Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16816927860895175888/episodes/16816927861810479752
The next day—.
I have no schedule with Ayana, Touko san, and Mei, and I had no plans in the morning, so I went to a pachinko parlor.
It was a little before 9 o’clock.
Even at this hour on a weekday, there were several adults in front of the store.
They were smoking cigarettes and chatting with friends.
The topics of conversation included, [Which machine do you want to play today?] or [The settings on that table were good yesterday.]
Everyone had a cheerful expression on their face, thinking that they were going to win today.
I turned my attention to the man at the end of the line.
He was smoking a cigarette and looking through a horse racing newspaper.
“I feel like I’m definitely gonna win today. So, I’m gonna put my winnings from the slots into the main race, have some delicious drinks, and sleep with a sexy woman—“
“You always lose, don’t you, old man?”
When I called out to him, a man with a scruffy skinhead stared at me.
He has threadbare eyes, dark pupils with little life in them, and he looks old, even though he’s 22 years old and my age.
“What, it’s you…… Ah, I’m busy today, I can’t, go home.”
“You’re playing the slots and betting on the local horse races. Then you lose and goes to bed in a huff. Same routine as usual, right?”
“I haven’t lost yet ! ….I mean, shut up. You brat should go home or play with your girlfriends”
“Well, don’t be like that. I’m here today to ask you for a new job.”
The man takes one look at me and sighs heavily.
“What kind of crime should I be a part of this time? The last request was quite troublesome.”
The last time was referring to Ayana’s case.
“Don’t be rude to people. You’re not working anyway, so you should be able to earn some money, right?”
“Oh, that’s right. Thanks to you, I’m able to have a match like this in the morning. I’m grateful for that. But I’m sorry, I’m planning to become very rich today.”
“Oh, you’re so sure?”
“I’ve had my eye on a table since yesterday. At this shop, they tend to change the settings every two days. So today’s setting is the same as yesterday. I’m sure the settings are good. And I’m confident about the main horse race, too. I can’t see any reason to lose. Why don’t you take a chance?
I don’t know what he was saying, but I guess he was that confident. I really have no idea what he is talking about.
“No, I’ll pass. You know I don’t gamble, right?”
“Haa, you’re not a man. That’s why you don’t have the nerve, you fool. Listen, when a man would be able to show off…it’s opening time. My bad, but I’m busy today, so if you need anything else please contact me. I’m gonna be rich today, so I don’t know if I’ll accept it or not !”
Gahahaha !
And the man who turned his big back to me and left—Kurogane.
I met him not as a friend from the same university, but at a convenience store near the university I was attending, where I met Kurogane who was working part-time.
I knew his last name because I saw it on his name tag, but I did not know his surname.
He was about 180 cm tall and had a large build that made me think he was a gymnast.
He has an intimidating skinhead and an unkempt stubble beard. If he did it right, he would look like a nice, decent, athletic young man, but he looks like a thug or a dangerous type of guy.
When he has money, he goes to the pachinko parlor on weekdays, and gambles at horse races on nights and weekends.
“Well, 1:00 p.m. is probably the best time. Maybe I can kill some time nearby.”
I looked at my watch and made a prediction, then headed for a nearby café.
…………
…….
About three hours later, my phone rang.
“Hello?”
[……Please….I have a favor.]
“Hmm, sorry, I can’t hear you, can you say it a little louder?”
[…..Please, lend me some money !]
A loud man’s voice came from the phone.
Twelve o’clock, huh. Looks like he lost it earlier than expected.
“Hey, didn’t you say a few hours ago that you were gonna be a millionaire? I was looking forward to it when I heard my friend was going to be rich.”
[…… Guu. I thought for sure I was gonna win ! And yet, and yet….the store didn’t have a setting ! That manager knew I was gonna sit there and set a low setting !]
I feel like he says that all the time.
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that….. How about we go out for a meal? I’ll buy you a drink.”
[Really !? You sure !?]
“Yeah, sure. You know that hamburger joint nearby that we always go to? How about there?”
[Ooooh, I was just thinking about having a hamburger steak ! I’m on my way there now, just wait for me, I promise !]
