The first half of Death Note, released half a year earlier, had ended at the exact moment L took the initiative to approach Light and, face-to-face, revealed the shocking secret that could shake the entire investigation: he himself was L.
By doing that, L seemed to place his own safety in an impossible position. And yet, at the same time, that impossible position was also the safest place he could stand.
The logic was simple and cruel. From the moment Light knew who L was within the investigation, even if he managed to obtain the Shinigami Eyes, he would not dare kill him carelessly. If L died, the police would inevitably turn their suspicion toward Light before anyone else.
And so began an extreme battle of wits, fought face-to-face by two minds watching each other like blades waiting for the smallest opening.
At first, the two exchanged information about Kira. On the surface, it was merely a calm, rational conversation, almost academic in tone. Beneath it, however, every word carried a hidden trap. Every pause was a test. Every reaction was weighed, measured, and silently recorded.
L deliberately gave Light false information, trying to use his responses to calculate the likelihood that he was Kira. Light, meanwhile, caught on almost immediately.
For a moment, he considered responding with reverse logic, guiding the deduction in a way that would distance himself from suspicion. But he quickly abandoned the idea. It would look too artificial. Trying too hard to appear innocent could become the clearest sign of guilt.
After silently analyzing everything, Light decided to answer using normal reasoning, the way any brilliant student would respond to a complex problem.
"What an impressive deduction, Light," said Timothy, playing L, staring at him with those sunken eyes framed by deep dark circles. "It almost feels like you think exactly like the real Kira."
Light, played by Alex, furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly.
"Impressive…"
The celebrities attending the premiere and the ordinary viewers in the theater felt the same silent chill.
It was only an exchange of information. Only dialogue. Nothing exploded, no one ran, no grand music forced the tension. And yet Light and L seemed to be hiding hundreds of thoughts behind every single sentence.
One tiny slip, one expression out of place, and one of them would be devoured by the other.
Many people who had entered the theater out of envy toward Alex, secretly hoping the movie would collapse, began to feel their hearts sink. Judging by the opening alone, that outcome already seemed unlikely.
Then, while Light was still under police surveillance, another Kira appeared.
This time, through a videotape sent to a television station.
The audience was stunned.
Hadn't Light reduced his actions precisely because he feared L would notice inconsistencies in his behavior? Then where had this new Kira come from?
Soon after, the mysterious copycat used a national broadcast to demonstrate, in front of everyone, the same killing power as the original Kira. When the police went to the station to stop the broadcast, the officers did not even make it through the entrance. One after another, they collapsed at the doorway, dead from heart attacks.
Watching it happen on the screen, both L and Light's expressions changed at once.
They had both realized the problem.
This Kira did not need to know the victim's name to kill.
"How is this possible?" L murmured, for the first time caught in a genuine fog of confusion. "Until now, Kira has always needed both the target's name and face."
According to every deduction he had made so far, Kira could only kill if he possessed those two pieces of information. But those officers operated under protected identities. Their real names were hidden.
Kira should not have been able to touch them.
On the other side, Light could not hold back a cold, satisfied smile.
"Hehehe… so fate really is on my side."
Because he possessed a Death Note and knew its rules, he understood immediately. This second Kira was also the owner of a notebook, and there was a strong chance they had made the deal for the Shinigami Eyes.
With a single look, they could see a person's name and remaining lifespan.
Judging from the information available, they were also very likely a fanatical supporter of Kira.
It was practically a blessing from heaven.
If Light could contact the second Kira and somehow make them see L, then this game could end right here.
"Wait… the movie just started and it's already heading toward the finale?"
"Isn't this basically giving Light a cheat code?"
"Calm down. There are still more than two hours left. There's no way it ends like this."
"The problem is, I genuinely can't imagine how L is supposed to escape this."
"If someone with your IQ could figure it out, Alex really would have fallen from the altar already."
Less than twenty minutes into the movie, audiences all over the world were already covered in goosebumps.
A second owner of the Death Note had appeared. Worse still, that person stood on Light's side.
For L, it was as if the difficulty level had suddenly been raised to the maximum without warning.
Immediately afterward, the second Kira sent a video message to the police - or rather, to the entire world. They demanded that, within one week, L personally appear on a television program. Otherwise, they would begin killing high-ranking political leaders from countries around the globe.
The instant that threat was made, the world inside the film erupted into panic.
Light, on the other hand, could barely hide his joy.
If everything went smoothly, he would not even need to act. He only had to wait quietly during that week, and he would win the battle of wits against L without lifting a finger.
Meanwhile, world leaders began to give in to fear. Their decision was swift and unanimous: hand over L.
With that, if L failed to capture this Kira within a week, he would die.
In only twenty minutes of opening runtime, Alex had completely seized the audience's emotions.
The escalation of the plot was explosive.
It was hard not to wonder what kind of brain could write a story like this.
