"When you reach hell, remember to say hello to Hunter."
In the unfinished building's top-floor public restroom,
Jack Walz, shining his flashlight along the way, set down his backpack and took out a sniper rifle.
Today, he would finally rid himself of Hunter's ghostly torment, settling this once and for all!
However, just as Jack Walz proudly raised his rifle and approached the window,
a white pentagram symbol on the glass made him feel like he had fallen into an ice cave.
The Silver Star Badge...
He remembered that when he scoped the place earlier, this wasn't there!
The pentagram's tip on the glass directly faced the 350-meter-high observation deck of Suzuki Tower,
whose neon lights gleamed continuously, but to Jack Walz, they brought a bone-chilling terror.
At that moment, everything became clear to him.
The "Chigusa" pastry shop was a lie—he was predicted to try to predict the killer, who chose this sniper point.
The instant Jack Walz stood before this window was the moment of his death!
Jack Walz's limbs couldn't keep up with the speed of his thoughts.
His limbs felt leaden and heavy as he saw a distant flicker of fire atop Suzuki Tower's platform.
He fired!
Under the cover of night, the bullet sped toward Jack Walz's window, shattering the glass in an explosive crack.
The bullet grazed Jack Walz's forehead and struck the wall, leaving a bowl-sized hole.
"Hah… Hah…"
The chubby blond man gasped in terror, eyes wide with suspicion as he followed the bullet's path.
What happened?
Did he miss?
That thought flashing through his mind, driven by his will to survive, he reacted immediately,
barely caring for the heavy sniper rifle as he scrambled backward, even crawling away from the restroom.
A little earlier—
Location shifts to the high observation deck in front of the Suzuki Tower.
Chianti, granted shooting permission by Gin, grinned excitedly watching Jack Walz pick up his sniper rifle and move toward the window.
She didn't know who this guy was, but she didn't care!
This glamorous stage brought Chianti unprecedented exhilaration.
Licking her lips, her eyes fixed through the scope on Jack Walz, she aimed her gun at his head...
"This shot will blow his brains out!"
"Die!"
Chianti's finger was about to pull the trigger when suddenly—
Bang!
A bullet hit the platform less than fifteen centimeters below Chianti.
The reinforced concrete shattered, sending flying debris that sparked a shiver of dread in her heart.
Her aim shifted ever so slightly just as she squeezed the trigger.
The bullet was fired, but Chianti didn't care.
She screamed wildly:
"Bastard! What's going on!? Who's sniping me!?"
Terror filled her face as she immediately traced the bullet's trajectory to find the shooter.
One glance twisted Chianti's expression.
Asakusa Blue Sky Tower...
How could it be there?
Impossible!
Because she was a professional sniper, Chianti instantly realized how absurd it was to snipe here from that place...
So the strange noise above her head was the bullet hitting the steel beams!?
With a grimace, she raised her rifle and aimed at the Blue Sky Tower.
Sure enough, a crawling shadow was visible amid the red flashing lights atop the tower.
"Bastard, die! Die!!"
She fired frantically, but the next second, a bullet whizzed past her body, freezing her in terror.
"What's going on, Chianti!"
Gin's voice came through the earpiece: "Don't panic. Take cover immediately!"
"Shut up!!"
The panicked woman shouted, yet obediently stepped back a few paces.
Nearby at the base of Suzuki Tower, Gin listened carefully to the earpiece, his gaze darkening.
Another sniper was targeting Chianti...
Cointreau, what the hell is that guy doing?
And the only place that can snipe Chianti's position is the top of Blue Sky Tower...
But how could that be?
At that moment, Kevin Yoshino, crawling on the Blue Sky Tower rooftop, quickly racked his bolt to chamber a fresh bullet.
Just one more shot... just one more!
His fierce gaze through the scope locked onto the enraged woman who had discovered him and was helplessly furious.
He had to kill her.
She had ruined everything—she must pay!
Kevin felt his condition improving. Hunt had once said, "Only one person in the FBI, known as the Silver Bullet, could snipe Suzuki Tower from Blue Sky Tower."
Now, that record was about to be shattered by him.
He could feel it—just one last bullet and he'd hit his target!
But Chianti gave Kevin no chance.
Following Gin's instructions over the radio, she threw a flashbang and quickly turned away—
The blinding light exploded inside Kevin's scope, painfully searing his eyes, causing his guaranteed shot to completely miss.
"Shit!"
He hastily turned his head, covering his eyes in pain.
"Shit!"
In a luxury suite atop a hotel near the Suzuki Tower,
Seiran Hoshi, dressed in a white cheongsam, was pressed against the glass of a huge floor-to-ceiling window.
Her hands pushed against the glass as she cried out heatedly, her breath misting the clear glass.
Her cheeks flushed, she looked dreamily dazed.
Ring ring ring~ Ring ring ring~!
Her phone's short ringtone sounded.
Hayashi Yoshiki pressed one hand on the glass and stared at the suddenly flashing, somewhat dazzling light atop Suzuki Tower.
He held Seiran Hoshi firmly but gently, and in this tense moment, answered the call.
"Hello?"
"What exactly are you doing?"
Gin's cold voice came from the other end.
"Have you dealt with Chianti yet?"
"No. The target you wanted to kill escaped. But I want to ask about the sniper at Blue Sky Tower aiming at Chianti—don't tell me you didn't know about this."
"Do you know Timothy Hunter? He was a great sniper in the US Navy SEALs."
"The suspicious hero?"
