Chapter 49
——From Jigokudo's perspective
She haphazardly shrugged off her pajamas, picked out some random underwear, and gently wrapped her modest curves.
She put on a plain black shirt and pulled on black stockings.
After finishing her morning routine in about thirty minutes, she grabbed one of the jelly drinks packed in the stockpile of cardboard boxes, sipped it with a slurp, and after it settled in her stomach, she stuffed two more into her bag and left the company dorm.
Even though it was a dorm, since it was on the foundation's premises, it only took a three-minute walk to reach her workplace.
Jigokudo was a lovely woman, but she lacked any feminine presence.
She always had dark circles under her eyes, her gaze wandered aimlessly, and to top it off, her voice was huskier and lower than most men's—so she couldn't exactly be called "cute."
The Dungeon Foundation Japan Headquarters was a building designed with excessively avant-garde flair thanks to the power of international capital.
Incidentally, even though it's called the headquarters, it's not the only one—there are multiple facilities bearing the name "headquarters."
Considering that even if every other headquarters were nuked, this JPN headquarters alone would still have the strength to maintain the secret SCCL-applicable anomalous substance containment facilities hidden around the world, one could say "this headquarters" meets the minimum acceptable standard.
She held her employee ID over the scanner and passed through the entrance, taking the elevator up into the sky.
Zoning out, she stared at her phone and checked up on Finger Man's activity on the foundation's SNS.
He was her latest favorite. His unadorned "Today's Hunting Grounds" segment had a certain craftsman-like quality that seemed to reflect his quiet personality, which she liked.
"Heh heh......"
A creepy smile escaped her lips.
A coworker sharing the elevator looked visibly uncomfortable.
A young researcher gathered his courage and spoke to the great genius.
"You seem happy, Doctor. Did something good happen?"
"......"
Jigokudo turned her face away, clearly annoyed, glaring at him as if to say "don't talk to me."
This was why she had no friends.
It was also the reason everyone called her "Dr. Downer" as an oddly cute nickname.
The awkward elevator ride ended, and the young researcher bowed and quickly exited, saying, "W-well then, excuse me."
Jigokudo, still staring at her phone, trudged along and arrived at her lab.
Being the ultimate slacker, she had lived in the lab until recently.
But after being scolded by a certain person about her living habits, she had been corrected into this routine—going home to the dorm and commuting every morning.
'Hey! Jigokudo-chan, I won't allow this lazy lifestyle, not on my watch!'
She remembered vividly how, while she was sleeping at her desk, that person had burst in swinging a broom.
"Ugh... what a pain... Shurado, seriously..."
Grumbling under her breath, she unlocked the door with her keycard and stepped inside.
She set her bag down, checked the time, and got to work.
She had to be prepared.
Because she knew.
That this world has an end.
At some point, Jigokudo began to see the fires of the end in her dreams.
Ever since that night when she was caught up in a great destiny, the nightmares had never ceased.
She belonged to the Dungeon Foundation's Research Division, Anomalous Technology Department.
The number of equipment she had developed was countless.
The massively popular magic swords, now a staple for many explorers, were her creation.
That said, ever since being appointed to a certain committee a few months ago, that work had taken up more of her time.
Past noon, she left the lab with a jelly drink in hand.
Three meals of jelly. This was the essence of Jigokudo's lazy-life policy.
"Hm? I hear footsteps..."
"Hey—!!"
"?!"
Dashing down the hallway at full speed—who else but the foundation's pride, the super receptionist Shurado.
"Wha—! I thought you were in Chiba...!"
"That doesn't matter! The moment I take my eyes off you, Jigokudo-chan, this happens again!"
Shurado snatched away the jelly drink.
In exchange, she handed over a homemade lunchbox.
"It's a trade! You have to eat properly!"
"But this goes against my policy..."
"Policy?"
"My lazy-life policy..."
"I'll sweep that nonsense away! Are you trying to rename yourself Lazy-Dou-chan or something?!"
"That might not be so bad..."
"No way! I won't allow it! All your jelly is hereby confiscated!"
"N-no way...!"
