Chapter 65: Seeing "Him" Again
On the pitch-black pier, Shiraki Kei, Kure Fusu, and Akimiya Kaede had a chance encounter with a panicked young man.
Kei sized him up, slightly surprised as memories flooded his mind.
His name was Itou Kaiji!
An unemployed drifter living a mediocre, self-destructive life.
After cosigning a loan for someone else, he was saddled with massive debt and driven into a corner.
Trapped by the Teiai Group's loan sharks, Kaiji embarked on the ultimate path of debt repayment, forced to participate in one underground gamble after another.
He fell into the abyss countless times, crawled back out countless times, struggling forward—a legendary scumbag!
And the starting point for all of this was right here, on the cruise ship Espoir, in the Teiai Group's underground gamble—Restricted Rock Paper Scissors!
Kei paused, turning to Akimiya. "Are we going to the Espoir too? I heard that ship belongs to the Teiai Group."
"No."
Akimiya rubbed her temples, clarifying, "The venue is the Espoir, but the one betting their Kengan Membership is 'Gyūmin Dining.' It has nothing to do with Teiai."
"—Wait. Maybe Gyūmin Dining deliberately chose that venue? Doing something stupid to suck up to a major conglomerate—their president is definitely that kind of person."
As the Nogi Group Chairman's secretary, Akimiya's professional instincts were sharp. She was good at reading the minds of businessmen.
"Anyway, as I said before, although it's an unofficial match, the referee is dispatched by the Kengan Association. The result is absolute. Don't worry."
"As for anything else happening on that ship—Gyūmin Dining and the Teiai Group wouldn't dare offend the Kengan Association, so it has nothing to do with us."
Having calmly analyzed everything, Akimiya led Kei and Fusu to continue searching for the Espoir's location.
Unexpectedly, the young man named "Itou Kaiji" followed them.
Although he didn't understand half of what they said, he was pretty sure these three were heading to the Espoir too.
Having companions made him feel slightly safer. "I'll help look too. More eyes are better."
Kaiji knew his future was uncertain, so he chattered more than usual.
"Man, they said if I just gamble on the ship for one night, I might clear a few million in debt. I thought it was a prank show."
"Since you guys are going the same way, maybe it's legit."
Kaiji scratched his head, his eyes constantly darting toward the three of them.
Of course, part of it was the "women." Fusu and Akimiya were both beauties with great style. An unemployed bum like Kaiji usually had no chance to talk to women like them.
But beyond that, even Shiraki Kei drew Kaiji's attention.
That exaggerated physique, that aura—you'd spot him instantly in a crowd. Kaiji even felt an urge to reach out and touch him.
These guys...
Kaiji muttered internally.
Do people who look that special have "debts" too?
With doubt and confusion, Kaiji suddenly noticed that the icy beauty with the ponytail was carrying a briefcase, and the younger, short-haired girl had a large backpack.
Strange.
The notice he got said no weapons, dangerous goods, or cell phones were allowed. Why were they carrying so much stuff?
"Um..."
Kaiji probed tentatively, "Does tonight's gathering require preparation? You guys brought..."
"Huh?"
Akimiya glanced at Kaiji, her icy gaze making him shudder.
In fact, Akimiya could tell at a glance that Kaiji was surrounded by a negative aura, the stench of self-destruction thick on him.
This kind of person wasn't even a "gambler," just a total "scumbag" with no vitality. Akimiya looked down on him.
But for Kei, Kaiji was a familiar face from his memories. Essentially a good-natured loser, fallen but not evil. So Kei didn't dislike him.
"Nice. That's awesome!"
Kei slapped Kaiji on the back, pointing at Akimiya's briefcase. "Just necessities. Don't worry about it."
Kaiji stumbled from the slap, confused.
He blinked blankly, then looked at Fusu. "So what's in this young lady's backpack—"
"Oh, dangerous goods. Best not to be curious."
Fusu beat him to the answer.
Her bag naturally contained firearms and ammo for easy maintenance.
"Dangerous goods??" Kaiji was even more confused. His head was spinning. He felt like they were joking.
Were these guys some kind of fantasy artists?
As Kaiji wondered how to continue the conversation, several men in black suits walked out of the darkness.
"Excuse me. Are you heading to the Espoir?"
"..."
Kaiji froze, then nodded vigorously. "Ah, yes!"
The man in black checked his list. "You are Mr. Itou Kaiji?"
Kaiji was overjoyed, pointing to the three behind him. "That's right! We're together."
"Together?"
The man in black was slightly surprised, but since time was running out, he ushered Kaiji and the others to hurry.
"We thought Mr. Kaiji was the last one boarding. Didn't expect three more. Are you late? That's not good..." The lead man in black muttered as he led them to the pier.
Docked nearby was a massive cruise ship. Not a single light was on. It lay in the night like a giant black beast.
"Alright, get on board. It's almost time."
The lead man in black checked his watch and urged them on, strictly business.
Akimiya wanted to communicate, but the men in black were too busy to pay attention. They were clearly overwhelmed, running around like headless chickens.
"Lower deck isn't ready, upper deck has issues too. I knew I should have taken the night off—"
The lead man in black sighed, leading the group forward until they reached the ship's lower deck.
Opening a door, they saw a large crowd squeezed into a room—at least a hundred people. Silent, depressed, the atmosphere negative to the extreme.
"Are they all participants in tonight's gamble?"
Kaiji frowned.
Indeed, this "discomfort" was normal. A bunch of deadbeats who couldn't pay their debts—of course the atmosphere sucked!
The only ones who were absolutely "abnormal" were the three who came with him!
While Kaiji was confused, a commotion broke out in the room.
The cramped space, the oppressive atmosphere, and the long wait made the already "negative" debtors restless.
They started shouting.
"Hey! Hasn't it started yet?"
"Someone take charge!"
"What is this? I want off the ship!"
Shout after shout threw the exhausted men in black into chaos. They couldn't handle it. The situation was about to spiral out of control.
Suddenly—
"Shut up or die, you trash!"
With a low growl, an inexplicable pressure silenced the crowd.
A middle-aged man in a double-breasted suit arrived with more men in black, suppressing the restless mob.
After everyone was scared into silence, the man lit a cigarette and scolded his subordinates.
"Honestly. Can't even control a bunch of trash. You really are busy to the point of stupidity!"
The man named Tonegawa spoke through his smoke. "Listen well. You have to be harder on trash. Reasoning with them doesn't work."
"People who can actually listen to reason—guys full of vitality—would never fall so low as to board this gambling ship!"
Tonegawa couldn't help but recall Shiraki Kei, who had easily repaid twenty million yen a while back.
And the impressive characters currently preparing for their match on the upper deck.
"Truly capable people wouldn't appear in this lower-deck garbage dump!"
Tonegawa exhaled a cloud of white smoke, about to get back to work, when he turned and saw Shiraki Kei in the crowd, with Akimiya Kaede behind him.
Tonegawa exhaled a cloud of white smoke, about to get back to work, when he turned and saw Shiraki Kei again in the crowd, with Akimiya Kaede behind him.
"..."
Hiss—!
Am I hallucinating from overwork?!