Gojo Satoru stared at the words "Vest Card Damaged" on the system panel and stayed silent for a few seconds.
"Will never forget... huh."
He muttered, tapping his fingertips lightly against the glass window, making a crisp sound.
The next second, his expression completely collapsed, his tone carrying a hint of accusation.
"Hey, System, this isn't what we agreed on, right?"
[Uh...]
Gojo Satoru said gloomily, "Didn't you tell me at the beginning that if the vest took fatal damage when it expired, it would only disappear on the spot instead of being blown into pieces?"
The system popped up a sweating emoji in his mind: [Host, strictly speaking, the vest card hadn't expired yet.]
"Ha? I looked closely when I was dismantling the bomb, it should have been fine."
[...There was still 1 second left.]
"1 second?!"
[Yes, the vest card's expiration time was 00:00:01, but the panel only displays integers, so it wasn't written out...]
Gojo Satoru: "..."
Who would have thought that he, who used countdowns to pit others, would also be pitted by a countdown.
Actually, his original plan was to let "Kuno Nozomu" go "missing" after the explosion, rather than have his death confirmed. If no remains could be found, the group of five might suspect he was caught up in some special event, leaving a suspense that "Nozomu might still be alive."
Although this looked a bit far-fetched, in this world where the concept of special abilities existed, anything was possible. Moreover, he had confirmed with the system before that in the manga content published by "Gosho Aoyama" to the public, that kind of mysterious power that science couldn't explain would not be exposed, or rather, wouldn't be placed openly on the table. After all, no matter how scientific Conan tried to be, it was still a mystery and romance series in name, not a hot-blooded battle series.
In this way, as long as it involved scenes of Gojo Satoru using cursed energy or system props, they would be invisibly erased. The readers in the parallel world would also find it hard to notice that Kuno Nozomu's disappearance was actually Gojo Satoru's self-directed script; instead, they would argue endlessly over his whereabouts, constantly increasing exposure and discussion.
At the same time, if he reunited with the group of five under other identities in the future, just in case he was recognized, there would be some room for a buffer.
But now...
"They will only remember that I was blown into pieces and am dead thoroughly... This makes it even harder to explain if I want to 'resurrect' in the future."
Gojo Satoru traced the manga pages of the latest special chapter of the Police Academy Arc in the air with his finger.
From the beginning, where Morofushi Hiromitsu had an unbelievable expression upon hearing about Nozomu's death, to the end, where Furuya Rei swore to seek revenge even to the end of hell with a highly impactful close-up... The words "Kuno Nozomu is dead" were practically engraved firmly in the hearts of all readers.
Regarding the death of the vest, the reaction of the group of five was more intense than Gojo Satoru had anticipated, which also made his mood more complicated. If he exposed his vest himself one day in the future... what would happen to those five people? Leaving aside whether they would believe it or not, the blackened version of little Rei not shooting him directly would already be the best outcome.
"It's over." Gojo Satoru covered his face, "This time I'll really be torn apart into five pieces."
[Host, with your strength, they definitely can't beat you.] The system said seriously, [And it should be 'torn apart by five people,' not 'torn apart by five horses,' right?]
"Stop telling cold jokes at this time! It's very scary, okay?!"
After complaining about the system, Gojo Satoru turned to contact a certain AI double who was waiting to be recalled by the Time and Space Administration, "And also, Shiro, the script I gave you was for a big villain wearing a mask, that's right, but why did you choose a crow, an element that makes people think of the organization at first glance? And the tone of speaking in those two videos could easily make them suspect Kaiser, right?"
Shiro's voice carried a hint of innocence: [I thought the host's purpose was to get more impression points when meeting Bourbon and Scotch in the organization in the future, so I designed it this way on purpose.]
"Hey, hey, don't treat people like a perpetual motion machine!"
When planning at the beginning, Gojo Satoru didn't want to pin the blame on "Kaiser." Instead, he planned to create a bomb maniac out of thin air, similar to Plamya from "The Bride of Halloween." Only at moments when he needed to direct certain events would this character actively appear in the police's field of vision.
The system helped out, saying: [Anyway, the host's organization vest automatically wears a 'villain aura.' If you don't do more bad things that only villains would do, wouldn't it be a waste of the buff?]
