kscans

Chapter 242 - Portrait of a Young Satou, Part Two

1. The Footsteps of Ruin

That day, a social gathering was being held at a certain base of True World. To anyone with a conventional sensibility, they were nothing but an evil organization. However, they themselves genuinely believed they were acting for the good of the world, so regardless of their ideology, their core nature was that of good people. Thus, they held events to strengthen their unity, just like anyone else. The standing buffet party, complete with entertainment, proceeded in a friendly atmosphere, and smiles graced everyone's faces.

They were completely unaware that a malicious presence was lurking, ready to shatter their gentle world.

"This is it! This is what Napolitan is supposed to be!!"

As one of the members, an old guy, savored the classic ketchup-fried Napolitan pasta,

"That’s the exact same reaction my old man has, it’s hilarious. Is it really that good? I mean, it tastes great, but."

"Well, in terms of flavor, there are probably more delicious things out there. But this brings back memories…"

His words were cut short. The moment he recognized the boy who had spoken to him, the old guy’s face turned deathly pale. A flippant-looking, blond-haired boy with numerous piercings. It was,

"Sa, Satou Hideo!!"

"Heh heh, sorry to intrude."

With Satou grinning foolishly, a piece of fried chicken in hand, the friendly atmosphere changed in an instant. Everyone went on high alert.

"This is pretty good, though. What catering service is this from?"

"Surround him! Crush him from all sides at once!!"

The highest-ranking person present shouted orders, and the battle began. They employed textbook tactics, leveraging their numerical advantage, but it was useless against Satou. He simply dodged and weaved, enjoying the food he had collected.

"This isn’t enough…! Call for reinforcements!"

"Roger! Get Onisaki-san too… No, that won’t work. I think today he’s…"

They should have realized it at this point. The strangeness of Satou, who, despite running around, made no attempt to leave the True World base. But the filter of him being a thorn in their side, the biggest obstacle to achieving their grand ambition, clouded their judgment.

"Is this about enough?"

Once a sufficient number had gathered, Satou spoke. Standing in the center of the hall, chugging a plastic bottle of juice, he looked completely defenseless. Yet, everyone present felt a sense of foreboding. Their premonition was correct.

"You treated me to some good food. This is my thanks."

Satou snapped his fingers, and a giant magic circle appeared on the ceiling. Then, "it" rained down all at once.

«Gggghhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!?!!?!!!!!!»

A scene of utter chaos. And no wonder. What fell and burst open were tin cans. The problem was their contents. Surströmming. The fermented food said to be the smelliest in the world. What’s worse, its stench had been amplified by supernatural power, making it the absolute worst. In an instant, all several hundred members were neutralized. Satou gazed at them as they foamed at the mouth and convulsed, and he laughed with genuine delight.

"Heh heh heh. You’ve got a fine selection of lookers here, don’t you."

It was a smile that oozed with vileness.

"...Still, having this many handsome men and beautiful women is ‘helpful,’ but it’s pretty cheeky for an evil organization."

Guess I’ll have to teach them a lesson, Satou snorted, and once again used a summoning spell. What appeared were numerous black mists, each about the size of a basketball. On Satou's command, the mists flew toward the men and women who were "at a level that could be cast" and began to envelop them, mozo mozo.

"Is this about right? Alright. Next up is the Chaos Army."

2. The Worst Kind of Foreshadowing Payoff

That day, Chikage was visiting Ura-Shinjuku for some shopping. She was a target of True World and the Chaos Army, the two major organizations of the Supernatural World, but they weren't watching her around the clock. Especially not during the day and in a public place like Ura-Shinjuku. The communities in the Supernatural World, created for use by all supernatural beings rather than a specific organization, were a kind of non-combat zone. Causing trouble here would only create unnecessary enemies. So Chikage could shop with peace of mind.

"...Hmmm."

Chikage stood in a corner of the bazaar, groaning as she looked at two skirts. At first glance, they seemed like normal women’s clothing, but they were actually combat attire. A certain number of people in the Supernatural World found purely functional gear to be uninspired. For people like them, there were creator groups that made items that could pass as regular fashion. What Chikage was looking at now was one such product from a supernatural fashion brand.

"I wonder if Hiro would be happier with the shorter one."

Before meeting Satou, she had never cared about fashion, neither in the Surface nor the Supernatural World. In the Surface World, clean, normal clothes or her school uniform were enough. In the Supernatural World, it was function only. An unusual preference for a girl her age, but that was who Saionji Chikage was. But after meeting Satou and falling for him… saying any more would be uncouth.

"But wait, I think the other day he was having a pointlessly passionate debate with someone from the Mutual Aid Society about skirt length?"

The image of Satou engaged in a heated discussion with a stranger flashed through Chikage’s mind.

‘Just making it short isn’t always better, right?! I mean, of course I like it! Yeah! I love short skirts! But that doesn’t mean mini is the best for everyone!! It’s like that thoughtless "just add bigger boobs" mentality, absolutely not! Depending on the person, jeans can be even sexier than a skirt!!’

