Obtaining three Dusk-level admission tickets for the same scenario—ensuring that the three of them could team up for their second mission and complete everything at the same location—had been one of Takumi's squad's strategic goals from the very beginning.
However, although that was their goal, actually achieving it was bound to be extremely difficult. Dusk-level admission tickets were highly sought after, and many veteran players needed them. And three tickets for the same scenario held even greater significance for veteran players.
So when three Dusk-level tickets for the same location suddenly appeared, to be honest, Takumi's first reaction was to wonder whether he was being scammed.
"The seller chose a small shop in a busy district as the meeting place. The message came in around seven in the morning. Judging from their attitude, it seems that because you took care of the Women-Face Gang, a seller took notice of us and decided to 'invest' in us."
Kaguya's voice over the phone sounded cool, with a faint trace of fatigue. Although she hadn't participated in last night's conflict, the girl clearly hadn't slept well after receiving the news.
Since it was already late at night and Kaguya was under strict curfew, she had no way to leave the estate. So she woke her personal maid and had her take the Blood Puppet—hidden inside a box—to support Maki. But before the maid could arrive, Maki had already taken down the two players who broke into the residence, and so the Blood Puppet returned to Takumi, personally delivered by that same maid.
Speaking of which, that blonde little maid's expression at the time was full of resentment. After all, she had been dragged out of bed without knowing anything, forced to do a middle-of-the-night express delivery job, and then halfway through was told to change the delivery target for no reason.
"I'll be coming as well this time. Since it's in a busy district, the Shinomiya family won't be able to restrict me too much."
While Takumi was thinking about all these scattered details, Kaguya's voice continued on the other end of the call.
"Is that so? Actually, you don't really need to be constrained by your Shinomiya family anymore, right? Curfews, all sorts of restrictions—just listening to it makes me feel disgusted. With your current abilities, do those people really have the power to control you?"
As he tidied up his bed, Takumi spoke with a hint of doubt.
"…It's not the right time yet. There are still some matters I haven't clarified. When the time comes to act, I naturally won't hesitate."
There was a brief pause in the girl's voice, then she answered calmly.
"Alright, I was just saying. Every family has its own troubles. This kind of thing really depends on you. I'm an outsider, so I won't give you any advice."
Even though it was only a voice call, Takumi still shrugged—just as if they were chatting face-to-face.
"Advice? If you really have any advice, I can listen, Takumi."
However, somewhat unexpectedly, this sentence sparked Kaguya's interest, and though she had seemed ready to end the topic, she continued the conversation.
"Oh? Are you sure you want to hear it? My advice is the kind of coarse, low-class advice commoners give."
Takumi was a little surprised this time.
"Of course I want to hear it. Different people have different perspectives—maybe my own thinking has simply been too limited."
She's actually serious.
Takumi couldn't help stopping to think a little more seriously.
"I see. Let me think. Judging from the tone you use when talking about your family, it doesn't sound like your relationships are good. In that case, just take out the executives under your brothers' companies. First send out a warning about who you're going to kill, then make your move. Repeat that a few times, and they'll understand you're not someone to mess with."
Originally, he had wanted to suggest that Kaguya directly carry out righteous extermination and get rid of her heavyweight idiot eldest brother, Shinomiya Oko—after all, he was Kaguya's greatest enemy. But first, in this world, he and Kaguya hadn't actually interacted for long, so exposing plot information only manga readers would know would be hard to explain. Second, whether Kaguya in her current state could bring herself to directly strike her blood-related family was also unclear. Thus, he settled for suggesting the girl target the core of their interests instead.
"...Such advice is indeed simple and brutal, but what if they choose to retaliate against the people around me?"
This suggestion made Kaguya fall silent for a moment again, then she began asking more questions.
"Whose weak points are greater—yours or theirs? Write out the list of the subordinates and close associates they rely on and send it to them. Then let them know that the moment they dare make a move even once, you'll go all out and eliminate every single one. Naturally, those guys will know what choice to make. To put it bluntly, from the moment we became players, we've been a group of desperados—the order of civilized society has already become disconnected from us to a certain extent. Betting with our lives, going all-in—that's our specialty. I don't think the people controlling you have the resolve to fight you to the bitter end in matters like this."
As Takumi said this, he walked out of the bedroom, washed up, then idled around the house for a bit to kill some time. After that, he got dressed properly and headed out, bought some bread at a nearby bakery to casually deal with breakfast, and then set out toward the destination.
After that, Shinomiya Kaguya did not say anything more and hurriedly ended the conversation. Whether she would choose the "Always-Obedient Filial Daughter" route or whatever—honestly, Takumi couldn't predict it. After all, Shinomiya Kaguya's developmental trajectory was now clearly heading in a completely different direction from the original work.
The morning sunlight was as bright as ever.
The people going to work and school, unaware of the two deadly fights that had taken place in the city last night, continued on with their daily lives.
Meanwhile, Takumi had already arrived at that small shop—a place that looked like a teahouse, with many small rooms sectioned off inside.
"Mm, I'm the customer who reserved the 'Soaring Dragon in the Heavens' room."
He said this to the staff, then was led to the doorway of the corresponding room.
