1
The Future Devil had strange horns on its head and an eyeball embedded in a hole in its stomach. At first glance, it looked pretty grotesque.
But.
"Future rules~! Future rules~!"
It was flopping around while chanting "Future rules," so I couldn’t feel the slightest bit of revulsion looking at it.
... Funny, maybe. That was about it.
I frowned for a moment and stared at it, then decided I couldn’t waste any more time and said exactly what Aki had said in the original.
"I came here to make a contract with you. Tell me what you want from me."
I’d watched the flashback scenes two or three times because they hit so hard, and I never thought that would come in handy like this.
"... Oho~!"
At my words, the Future Devil stopped flopping around and looked at me for about a second before saying,
"You! Your future looks promising!"
That bastard... snooping through someone else’s past without permission...
When it noticed my expression darken because it had read my past, it waved a hand to itself and said,
"Whatever! Show me your future~"
The moment it started talking, I shoved my head into its stomach. I already knew how to do it, because it was obviously about to explain the method for showing it my future.
The Future Devil looked briefly flustered when I folded my head in without saying a word, but soon focused on my future.
About two minutes later.
"Heh... Puhahahahahaha!!!!!"
It burst out laughing.
When I yanked my head back in surprise, it clutched its stomach and laughed even harder.
What the hell was wrong with it? Was my future really that funny?
As I backed away in confusion, it pointed at me and said,
"The contract is like this! All you have to do is let me live in your left eye. That’ll become your power."
When it finished speaking, I deliberately put on a face full of questions. I was curious what kind of future I had that made it set the same condition as someone whose future was to be killed by a family-like presence.
"You look like you’re thinking, ‘Is that all?’ That’s because you... heh... just thinking about it is funny. Anyway, in the future, you end up charming some incredible woman."
... What? In a world where only crazy women who try to kill the protagonist exist, what the hell did it just say?
"Want me to tell you who you charm?"
I nodded vigorously.
@
"..shi."
-What? The fuck?! Who am I charming???
"..ja shi?"
-Puhaha! Even you think that’s funny, huh? Anyway, I want to watch live as you charm that woman. Happy now? Can I go in?
"..ja shi!"
-No, fuck! Say it again! Hey! Hey! Don’t come in!!
"Gongja-ssi!"
"Ah, yes!"
When I answered, the man finally turned his face away and focused on driving again. He released the parking brake he’d been holding and said to me,
"We’re going to do some sightseeing in Tokyo for the first time in a while, then head back to Kyoto. So we probably won’t be meeting again, but mind if I ask you a few things?"
I rubbed the back of my neck a couple of times to loosen it up, then told him to go ahead and ask.
"You’re a person, right, Gongja-ssi?"
"... Isn’t that obvious?"
"Yeah, it should be obvious. But we couldn’t believe that obvious thing at all until you came out after making a contract with a devil, and that was the problem. Honestly, I still can’t quite believe it. But seeing you answer while risking your life, I guess I can’t not believe it."
"Are you joking right now... so, is that the only question?"
"Of course not~"
So you’re going back to Kyoto, huh? Fine. Let’s never meet again, like you said.
"What do you live for, Gongja-ssi?"
"... What do you mean?"
"As you know, the Public Safety Devil Hunters are a place where devils that have eaten a piece of the Gun Devil, or just have a high enough name value, gather. Because of that, it’s a place where you can’t survive without a certain kind of mentality or willpower."
I nodded.
"And that willpower is usually ‘I’m going to kill the Gun Devil.’ You know why, right? But you don’t seem like the type who’s thinking about grabbing the Gun Devil by the throat and beating it to death or anything like that."
I nodded again.
"Then why did you join Public Safety?"
"Because if I didn’t, I’d have been killed."
At my answer, the man laughed heartily. Then he asked,
"That’s it?"
I frowned at the question. What else was there besides trying to survive?
"Yes. That’s it."
The man didn’t ask me anything else. So I quietly looked at late-1990s Tokyo and sorted out my messy thoughts.
The car stopped in front of the Tokyo headquarters of the Devil Hunters—honestly, I don’t know exactly where it was, but that’s what it looked like from the situation. When the door opened, I got out and thanked them.
Then I followed the two hulking guys who had been waiting outside the car.
After walking about ten meters, something came flying at me. I reflexively caught it and checked what it was.
It was a cola. And the person who threw it was a man.
