Haruta drifted into the Black Market.
Black Market was the black market of Kivotos, where most illegal transactions took place, along with banned goods and discontinued items.
"? What is that? Was there a boy in Kivotos?"
"No? That's the first time I've seen that too."
"Huh? Then what is he?"
"Seriously?"
"And he's even young. Wouldn't he sell for a lot?"
"Yeah! Good idea. Let's sell him."
He couldn't hear anything. Someone had clearly said something, but what was it?
His arms had no feeling. His whole body was numb.
Something must have happened. It felt like some emotion in a corner of his heart had vanished.
Something had been there, something that seemed to hate the whole world. It felt like it was gone now.
"None of that matters... It hurts too much. I'm tired. I want to rest...."
"Hey! You there!"
He heard something, but it was hard to make out.
"Hey! Are you ignoring me!?"
The thug pointed a gun at him and fired one shot.
In that instant, he had the strange sensation that the world had slowed down.
Then he felt something ignite near his heart.
His arm turned red at terrifying speed, and his body was gradually dyed crimson.
"Hey, hey, what the hell is wrong with him?"
"How would I know? What is that?"
In the depths of his unconsciousness, Haruta remembered the life he had lived before.
He had been betrayed by a close friend and fallen into the abyss.
A girlfriend? He had never had one. The woman who had been his girlfriend didn't love him at all; she had only been after the insurance money he supposedly had.
But he didn't have any insurance money. She had found out he was an orphan and approached him, thinking she could get his parents' insurance payout. What a piece of trash.
Ah. They were the same. That vile girl named Mika who had planted hope in him had probably just been trying to use him too.
"They're all the same. All the same. Just trash trying to use me."
"What is he even saying?"
"How would I know? lol"
"Anyway, we just need to take the kid from the client, right?"
"Hey! You there, kid!"
"Come with your big sisters for a bit!"
"? Who are you?"
"What? His voice?"
"You think the two of you can beat me right now?"
"What is he talking about?"
"Hah... seriously, what is this brat even saying?"
In an instant, Haruta's figure vanished.
"Huh? Where'd the kid go?"
"Damn it, you scared him off!"
"Ah, damn it. I thought we might actually make some money today..."
Crash
Haruta had a sword in his hand.
The blade was steeped in something sinister. Blood poured from the hand gripping it.
The sword was perfectly honed, and Haruta himself was so sharp with killing intent it was almost visible. He looked like he might explode at any second.
Haruta attacked with the force of someone intent on cutting down everything in sight.
Whoosh!
With the sound of air being split apart, an actual slash flew out. It struck both thugs square in the stomach.
Maybe because they had halos, they didn't die. But even if they didn't die, the two of them simultaneously lost consciousness, feeling as if their bodies had been cut in half.
And when Haruta came to, he found himself collapsed in an empty alley.
"Yeah. Those damn bastards did this to me. I'll make them pay, no matter what."
His twisted pain and fear turned him into a monster.
Two years later.
------------------------------------------
"Stop... I'm scared of losing myself... Please, please, stop..."
He still had a good heart left in him. Even as he was becoming a monster, even as he thrashed in despair, that tiny shred of goodness remained deep inside his heart, sustaining him.
Thanks to that, he managed to stop himself from becoming a monster completely. He left the Black Market, passed through Abydos, and headed for Gehenna, one of the three great academies.
Because he knew the story, he headed for Gehenna.
Cough!
When he looked at his hand after coughing, he saw blood on it.
The blood was an unsettling mix of black and red.
It was the result of the experiments from the orphanage he never wanted to remember.
He didn't know what happened to the other children who were there. He didn't want to know.
While passing through Abydos, he saw a man wearing a black suit from head to toe.
White light spilled from the man's face, and that light made him look like he was smiling.
Haruta knew exactly who he was.
The Blue Archive villain, Gematria's Black Suit.
"Who are you?"
"Hmm. It may be rude to say this on our first meeting, but it seems you are also a stranger from another world."
"? How do you know that? Black Suit?"
"Black Suit? I suppose that's a name that refers to me. However, I don't believe I have given you any information about myself. And yet, why do you look as though you know me?"
"How could I not know? I even know what organization you're with."
"Hmm. Then I suppose you also know my purpose, incomprehensible being from another world."
"Your purpose is probably two things, right?"
Haruta knew the entire Blue Archive story. No, he loved it that much. He had played Blue Archive right up until the moment before he died, so that much was obvious.
"One is recruiting me into Gematria."
"Correct. And you said there was a second purpose as well? That is also correct."
"Yeah. You were probably planning to use me for research or something, to achieve some lofty ideal."
"Kukuku. You know very well. Truly impressive."
"Hah... I don't want to hear your honeyed words."
"Then let's get to the point. Come to Gematria."
"What's in it for me?"
"To achieve mystery, fear, and sublimity with us! To become a higher existence, won't you join us?"
"What, you want me to say something like, 'Sure, I'll become Gematria'? But I don't want to work under anyone."
"Not at all. We all stand on equal footing. There is no such thing as who is above or below whom."
"Well, that sounds great if you just listen to the words. But right now I have something I need to do immediately. And if necessary, I'll stand on your side. So for now, take a number and wait your turn."
"Kukuku. May I take that as a sign of goodwill?"
"Think whatever you want."
"Kukuku. Then I shall take my leave."
Then, before long, his body began to turn into smoke and disappear.
"Until our next meeting, then. We shall meet again."
----------------------
"So, did you meet him?"
"Of course."
"And your impression?"
"If things go well, no, perhaps he could become a proper member of Gematria."
Oh false god, sin of wrath.
Show us your power.
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