Dressing room number 4 welcomed us with the smell of cheap hairspray, spilled energy drinks, and stale air.
Beyond the door, somewhere in the bowels of the Budokan, the fifty-thousand-strong crowd was still letting out a muffled roar, chanting "Ai" name. They were demanding an encore, unaware that their idol had just missed death by the thickness of a sheet of paper.
I dragged Takemichi inside, threw him onto the narrow leather sofa, and slammed the door, clicking the metal latch.
Marin slipped in right behind us. She was no longer clutching the lifesaving fabric of Sakamoto's threads to herself like a frightened mouse. Instead, her knuckles had turned white from how tightly she was gripping the heavy tailor's scissors.
The girl pressed her shoulder blades against the wall next to me, breathing heavily and constantly throwing hunted glances at the door. Her world of anime cosplay had definitively collapsed today.
— "Alright," — I leaned my back against the cold wall, feeling a dull, lingering pain begin to throb in my temples.
Magical exhaustion rolled over me in waves. The [Six Eyes] beneath the blindfold burned as if someone had poured sand into them.
— "We have ten minutes, maybe fifteen at most, before security or Director Saito start breaking down these doors."
I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at the guy huddled on the sofa.
— "You said you jumped through time one hundred and forty-seven times. You knew the date, the place, the time. Didn't you try to bring in the heavy artillery? Find someone strong to just kill the stalker before he attacked?"
Takemichi let out a sound like a stifled whimper. He raised absolutely dead eyes to me.
— "I tried..." — he whispered through dry lips. — "She survived..."
"Five times out of a hundred and forty-seven. But every time when Ai lived... the world was destroyed in an even more terrifying way. The timeline... it's like it's alive. It resists."
Marin held her breath. I frowned.
— "Explain."
— "One time, I didn't do anything at all," — Takemichi grabbed his head, starting to shake. — "Some chubby guy with a mustache, a convenience store owner, just happened to be at the concert. He came with his wife and daughter. When the monster jumped, this old guy just... flicked a 500-yen coin. The coin pierced the creature's skull right through, like a sniper bullet. Ai survived."
I gasped mentally. «Taro Sakamoto. The legendary retired hitman was here on a family vacation. Holy crap.»
— "And what went wrong?" — I asked tensely.
— "The Bureau knows how to wait," — Takemichi chuckled bitterly. — "They killed her two months later, right at the start of her world tour. Right in the airport, in front of thousands of cameras. The people's despair was even stronger because they had believed in her invulnerability. The Fear Demon was born twice as large. Japan fell."
I gritted my teeth. Logical.
— "Another time, I flew to Korea," — the guy continued, swallowing his tears. — "I begged the head of their Hunter Association. An old man named Go Gun-Hee. He believed my words about the future. He flew in and smeared the monster across the stage with one hand. But... that woman, Makima... she didn't let him leave Japan. She sicked the entire Bureau on him. He fought like a lion, but died of exhaustion and wounds prematurely, in a foreign land. Korea lost its absolute pillar of defense, the Gates swallowed them, and then an ocean of magical beasts overwhelmed us too."
I closed my eyes. «Go Gun-Hee... One of the strongest S-Rank Hunters. Makima killed even him. The difficulty level of this world just breaks all conceivable limits.»
— "I even sold my soul," — Takemichi's voice broke into a hysterical sob.— "I joined the Public Safety Bureau myself. Became Makima's toy. Her dog. I thought if I was inside the system, I could protect Ai at the right moment. But Makima... she breaks your mind. In that timeline, she forced me to pull the trigger. I still remember the warmth of her blood on my hands..."
Marin cried out softly, covering her mouth with her hand, and recoiled from him.
— "But the worst was the hundred and fourth attempt," — Takemichi looked up, and his gaze was filled with primal terror. — "I managed to reach a certain Korean Hunter. His younger sister was a fan of Ai-chan, and she forced him to come to the concert. He was incredible. Pure darkness radiated from him. He tore the monster to pieces with his shadows in a split second. Ai was saved."
My heart skipped a beat. «Sung Jin-Woo. The Shadow Monarch. He was here?!»
— "But..." — Takemichi swallowed, tears streaming down his cheeks. — "Because he was here, in Tokyo... he didn't make it in time to save his sister. A Gate opened in Korea, right inside her school. They slaughtered everyone. Jin-Ah died. And that Hunter... he went mad from grief. His psyche broke. The sky over the world turned black, giant beings descended from the rifts... gods of destruction. And he just stood there and laughed, letting them burn this world to the ground."
A deathly silence hung in the dressing room. Only the roar of the stands beyond the wall served as a reminder that the world still existed.
Sung Jin-Woo, having lost his sister, did not become a savior. He broke, and the Monarchs destroyed the Earth. The butterfly effect in all its terrifying, sick glory.