Shurado checked her phone and said, "Oh no, I talked 14 seconds longer than scheduled!" and then ran off like a storm.
"Seriously, I don't get her..."
Just talking to Shurado left Jigokudo completely drained.
Carrying the homemade lunchbox, she headed to the conference room.
What was about to begin was a project on which humanity's fate depended.
It was also the root cause of why her time had been monopolized recently.
Jigokudo munched on her lunch while listening to music.
Croquettes, minced meat cutlets, fried chicken, ground meat—every item was exquisite.
(This lunch is really brown...)
"Sorry I'm late. Let's get started."
With the final member arriving in a rush, the meeting finally began.
No one commented on Jigokudo still munching on her lunch.
"The reason we urgently called this committee meeting is nothing else—the script has been updated."
"It's been ten years since the script was last updated. Are you sure? I haven't received any such information."
"The anomalous substance 'World's End Scenario' is top secret. Of course you haven't."
"Hmm..."
"So, what's in the update?"
"I'll bring it up on the monitor now. And obviously, don't share any of this."
"Understood."
Even while Jigokudo listened to music and munched on her lunch, the tense discussion continued.
That said, it wasn't like she wasn't paying attention.
Her eyes were fixed on the monitor.
On the monitor was an old book.
It had thick, decorative script written on parchment, made in an era when that was the norm.
A gospel, a book of prophecy, a prediction, a script—many names had been given to it.
The prophecy was a warning to humanity, and this page had informed the Dungeon Foundation of the existence and birth of the Calamity Series.
However, it was not written in any human language, so decoding it required advanced AI. The translated text was this:
'With nimble fingers, the one shall invoke the gaze of the star-sea and, with blazing fields, shall annihilate the Calamity.'
Just one sentence.
That was the entirety of the update.
The Calamity Response Committee fell into silence.
Everyone was racking their brains trying to interpret that one sentence.
"It says they'll annihilate the Calamity, but..."
"Who is 'they'?"
"From the word 'blazing fields,' perhaps it refers to a skill holder with strong fire abilities?"
"Even if you say that, there are way too many fire-based ones."
"Still, 99% of explorers are ineffective against Calamities. Doesn't that help narrow it down?"
Using the keyword "blazing fields," everyone continued the discussion.
One of the Calamity Response Committee's duties was interpreting prophecies and devising countermeasures.
"Man, I thought it'd be a new Calamity."
"If it's about fighting Calamities, we're already covered."
"Yeah, exactly. The number of viable candidates is tiny, so there's no point in even guessing who."
About twenty minutes had passed since the meeting began, and the atmosphere had started to loosen.
Jigokudo finished her bento and took a sip of tea.
"It's Finger Man......"
""""Huh?""""
More than ten people turned their heads sharply at the unexpected speaker.
"I think this is... about Finger Man......"
"I see... if we focus on the 'fingertip' part, then yeah, it does make sense......"
"But, ugh, damn it, I can't remember, Finger Man... ahhh, no good, I can't recall. I feel like there was an explorer in the database with the alias 'Finger Man' though......"
"Why are we talking about urban legends in here?"
A middle-aged man who apparently didn't know about Finger Man interrupted the discussion.
"You seriously don't know? That creepy guy, 'Finger Man'—he shows up in dungeons, runs around making snapping sounds, and if you cross paths with him, that's it, you'll be turned to charred remains."
"What the hell, that's terrifying."
"Right after rumors about Finger Man started circulating, someone named Akagi Hideo began operating under the name 'Finger Man' (currently infected with the meme), so what do you think of that?"
"I don't think it's related."
The middle-aged man casually said this while sipping café au lait through a straw.
Everyone agreed, and the topic of Akagi Hideo quickly faded.
Jigokudo didn't miss the strange remark.
(That man... just moments ago, he didn't know who Finger Man was. If there's an explorer with the alias 'Finger Man', he should've been the first suspect, but that didn't happen.)
Jigokudo gave a tired sigh and muttered, "Ahh," in realization.
Apparently, the meme infection had already begun.
And at the same time, she realized she was the only uninfected person in the room.
