Chapter 135 Extra Chapter: A Visit to the Port Mafia (Part 2): Where Did This Get Sent To?
As for whether the "Double Black" in this "Double Black Night" instance has the same meaning as the "Double Black" in their area... Standing in the elevator, Chuuya Nakahara felt that there was no need to be curious about this question at all.
Because the players who brought them to this level had already thoroughly revealed the contents of the dungeon.
"Dazai, wow, Dazai is so cute, I'll be able to see him soon, hehehe..."
"Chuuya! Chuuya is so nice! Last time I secretly asked him if I could touch the ends of his hair that were falling on his shoulder, and he let me!"
"Oh really? Then I want to touch it too!"
"Dazai and Chuuya's [Double Black Night] team-up was amazing, but I thought there would be a [Storm Myth] dungeon today..."
"Seriously, the love-hate relationship between Verlaine and Chuuya is so appealing..."
Faced with the subtle glances from his colleagues, Chuuya Nakahara almost exploded with rage, shouting, "What are you looking at me for?!"
It's not like he's the one touching someone's hair, nor is it like he's going to team up with that bastard Dazai, nor is it like he's having a love-hate relationship with Verlaine...!
“Judging from what these people are saying,” Mori Ougai said slowly, “they have a complete grasp of Chuuya-kun’s situation.”
Chuuya Nakahara: "………………"
Ding. The elevator doors opened.
"You've finally arrived. Are you the people the organization sent to support Chuuya and me? The situation is bad. Follow me this way... Hmm? Chuuya?!"
Upon hearing this voice, Ryunosuke Akutagawa almost couldn't help but take half a step forward, "Dazai-san!"
Unlike Rimbaud who came to lead the players away, the younger version of Dazai Osamu, dressed in a black suit and a black overcoat, stood directly at the elevator door waiting for the players, creating a sense of pressing anxiety and urgency from the very beginning.
When the door opened, young Dazai Osamu and Nakahara Chuuya stared at each other in disbelief.
What's going on? Wasn't Chuuya supposed to be waiting for the players to come over before starting his performance? How come there's another Chuuya dressed as an officer in the elevator?
Just as he was surprised, his gaze swept over Chuuya's side and he saw a group of Port Mafia members who had somehow come over for a visit.
"…………"
What's going on? Were these people sent here by me, the one from the Armed Police Unit, for team building?
Young Dazai had been to another world and had seen the Port Mafia of that world—although Dazai was the one handling things at the time and he hadn't met all the members, he had at least met some of the executives and the leader, Mori Ougai.
Ah, back then, that cadre, who had charged in with such a fierce aura, stared at the three Dazai from different periods as if he had seen a ghost. His expression was truly priceless.
And then there was Chuuya... The young Dazai noticed that the group of people's ghost-like physical states were actually able to overlap with the players.
His expression was even a bit blank, and he didn't seem to know him at all... Hmm, he shouldn't be the Chuuya from the world he had seen.
Or rather, none of these people belonged to the world he had ever been to.
Moreover, the fact that Mori Ougai was also wearing the leader's attire further confirmed his conclusion.
"Yes, Mr. Dazai, we've arrived!"
Compared to the stunned port mafia members, the players seemed much more excited. While reciting lines with the young Dazai, they kept turning their heads to look around, trying to find the person he had called out.
"Is Chuuya-san here too? Where? Where?"
"On the battlefield." The young Dazai immediately put away his still somewhat relaxed demeanor and said seriously to the player, "Chuuya's subordinates have all fallen, leaving only him to hold on. That ferocious white tiger is quite difficult to deal with, not to mention that there is a terrifying black hound assisting him beside him."
Ryunosuke Akutagawa, known as the "disaster dog of the port mafia" in Yokohama, was standing in the elevator, seemingly unable to come to his senses, blinking his dark eyes blankly.
What is he teaming up with to deal with Mr. Dazai and Mr. Chuuya?
No, that "catastrophe dog" thing is definitely not describing him. He would never team up with a human-tiger, especially not against his teacher, Dazai-san!
"Are you referring to Atsushi Nakajima and Ryunosuke Akutagawa? They are indeed our two great enemies, the 'Rats in the House of the Dead'."
One of the players who was told the background story before playing the dungeon also stood up and solemnly recited the lines—inadvertently and cruelly waking up Ryunosuke Akutagawa from his self-hypnosis.
It also delivered a fatal blow to the remaining members of the [Port Mafia].
Upon hearing his name called, Ryunosuke Akutagawa, a port mafia member, experienced a violent mental and physical tremor upon hearing it: "……………"
If he could use his superpowers right now, the black cloth that turned into sharp blades would probably have turned this elevator into a cactus.
Ultimately, how could he and the human-tiger possibly defeat Mr. Dazai? All it would take for Mr. Dazai to activate [No Longer Human] is for their fighting power to become utterly vulnerable...!
"Supporting them is of utmost urgency, please set off as soon as possible," the young Dazai continued, putting on a convincing performance.
"I will stay here for a short while to prevent any enemy from attacking from behind."
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Dazai!"
The players also gave a respectful salute to the young Dazai—in the [White Reaper] dungeon, Dazai, dressed in white, is the Great Demon King; but in the [Double Black Night] dungeon, Dazai, dressed in black, is their good teammate!
"We're off right now!"
"I want to go too!" Higuchi Ichiyo lifted her foot to rush forward, but Hirotsu Ryūrō grabbed her by the back of her collar and firmly pulled her back.
I got all worked up as soon as I heard Akutagawa's name, and now I'm just adding to the chaos.
—Young Dazai watched as the players resolutely rushed into the thin mist formed by dry ice, then turned back to look at the [Port Mafia] members who were still standing in the elevator.
"Alright, are you going to tell me what's going on here?"