Psst.
When the phone hangs up, I head to the hamburger shop near the pachinko parlor, too.
A few minutes later.
“Oh, did you wait for me?”
“No, I just got here.”
When I enter the restaurant, a waitress runs up to me.
Kurogane asked her to show him to the smoking section,
“Uh, lady, can I have a seat at the end over there?”
“Eh? Oh, understood……”
“Sorry about that, he’s shy. He can’t even eat if there are people nearby.”
The waitress smiled amiably and we took our seats a little further away from the others.
After ordering our food, I sighed heavily.
“I’d like you to not make me a shy person without permission.”
“Well, don’t worry about the details. I’m sure you’ll appreciate the fact that you don’t have to worry about people hearing you now.”
“Okay, okay.”
“So, what is it you want?”
I thought he said he doesn’t take requests. I guess I don’t need to say that.
I explained about Jinguuji.
“Jinguji, huh……. That’s a name I’ve missed a lot.”
“I didn’t think he’d become a streamer.”
“Really? It’s a perfect job for that type of person. He always has to be in the center of his friends to be satisfied, and he enjoys bullying one person with a group of people… What he’s doing now is similar.”
Kurogane lights a cigarette and exhales smoke into the ceiling.
“But you, weren’t you supposed to have finished that case when you were in college…..?”
“That was the plan. But Mei is being threatened.”
“Oh, that sexy woman you love so much. ……Are you still in a relationship with her !?”
“Since a little while ago. I’ll start from the beginning.”
This time I explained to Kurogane in a little more detail.
“Wow, I never expected that sexy woman to be Kanatsu Kanako, a very popular VTuber. I had no idea, I thought it was interesting and ended up watching it over and over again.”
“I guess Kurogane didn’t notice it either.”
“Because she has a different voice when she’s a little girl and when she’s an adult. Even if you’ve actually talked to that sexy woman, you wouldn’t normally be able to tell. I mean, you don’t even realize that she’s the same person, so there’s no doubt about it.”
“I guess. But Jinguuji has noticed, and he’s sure that Mei is Kanatsu Kanako.”
“Normally, you wouldn’t know.”
“Does he have a sharp intuition unlike us?”
“Gossip writer’s intuition? I don’t think so. There’s no way that narcissistic bastard has any intuition. I’m more interested in the fact that his channel subscriber count suddenly started growing a month ago.”
“Because so many people watched it…..?”
“Because a lot of people watched it, yes…. Then why did they see it?”
Kurogane smiles as he places his smartphone on the table.
“When you look for a delicious restaurant on your smartphone, you don’t go to the trouble of looking at a blog written by someone you don’t know, you look at the major food blog sites first, right?”
“Of course. You can rest assured that the information on major food blog sites is accurate. On the other hand, with blogs, you can’t be sure of the accuracy of the information.”
“It’s the same with the “scandal” bloggers. You can’t tell if the stuff on his channel, which doesn’t even appear in recommendations and has less than 100 subscribers, is true or false. For him, it’s no exaggeration to say that the number of subscribers=the level of credibility of the channel.”
“You’re absolutely right.”
“It’s said that if a channel explodes, it will be the most successful of all the channels. So, how do you get it to explode?”
“Get high-profile information out faster than anywhere else,……?”
“Yeah, that’s right. But that’s easier said than done. Especially if you’ve been sitting at the bottom of the pile for a long time without connections or contacts.”
“But Jinguuji did it.”
“A guy with no connections, no contacts, and no audience suddenly found himself in the limelight one day. Isn’t that strange?”
“So, you’re saying that the secret is in the video that became popular a month ago, the one where a famous video game player had a three-way affair with…..is that what you’re trying to say, Kurogane?”
“If you wanna find out, that’s the place to look. How did he get that information and how did he get people to come together? And how did he suddenly get information that no one else knew…… My hunch is that this guy is up to something.”
“You think you can find out?”
“Yeah, I’ll take care of it. I’m a lawyer.”
After saying a very reliable line, Kurogane said something stupid, [So, I’m sorry, but it has a request fee. I’ll ask for it as part of today’s horse race fee.]
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