My name is Gongja. Shin Gongja. It was the name my father gave me so I could become someone greater than Confucius.
That thing coughed up tomatoes with a keck. There were five in total.
I knocked four of them away with the metal bar and one with my back. Thanks to that, I minimized the damage, but a little bit of tomato-splattered flesh on my leg still melted away.
The back that directly struck the tomatoes didn’t melt. ...Looks like not every tomato is acidic.
Maybe that’s why I feel sorry for my father every time I think of my name.
Flesh. The thing was tearing off its own flesh and throwing it. I kept batting away the pieces flying toward me.
So much for becoming great like Confucius. I was just out here slicing up monster tomatoes...
"Kehk!! Devil Hunterrrrr!!!!!"
Suddenly, the thing let out a monstrous scream. Then it shoved something like tentacles or stems—whatever, I decided to call them tentacles for now—deep into its own body and pulled out a huge mass of tomatoes.
Looks like it planned to hold those carefully and throw them all at once.
"That’s dangerous."
The thing alternated between tearing off flesh from the outer layer and the inner layer.
The outer layer wasn’t a problem. It was just tasty tomatoes. But the inner layer... meaning roughly around the heart... was a huge problem, because that part had strong acidity.
Fwapapapapak!!
Once it was ready, the thing hurled all the tomatoes held by its tentacles at once.
"Damn it... you’re going after me alone?"
Every single one of them was aimed at me.
Tsk. I clicked my tongue and gripped the metal bar tightly. Then I focused on the tomatoes flying toward me.
They were coming in lazy arcs through the air.
Which meant I had plenty of time to dodge.
"Hup!"
I threw my body hard toward the side where the tomatoes weren’t coming from.
Splat, splat, splat!
Thanks to that, the countless tomatoes hugged the ground instead of me.
Luckily, I controlled my strength well enough that I didn’t roll across the ground. I landed cleanly, scraping only the floor with my feet.
The thing must have been enraged by my movement, because it started tearing off flesh like a madman and throwing it at me with its tentacles.
But there was no way even one of them would hit me.
"So light... My legs are lighter than when I used to use them!"
I spent a moment moving my legs around, playing with the thing, then ran straight at it.
Time to finish this. I’d even gotten to use my legs properly right before dying.
The thing was so startled by my movement that it flung flesh at me wildly.
I could have dodged every last one of them, but I ran forward while deliberately striking and tearing them apart with the metal bar.
Now the distance between us was about five meters. The thing gave up on throwing tomatoes and attacked with its tentacles instead.
Pshk, rip!
I tore the tentacle apart with the metal bar.
"K, kekeeeek!!! You damn Devil Hunter bastard!!!!!"
The thing writhed in pain.
Perfect opening.
Taking advantage of the fact that its mind had completely gone blank, I climbed up the tentacle and raised the metal bar over my head.
Then I swung down with all my strength.
Bwooom!!
A thunderous impact rang out.
"Keeeeeaaaaaak!!!!!!!!!"
A scream rang out too.
My ears hurt.
So I aimed the sharp edge of the metal bar at the thing’s body.
There was actually nothing to aim for. Compared to the size of the bar, the target was huge. So I just stabbed down with all my strength.
Thwunk!
The damage went in deep enough. I could tell because its scream got even louder.
But it was still far from dead. So to close that distance, I pulled the bar out.
Pak!
And stabbed again.
Puk!
I repeated it.
Pak! Puk! Pak! Puk! Pak! Puk!
Of course, I kept changing the spot each time.
Blood poured from its wounds like a burst dam. Its innards started showing.
Innards, yes, innards! The moment I saw those colorful guts, I couldn’t hide my grin and drove the bar into the torn-open flesh again and again.
Thanks to that, its flesh tore apart and its innards started spilling out.
The screams began to thin.
Its voice began to thin too.
The tentacles lost strength and started withering.
On the other hand, the innards kept pouring out with vigor.
And the blood, flowing like rain, was impossible to ignore.
After about three minutes of bleeding out guts and blood, the tomato shell finally went limp. That probably meant the thing was dead.
"Haa... haa..."
My breath came rushing out. No matter how lively my legs felt, this was basically the first real exercise and movement I’d had in nearly half a year. If I had too much stamina, that would be weird...
"...Well, whatever. It’s over now anyway."
In any case, I prayed for my vision to change and for the afterlife to appear. No, honestly, if I saw nothing and everything just ended, that would be fine too.
...
...
...
"...What. Why isn’t it changing?"
But no matter how long I waited, my vision didn’t change.
My thoughts didn’t stop either.
I could feel my strength draining away, but that was all.
"What the hell is this?"