Takemichi slowly rose from the sofa. A timid, desperate hope splashed in his eyes.
— "The scenario always corrected itself. At any cost. If someone strong interfered, the world punished them and destroyed everything. But today... you appeared."
He took an unsteady step toward me.
— "I never saw you in the future. You don't have the magic of Guild Hunters. Your power is different, it's... wrong. You saved her, and no one died. The sky didn't turn black. Makima didn't get her weapon. You are a glitch. An error in the Matrix that saved us."
Marin exhaled loudly, lowering her hands with the scissors. She was shaking all over.
— "So..." — she swallowed and looked at me with eyes wide with fear.
— "So we just crossed a government witch who breaks countries, and broke the destiny of the end of the world? Gojo-kun... I think we need a better plan than just sewing a Kevlar corset."
I opened my mouth to reply with my trademark, arrogant smirk and say that we only have one plan — survive, level up my System, and beat the crap out of Monarchs and Demons, but I didn't get the chance.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The knock on the door was light, rhythmic, and completely unlike the sound of enraged security breaking in.
— "Satoru-kun? Marin-chan? Are you in there?" — a sweet, ringing, and painfully familiar voice called out from behind the door.
Marin flinched so hard she almost dropped her scissors. I straightened up, shaking off the numbness from the horror I had just heard, and unlocked the latch.
The door swung open. Ai Hoshino fluttered into the dressing room like a ray of sunlight into a dusty basement.
— "Yahoo!" — she made a cute "V" sign with her fingers and winked.
Her stage dress was stained with dust, and a scratch from a piece of stage debris was red on her cheek, but her smile was simply dazzling.
The perfect idol, as if there hadn't been an assassination attempt just three minutes ago.
— "Director Saito is tearing the place apart out there, thinking it was unauthorized special effects from our competitors! And I told him I needed to change and ran away to find you guys!"
Marin froze with her mouth agape. Takemichi stared wide-eyed at the living legend who had just been saved from death.
And I looked at Ai through the Six Eyes.
She was smiling, but her aura was like an overtightened guitar string, ready to snap at any second.
Her heart was pounding like a trapped bird — two hundred beats a minute.
Her perfect, radiant smile was an impenetrable mask, glued to her face purely out of professionalism.
— "Ai-chan!" — Marin was the first to unfreeze and rushed toward her. — "You're hurt! Oh my god, your cheek..."
— "It's nothing!" — Ai laughed brightly, waving it off. — "Did you see how I hit that high note on the chorus? And Satoru-kun... wow! Your special effects were just out of this world! We made such a cool team..."
She tried to take a step further into the room, but her knees suddenly gave way.
The adrenaline that had kept her on her feet all this time sharply faded.
I managed to catch her by the elbow a second before she collapsed onto the tiled floor.
— "Stop it," — I said quietly, looking down at her. — "There are no cameras here."
Ai froze. Her fingers gripped the sleeve of my jacket in a death grip.
She slowly looked up at me, and for the first time tonight, her signature stars dimmed, giving way to genuine, human fear.
— "You're a terrifying person, Satoru-kun," — she whispered, and her perfect smile faltered, becoming slightly crooked, but sincere. Without the fake sweetness. — "I can't even pretend around you."
She took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to calm the violent trembling in her body, and leaned heavily on my arm.
— "Thank you," — she said simply. — "I thought... I really thought I was going to die out there on the stage. But you promised to be my shield. Liars usually don't keep promises like that. But you did."
— "I'm not a liar," — I smirked faintly, adjusting my slipped blindfold. — "I'm just a very expensive bodyguard. And speaking of security..."
I glanced around the dressing room, looked at Takemichi, then back at Ai. A plan was quickly forming in my head.
Makima is still out there somewhere. The Bureau isn't sleeping. Neither are the stalkers.
— "So, listen up, Little Star. The contract is changing. Since you're being hunted by government witches and crazy fans, you can't be left alone for a single second. You're moving in with me. You'll be under round-the-clock protection."
Ai fluttered her eyelashes, her cheeks turning slightly pink.
— "R-really? Living together?" — she cutely pressed her fingers to her lips. — "And when should I move my things? I can do it today! I do have three closets full of clothes and a collection of plushies, but I'll hardly take up any space! I promise!"
My brain, working at terminal velocity, suddenly threw a critical error.
«Move her things to my place... Wait.»
An image of my living quarters appeared in my mind's eye: a cramped closet in Marin's apartment, a creaky futon on the floor, rolls of fabric, the smell of hot glue, and a creepy mannequin in the corner that I hung my jacket on at night.
Where the hell was I going to house a superstar making millions?!
— "Um..." — I coughed, feeling the "Strongest's" composure crack. — "You know, I was thinking... For the sake of secrecy, it would be better if I moved in with you. My... uh... secret base is.... currently undergoing renovations! Yes."
