Chapter 4

After a long conversation with everyone having their own thoughts, the leader's room returned to its previous silence.

After Kono Seira left, the "kind and friendly leader image" that Mori Ogai had deliberately presented also lost its only audience.

He leaned back in his chair in a more relaxed posture, resting his hands on his chin, and looked at the other person in the room with interest: "How is it, Dazai-kun, did you feel the fluctuations of his supernatural power?"

"Not really, Chief." Dazai Osamu sighed, "This trip was in vain."

"How could that be? I have hired a capable employee."

"I mean me." Dazai stood up and said calmly, "If there's nothing else, I'll go back first."

"I remember that you pushed your mission to Chuuya-kun," Mori Oo said with a smile, collecting the scattered papers on the desk and pushing them in the direction of Dazai Osamu, "Since you won't be working when you go back, why don't you chat with me for a while."

"...I think I need more rest after the extra work."

Dazai Osamu complained with a pout, and reluctantly moved closer to his desk. After seeing the contents of the document clearly, his expression changed slightly.

Displayed above is all the information that could be collected about "Kunino Mutsu", which was three years ago, before he came to the Port Mafia.

The photo was hidden in the middle and was blurry, but one could still clearly see that the boy in the photo had a good-looking face that everyone would praise, but his expression was cold, which made people stay away.

Apart from the difference in expression, he looked exactly the same as the person who was in the chief's office just now.

"Although the Port Mafia would not intentionally mistreat hostages, the conditions in the siege room are not good enough to stop time for humans."

Mori Ouwai knocked on the table and said with hidden meaning, "His ability is definitely not limited to this." Otherwise, the previous generation would not have been so crazy and wanted to seize it at all costs.

If I just pause my own time, it is rare but not very useful to others. But if I can use it for others...

The real horror of supernatural powers lies in how they are used.

Dazai Osamu's pupils turned, and his iris-colored eyes showed an inorganic luster under the dim light: "You saw it too, Mr. Mori, I just bumped into him."

His special ability, "Disqualification from the Human World", can render ineffective any special abilities that touch his body.

But Kimino Mutsu didn't show any abnormality.

"So it's interesting, isn't it?" Mori Ogai smiled and looked at him meaningfully, "During this time, let Gong Ye-kun stay with you for the time being."

Dazai Osamu lowered his eyelids and responded softly, with an unknown light flashing in his eyes for a moment.

--

Seeing Kono Seira coming out of the leader's room unharmed, Nakahara Chuuya obviously breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, we'll be colleagues from now on." As their relationship changed, he also showed some youthful vigor that matched his age, and his blue eyes were as bright as gemstones. "Your name... is Mutsugu Kimino, right?"

As he said this, he murmured, "What is this? It sounds weird."*

Kono Seiryo rubbed his wrists which were rubbed with red marks by the handcuffs. This time, without the blindfold, he could clearly see the vivid expression of the ochre-haired boy. After thinking for a while, he said, "Well, I'll just call him by the name that Chuuya likes."

"Ah? ...Oh." Nakahara Chuuya's eyes flickered for a moment, and he suddenly remembered something, "By the way, do you have anywhere to go later?"

Kono Seiryoshi: "Go back to the bedroom?"

Nakahara Chuuya: “…Are you serious?”

Kono Seiryo laughed: "I haven't been out in the world for a long time. I'm not used to crowded places."

This was half true and half false. There were systems and missions that needed to be concealed, and he couldn't guarantee that his acting skills were flawless. It would be bad if he was exposed in front of outsiders.

It’s better to find a secluded place.

"Is that so..." Zhong Yuanzhong didn't know what he was thinking, and was still briefly upset for accidentally poking someone's sore spot, "I'll take you to the lounge first."

The Port Mafia does have a staff dormitory, but it is noisy and the environment is not comfortable. Nakahara Chuuya thought that he would go there later to ask the leader about the arrangements.

Following behind Chuuya Nakahara, Seiryoshi Kono witnessed with his own eyes the grandeur and strict hierarchy of the port mafia.

Whether they were diligent guards, clerks hurriedly passing by with documents, or armed personnel who had just returned from a mission and were still hot-blooded, they all showed deep respect to Nakahara Chuuya when they saw him.

As time went by, even the non-existent majesty of Kono Seiryoshi rose with his help.

The ochre-haired boy didn't care about other people's attitudes at all. He seemed very busy, and from time to time he lowered his head and typed something on his mobile phone.

Chuuya is really amazing, Kono Seira sighed. And Dazai Osamu just now, he looks young, but he has already become a quasi-cadre.

He thought of Hibari-senpai and the tenth generation. He heard that they had been preparing to take over the Vongola since junior high school. It was a pity that he had not transferred there at that time and was unable to witness it with his own eyes.

Wait, are all mafia members this crazy?!

After comparing other organizations he knew, Seiryoshi Kono was shocked to confirm the cruel rule of the inner world: "If you can't die, you will die."

As he reflected on whether his work attitude over the years had been too lazy, he and Nakata walked to the door of the room marked lounge.

"It's right here. Someone will bring what you need over in a moment."

