CHAPTER 65: SEEING HIM "AGAIN"
Ren Shiroki, Fusui Kure, and Kaede Akiyama stood on the pitch-black pier, staring at the frantic young man who had just stumbled into their path.
Ren studied the youth's face. A jolt of recognition fired in his brain as memories of another world surfaced.
This was Kaiji Itou.
A perpetual drifter, a bottom-tier "deadbeat" who lived a mediocre, self-destructive life. Tricked into assuming a massive debt for a friend, he was currently trapped in a spiral of desperation.
In the original story, this was the moment everything changed. Under the thumb of the Teiai Group, Kaiji was about to embark on the ultimate path of debt repayment, forced to participate in one life-or-death underground gamble after another.
And it all started here, on the cruise ship Espoir, with a game called Restricted Rock-Paper-Scissors.
Ren paused, turning to Kaede. "Are we heading to the Espoir too? I heard that ship is a Teiai Group asset."
"Indeed," Kaede said, rubbing her temples as she checked her tablet. "The venue is the Espoir. However, the Kengan Membership at stake belongs to Bull-Boy Dining Group. It has nothing to do with Teiai's internal gambles."
"Wait—actually, knowing the CEO of Bull-Boy, he probably chose this venue specifically to suck up to the Teiai executives. He's exactly that kind of corporate sycophant."
As Hideki Nogi's top secretary, Kaede's ability to read the political landscape was unmatched.
"Regardless, as I mentioned before, even though this is an unofficial challenger match, the Association has provided a sanctioned Referee. The result will be absolute. Whatever other... activities... Bull-Boy or Teiai are running on the lower decks is none of our business."
Kaede adjusted her glasses and continued walking. Ren and Fusui followed, but to their surprise, Kaiji Itou scrambled after them.
He hadn't understood half of what Kaede just said, but he had confirmed one vital piece of information: they were all going to the same ship.
"I'll help you find it!" Kaiji chirped, his voice full of nervous energy. "More eyes are better than one, right?"
Knowing the road ahead was filled with shadows, Kaiji felt a strange sense of security being near them. He couldn't stop talking.
"Man, they told me if I played a few games on a ship for one night, I could wipe out millions in debt. I thought it was a hidden-camera prank show at first!"
"But since you guys look so... professional... maybe this thing is actually legit."
Kaiji scratched his head, his eyes darting toward the two women. Fusui and Kaede were both striking beauties with elite "Presences"—the kind of women a guy like Kaiji would usually never have the courage to speak to.
But even Ren caught his attention. The youth's physical build was so perfect, his gait so confident, that he stood out like a lighthouse in the dark. Kaiji felt an almost magnetic urge to stay close to him.
"Who are these people?" Kaiji wondered. "Can someone who looks like that actually be in debt?"
As they walked, Kaiji noticed the luggage. The ice-queen with the ponytail (Kaede) was carrying a heavy, reinforced briefcase. The short-haired girl (Fusui) was wearing a massive, military-style tactical backpack.
"Um..." Kaiji started tentatively. "Is there something we're supposed to bring for the meeting? You guys have a lot of gear..."
"Hm?"
Kaede spared him a single, icy glance that made Kaiji's blood run cold.
She saw the "Scent" of the loser on him—the heavy, cloying aroma of self-pity and stagnation. To a high-level executive like her, Kaiji wasn't a "Gambler"; he was a "Wastrel." She found him physically repulsive.
But to Ren, Kaiji was an old "friend" from his memories—a soft-hearted idiot who was more victim than villain. He didn't mind the company.
"Don't worry about it," Ren said, patting Kaiji's back with enough force to make the youth stumble. "Just some essential supplies."
Kaiji blinked, looking at Fusui. "And the backpack?"
"Dangerous goods," Fusui chirped with a grin. "You're better off not being curious."
Kaiji gulped. Dangerous goods? Are these people... fantasy roleplayers?
Before Kaiji could ask anything else, several men in black suits stepped out of the shadows.
"Pardon us. Are you here for the Espoir?"
"..."
Kaiji froze, then nodded frantically. "Ah, yes! Yes, sir!"
The lead agent checked a clipboard. "You are Itou Kaiji-san, correct?"
"That's me! And these are... my companions. We're all together."
"Together?"
The agent looked surprised, but with the departure time looming, he didn't have time for a cross-examination. He gestured for the four of them to follow him.
"We thought Kaiji-san was the final arrival. I wasn't told there would be three more. Try to be on time next time; the Chairman hates waiting."
They reached the edge of the pier. There, anchored in the black water, was a massive cruise ship. Not a single light was visible on the hull. It sat in the harbor like a prehistoric sea monster lurking in the dark.
"Hurry up. Boarding is ending."
The lead agent barked the order, his tone shifting into something cold and bureaucratic.
Kaede tried to present her credentials, but the agents were clearly overwhelmed. "The lower decks aren't set up yet, the upper deck VIPs are arriving... I should have taken a vacation today—" the agent grumbled, ignoring her as he herded them into the lower airlock.
The Lower Deck.
The heavy steel door swung open. Inside was a cavernous room packed with over a hundred men. They sat in silence, their faces masks of despair and exhaustion. The air was thick with the suffocating "Scent" of the debt-ridden.
"Are they all... players?" Kaiji whispered, his skin crawling.
It was exactly what he expected: a pit of losers. The atmosphere was the complete opposite of the "Dazzling VIP" world he had imagined for a second while walking with Ren.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out.
The cramped space, the darkness, and the long wait finally broke the participants' nerves.
"Hey! When does this start?!"
"Give us some answers!"
"I want off this boat! This is a scam!"
The shouts grew louder. The exhausted Teiai agents began to panic, unable to control the surging crowd. The situation was on the verge of a riot.
Suddenly—
"SHUT UP AND DIE, YOU PIECES OF TRASH!"
A low, authoritative bark cut through the noise like a whip. The raw pressure in the voice was so heavy it physically suppressed the room.
A middle-aged man in a double-breasted suit arrived, flanked by a fresh squad of enforcers.
The crowd went dead silent. The man lit a cigarette, then turned to glare at the stuttering agents. "Useless. You can't even keep a pen of cattle under control? You're clearly worked into a stupor."
Yukio Tonegawa exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Listen well. You treat trash with iron. Logic is wasted on those who have fallen this far."
"A person with real life in them—a person with the 'Will' to exist—would never fall low enough to step foot on this ship."
Tonegawa thought back to a few days ago—to the youth named Ren Shiroki, who had paid off twenty million yen in cash with a smile. And to the elite monsters currently preparing for the match on the upper decks.
"Real people don't belong in this gutter!"
Tonegawa prepared to head back to the elevator, but as he scanned the "trash" one last time, his eyes locked onto a tall figure in the center of the room.
Behind that figure stood Kaede Akiyama.
Tonegawa froze. He took a long, slow drag of his cigarette.
"..."
Sssss—!
Am I so overworked that I'm seeing ghosts? Why is he here?!