Chikage couldn't understand it at all.

"Does he mean, what suits the person? In that case, for me…"

What would it be? As she fell deeper into her dilemma,

"Hasn’t Satou been quiet lately?"

"Right? He hasn’t made a peep since he raided True World and the Chaos Army a little while ago."

She happened to overhear such a conversation. It was a group of men and women eating ice cream at a nearby stall.

"Well, it’s not like he’s doing something around the clock, is he?"

"That’s true, but since he parted ways with his friends, he’s been causing some kind of trouble and becoming a rumor about once every three days."

"For a guy like that to be completely silent for nearly two weeks since that attack is kinda scary, you know."

"He’s definitely plotting something terrible."

She had no objections. Chikage recognized that it was the absolute truth. She was in love with Satou, but that was that, and this was this.

(I wonder what Hiro is doing…)

All he had said a little while ago was, "Heh heh heh, I’ve got a little something to take care of." He had a terribly wicked look on his face, so it was certain that someone was about to become very unfortunate.

As she was thinking this,

"Elegance! Elegance!!"

Speak of the devil. Satou’s voice echoed. He seemed to be using a voice amplification spell, as his voice reached the entirety of Ura-Shinjuku.

"...?"

When Chikage looked up, she could see Satou soaring through the sky, scattering something. Cards? What was this man, famous for various reasons, scattering? Naturally, everyone picked up the falling cards.

(A URL and… a QR code?)

The people in the city, including Chikage, instinctively took out their phones. It was suspicious, but it was unlikely to be a virus or a phishing scam. There would be no point in him doing that. So, thinking it was probably fine, Chikage also accessed the mysterious URL.

"Wh-wha?! Wh, thi, … awawawa!!"

The moment she saw the screen, her face turned bright red and she became flustered. And for good reason. What was displayed there was the cover art for an adult video.

"What the hell is this? Some kind of indiscriminate sexual harassment terrorism?"

"Every one of these seems pretty niche, or rather, hardcore."

"Looks like you can watch them for free."

Some were blushing like Chikage, while others tilted their heads in confusion. Everyone was trying to figure out his intention, when someone suddenly muttered,

"Huh? Hey, isn't this that guy from True World?"

In response to that mutter, someone else said, I think the actor in this gay porn video is in the Chaos Army… In that moment, Chikage remembered.

"A… V… Doppel… gänger…"

Chikage whispered in a daze. Following her, people here and there began to understand Satou’s intention.

"What is that guy, a demon?!"

"No, no, no, you’d do this?! Would anyone normally go this far?!"

"This is insane, this is insane…"

It was an unprecedented social genocide.

3. A.S. 18. Regarding Their Aftermath

At the time of that unprecedented social genocide, this author was a high school student, just like Mr. Satou. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the boy I was back then, still a fledgling drunk on his own specialness, died that day. Perhaps the reason I have been able to get by in this world in one piece to this day is, in a sense, thanks to him. Now, enough about myself, let us get to the main topic. Eighteen years have passed since then. The theme of this piece is to look back on that incident once more. First, let us hear from the anonymous expert on malice, Mr. L Myojo.

"Well, this is a bit embarrassing. I get interviewed a lot for my work in the Surface World, you see."

Mr. L kindly agreed to the interview. As a fan of her work in the Surface World, I was honestly quite thrilled.

"So, it’s about Satou-kyun, was it? Let’s see. If you’re talking about people more evil than him, there are tons of them, you know?"

In both the Surface and Supernatural Worlds, there are people who commit atrocities far greater than Mr. Satou. Looking back through history, Mr. Satou would likely not even rank, at least in the Surface World's listings, Mr. L explained.

"But there is no one whose malice is as ‘thin’ as his. There are massacres carried out in the name of justice and such, but in the end, that’s just a different label for what is essentially evil, right? At the root of any crime that gets etched into history, there is always a dense passion that ordinary people can never hope to match. Accomplishing great deeds, whether good or evil, is like that. But Satou-kyun doesn't have that. He consistently operates with a level of passion no greater than that of a small prank. He’s saved the world many times, but even that comes from a passion no greater than that of a small good deed."

...So you’re saying that for Mr. Satou, saving the world and committing social genocide are the same thing?

"Yep. The only difference is the direction. The passion involved is the same. That’s why he stands out. If he only ever did bad things, he probably wouldn’t be so noticeable."

It is precisely because he has accomplished numerous great deeds, unrecorded in the history of the Surface World, that we cannot ignore him. We unconsciously sense that imbalance, which is why Mr. Satou’s actions leave such a strong impression on us, she says.

"Well, that aside."

That aside?

"I think the social genocide Satou-kyun committed was just plain scummy. As a woman, I find it repulsive."

I couldn’t agree more. Afterwards, I got Mr. L’s autograph and left the office. The next person I spoke to was… someone who was involved in the great genocide.

