did, she suddenly brought her face close to mine and lightly looked up at me .
“By the way, what’s your true identity?”
At that moment, her expression was incredibly terrifying . The switch from smiling to having a serious expression was way too extreme . However, I wasn’t able to comprehend what she was saying .
“Again with that face . Well it’s fine . Since you were to entertain me, I’ll specially give you a little explanation . I’m not that nice of a person, so consider this your good fortune . In this country’s underworld, there’s a person operating behind the scenes . WHo do you think that is?”
“What…? In the underworld?”
I inadvertently asked her to repeat her words at the unexpected question she gave me . And thanks to that, her expression very easily turned rigid .
“If you give me such a dull reply one more time, you might end up dying, Oji-san . ”
“Eh?”
For some reason, the instant I asked her to repeat herself, I could hear the glass pane of the bus stop waiting area shattering and crumbling down . Startled, I turned my gaze towards the shattered glass . When I looked back at her, her hand was folded in the shape of a gun with the tip of her finger lightly placed on my chest .
“It was the glass pane right now, but… next time, it might end up being Oji-san’s turn to have the bullet lodge into your body… Right . Into . This . Heart . ”
Cold sweat ran down my forehead . The rage that was welling up inside me vanished and was suddenly replaced by intense fear and dread . Putting her level aside, looks like I ended up poking on a hornet’s nest without knowing fear . A woman upon whom one must never lay their hands upon .
“Answer me again . You get one last chance . ”
Curling up a smile once again, she asked me the same question . Even if it my head had to suffer an impact to get the gears in my head running again, I had no choice but to do it . Trauma or whatever, preserving my life comes first . I was hesitating on what I should answer with, but… the moment I tried to spout something, it just slipped out . And my hand was already on its way towards the load window . I wonder if my hands would still move if I got shot by gun . How scary .
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“You……?”
“Fuhahaha, as expected, that’s so like you! Me? Someone who’s in this kind of attire? How could you possibly reach such an answer? Is everything all right in your head? Fufufufu . ”
Although she said all that, thankfully, her mood seemed to have improved . It was no longer the same as the expression she had when she had the bullet come flying . As I heaved a sigh of relief, she continued to speak .
“But you’d be half correct . ”
“Eh?”
“More precisely, it’s my grandfather who has enormous influence over this country . Primarily the underworld . All the politicians you see listed down in that memo were raised by us, so we have the appropriate power over their circles . The Prime Minister or the parliament members might change when their terms have ended, but that’s not the case for my grandfather . That’s why… it’s not very interesting . I don’t have a father . He’s dead . That’s why everything that belongs to Ojii-san[1] also belongs to me . That’s pretty much it . ”
There was nothing I could say in rebuttal . If that was indeed the case, then she would be the modern version of a princess . That too not a powerless princess locked up in her castle, but one holding immense authority . Being Rank A was only obvious . There’s probably nobody who’d be more appropriate to be Rank A .
“And so, I was able to obtain anything I wanted ever since I was a child . My grandfather being the only blood relative I had, he’d ceaselessly invest everything in me . Always continuing on in order to succeed this dull household . I don’t want that . And thanks to that, who knows how many times I became bored as a child . That’s why I really hate dull things . Everything turns out exactly how I predict they would . This world that keeps spinning like a cogwheel is utterly dull . Truthfully, even now I’m a bit fed up with it… Say, wouldn’t it be a bit interesting if your head suddenly explodes?”
“C-Calm down . Put down that hand . ”
Hearing her say such a thing as if she was trampling onto some passing bug, I sunk in terror and reflexively shifted away a little . Seeing me react like that, she started laughing once again .
“Fufu, I’m joking, I’m joking . Don’t be so scared . You’re one of the very few people who managed to overturn my expectations, so I won’t kill you off that easily . ”
“I overturned your expectations?”
“Yup, that too twice . Thanks to that I was able to press on through the boredom . My interest has been piqued . ”
So, I overturned her expectations… and twice at that? That’s a first . But in order to give, my curiosity was sprung . I must hear out so I can overturn her expectations once again . Having already become entangled with her, if I try running away at this rate, then the next bullet will surely be shot at me . But if I ask her what actions exactly caused her expectations to be overturned, then she’d probably call it dull again . In other words, it’d be my death sentence .
“Tell me . ”
“Hmm? Tell you what?”