Alex himself, sitting in the audience, lowered his head and smiled silently.
Was this already enough to shock them?
The real show had not even begun.
Even so, L proved worthy of his title as the world's greatest detective.
The next morning, he realized that the Kira threatening the world through videotapes was a copy. Or, more precisely, a second Kira.
The reason was simple: their style of action was completely different from the original.
The first Kira had always avoided harming innocents as much as possible. Criminals guilty of lesser offenses, suspects still under investigation, or people whose charges had not been fully proven were rarely killed by him.
This "new Kira," however, seemed determined to show off their power. They even killed minor criminals, as though every death were a public declaration.
And their ability might very well surpass the original Kira's, because apparently seeing the target's face alone was enough to kill.
"Mr. Yagami," L said to the task force leader, played by a veteran actor with a commanding presence, "please allow your son to join our investigation team from this point on. I need his mind and deductive ability."
Then, as if that sentence were not enough to freeze the air, L added:
"If I die in the near future, Light Yagami is Kira."
L's terrifying deductive ability left everyone speechless.
He did not sit around waiting for death. On the contrary, after inviting Light into the task force, he asked him to pretend to be the first Kira and record a response video in order to contact the second Kira. The goal was to use that exchange as bait and draw out the new killer's true identity.
Make the real Kira pretend to be Kira?
Even as the atmosphere on screen grew increasingly tense, countless viewers could not help lowering their heads and laughing.
Light, meanwhile, silently clenched his teeth.
To be honest, all he needed to do was play dumb and endure the week. That way, he could force L onto television and use the second Kira's Shinigami Eyes to eliminate him.
But acting that way would be far too unnatural.
Worse, before L even died, the police might place him at the very center of their suspicions.
With no other choice, Light could only follow L's instructions.
And as expected, when the real Kira made his move, the bait worked. The second Kira took it.
The problem was that they took it far too hard.
On live television, this person openly said things like, "I want to meet Lord Kira and confirm his shinigami," and, "Lord Kira probably has not received the eyes yet."
Those statements were enough to expose the secrets of the Death Note directly.
When Light saw that, he froze completely.
His expression turned so bitter it looked as though he had just been forced to swallow something unspeakable.
Inside, he exploded.
"Is this idiot insane?! They're leaking information about the notebook in public! No. I absolutely cannot let the police capture them. If that happens, the secret of the Death Note will be exposed!"
Beside him, Ryuk let out a laugh full of malicious amusement.
"Hehehe… things turned against you pretty quickly, didn't they?"
In theaters all over the world, the audience wore almost the same mocking expression as the shinigami.
"HAHAHA! I thought this was a god-tier ally, but it turns out they're just an idiot teammate!"
"Remembering how smug Light looked earlier and then seeing his face now is way too funny."
"It's not the godlike opponent you should fear, but the idiot on your own team!"
"I'm almost starting to feel sorry for Light. Alex really knows how to make things difficult for his own character."
Although Light was played by Alex, the audience could no longer admire him the same way they had admired Sosuke Aizen.
Ever since the ending of the previous part, many viewers had realized that Light's personality was becoming more and more twisted. His justice was gradually losing its human shape. His ambition, once covered by logic and idealism, now appeared naked, cold, and dangerous.
That was why it was hard to feel toward him the same reverence so many viewers had felt toward Aizen or Dio.
In truth, Alex's own attitude toward Death Note had always been clear.
He liked the story.
But he did not like Light at all.
After this sequence, Taylor's entrance as the Western queen of pop music set the screen ablaze.
On the other side of the world, her fans practically exploded with screams inside the theaters.
Unfortunately, Alex could not see that reaction at the moment. Even so, he could imagine it perfectly.
Choosing Taylor to play the female lead instead of Rebeca Verne had been absolutely the right decision.
Rebeca did have international appeal, but could her popularity really compete with Taylor's? The answer was obvious.
Even in the local market, Rebeca's box office pull probably could not surpass Mark's. After so many years without a convincing major film success, talking about her ability to draw audiences sounded more like a joke than serious analysis.
The plot then used Rem, the new shinigami, to reveal how Misa obtained the Death Note and why she worshiped Kira with such devotion.
At that moment, Jay leaned quietly toward Alex and asked in a low voice:
"Bro… you and Taylor… well, did you two ever…?"
Alex slowly turned his head, wearing the classic expression of an exhausted old man on the subway.
What kind of grown man was this nosy?
Jay laughed awkwardly.
"No, I mean… I heard that woman can be a lot of trouble. I'm just saying, be careful you don't end up as lyrics in one of her songs."
For a moment, Alex almost wanted to grab Jay by the collar and ask what kind of image he had among these people.
Did every new actress who appeared around him have to be someone he had slept with?
In the row behind them, Beatrice, who had happened to overhear their conversation, blinked her large, watery eyes.
It was as though she had just heard the distant sound of a million-dollar opportunity opening before her.
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