— "Yay!" — Ai beamed, instantly perking up. — "The agency has a great penthouse downtown! It has awesome security and a huge guest room! We can play video games in the evenings!"
— "HEY!" — Marin's indignant squeak pierced the idyll. The cosplayer stood with her hands on her hips, drilling me with an incredibly offended glare. Her pink eyes shot lightning.
— "What do you mean, 'moved in with her'?! Gojo-kun, are you abandoning me?! Trading my modest, cozy closet for luxury apartments?! You traitor! You grump!"
— "Don't grumble, Cinderella," — I chuckled and patted Marin on the head, ruffling her blonde hair. — "Someone has to fix my armor. I'll drop by for fittings. And anyway, this is to save the world, by the way."
— "Keep making excuses," — Marin pouted, but surrendered under my gaze and crossed her arms. — "Fine. But keep in mind, I'm going to come visit and make sure you're not slacking off!"
— "Then it's a deal!" — Ai clapped her hands happily, instantly defusing the tension. Her eyes sparkled again. — "And now, since we're all a team, let's go celebrate! I'm so hungry after that... well, assassination attempt! I want grilled meat! I deserve the most expensive marbled beef!"
— "Yakiniku!" — Marin's eyes instantly lit up, and her resentment immediately took a backseat (food had always been her weakness). — "I know a great private place in Shinjuku, reporters definitely won't go there! Satoru-kun, you're paying, right, as our new boss?"
I was about to protest that A5 beef for three (and one Takemichi) would eat up half my fee, but I didn't get the chance to fire back another witty remark.
The space before my eyes suddenly cracked, filling with the blinding golden light of a System window.
[ SCENARIO QUEST REWARD CALCULATION ]
[ Killed: Mutated Possession Demon (Class: Special). ]
[ Warning: You have attracted the attention of the Control Devil (Makima). ]
[ Reward 1: +5% to Synchronization. Current progress: 70%. ]
[ Reward 2: Skill unlocked: "Infinity (Active Phase II) - Automatic Threat Filtering". ]
[ Reward 3: "System Shop" unlocked (Rank: Novice). ]
[ Dropped Loot: Shard of the Control Chain (Epic Item). ]
[ WARNING! CRITICAL VESSEL COMPATIBILITY ERROR! ]
The world around me blinked. Sound vanished. The Six Eyes suddenly flared with such wild, uncontrollable power that it felt like molten lead had been poured into my skull.
[ Soul Synchronization:70%.(Power Level: Special Grade) ]
[ Physical Body Level (Hunter System): 12 ]
[ Analysis: Vessel is too weak to passively maintain the "Infinity" technique. Mana channels cannot withstand the load! Risk of body destruction — 99%! ]
— "Satoru-kun?" — Ai's voice reached me as if through a thick layer of water.
I recoiled from her, slamming my back hard against the wall. The room spun in a wild kaleidoscope of colors.
I tried to raise my hand to swipe away the red system window, but my muscles cramped. My throat burned.
I broke into a horrific coughing fit, and thick, dark blood splattered onto the white tiled floor.
— "Gojo-kun!!" — Marin screamed frantically, rushing toward me with outstretched arms.
I slid down the wall to the floor, clutching my mouth with my hand. Blood oozed through my fingers, dripping onto my dark blue jacket.
My head was splitting, as if someone was trying to cram the entire volume of the universe's information into my human brain.
I was Gojo Satoru at 70%. My soul was the soul of a God. But I was still a damn low-level Hunter.
My "pitcher" was cracking under the pressure of an ocean.
— "Don't touch him!!" — Takemichi suddenly barked, jumping up from the sofa and blocking Marin and Ai's path. — "It's mana poisoning! His aura is unstable right now, if you touch him — it will tear you apart or burn you to the bone!"
I breathed heavily, trying to focus my vision.
«System... disable... passive... skill...» — I wheezed mentally, tasting iron on my tongue.
[ Executing...
Skill "Automatic Threat Filtering" forced into sleep mode.]
[ Vessel condition stabilizing. Urgent Hunter Level increase required. ]
The suffocating pressure began to slowly recede, leaving behind a terrifying, ringing weakness.
I wiped my bloody lips with the back of my hand and looked up with a cloudy gaze. Marin was crying, frozen a step away from me, held back by Takemichi.
Ai stood with her hands pressed to her chest, pale as a sheet, and pure, unadulterated horror splashed in her eyes.
They had just realized that their invincible hero was made of flesh and blood. And that flesh could die.
— "Yeah," — I smirked crookedly, leaning the back of my head against the wall and spitting blood. — "It seems... A5 beef is canceled for today. Girls... I need to get into a dungeon. Urgently."