Takumi pushed the door open and entered. At this moment, Kaguya and Maki were already seated on one side of the large table, while in the corner on the opposite side sat Gotō Hitori—looking very nervous, and indeed she truly was. Beside her sat a girl wearing glasses, with long brown hair and golden eyes, who gave Takumi a polite smile when he appeared.
"Hello, are you Mr. Takumi? I'm Aoyama Nanami, the player organizing this transaction. Miss Gotō is my friend. I hope we can all get along well."
Saying this, the young girl—who looked no older than twenty—stood up and gave Takumi a slight bow.
"Mm, hello, Miss Aoyama."
Takumi greeted her with equal seriousness, though in his mind he was already quickly recalling the information related to this character.
Aoyama Nanami, height 158 cm, comes from the work The Pet Girl of Sakurasou. She is a very hardworking, independent girl striving for her dream of becoming a voice actress by working part-time. Compared to those strange female characters found in other 2D works, this girl is, in a sense, more grounded in reality—approachable, humble, cautious, considerate, methodical—belonging to that type of virtuous wife very suitable to bring home and marry.
Wait—speaking of which, that room Bocchi brought him and Maki to earlier, the label on the door with a cat—an orange cat, if he remembered correctly—don't tell him that thing wasn't actually a cat, but rather a tag featuring Tora-jirō, the character Aoyama Nanami is fond of?
'Tsk, I didn't think of it at all back then. Mainly because the anime adaptation of the work she comes from was from twelve years ago—aside from hardcore fans, it's really hard to remember all those detailed settings. The fact that he could recall various related details after recognizing the character was already not easy.'
That said, judging from her efficient and confident appearance, could it be that she was the one who led Gotō Hitori through the dungeon? In the original work she took care of the completely clueless Mashiro, and now she's taking care of the severely socially anxious Bocchi—what kind of strange "mom" role is this supposed to be?
"Hey, hey, what are you staring at someone for like that?"
A slightly displeased Maki lightly kicked Takumi under the table. To avoid getting Takumi's pants dirty, she deliberately used the top of her foot.
"Ahem, nothing. Anyway, we're here to trade for the admission tickets, right? But to be honest, I'm still very confused. For something as important as three Dusk-level admission tickets for the same scenario, why would you come to us rookie players?"
Takumi cleared his throat, his expression returning to seriousness, and he asked Aoyama Nanami earnestly.
"This question should be asked to Mr. Kogawa. After all, he's the one who made the decision. I'm only responsible for organizing this transaction, just acting as a witness. Mm, looks like he's already arrived—this transaction should be able to officially begin."
Aoyama Nanami spoke with a smile. Then, before Takumi and the other two on his side even sensed it, she had already turned her head toward the doorway. Right after that, the three finally heard approaching footsteps, followed by the door being slowly pushed open as a figure stepped into the room.
It was an old man—bald, hunched, looking like a skeleton, and leaning on a cane.
The moment Takumi and the old man met eyes, the old man even grinned and chuckled. And then Takumi saw a small black bug scurrying quickly across the man's teeth before disappearing into his lips.
What the hell—Matō Zōken!?
"Although I don't know what you're thinking, let me state this in advance: my humble name is Kogawa Itsuki, and I just turned twenty-eight this year. It's only because I have to use a parasitic insect-type Obsession Item that I'm forced to maintain this decrepit old-man appearance. Please don't treat me like some kind of villain just because I look a bit strange."
Takumi had only just made a complaint in his mind when the old man shook his head and began to speak—as if this misunderstanding had already happened many times before.
"Mr. Kogawa, why did you decide to seek us out and sell us the admission tickets? You should be well aware that as newcomers, it's impossible for us to possess any high-value Obsession Items. I'd really like to know the reason behind your choice."
Unbothered by his appearance, Kaguya directly asked her question.
"How could that be? Just obtaining those Obsession Items from the 'Women-Face Gang' is already enough to pay the price—especially that 'Blood Puppet.' You managed to get one, didn't you? To think you actually secured Old Ghost Tanaka's faceless head… I can't even imagine how you did it in the Shirakawa Apartments dungeon. Breaking through a high-difficulty dungeon very likely fixed as Dark Night-level, receiving the blessings within it, killing six veteran players—one of them being the notorious Old Ghost Tanaka—such achievements are more than enough for me, and for the 'Market,' to want to win you over. Your potential is frankly a bit too frightening. At the very least, we must make sure we can be friends, not enemies."
Speaking leisurely, the old man pulled out a chair and slowly sat down.
Had he been monitoring yesterday's battle from the sidelines? Or used some method to observe it?
For him to know that Shijō Maki had used the faceless head during the fight, he must have witnessed the entire process. This Kogawa Itsuki is related to the organizers of the "Market," which means the Market wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight—waiting to see who would win before stepping in to recruit them?
That choice was understandable.
But to be honest, it was more or less unpleasant.
"So in other words, it's an investment, right? Then which place are the admission tickets you're giving us for?"
Takumi's tone didn't change, and he simply looked at the other party as he asked.
"The United States—Red Nut Grey Cave. It's a low-difficulty Dusk-level dungeon that hasn't been fixed yet. And there happen to be three tickets."
The old man let out a somewhat rasping laugh, then extended his hand. Three crumpled tourist tickets immediately appeared in his palm.
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