Shiro agreed: [Exactly, don't humans often say things like 'hate lasts longer than love'? If the host is remembered with hatred by Bourbon and the others, the impression points will definitely not be low!]
"You two... are you sure I took a role-playing system and not an evil villain system?"
However, speaking of impression points, Gojo Satoru's gaze also shifted to the panel.
[Red Faction Impression Points: 54,500
Sources: Akai Shuichi, Kuroba Toichi, Kuroba Chikage, Kuroba Kaito, Nakamori Aoko, Furuya Rei, Morofushi Hiromitsu, Date Wataru, Matsuda Jinpei, Hagiwara Kenji, Onizuka Hachizo, Kudo Shinichi, Mori Ran]
[Black Faction Impression Points: 74,700
Sources: Gin, Vodka, Karasuma Renya, Vermouth, Calvados, Tequila, Rum, Curacao, Pinga, Korn, Chianti, Miyano Shiho (not yet defected)]
[Popularity Value: 91 million ↑↑↑]
The current impression points had increased by nearly thirty thousand points at once compared to what he saw last time, clearly affected by the vest's exit. Counting the harvest from the half year in the police academy, the impression points he gained from the group of five were indeed considerable, getting closer and closer to the goal of one hundred thousand points.
The system's tone was excited: [Not just impression points, but the popularity value is also growing explosively! It looks like it will break through the one hundred million mark soon! Able to knife characters and attract fans at the same time, as expected of the script the host designed himself.]
Facing this small wave of flattery, the expression Gojo Satoru showed wasn't as happy as the system imagined.
[What's wrong, Host?] The system was puzzled, [Wasn't the vest's exit very wonderful? The effect was also good, I thought you would be very satisfied.]
"The concepts of temporary disappearance and complete death are entirely different." Gojo Satoru murmured softly.
If it weren't for the vest card expiring on Halloween day, he wouldn't have been in such a hurry to let "Kuno Nozomu" go offline. In his initial plan, Hagiwara's death incident was the breakthrough point for the vest to go offline reasonably. But considering letting the vest die in an accident or be killed by an unknown small character was not only perfunctory but also really annoying. Furthermore, if he died simply to protect Hagiwara alone, the other party might carry a huge psychological burden due to guilt.
After thinking back and forth, Gojo Satoru finally chose to create a brilliant drama, making "another version of himself" disappear with his own hands. The observation deck of the Ikebukuro skyscraper was very suitable for watching fireworks, and also very suitable for saying goodbye.
To make sure things went perfectly, he even calculated all the details and let the system test the accuracy of the plan. The dismantling speed of the Shinjuku group, the reaction speed of the police, the evacuation time of the crowd in Ikebukuro... As long as one link among them went wrong, it would be hard to achieve the goal in the plan. Fortunately, with the help of Shiro and Tama, two AIs, and the system secretly disrupting the police signal, everything developed very smoothly. If the plan failed or there was a risk of letting others get heavily injured, he would implement Plan B, though the effect would be less than ideal.
Although some unexpected changes occurred, overall, it was no different from the scene he wanted to achieve.
"But... 'Nozomu' is already dead."
The bond between him and the other five people might also be broken because of this.
In the process of implementing the plan, to pretend to be completely unaware, Gojo Satoru had stayed fully immersed in the vest's emotions all along, immersing himself to a bit of an excessive degree—even the revolving lantern that flashed a few seconds before the explosion was from the heart. After waking up from the pure white room, his mind went blank for quite a while before he reacted to his current identity.
He was the head of the Gojo family, he was Kaiser wine of the dark organization, he was the host accepting the system's role-playing task... but he was no longer Kuno Nozomu of the police academy group of six.
The white-haired, blue-eyed youth lowered his eyes, filled with mixed feelings. This sense of loss was also the exact reason why he would call Gin. Just like hoping to have friends around when sick.
The system found it hard to understand how complex human beings were, and could only speak to comfort him: [Even if the vest wasn't manually damaged, it would automatically disappear upon expiration, the host doesn't need to mind it. Moreover, if Furuya Rei and the others believe that 'Kaiser' planned this incident and caused 'Kuno Nozomu's' death, it will only make it easier for the host to obtain impression points until reaching the critical point.]