The young Dazai looked the group up and down, then tilted his head and said, "First of all, let me clarify that I have never cursed you to come here to bind your spirits."
Mori Ōgai was speechless for a moment, "...This isn't an illusion?"
"? Of course not." The young Dazai crossed his arms. "This is a parallel world, another possibility for our future."
Mori Ougai fell silent.
He probably couldn't accept that the Mafia headquarters building in another world's port had become this absurd, horrific place, like a horror theater.
"You seem quite unhappy about the existence of this building."
The young Dazai slightly raised one eyebrow, clearly showing his dissatisfaction with Mori Ougai's reaction.
"Dazai-san, I...!"
Ryunosuke Akutagawa stepped forward, looking anxious—but the young Dazai raised his hand to stop him.
"No matter how much you want to deny it, my Lord Mori,"
The young Dazai curled his lips into a mocking smile as he looked at Mori Ōgai.
Then, he reached out and pressed the button for a floor on the side of the elevator door, and then pressed the close button.
"Since you're going to be shocked, let me shock you to the core."
The elevator doors slowly closed between the young Dazai and the others, also separating him from the path he had once walked—even though he was now dressed in a cadre uniform, he was no longer the Dazai Osamu who stayed in the [Port Mafia].
After a brief pause, the elevator continued to ascend.
The people inside the elevator remained silent.
"What a joke, this is another world?" Ryunosuke Akutagawa gritted his teeth. "How could I, in another world, be allied with a tiger and be an enemy of Dazai-san..."
“Sigh…Akutagawa,” Chuuya Nakahara sighed, “Although in this respect, your thought process is almost identical to Higuchi’s…you should be happy.”
Upon hearing this, Ryunosuke Akutagawa's emotions, which were about to erupt, suddenly froze. "...What?"—After a moment, he managed to squeeze out this question in disbelief.
"What I'm saying is that this building itself has been transformed into something like a theater,"
Chuuya Nakahara slowly exhaled, equally unsure how to face all of this with mixed feelings.
"Whether it's me, Rimbaud, Dazai, or you in this world, we've all become actors in the script."
"In other words, in this world, you are colleagues with Dazai."
"…………"
Hearing the truth from Mr. Chuuya that he himself dared not believe, Ryunosuke Akutagawa slowly widened his dark eyes, his expression becoming somewhat blank—when the sharpness that usually surrounded him was diluted by this expression, coupled with his extremely youthful features, he actually looked rather cute.
"What will we see next?" Michizo Tachihara murmured.
No one in the elevator could answer that question.
But the elevator ascended very quickly, and stopped in front of the floor pressed by the young Dazai in just a few seconds.
Ding—As the elevator doors opened to the sides, the figure that appeared in the doorway instantly made Ozaki Koyo exclaim in surprise, "Kyoka!"
But the woman standing in front of her at the reception desk, Izumi Kyoka, was a few years younger than she had seen before. She looked quite young, and the kimono she was wearing was both beautiful and exquisite.
The key point is that there was no despair in her eyes when she looked towards the elevator, no sign of the death of her parents.
Izumi Kyoka wasn't surprised when Ozaki Koyo called her name—after all, she had appeared in this instance many times, and regular visitors all knew her.
But her voice still carried a hint of surprise as she spoke, her large, round blue eyes shifting between the two men. "Chūya-nii, Akutagawa-nii? Has your performance already ended?"
“…”
When Izumi Kyoka called them "brother" so affectionately for the first time, both Nakahara Chuuya and Akutagawa Ryunosuke were a little choked up and couldn't respond.
"You..." Ozaki Koyo said with difficulty, "Don't you recognize me?"
Hearing the strange-looking older sister ask her a question, Izumi Kyoka looked at Ozaki Koyo seriously for a few moments, but still shook her head.
"Kyoka, how did you get here?"
Ryunosuke Akutagawa suddenly spoke up.
Akutagawa's question was even stranger. Izumi Kyoka tilted her head in confusion, but still obediently told them everything.
“It was Dazai who found my mother and said that her supernatural ability [Yasha Shirayuki] was very useful and that he wanted to invite her to work here.”
“I was brought here by my mother because my older brother Dazai said I could go to the best school in Yokohama and work part-time here as the mascot of his organization, while waiting for my mother to get off work. My father will come to pick us up.”
After hearing this, Ozaki Koyo was unable to utter another word.
In her world, Jinghua's parents had long since died, leaving behind only the supernatural ability [Yaksha Shirayuki], which was left to her in her despair and emptiness, along with that old flip phone.
Even though Kyoka was later redeemed and went from the Port Mafia to the Armed Detective Agency under the light, the scars etched by the past could never be healed.
But at this moment, she learned that Jinghua could have an even better ending.
Jinghua's parents were safe and sound, and she played, read, and lived a carefree life as a mascot, just like countless other children from ordinary families in the world.
"This is... really..."
Ozaki Koyo raised her sleeve, seemingly trying to hide her already flustered expression.
"Little Mirror Flower, don't always answer every question from players. Some of these are your private matters."
Just then, accompanied by the slight sound of shoes hitting the ground, a light, floating sound, like a leaf being held in the palm of one's hand, rang out, revealing a hint of weariness.
"I kept hearing you talking to them about school and stuff, you can't tell that to... um?"
The figure emerged clearer through the deliberately dim lights and hazy mist, surpassing the limits of the imagination of the [Port Mafia] members.
A young man named Dazai Osamu, wearing a pure black overcoat and a red scarf draped over his shoulders?!
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Because there's a conflict between the author's notes and the announcement, I'm putting it here~ I plan to start reading "The Strongest Raising the Fourth Calamity" on September 2nd. If you're interested, you can add it to your favorites first (heart emoji).
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