Chapter 70 Chapter 70 kamukura iz...
When a knife was held to his neck, Komaeda Nagito felt no emotion as he experienced the sensation of a foreign object against his skin. He even felt a little... well, not quite a little like laughing. He just felt that being held hostage by a thug wasn't a big deal and there was nothing to panic about.
He even had the leisure to wonder if his misfortune of being kidnapped by thugs was due to his luck in winning a free coupon in a TV shopping lottery.
Hmm, it feels like today's events are a little rather ordinary compared to the countless strokes of luck and misfortune he's experienced in his life.
However, the "luck of winning a shopping coupon" and the "misfortune of being robbed while shopping because of a free coupon" are both fair in every sense, and are quite normal.
After all, Komaeda Nagito's "luck" is just that kind of existence.
The luckier something is, the more unfortunate it tends to be afterward. And the more unfortunate the experience, the more astonishing the good fortune that follows.
While being held hostage by the thugs, Komaeda Nagito thought to himself as he casually glanced at the crowd around him.
The shoppers and mall staff all seemed quite startled, their faces showing panic. Even those who tried to appear calm betrayed their inner turmoil through subtle gestures like unconsciously clenching their clothes.
Determining the exact number of criminals was not a difficult task for Komaeda Nagito.
Within his line of sight, there were three thugs. One was acting openly, while the other two were mixed in with the crowd. Adding the person holding him hostage, there were four of them.
However, in a place he couldn't see while being held hostage... there shouldn't be anyone else there, right? After all, judging from the way the two thugs were secretly communicating with coded signals in the crowd, there shouldn't be anyone else mixed in with the crowd.
Knowing all this didn't seem to be of much use to Komaeda Nagito. It was just something he thought about to pass the time while he couldn't move freely, and... it was indeed too obvious, so Komaeda only needed to glance around once or twice to notice it, and his analysis of these things naturally popped into his mind.
So, after such misfortune as encountering a thug, what kind of good fortune awaits him?
Komaeda Nagito thought to himself that, based on his own experience, these thugs were probably going to get into trouble soon... However, given the density of the crowd attracted by the new opening promotion, it was possible that they might accidentally injure other customers.
A plane crashed, but he was the only one who survived... This kind of thing has happened before. So when his luck and misfortune came into play, it was quite possible that others would be accidentally injured or even killed.
So, today—
...The situation is alright?
As he pondered this, Komaeda Nagito's "luck" began to take effect. Although the exact process was unknown, the outcome was still within Komaeda Nagito's expectations.
So while everyone present was stunned by this sudden turn of events and wondered if the thug was just unlucky enough to be set up, Komaeda Nagito, who had escaped from the clutches of thugs countless times in his life, calmly straightened his collar and rubbed his neck—the feeling of having a knife to one's neck was still quite uncomfortable.
"Is it... over?"
"Ah... is that all?"
"That's not right! Two innocent bystanders were also hit!"
"Uh, their situation should be a little better than being sent to another world in a big truck?"
"It's not much better!"
"Has anyone called the police? And shouldn't we call an ambulance?"
After a few seconds of unexpected and tacit silence among the strangers, the shopping mall suddenly became lively again, just as tacitly.
Some called the police, some called ambulances, and some took out their phones to take photos or videos and post them on social media... In contrast, Komaeda Nagito, the only person who was taken hostage, remained unusually calm from beginning to end.
Well... does this cycle of good and bad luck surrounding the shopping center have to end here for now?
...Huh?
Who is that person?
Among the crowd were also many people who seemed indifferent. After several of the thugs fell one after another due to accidents, quite a few people actually planned to leave.
Tsukino and Chiya are among them.
Komaeda Nagito saw him.
After observing the situation for less than a minute, the black-haired boy, having confirmed that there were no problems, turned and left without looking back.
That hairstyle...and that look, plus the preparatory course uniform he's still wearing.
Is this person Wang Ma's friend from the preparatory course?
As someone who had conducted research out of curiosity about Ouma Shokichi's talent, Komaeda Nagito had an impression of Tsukino and Chiya's faces.
After all... this student in the preparatory course is the only friend that Wang Ma Xiaoji can currently identify.
No, or to be more precise.