"Yeah, that guy's dead... but before dying, he apparently asked someone to take revenge. The recent series of sniper incidents were caused by his successor."
Fear.
Though Hayashi Yoshiki spoke calmly, Seiran Hoshi trembled from her toes up through her slender body.
"The FBI and police are investigating. There were two suspects originally, but after thorough checks, they were cleared... I'm very interested in this. I also know that Jack Walz is the sniper's most important and urgent target to kill. So I wonder how he'd react if another sniper stole his prized prey?"
[...]
Damn lunatic.
Gin sighed heavily, hearing this.
He had long thought this guy was crazy, but now he realized the plan was pure sabotage—to make others break down mentally.
Self-destructive and utterly hedonistic.
"You're calling to complain? Did something happen to Chianti? I saw the flashbang at Suzuki Tower... No way that guy can really snipe Suzuki Tower from Blue Sky Tower, right?"
"She almost died."
"Good she didn't. Thank God I didn't personally ask her to help me with this. Thanks, you're a good boss, Gin."
"Hmph!"
Gin darkened his face and hung up.
Damn!
Angrier and angrier, Gin lit a cigarette with his car lighter.
"Boss?"
"Arrange a helicopter immediately to extract Chianti."
"Understood."
Vodka hurriedly took out his phone and issued the order.
In every way, the winery's actions were faster than the police; at least they could call a helicopter at any time...
Meanwhile, Megure Juzo's application to dispatch a police helicopter to Suzuki Tower to control the killer was still being processed.
Back inside the hotel,
"Did you hear that? I asked someone else to handle this because I didn't want you to be put in danger."
Hayashi Yoshiki spoke softly.
"Y-yes..."
Seiran Hoshi's voice trembled.
She looked at the glass and, through its clear reflection, saw Hayashi Yoshiki's handsome and gentle face.
Her expression became dazed.
She could no longer think clearly.
Everything else was meaningless to her.
Too much...
Was it because of Hayashi Yoshiki...?
If she hadn't been taking medication all along, she would have collapsed any moment.
Her body, supported weakly by hands on the glass, slid down slowly.
Hayashi Yoshiki focused on his phone and made a call.
On the rooftop of Blue Sky Tower,
Kevin Yoshino felt his stinging eyes gradually recovering, but his vision was still blurry.
Nearly five minutes had passed since the flashbang explosion, and the hateful woman outside Suzuki Tower's observation deck was nowhere to be seen.
Kevin, utterly broken, slammed his sniper rifle aside and let out an angry roar:
"Damn it!!"
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
He yelled until his face turned red and veins bulged on his neck, making him look fierce and wild.
Suddenly, his phone rang unexpectedly.
On this silent and stifling night, the ringtone atop Blue Sky Tower was jarringly loud.
Broken and desperate, Kevin waited long before finally answering.
It was an unknown, anonymous number.
"Impressive, Mr. Kevin Yoshino."
The voice was distorted, unsettling, and made Kevin's pupils shrink.
"The only sniper spot that can hit outside the Suzuki Tower's observation deck is the Blue Sky Tower in Asakusa, Tokyo. But no one in the world can properly focus the target from this distance and at this upward angle — Mr. Timothy Hunter told you that, right?"
"So I have to say it again: you really are impressive, Mr. Kevin."
"Who are you?!"
Kevin's heart clenched violently.
He thought of the sniper who had been stealing his prey... but this was a man's voice, definitely not the furious woman he had seen through his scope earlier!
This made him angry and deeply uneasy at the same time.
Who is this guy?
What is his purpose?
He could accept that the deaths of Hitoshi Moriyama and Bill Murphy, and their plan being seen through...
But even the private conversations he had long ago with Hunter were known—that made him panic.
"Don't worry about who I am just yet."
Hayashi Yoshiki's clear voice came through the voice changer into the phone — back during the full moon incident, to impersonate Gin and fool Vermouth, Professor Agasa made him a simple voice changer, now finally useful.
Hayashi Yoshiki looked down at Seiran Hoshi, who had collapsed but was propping herself up and eagerly drawing close, and smiled gently before speaking again:
"Mr. Hunter valued you greatly and hoped you would avenge him."
"At this point, what use are these words? Timothy's revenge has been destroyed by you—I will never—"
"Jack Walz is not dead."
"Wha—!"
Kevin's voice caught.
He had clearly seen through his scope the woman shooting at Jack Walz's direction, so he naturally thought she had killed him.
"The bullet grazed Jack Walz's forehead. He's now lucky the sniper missed and is driving away frantically."
"Congratulations, Mr. Kevin. You have passed the trial."
"Therefore, the honor of executing Jack Walz with your own hands will be handed over to you."
"Who the hell do you think you are talking like that—"
"Don't you find it strange why I know everything about you and Mr. Hunter's plan, and even the 'Silver Bullet' story you two shared so well?"
Listening to Kevin's stopped breathing, Hayashi Yoshiki smiled with pleasure:
"Because all of this was arranged between Mr. Hunter and me."
"Mr. Hunter believed you were a true friend who took his disgrace as your own."
"Killing Hitoshi Moriyama, killing Bill Murphy—all this was arranged for this final trial—the last and most evil sinner, Jack Walz..."
"To personally execute him, you must climb Blue Sky Tower and attack the sniper on Suzuki Tower."
"By accomplishing this incredible feat, you will have passed the trial just as Mr. Hunter wished."
"I will share more details with you after all this is over."
"So, before then, will you come with me?"
"Follow my orders—kill Jack Walz."
"Choose, Mr. Kevin."