I tried to think through this incomprehensible situation, but no matter how hard I tried, no answer came.
So I decided to just wait endlessly.
Yes, I was going to wait.
"Excuse me."
If someone hadn’t put a hand on my shoulder and spoken.
I turned at the sensation on my shoulder and the voice behind me.
Then I saw a man staring at me with a flat expression.
He was a handsome guy with his hair tied back. He wore a neat suit, and a Japanese sword was strapped to his back.
Also, he had a pack of cigarettes in his hand.
"Um... did you do this?"
While I was staring at the man, a woman spoke to me.
She was wearing an eyepatch over her right eye.
...Wait. I know these people.
I answered her on reflex, saying yes.
Then her face, which had just been full of playfulness and curiosity, shifted into something more serious.
The man didn’t change expression at my answer, but he did seem a little surprised. He quickly put out the cigarette he’d been smoking and headed for a nearby public phone booth.
"..."
I looked at them for a moment and thought hard.
"Tomatoes... a man with a Japanese sword... a woman with an eyepatch..."
-A devil has escaped!
"A devil..."
No way.
I hurriedly grabbed the woman by the shoulders and shook her as I asked, "W-what year is it right now? And where am I?"
The woman looked flustered by my behavior, but soon smiled and said, "Japan, 1997."
As the impossible started becoming reality, I asked again just in case.
"What’s your name?"
"Hmm... are you hitting on me the moment you see me? Well, you’re not bad, so I’ll tell you. Himeno."
"Is that guy Aki???"
"Yep. Aki. My buddy."
I backed away after hearing that much. I couldn’t accept it. I wanted this to be a dream...
If it was a dream, that would be fine. If it was a dream, anything would be fine!
But if it wasn’t? Then that would mean I had ended up inside Chainsaw Man, that completely unhinged dark-fantasy manga where people die at the drop of a hat.
"Fuck, what the hell! Damn it!"
"Shibaru? Are you Korean?"
"No... no, this can’t be right... ugh!!"
Then suddenly my head started spinning. ...Come to think of it, I’d already suffered a fatal injury earlier, with my spine showing, so collapsing now would actually be normal.
I felt my consciousness blur as I saw Aki rushing over from far away and Himeno checking my condition while holding my head and back.
If my consciousness cut out completely, would I die? ...In this world, maybe dying would actually be better...
What, Shin Gongja, you’ve got regrets? Even after putting your neck on the line like that?
.....
.....I don’t know. I don’t know anything. How would I know? My head’s already a mess, so how am I supposed to know that?
...For now, I just want all of this to be a dream.
No, I just want everything I’ve gone through recently to be a dream.
...If I opened my eyes again, my parents would be there to welcome me, and the dojo master would call, urging me to come practice... Ah, stop with the emotional bait already.
Anyway, I wanted all of this to be a dream...
If it wasn’t a dream?
.....I don’t know. The me from then can deal with it.
That was as far as I got before I completely lost consciousness.
2
"Aki. What should we do with this guy?"
Himeno said as she held up Gongja, who had completely lost consciousness.
She had grown somewhat fond of Gongja.
According to what they’d heard from Public Safety, the Tomato Devil had been mismanaged and had drunk a massive amount of blood, leaving it absurdly powerful despite still being the Tomato Devil.
Of course, it was still a tomato. No matter how much blood it drank, if there were two of them—no, if they were Devil Hunters—they could probably kill it with some difficulty.
But the reality was that it was too much for an ordinary person with no contract and no proper weapon to kill.
And yet Gongja had done it. Carrying all those assumptions on his back!
So, though it was a thoroughly selfish thought, it was only natural that Gongja would take up a place in Himeno’s mind as someone who might fight in Aki’s stead.
"For now... I think we should report to Public Safety that someone took down the Tomato Devil, then take him to the hospital."
Aki said as he took Gongja from her.
For the record, Aki had also taken an interest in Gongja for the same reason Himeno had.
They headed for the hospital while checking Gongja’s condition.
3
"I can really just pick anything?"
"Yeah. Of course."
The woman said this to the man wearing only a jacket. The man then grabbed instant udon, hot bars, frozen karaage, triangular rice balls, and more... just snatching up food without restraint.
The woman watched him silently, then asked the large man to pay and left the convenience store.
After that, she slowly walked toward her destination.
And finally, she arrived at a certain place.
That place was a complete mess, with asphalt overturned, signs ripped away, and the remains of tomatoes scattered everywhere.
When she reached it, the woman stood blankly in place and quietly sniffed the air.
Then she remembered that smell.
After that, she smiled faintly, returned to the convenience store, and fed the man his udon.
The woman’s name was Makima. The man’s name was Denji.
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