That evening. I logged onto EPEX and started playing a game with Zeke while we chatted on Wizcode.
It wasn’t the sort of serious mode where ranking was at stake, just a carefree match where all you had to do was fire your guns at random. We were more focused on chatting.
“Ah, by the way, Lord Gaku-Gaku, the matter you entrusted to me… It has been successfully completed.”
“Is that so, Zeke? Thank you for taking the trouble to do that.”
“No, no, not at all. It was a piece of cake compared to stealing national defense information on hypothetical enemies.”
“That’s an odd comparison to draw.”
“Ha-ha-ha. So I believe I’ve identified the source of the hate comments on Impachi Live.”
“I see, I see.”
“I discovered something quite interesting. I’ve sent the information I’ve gathered to your phone.”
“Thanks.”
Playing the game with one hand, I pulled out my phone with the other.
He’d sent me a detailed research report.
Zeke and I were friends only in the game world. I didn’t know his real name or what he looked like. All I knew was that he had a sort of old-fashioned way of talking and that he worked with computers.
Yes, computers… By which I mean his main occupation was a hacker. He was a half-cracked hacker who treaded the boundary between right and wrong.
The other day, I asked Zeke to identify the user who’d left malicious comments on Shiika’s streams.
“The ISP of the device used to post the comment, and… Yes, it even has the social media accounts linked to that device. Amazing. It’s incredible the things you’ve found out.”
“Well, the target was quite careless. It was easy to track them down. It was almost like they wanted me to catch them.”
“Ah-ha-ha, no one’s safe from you, Zeke… So what’s the interesting thing?”
“Oh, right. The same device belongs to an individual who also streams on Impachi Live.”
After a long pause, Zeke continued.
“A popular streamer by the name of Erio Shibuya.”
“…I see.”
I wasn’t surprised to hear the name. Judging from Erio’s attitude toward Shiika, it wasn’t shocking to find that she’d be using sock puppet accounts to post hate comments. Yes, she’d been a very plausible suspect.
“But here’s where it gets interesting. Erio Shibuya has apparently been writing hate comments on her OWN streams—and streams of those she has collaborated with.”
“Huh?”
I was astounded and got distracted, and just then I took a sniper rifle bullet to the head. Yikes, dead in the early stage.
“Hey, hey, eyes on the screen.”
“Sorry…”
Though I apologized, thoughts continued to run through my mind.
Erio Shibuya, writing hate comments on her own streams, from a sock puppet account created by her.
What for? What was the point of that?
I knew she hated Shiika. Her reasoning… Well, pick one. Jealousy, anger, a desire to crush her rival…
But there was no reason for why she’d be posting hate comments about herself. Maybe it was some sort of trick, trying to draw pity by making it look like she had petty haters? An attempt to inspire fans to protect her, to solidify her core fan base?
But Erio Shibuya never responded to hate comments and maintained an aura of detachment. Based on Zeke’s intel, it didn’t look like she was trying to strike up discord using her sock puppet accounts. I still couldn’t figure out Erio’s true goals. Things were getting murkier and murkier.
“Zeke, do you have any idea why Erio would be doing this?”
“Not as far as I can see.”
“Right…”
“Perhaps it is proof that we cannot understand the darkness that lurks in the hearts of young women.”
Zeke spoke earnestly. I could hear loud gunshots in the background.
There was something pleasing about it. I almost laughed.
Then Zeke spoke again.
“By the way, Lord Gaku-Gaku. During my investigation, something became clear.”
“What might that be?”
“The Impachi Live streamer you asked me to look into, Miss Shiika Ikebukuro, was it? That girl… Her singing voice… Is it not a perfect match with the songstress known as Seeker?”
“You’re imagining things.”
I answered without hesitation.
Of course, I was aware of the risk of him making that connection. But through our gaming sessions together, I felt I knew him well enough to trust him.
“Hmm. Well, it does not matter. You seem to have your own situation going on. It would be boorish of me to pry.”
“…Thank you.”
If Zeke looked into it seriously, he would have found out about Shiika in no time flat.
But he wasn’t the type of person to destroy a friendship just to satisfy his own interests.
Because he was a just and moral person? No, quite the opposite.
Because he was a villain who could instantly satisfy any curiosity he desired, he was therefore not so hungry as to destroy himself with petty curiosity. A man who’s popular with girls, and can get a girlfriend any time, won’t get hung up over a certain girl. A guy who can steal information won’t get fixated on data that could be easily obtained.
I just had to keep one promise.
Never make an enemy of Zeke. As long as we maintained our friendship, no disaster of his making should ever befall Shiika and me.