CHAPTER 19: BLOOD ON THE TREADS
"Ha—hahahaha!"
Q-Taro laughed until his shoulders shook, his fingers digging into the head of his cane.
Before he could even steady his breath, Madarame Baku leaned back, crossing his legs with a mischievous smirk. "What's wrong, old-timer? Are you scared? Scared that I'll take everything you own in a single night?"
"I suppose I understand. Staking one's life's work at your age is quite a shock to the system. It can't be good for your blood pressure."
Baku then glanced toward Ren and Akagi, directing his next comment to Ren. "Hey, big guy. For the sake of your uncle's health, maybe you should tell him to sit this one out? A heart attack is such a messy way to lose a bet."
It was clear: to prevent the variables from spiraling out of control, Baku still wanted Ren and Akagi out of the game.
But Baku wasn't the host.
As long as Q-Taro didn't object, the choice to stay or go belonged solely to Ren Shiroki and the Man of the Divine Realm.
"Heh..."
Akagi Shigeru glanced at Ren, his cold eyes seemingly reading the youth's mind.
Ren wasn't backing down—partially because of the "Mission," but also because of a growing personal curiosity. Akagi understood that feeling well. They were the kind of men who, when faced with a "troublesome" problem that had an easy exit, would intentionally choose the most difficult path forward.
It wasn't for profit. It was simply because they wanted to see what was at the end of that road.
"Fine by me," Akagi said, accepting the challenge. Ren shrugged in agreement.
Baku sighed, his attempt at narrowing the field failed. He turned to Yagyo. "Alright, Mr. Referee. Things are getting crowded. How exactly does this 'Game' work?"
Yagyo Hikoichi stood as a pillar of stoic refinement. He recognized that Baku was playing dumb, pretending they weren't old acquaintances. To keep the professional flow of the match, the Referee didn't break character.
"Since the number of participants is high, tonight's gamble shall be split into three parties."
"Master Kujo on one side. The other four shall be split into two teams of two."
Yagyo's voice was like velvet over steel. "Victory is determined by which team escapes this building first—or if Master Kujo successfully prevents both teams from leaving."
"The game officially begins one minute after you leave this office. Aside from that, there are no time limits."
"The stakes: Master Kujo's Kakerou Membership, thirty million yen in cash, and the deed to this tower."
Yagyo gave a polite, gentlemanly bow.
"Let the game begin."
The Kujo Building had eight floors. It was clearly derelict, but the structure was sound. The exterior glass was intact, and remarkably, the building even had power and a functioning elevator.
Earlier, the group had ridden that elevator to the fifth floor—Q-Taro's office.
But when the doors closed behind them and they stepped back out to the elevator lobby, they found the buttons dark. The elevator was dead.
"Hmm? This is getting weird fast," Kaji muttered, frantically mashing the call button. "The old guy bets his fortune, and we just have to leave? What's the catch?"
After several failed attempts, Kaji gave up.
"The elevator worked fine five minutes ago. They must have cut the power. I guess we're taking the stairs..."
The stairwell was right next to the elevator bank.
Ren, Akagi, and Baku were already standing at the threshold, as if they had predicted the elevator's failure.
Kaji peered over their shoulders. The stairs leading up were pitch black, smelling of dust and stagnant air. The stairs leading down were dimly lit by flickering fluorescent bulbs from the fourth floor.
Seeing no one move, Baku gave a casual wave. "Well, no point in standing around. Let's head down."
"..."
Neither Ren nor Akagi moved.
Kaji blinked. They were supposed to be rivals in a race, right? Shouldn't they be sprinting for the exit? But none of the three "monsters" seemed to be in a hurry.
"Baku-san, wait for me! Man, it's dark up there..."
Kaji started to jog toward them, but in the strobe-light flicker of the hallway, he tripped over a stray piece of rubble. He lurched forward, his momentum carrying him right toward the downward stairs.
"WAAGH!" Kaji let out a panicked yelp.
Inside the Office.
The one-minute head start was ticking away. Q-Taro sat in his leather chair, eyes closed, looking perfectly at peace.
Yagyo glanced at him. "Are you quite sure about this, Master Kujo? You aren't going to send your men to pursue them?"
"Referee Yagyo... this is your first time officiating one of my games. It's understandable that you don't know the 'Order,'" Q-Taro said, a slow, twisted smile spreading across his face.
"My game follows a sequence. It happens the same way every time."
He couldn't hide his excitement. His "help" wasn't just the masked monster behind him. He had spent years turning this building into a gallery of lethal traps.
If those "guests" were foolish enough to run toward the light... they were about to receive a lesson written in blood.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Bright red droplets welled up from a thin line across Kaji's nose, sliding down his cheek and splashing onto the concrete steps.
Kaji was frozen, one foot dangling in the air, his body tilted forward at a precarious angle.
If Ren Shiroki hadn't moved with the speed of a pouncing tiger, grabbing Kaji by the scruff of his neck and yanking him back, Kaji would have tumbled down the stairs.
...No. It would have been much worse than a fall.
Stretched across the stairwell entrance were several strands of razor-thin piano wire. In the flickering, low-contrast light, they were invisible to the naked eye.
The wire had already grazed Kaji's face.
If he had fallen forward, his own body weight would have turned those wires into a cheese-slicer. He would have arrived on the fourth floor in several different pieces.
"Ah... h-h..."
Kaji was in such shock that he couldn't even scream.
Ren's powerful arm hauled him back to the safety of the fifth-floor landing. Kaji collapsed into a heap, touching the stinging cut on his face.
"What... what is this...?"
Kaji wasn't a total idiot. He had seen the cash, the masked monster, and the shift in Q-Taro's eyes. He knew this was dangerous.
But deep down, he had been holding onto a "fantasy." He wanted to believe this was a cool urban legend—a lonely old billionaire looking for a thrill.
The sting of the cut on his face shattered that delusion.
This was real. People were going to die tonight. And the "stake" they were putting up wasn't money. It was their lives.
"The air down there is foul," Baku muttered, his voice cold. "It smells like old blood and rot."
"Yeah. Thanks for that, Ren-kun," Baku added, nodding to Ren. "I don't think I could have pulled him back in time."
Baku looked at the two men standing with him. "But tell me... how did you two know there was 'Danger' down there?"
"It's simple math," Akagi said, exhaling a cloud of smoke. "If the way down was easy, there wouldn't be a gamble. Logic dictates the 'light' is the trap."
Baku stared at the Man of the Divine Realm. That level of detached logic was terrifying.
He turned to Ren. "And you?"
Ren gave a much shorter, more instinctive answer. "Killing intent. The air was screaming."
Baku: "..."
Baku: "Haha... of course it was."
Baku gave a dry laugh, but Kaji couldn't even find his voice. The one-minute head start was almost over. A masked monster was coming to hunt them. And these three were standing around discussing the philosophy of traps.
What kind of world do these people live in?!
"Alright, enough talk. Let's move," Ren said. He hauled Kaji to his feet, pointing toward the darkness.
"The exit is blocked by wires. So we go the other way. Let's head to the rooftop and get some fresh air."