“It’s because I wanted to see that exact expression, with that face that looks just like his. This is my revenge on him for stealing Shoko away from me.”
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“You’re about to go off to college, that’s why. Don’t think I didn’t know you don’t like me. I figured it was about time to pull back the curtain before you take your sister and leave.”
“You son of a bitch.”
“Oh, come on. You should be grateful.”
“Grateful? For what? What on earth is there to be grateful for in anything you just said?!”
“Megumi... Your sister... It’s like I’m seeing Shoko all over again. When she had her birthday last month, I had plans to finally get my hands on her, now that she’s sixteen.”
“You bastard!” I spat, barely containing myself from flat out punching him.
“In the end, I decided not to. I don’t know why, but she just won’t open up to me. Wouldn’t want the police on my case either.”
“Of course you wouldn’t, you idiot!”
“It’s too bad, honestly. Why do sexual assault laws exist, anyway?”
That’s just...awful.
I couldn’t bring myself to believe that scum like this actually existed out in the world.
“Ah, right. I got you a gift to celebrate your getting into college. You know that game you play on your phone all the time? Well, I deleted all your character data on it.”
“Huh?”
“That’s another part of my revenge. You’ve built up all that data since you started high school, right?”
“...”
“Do you know who ‘Step’ is? They’re fifth in the player rankings right now.”
“Step?”
He lifted up three fingers. “Thirty minutes a day. You got yourself to ninety-third in the rankings by playing diligently every single day. And I obliterated all that hard work just by paying a bunch of money! This is the difference between me and you... Me and your father.”
Step... A step... His name is Ayumu, which means “step,” so... Is he trying to tell me that’s him? He’s got that smirk on his face that’s telling me he thinks he’s won, so...
I was already halfway done with his childish behavior, but beyond that and the anger... The only thing I could feel was fear.
“I have a present for Megumi too.”
“A present?”
“Remember how I bought a cat for her when you guys moved in?”
“Yes, Mocha. Megumi loves it.”
“I took it out with the trash the other day.”
“What?” I said after a pause.
“I put sleep meds into its food and then threw it in the garbage bag when it collapsed.”
“W-Wait... I don’t understand.”
“I don’t need precious little animals who won’t love me, whether that be cats or women.”
I was going to punch him, but I knew that I shouldn’t. First and foremost, I shouldn’t continue being involved with this thing at all. Just look at him, he’s been smiling this whole time. He’s...
A complete psychopath.
I could never understand the feelings of crazy murderers who kill for fun. And this guy’s mind worked exactly like theirs. Even if I punched him right then, I didn’t know how he’d make me pay for it. What made everything worse was that he hadn’t crossed any actual legal lines yet.
For now, let’s just think of what I can do. I can escape with my sister without attacking this psycho, and then never contact him again. What should I do to make that happen?
Just as I was thinking that...
Boom!
The ground began to shake.
The next thing I knew, my body was thrown by a huge impact, pinning my back to the window.
After that came the sound of an explosion.
The door blew open and flames entered the living room.
“The house is on fire?!”
As if to answer my question, the hallway became engulfed in flames, catching fire to the furniture in the living room.
I saw a figure spinning wildly as fire danced up its form right in front of my eyes.
“Ah! Argh! Ahhhhhh! Help! Help me! Heeeeelp!”
I pretended not to hear the flaming son of a bitch.
I’d probably gotten lucky. I didn’t know what had caused the explosion, but I was able to avoid the incoming flames thanks to whatever pushed me back.
At any rate, the least I knew was that this was no time to be saving some old man on fire. That’s right, what I needed to be doing was—
“Megumi!”
I sprinted to my sister’s room, screaming at the top of my lungs. My leg kicked the door open, letting me stumble inside.
“Shinobu?! What’s happening?! I think something blew up!”
“The house is on fire! We need to run—”
Another explosion cut me off, and smoke started to fill the room. I hastily took note of the hallway, which was now a sea of flames.
This... This is so bad!
I was pretty sure the most common cause of death during house fires was inhaling smoke. Apparently it wasn’t unusual for one to pass out after just a few breaths too.
If that’s the case, then...
Grabbing Megumi’s desk chair with both hands, I roared out with my entire body.
“Raaaaaauuuuuugh!”
I hurled the chair at the window with every bit of strength I could muster, the glass shattering with a clean crack.
I grabbed Megumi by the hand. “The hallway’s covered in flames! We have to jump!”
“Jump?! But we’re on the twelfth floor!”
“The roof of the parking garage is right beneath us. It won’t be much, but it should be enough to cushion the fall!”
“But Shinobu—”
“I’ll take the brunt of it! We’re dead for sure if we stay in here; we don’t have a choice but to jump!”
“Wait—”
Without giving her time to respond, I bundled her in my arms...and jumped out of the window.
The scenery rose and fell with us. Leaving our bodies to gravity, we sped farther downward. It was like being on a roller coaster with the safety bar breaking off halfway through.
Ah, I’m going to die, aren’t I...? It couldn’t have been any clearer.
If I was going to die anyway, I really should’ve punched that bastard while I had the chance.
His ugly mug pervaded the back of my mind. This isn’t the time to be thinking about him.
Please, at least let Megumi live... As I clutched her thin frame to me, I felt an impact and extreme pain crashed into my back.
A robotic voice chimed in my ears.
—Congratulations on completing the Ranker Convening Event.
—This national event transports all players who died during the convening to another world, regardless of whether or not they were in the rankings.
—Your rewards for completing the event are as follows:
—Your stats within the game will be carried over.
—Nonpaid items will be carried over.
—Paid items will be carried over.
—Acquired magic will be carried over.
—Acquired skills will be carried over.
—Starting now, your character’s data, which was ninety-third in the overall rankings, registered under the handle “Shinobu,” will now overwrite your real life... A? RbT4O? Csv3RM1b-?
—Data loading. Player number 209738... Data not found.
—Data reloading... Player number 209738... Data not found.
—Data re-reloading... Player number 209738... Data not found.
—Data re-re-reloading... Player number 209738... Remaining paid data recovered. Summoner Class Skills recovered and rebuilt.
—Full recovery of data is not possible. Irregularity detected.
—Following game terms of service. Reregistering player. Beginning tutorial... QWEEWQSDFSDFSDF? AAA? ASDASDW%CCXW.
—This transport system is used for accounts already registered in the database; therefore the in-game tutorial cannot be applied.
—Tutorial-rial-rialrialrialrialrial.
—Tutorial FDSSDFASD ;? MNLKJLK#JFD?, case undefined within transport system LKJLKJPOOPWXCCXW? FDSFDSLK ;? ;? ###.
—IGW37/OJ.//RTTGUYBDsU.
—E4NN;E? s6YYxp? 8rSIEH?
—lO? MWJ=t6\5RipEL.
—Loading demo version of tutorial data... Completed.
You will now begin the tutorial.