“Delivery! Here’s the item you ordered.”
The Execution Kit arrived the next day, delivered straight to Keita’s door. The deliveryman was wearing a long scarf, even though it wasn’t cold out. Between the scarf and the hat and the light behind him, the man’s face wasn’t visible—it was just a huge, thick shadow.
Keita paid his one thousand yen and accepted the package.
“Would you like me to take it up to your room for you?” the deliveryman asked him.
“That would be great, thanks.”
The package was pretty bulky. That made sense for something that was going to be used for human executions. The kit consisted of two large cardboard boxes, labeled BOX 1 and BOX 2. They were heavy enough that Keita would have struggled to lift either of them, but the deliveryman carried them both up the stairs as if it were nothing.
Once Keita was alone again, he took a good look at the boxes.
“Doesn’t seem like there’s any marks except for the numbers… Hmm?”
He’d spotted a small hole in the cardboard on one side of Box 2.
“What’s this hole…?”
He tried to look through it, but the inside of the box was too dark for him to see anything. Box 2 was the only one with a hole in it; Keita checked the outside of Box 1 and didn’t find anything.
“Whatever.”
For all he knew, it could have gotten there by accident and wasn’t important. It was just a tiny hole.
“Okay, let’s open it up.”
He turned back to Box 1, cutting through the tape on the lid with a box cutter. The first things he saw when he opened it were a slip of paper and a smaller box about the size of a pencil case. Underneath those were some things that looked like parts of a machine, wrapped in protective packaging. The paper must have been a list of the contents or a user manual or something. He tossed it aside, carefully took out the parts, and set them on the floor. Keita never read the manuals for new products anyway. He preferred to figure it out as he went.
I can always look at it later if I get confused. If the instructions fit on a piece of paper that small, it can’t be too hard.
He tore through the packaging that contained the machine parts.
“I guess I just put this together, huh?”
Then he began assembling the machine, piece by piece. It was easy enough to figure out what went where. He really hadn’t needed the manual after all.
After a while, the execution device was complete. It was a smooth metallic capsule, just big enough for an adult to fit inside.
He took a step back to admire it. So this was the execution tool created with “specialized technology.”
I can’t wait to use it…
Now that the real thing was right in front of him, he was more excited than ever. Of course, he could only return the kit unused, but not doing anything with it seemed like such a waste now. He had to use it.
The full price is pretty steep, but I’ve got my savings, so I should be able to cover it. And besides…
Keita looked at his reflection in the surface of the capsule and grew even more determined.
“Buying this…is for the good of all humankind!”
He clenched his hands tightly. His reflection stared back at him, his eyes gleaming with purpose.
“Man…assembling a whole execution chamber really makes you thirsty.”
He decided to leave the capsule for a while and go to the kitchen for a drink. He was all out of tea in the refrigerator, and he didn’t have any bottles of iced tea or soda or anything lying around, either.
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“Oh well. Guess I’ll make a fresh batch of tea.”
He filled the kettle, put it on the stove, and went back to his room.
“I’ll open the rest of the kit while the water’s boiling… Now, what’s this little box?”
Keita picked up the pencil case–size box that he’d previously tossed aside with the instructions, pulled off the tape sealing it, and opened it. Inside was a syringe and a vial full of some kind of liquid. There was also a small device that looked like it might be a stun gun.
Keita was confused. What were these things for?
Are these for executions as well? Is the stuff in the vial some kind of drug?
There was no label on it, so he couldn’t really tell. Maybe it was for sedating criminals. They did say the kit contained everything you needed to carry out an execution, so it would make sense to include something like that, too.
“Well, I can always check the manual later. More importantly…”
Keita took his box cutter and walked over to Box 2. It was about the same size and weight as Box 1.
What’s in this one?
When he’d been putting the execution chamber together, he’d thought at first that the equipment came in two parts. But the capsule seemed as complete as it could get now. There weren’t any other places for more parts to slot into, either. So what could possibly be inside this box?
Everything you need to carry out an execution… Maybe this is something to tell whether someone is a criminal.
That theory seemed legitimate. If this kit was really as quick and convenient as it claimed, there was a risk that someone who’d done nothing wrong could be killed by accident. Of course there’d be a function that allowed the user to differentiate between evildoers and innocents.
Maybe Box 2 has some kind of machine that can read people’s brain waves and detect whether they’re good or evil.
He wasn’t sure if such a thing really existed. Not only that, he wasn’t 100 percent certain the capsule was complete, either. But he’d soon find out once he got the box open.
Keita set to work slicing through the tape that held the lid closed. Just as he was about to lift the lid, he heard a noise.
Eeeeee!
The kettle had boiled.
“Oh, right.”
The water he was boiling to make tea. He’d almost forgotten.
Keita put the box cutter aside and went down to the kitchen.
A few minutes later, he was back. He’d brewed the tea, put some on ice, and had a drink.
“Huh…?”
Something was off. Keita noticed as soon as he entered the room. And he knew exactly what was amiss, too.
It was Box 2—the lid was open. He’d cut the tape on it before he left, but he hadn’t actually opened it.
He took a step closer and peered inside the box.
It was empty.
Just then a figure appeared out of nowhere and flew directly at Keita. He gasped, his eyes going wide.
Who are you? How did you get here? What are you doing in my room? Countless questions sprang to his mind, but he never got to say them out loud. The figure had already raised the box cutter in their hand and was swinging it down at him.
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Execution Kit Instructions
Ever wished you had the power to punish the evildoers of the world? Then the Execution Kit is for you! We have painstakingly assembled a comprehensive kit containing everything you need to perform an execution in the comfort of your own home.
With this kit, anyone can be an executioner!
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Product Name: Execution Kit
Contents
Box 1: Self-Assembly Execution Chamber (×1)
Sedative (×1)
Syringe (×1)
Stun Gun (×1)
Box 2: Violent Criminal (×1)
Product Description
Use the assembled tools to execute the violent criminal included in your kit.
Warning: Please take the following precautions before opening Box 2.
• Before opening, inject the criminal with the enclosed sedative.(Simply stick the needle through the hole in the box!)
• For your safety, please keep the enclosed stun gun charged and ready when opening the box.
• Do not leave scissors or sharp objects unattended near Box 2.
※The included violent criminal is incredibly dangerous. We cannot guarantee our customers’ safety if the above precautions are not followed.