The man said,
"Gongja-kun! Like I said earlier, I still don’t know whether you’re really a fiend, a devil, or a human... but I’m rooting for you anyway. And while I’m at it, let me give you this too."
Once you set foot in Public Safety, you can’t survive unless you’re crazy, so hurry up and go nuts.
I let out a short laugh at his words and thanked him for that too. Then I followed the hulking guys again.
@
"Hello? You’re Shin Gongja, right? Nice to me-"
"Oh, shit! It’s that bitch!!"
"".....""
Oh, I’m fucked.
2
Exactly three minutes earlier, Gongja had followed the hulking guys into headquarters. Then he took an elevator, walked down a hallway, and stopped in front of the office occupied by someone pretty high up the chain.
The hulking guys opened the door and dragged Gongja into the office. That office belonged to someone named Makima.
Yes. The moment Gongja saw that high-ranking woman, he hurled a curse at her face: "You bitch!"
To be fair, Gongja wasn’t wrong. She was the biggest twist in Part 1 of Chainsaw Man, the final boss, and a textbook haraguro character: the Control Devil.
The problem was that he said it right to her face.
No matter how much of a final boss she was, and no matter how much of a bitch she was, cursing someone out to their face was definitely a bad idea. You never knew what kind of butterfly effect it might cause later.
But it would be hard to call Gongja careless or lacking caution.
Because he had,
-You’ll end up thoroughly charming the Control Devil someday.
-... Did I mess with her that much? Is that why she wants to kill me?
-No, you make her fall in love with you.
received such a shocking glimpse of his own future less than half a day ago.
Because of Gongja’s one line, Makima’s office turned icy. The hulking guys were too shocked to even make a sound, Gongja was busy clamping a hand over his own mouth and bowing his head, and Makima had never imagined she’d be cursed at to her face, so she couldn’t say anything either. It was only natural.
But before long, Makima regained her composure and said to Gongja,
"... Take this. It’s your ID. Since you made a contract with a devil, I’ve processed you as human for now. And I’ll introduce you to your buddy later. It hasn’t been decided yet. You’re such an unusual case."
She finished speaking, wiped away the faint sweat on her skin, and led Gongja away.
What she brought Gongja to was a car. One of the hulking guys who had followed them drove.
Makima put Gongja in the back seat, then got in beside him and said,
"The place you belong to is Special Division 1. And where we’re going now is to meet the person leading Special Division 1."
"Yes. I think I know who it is."
"Right. It should be him. He’s a veteran. And you’ll learn from him until your buddy is decided."
Makima finished speaking, closed the distance between them, and asked,
"Gongja-kun."
"Yes."
"How do you feel right now?"
"Not great. I think I know what it feels like to go on a company retreat with your boss after seeing it on the internet."
"...."
Makima was stunned. So she asked,
"Gongja-kun. Want to take a nap?"
"No thanks."
"That’s an order."
"I’m not sleepy."
"...."
After that, Makima said nothing else and stared blankly ahead.
"Um, could you move back a little? You’re making me uncomfortable."
"... Oh, okay."
She was extremely flustered.
@
Before long, the car reached the entrance to a cemetery. When they arrived, Makima led Gongja inside.
And walked without saying a word.
"That person is Gongja-kun’s superior, and the teacher who’ll be guiding you."
Until they stood behind one person.
"His name is-"
"Shh."
He cut Makima off. Then he asked a question.
"Shut up and answer my question."
The man raised one finger.
"What did you think when you saw a person die?"
"I could’ve ended up like that too."
He raised two fingers.
"Are your parents alive?"
"... They’re dead."
"Do you want revenge on the bastard who killed your parents?"
"Yes."
He raised three fingers.
"Are you on the side of humans or devils?"
"Humans."
He turned his head and said,
"Fifty points. That’s your score."
3
Afternoon. Makima’s office.
"My senpai got attacked by the Ball Devil~"
"This guy... lying..."
"... Shin Gongja... Shin Gongja... huh? What was that?"
4
My head is spinning.
I want to use violence. I want to drink blood.
But for some reason, I feel like I shouldn’t.
I don’t know.
So.
"... Who are you... gkh!!"
Pow!Thwack!Smack!Bam!
Violence killed the person.
He drank blood from the corpse.
For now, let’s drink blood.
People ran away.
The people who ran didn’t know who he was. But they could tell he was a fiend.
So they called him the Violence Fiend.
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