Gongye Shengliang came back to his senses, took the key, and tilted his eyes towards Zhong: "Thank you."

The auburn-haired boy hesitated for a moment, and just as he was about to say something, the phone in his jacket pocket suddenly buzzed. He read the contents clearly and couldn't help but sigh. When he looked up and saw Gong Ye Shengliang, his expression softened slightly: "Then I'll go back first. If you need anything, just call the people outside."

After saying a few more simple words, the boy strode back in the direction he came from.

Looking at his back, Gongye Shengliang realized something.

——Did Chuu slow down on the way here to take care of his physical condition?

--

When the hot water was ready for the bath, Kono Seiryoshi was still immersed in the emotion of being cared for.

The rest room didn't seem to have been used much, but the facilities were very complete. The steaming hot air gradually dispelled the smell of disinfectant, and Kono Seiryo buried half of his face in the water and blew a few bubbles leisurely.

When he had almost finished playing, he closed his eyes and rested, his long eyebrows wrinkling unconsciously.

The headache I had in the chief's office didn't seem to be accidental.

His memory told him that he had met the man called Dazai Osamu...but why? He had logged out of the game not long after being taken to the pyre room by his predecessor, and had never logged in again. How could he have met Dazai Osamu?

As if to answer his doubts, Kimino Seiryoshi was invited into the white space again.

This time he stood from a God's perspective, and the space within his sight was divided into two, each containing a "Konno Seiyoshi".

On the left is his real home. On the first day of vacation, he curled up on the sofa and excitedly took out his game console.

On the right is the Yokohama slums. He had just won a sum of money by cheating in a black casino. In order to avoid being found and blackmailed by the casino guards, he took many detours and hid in an abandoned cellar.

Both are him, equally vivid, and the emotions at that time seem to be preserved in the picture, evoking a resonance.

Kono Seiryoshi's pupils dilated slightly.

...No wonder.

No matter how realistic the game is, it is just transmitting the images and sounds into your mind, and there will never be such real empathy.

[Let's call it a game - it exists in two layers, the surface and the inside. The surface you open a game on vacation, but the inside you is actually living a real life here. There is no definite truth or falsehood between the surface and the inside. You can regard everything as virtual or real.]

The ball of light floated beside him and continued: [It's just that these memories disappeared for some reason. When you woke up in reality again, your consciousness naturally left the game, which led to the result of "character self-destruction."]

Kono Seiryo closed his eyes with a headache and murmured in a delirious voice, "Is that so?"

Then the strange feeling he had before was solved. He did spend three years in the basement and met Dazai Osamu during this time.

The ball of light floated quietly aside, giving him enough time to accept this fact.

[The cause of the game malfunction is still under investigation, but please rest assured that this was not intentionally planned by the main system, and we do not want such an accident to occur.]

Kono Seiryoshi took a deep breath and dug his ten fingers deep into the air, his fingertips turning white.

[Um... calm down first.] The electronic sound of the light ball was unusually tense, and its wings trembled heavily. [Don't be upset, Contractor!]

"…I'm fine."

Kono Seira slowly raised his head, his eyes dark, "I was just wondering why I didn't punch my predecessor in the face."

That’s three years! He originally thought it was a game setting, but he was actually locked up for three years because of that old bastard! !

How can it be repaired——!

Seeing that he was still gritting his teeth and cursing at his predecessor, the light ball breathed a sigh of relief and softened his tone: [This time, it was because you triggered the reunion with the main character that the memory was unlocked. The system cannot interfere with this process, but I will try my best to help you reduce the pain brought by accepting the memory.]

[Fortunately, not many triggering events have occurred in the past three years, so it is relatively easy to complete the memory. In short, let's work hard together, Contractor!]

The ball of light flapped its wings encouragingly.

Kono Seiyoshi: … :)

After regaining consciousness in the lounge, he no longer had the mood to take a leisurely bath. He listlessly rinsed off the foam, but noticed something strange when he was wiping off the water marks.

"Tattoo? Weird, I've never seen this pattern before..."

He squatted down and carefully observed the pattern on his ankle. It was less than half the size of his palm, and the outlines of the branches and leaves were carefully outlined in ink. It was a plant he had never seen before.

Gongye Shengliang thought hard but couldn't remember the origin of the tattoo, so he just wrote down the shape of the branches and leaves and prepared to go out and search for it in the plant atlas.

When he slowly dried his hair and walked out of the bathroom, he saw the unopened clothes on the table and a three-layer lunch box that looked very high-end.

Next to him was a brand new cell phone with no password set. When Kono Seiyoshi opened the address book, he found a number already saved in it with the note "Nakahara Chuuya".

There was a note on the food box: I don’t know what your taste is, so I packed up a portion of everything.

Kono Seiryoshi covered his mouth, moved to the point of tears falling.

——Chuuya, my superman!

The author has something to say:

* Pun, the Japanese pronunciation of "公野" is the same as "你的", which is "kimino"

So every time Shengliang introduces himself as "I am Gongye Shengliang", it sounds like "I am your Shengliang"! (Shut up)

Seira is pronounced as Seira, which sounds like a girl's name!