I wonder if my reply was surprising or not, but she tilted her head and asked again . Alright, that’s not a bad reaction .
“Your impression from when I overturned your expectations . ”
“Tell you my impression? You’re quite the brazen individual, Oji-san . Well it’s fine, I guess . ”
I ended up heaving another sigh of relief . If I play this game of back and forth with her any more than this, I’ll die . I slowly brought my hand towards the load window again with caution . If her expression turns the least bit scary, I’ll click it immediately .
“The first was when we first met . At times, just to observe people, I ask around if anybody would be willing to sleep with me . The whole humble attitude and formal speech is like a uniform for times like those . You were also one of such people to be caught in such a facade . No, I thought you were caught, but you really surprised me . Whether it was you not bargaining after I gave you a discount for having seen my scar, or that you not finding it unpleasant, or when you feigned your magnanimity by saying you’d still give me the original amount we agreed upon, all three instances caught me off guard . And moreover, asking to go for a meal? To me? It was quite amusing . To think you’d overturn my expectations in that manner… But since I was able to kill some time, I let you off alive . Say, do you know? Which one of the three not happening would make you out? Once you accept my invitation and enter the love hotel, there’s no longer any method for you to remain alive . But… having a meal together… It was a first for me to receive such a shock . I’ve been repeating this pattern every single time for the long awaited day I could finally meet someone like you . In search of someone who’d be able to distract me from this boredom . ”
“Is-Is that so . ”
At that time… looks like it was the correct choice to not do her . As expected, it was a trap . An extreme one at that . Salute to you, past me . But her impressions had yet to finish .
“Oh by the way, why didn’t you find it strange? Even though the scar is so bad that the traces of the burns are still visible, would there be any prostitute sane enough to enter a love hotel with something like this and yet immediately strip down? Normally, they’ll want to keep them on, wouldn’t they? Don’t you think so too? Fufu . ”
Indeed, she’s got a point . Frankly, even I thought that was weird . It’s just that I couldn’t put it into words . So it ended with me simply hearing her out . I didn’t want to make light of the situation and end up inviting danger .
“And then what, ramen? It was the first time I ever had it, but it was quite good . It was also my first time dining in such a place[2] . I wanted to go to such a place some day, that’s why I thought I’d agree to go with you . Since it didn’t turn out the way I thought it would, it was pretty fun, and coming from me, take it as words of praise, Oji-san . And so, the second time would be when I lied about Akemine and the yakuza being on bad terms in order to trap you . I was aware that everyone sent to investigate her organization was killed . That woman is quite sensitive to things like that . That’s why… I thought of testing you out a little . I wanted to see if you would end up dead or not thanks to false information . To be honest, I thought you’d die . But I was off the mark again . Rather, to have also unveiled Akemine’s true identity that not even I was aware of, and then sabotage the social parties themselves… Fufu . ”
“Is that so…”
“And thus we’re back to the main topic… What’s your true identity, Oji-san?”
Her expression had once again shifted away from normal . She got closer to me and shot out that question . The question that I heard once before as well .
“True identity? I’m just a regular citizen, though . ”
“Don’t make me laugh . Your bank account was completely protected . I don’t know if it’s thanks to some foreign country or not, but it’s the first time I wasn’t able to obtain information that I wanted . That’s why… spit it out… Your true identity . ”
“Of course I’m just a regular citizen, but at the same time, I’m not . At the very least, in this world…”
To my words, she made the expression saying ‘What nonsense are you spouting?’ . However, I can’t have myself spill everything about the game . Speaking of which, as expected, the game’s powers were indeed absolute . If a woman wielding insane authority like her couldn’t gather information about me, then there’s no way someone who can, exists . This itself was precious info .
“However, if someone like that alone was around you, wouldn’t it be less boring?”
“Fufu . Is that so? I got it . If you say that, I’ll be expecting a lot . Continue to save me from this incredibly dull world . I’m not really your enemy per se . Akemine? Like I said before, I only went to take a look underneath to kill some time . Whether it’s the social parties or the drug, they have no direct relation to me . Even going to that party that day was a first for me . Should I let you in on something? Although I dressed as a prostitute, I’m still a virgin, Oji-san . I might just give it to you if you manage to satiate my expectations . And I mean it, fufu . ”
Translator: Angry Midget