The victims numbered in the hundreds, but all of them had left the Supernatural World and had not returned, so I honestly thought it would be impossible. However, the person who agreed to be interviewed this time, A-ko, along with a few others, is apparently planning to return soon. I wanted to hear about that as well.

"Oh, this face? Yes, I changed it back. To my old face."

What surprised me was A-ko’s face. She had returned to the face she had at the time of the incident. There was some aging, but this is probably what eighteen years would look like by superhuman standards.

"To talk about that, I first have to look back on what happened then."

...Please, go on. In contrast to my nervousness, A-ko began to speak in a remarkably calm tone.

"Well, to put it simply, it was hell."

...I can imagine.

"At first, everyone tried to do something about it. We tried using the power of the Surface World’s legal system, for example."

I heard there were moves to halt the sales, but…

"Yes, it was useless. Even when we succeeded, they were just illegally re-uploaded, and in fact, they spread even more."

My own research confirms these circumstances. The more they tried to erase the digital tattoo, something that was not yet common back then, the more deeply it was carved. Even now, a simple internet search would likely bring up the videos from that time.

"There was nothing we could do. We had no choice but to change our faces and run. Our relationships in both the Surface and Supernatural Worlds were destroyed."

...Not just the Surface World, but the Supernatural World as well? I can understand the Surface World, as the videos were apparently distributed to relatives, friends, and acquaintances who knew nothing of the supernatural. But the Supernatural World too?

A-ko answered my question with a wry smile.

"Is there any guarantee that your friends and acquaintances in the Supernatural World haven't seen the videos? Even if it’s not you, can you remain calm after being shown the lewd acts of a being with your exact same appearance?"

...I have no words.

"Insomnia, anorexia, bulimia. The days after my mental breakdown were hell. I couldn't even bring myself to hate Satou Hideo. I was so broken that just hearing his name, let alone seeing his face, would make my body tremble in fear."

But the fact that you have changed your face back and are speaking of those times means you have recovered, correct? What was the catalyst for that? A-ko began to speak with a calm expression in response to my question.

"I think it was about ten years later. I realized I couldn't go on like this and decided to face my trauma."

That is… very admirable.

"I decided to try and overcome it by watching the videos, so I searched for them online… and found them right away. I couldn't even last a few minutes. I thought, I can't do this, it's impossible, and was about to close the browser when the comment section caught my eye. I felt hatred for those people who were talking about a me who wasn't me as they pleased. But at the same time, I felt another emotion, one different from hatred. Without knowing what it was, I decided to rally myself by hating those irresponsible viewers, and dived into the sea of the internet."

Several more years passed. She went from just looking at the comment sections to sometimes starting threads on message boards.

"...And in time, I realized it."

Realized what?

"Yes… that I was becoming aroused."

…Excuse me?

"Shame, humiliation, and within it all, there was definitely ‘pleasure.’ Before I knew it… fufu, it’s crude, but, you know?"

…

"Was it just me? Was I just a pervert? Excitement and confusion eventually turned into resolve."

Re, resolve… you say?

"Yes. I sought out my former comrades and rivals who had been victims and confirmed it with them. And when I did,"

…Wh, when you did?

"Including myself, there were about forty of us. I found compatriots who had reached a similar state of mind."

…

"We talked it over and made a decision. We would change our faces back and start a new way of life."

It was at that moment. The door to the hotel room where A-ko and I were talking opened… and Mr. Satou appeared.

"Yo."

"Hello, Satou Hideo. I wonder if you remember me?"

"Yeah. I did a thorough investigation of your personal information back then. Since you seem to have restored your family register, I recognized your name on the client list right away."

To my surprise. A-ko was interacting with Mr. Satou with the same calm demeanor as before. The conversation proceeded, ignoring the astonished author.

"Anyway, who’s this old guy?"

"A magazine reporter. He says he wants to know about the incident back then."

A-ko smiled, saying she had timed it just right.

"I thought you were planning revenge under the guise of sending me a request, but that doesn't seem to be the case. What’s your objective?"

"I hold no grudge against you. That’s the truth. And my request is not a lie either."

"Hmm? Let’s hear it. The details just said you had something to ask of me."

"I want you to be our director."

"Director?"

"Yes. The people who were done in by you back then, myself included, have started an AV company."

Fuh?!

"The name is ‘Reincarnation.’ We named it that because we were killed by you, and then reborn. For our momentous first work, we unanimously decided that the most fitting director would be you, the one who started it all."

…

"You seem to have quite the strong opinions about AV, don’t you? If you like, you could also serve as one of the male actors, you know?"

Though if you lack the confidence, you’re free to refuse. In response to A-ko’s provocative smile, Mr. Satou,

"...You’re on. I can’t be an actor because of my public persona, but I’ll take the director’s job."

He accepted the offer with a fearless smile.

"Excellent. I’ll be counting on you, Director Satou."

"Yeah, leave it to me."

The two shook hands firmly. It was truly a historic reconciliation… or was it?