Aside from the classmates who enrolled in Hope's Peak's undergraduate program, Tsukino and Chiya are the only people who can be investigated and have a continuous and unbroken connection with Ouma Shokichi.
This might even give the illusion that, before enrolling at Hope's Peak, Ouma Shokichi's only connection to this world was Tsukino and Chiya.
However, this is clearly unreasonable. How can a person live in the world without leaving any trace?
Therefore, Komaeda Nagito guessed that Ohma Shokichi was just too good at hiding the traces of his life and actions in this world... just like how he hid the things related to the "evil secret society" that he often mentioned.
In a sense, Tsukino and Chiya might be the key to investigating Ohma Kokichi. Komaeda Nagito had certainly investigated him, but he hadn't found any clues from Tsukino and Chiya... He didn't even know how the two had met, only that they had met about a year ago.
I never expected to run into him here today.
However... it doesn't matter.
Let's go buy some things for the gathering for our classmates first.
After all, Ohma didn't intend to reveal his past to the public—Komaeda Nagito clearly understood this, so he decisively gave up on continuing the investigation.
So when someone is blatantly told by Wang Ma, "That's right, you can all find him. If you have any questions, go find him," it really seems like a trap set by Wang Ma.
While it's true that for Komaeda Nagito, sometimes intentionally stepping into a trap isn't a big deal, firstly, this person had already disappeared during the chaos; secondly, he had indeed stopped after confirming that Ohma wouldn't let him find out anything; and thirdly…
...After all, it was just a preparatory course, so Komaeda Nagito didn't really have any expectations for what Tsukino and Chiya could bring, nor did he intend to waste his time.
If this Tsukino Kazuki can really play a role... I think my "luck" will eventually give them a chance to interact and communicate.
*******
Time passed, dusk deepened, and soon... it would be evening, wouldn't it?
Distracted, Hajime Hyuga sat on a chair in the central square, and could notice the darkening sky when he looked up slightly.
Not long ago, he said goodbye to his new friend, Chiaki Nanami, with whom he had also made plans to play games today.
However, after Nanami Chiaki left, saying that she had made plans to go out with the other girls in her class, Hinata Hajime did not rush to leave.
He was hesitating.
Should we go over and investigate later?
He was clearly affected by that campus ghost story.
Chiaki Nanami, who met with Hajime Hinata today and played games with him, also noticed that something was wrong with him and asked him seriously about the reason, her words full of concern for her friend.
But... how do you explain something so strange to outsiders?
For a moment, Hyuga Hajime didn't know what to do. Fortunately, after confirming that Hyuga really didn't intend to talk about the problem, Nanami Chiaki considerately gave up asking, but still made sure to say, "If you need any help, feel free to come to me anytime."
Thinking of this, Hajime Hinata couldn't help but sigh.
In fact, even he himself found it strange. Why would a campus ghost story of dubious veracity make him so restless after hearing the news?
This unease stems not only from the thought that "if the ghost stories are true, wouldn't letting this continue and potentially harm more innocent people?", but rather...
As if by intuition, after learning of those strange tales, a premonition suddenly arose within me without any reason—
If you don't go and explore the old school building, you'll miss something very important.
However, even Hyuga Hajime himself couldn't explain why such a thought would pop into his head.
He just instinctively felt that he should go to the old school building. Because, because he was... was...
Yes... what is it?
“K…………ru”.
What……?
Suddenly, he seemed to hear someone calling him. Hyuga Hajime looked around, but did not notice anyone suspicious.
Something's getting increasingly wrong.
Although I didn't hear it clearly, those syllables were obviously unrelated to the pronunciation of the name "Hyuga Hajime." Why did I think it was calling me?
Could it be that I was hallucinating?
“ka&￥@#%ra/#@&ru”
However, just as the thought of doubting that he was hallucinating arose in his mind, the next second, Hajime Hinata heard a sound that was more obvious and more chaotic than before.
It was the voice of many people—at least a dozen mixed together. The people didn't seem to be in sync; their voices didn't overlap at all, some spoke first and some spoke later, making it sound extremely chaotic.
But this time, he managed to hear it clearly.
The voice was saying—
“kamukura izuru”.
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Author's Note: Brother Chuang: I don't understand, what is this?
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