[If the host is worried that your identity will be exposed and popularity value will drop because of this, there's no need. After all, according to the regulations from above, the popularity value already obtained will not fluctuate, just like impression points. Even if there are readers who unfollow and lash back at the host, the host's popularity value won't be affected in the slightest.]
[So, whether it's the red faction or the black faction vest, the host can manage them with peace of mind without any worries.]
[However, in order not to let too many changes happen to the known plot, it is still recommended that the host temporarily not expose your multiple identities.]
"Ah, you're thinking too much, I wasn't worried about the popularity value at all..." Gojo Satoru responded first, then realized something, "Wait... speaking of which, exactly how many settings do you have that you haven't mentioned to me?"
Leaving aside the popularity value, the specific duration of the vest card wasn't explained clearly by the system before either. Is this some kind of 'currently available information' that only appears in animation transitions?
The system obviously froze for a moment, then coughed guiltily: [Well, you didn't ask either.]
[...This trick again, you basically only say it when you think of it, right?]
The system said righteously with a thick face: [Host, quickly cheer up and work hard to sign a contract with the Time and Space Administration early! Ten billion popularity value is waiting for us not far ahead—]
Gojo Satoru shook his head, "You guy."
He raised his eyes, looking at the night view of Tokyo outside the window. The neon lights of Halloween were still flashing, and the cheering crowd was still noisy, as if nothing had changed. But he knew that for those five people, the world was already different.
"...Forget it." He finally whispered, "Let it be."
Instead of leaving a shred of hope in the hearts of those few people, it was better to let Kuno Nozomu disappear completely from their world. Clearly from the beginning, his purpose in entering the police academy and deliberately getting close to them was just to get impression points and popularity value... Until the end, there wasn't much of a difference. It just added some memories and emotions worth missing, nothing more. Whether it was death or leaving, it was originally a plain and ordinary matter.
—In the final analysis, their paths were completely different.
During these years Gojo Satoru spent in the organization, even if he could calmly say words like "never killed the innocent," his hands had already been stained with countless amounts of blood, and it wasn't out of any undercover necessity. This wasn't a righteous act that the group of five, as police officers, could understand, but a murderous behavior no different from criminals. In their eyes, "Kaiser" should be put in a pair of silver handcuffs and thrown into prison to squat for a few hundred years.
Moreover, even if the vest "Kuno Nozomu" could survive all along, it was impossible for Gojo Satoru to truly work hard as a police officer. The most important point lay in the fact that he didn't think the current legal system was reasonable enough. Compared to letting some unforgivable guys go to prison, Gojo Satoru agreed more with using education to change minds, or simply executing them with violence.
The group of five walked on the bright path, while he walked in the shadows... The two had no need to intersect in the first place.
At this time, the system seemed to notice something and asked: [Does the host want to cut ties completely with the identity of 'Kuno Nozomu' and not reveal the truth to the group of five?]
"Yeah... probably something like that." Gojo Satoru smiled, his tone carrying a hint of relief.
[But, if they slowly find out by themselves in the future...] The system hesitated, [Facing their suspicion, what should the host do?]
"If I don't admit it, they won't have evidence either." The white-haired youth spread his hands, "I, Gojo Satoru, don't know any Kuno Nozomu."
[That's true... But what if someone questions the host face to face, are you sure you can hide it?]
Gojo Satoru blinked his blue eyes: "About this~ System, do you think I'm cute like this?"
[S-Still quite cute... Wait a minute, please don't take the opportunity to change the subject, Host!]
"Hehe~ Since you also think it's cute, everyone should be the same, right." Gojo Satoru said with a smile, "In case it's discovered, just act cute and beg for forgiveness."
And apologize properly along the way—if that day really comes.
[What... Host is indeed very terrible!]
Gojo Satoru thought the system was making trouble out of nothing.
"Didn't you tell me to cheer up?"
The system hummed, [Directing a script to make friends sad, and wanting to use acting cute to get away with it in the end? Simply a bastard!]
Gojo Satoru: "...Well, it's true when you put it that way."
[Then, what does the host want to do in the future?]
"What else can I do?" Gojo Satoru stretched, "Of course continue acting."
Putting on a strange identity in front of familiar friends was like dancing on the edge of a knife, but it was also exceptionally expectant.
"After all—"
He curled his lips, a flash of cunning light appearing deep in his eyes.
"I am a guy who is 'bad to death' after all."