(Logically, the first thing we should do is suspect 'Finger Man' Akagi Hideo, but no one is. No one can. Our perception is distorted. The infection is strong. That middle-aged man who didn't even know about Finger Man had his thoughts contaminated in an instant. The conceptual jamming is intense too. This is... Araragi... bamboo shoots... no, maybe even worse than that.)
"I met Finger Man. I'm sure I did. I should be able to draw his face..."
The man sitting next to Jigokudo clutched his head in agony.
A piece of paper and a pen lay at the man's side.
Seeing this, Jigokudo gasped.
The paper was filled with nothing but a hand poised to snap its fingers.
And it wasn't just one sheet.
The same hand-like logo had been drawn across ten sheets of memo paper.
"What is this...?"
"I tried to draw Finger Man's face, but before I noticed, I kept drawing this mark..."
"It's meme contamination..."
"...No way, that can't be..."
As if rejecting reality, the man picked up the pen again.
Jigokudo let out a shallow sigh.
"But even if we assume Finger Man really exists, there's no way he could be the messiah. The 'Outer Sea Six Paths' that the foundation takes pride in—that's the countermeasure the Ark gave us."
Everyone in the conference room turned their gaze toward Jigokudo.
Eyes full of expectation. The expectation of sacrifice. Jigokudo felt uncomfortable.
"Besides, the top and strongest S-Class explorers are far more suitable for dealing with Calamities."
"Exactly. As long as we have those monster-like explorers in the single digits of S-Class and A-Class, no threat is a problem!"
(Finger Man... he's already fully armed with a powerful meme-type anomalous substance. Finding him may be difficult. Words won't reach them. That means I'm the only one who can act, because I'm unaffected.)
——From Gakidou's perspective.
All mysteries come to an end.
Gakidou firmly believes this.
That's why she spent the last few months believing that one day she'd uncover Finger Man's true nature and identity.
She gently sat down on the bed in an executive suite of a certain hotel in Chiba's city center.
In her hands was a classified document she had just received from an ally.
Ever since the incident on social media (see: Finger Man Rumor #2), Gakidou had realized Finger Man had discovered her existence and was now extremely wary of her.
Therefore, she mobilized her underlings—code name: G-Squad.
G-Squad is not a team composed of humans.
Therefore, even if it is Finger Man, there's no way he could completely escape their tracking and intervention.
Though she had trouble gathering her scattered allies from around the world, and the target vanished suddenly more than once, after many obstacles, G-Squad finally located Finger Man in the Chiba dungeon.
"Chuchuun."
A plump sparrow proudly perched itself atop Gakidou's head.
Gakidou, expressionless, gently squeezed it while saying "good job."
This intel was all thanks to this little one.
"Chuchuun♪"
G-Squad's commander, code name: Chun-san, had brought back a single photo.
It showed a young man estimated to be around 22 years old.
However, due to Chun-san's slight fumble, the photo was a little blurry, and his face was hidden in the shadows, making it hard to discern.
"This is 'Finger Man' Akagi Hideo."
"Chuchuun."
"He quickly noticed my investigation and launched a series of information warfare efforts—he's the mastermind (according to Gakidou's interpretation)."
"Chunchun!"
"Now it's time to expose his true identity."
"Chun! Chunchun!"
————
——From Akagi Hideo's perspective.
"I'll convert this dungeon coin to digital data and deposit it properly into your account, Akagi-san!"
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Dungeon Bank Account Balance: 3,697,711 yen
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Shurado Investment: 16,453,983 yen
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Total Assets: 20,151,694 yen
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↓＋53,690,215 yen (DJC per coin rate)
───────────────────
Dungeon Bank Account Balance: 3,697,711 yen
───────────────────
Shurado Investment: 70,144,198 yen
───────────────────
Total Assets: 73,841,909 yen
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Crap... this is getting way out of my hands.
The combat power of dungeon coins is way too high.
I can't believe my assets jumped to 738 million yen in an instant.
"Since living happily with Shimaenaga-san and Gii-san in the future will require good facilities, we should start preparing now!"
"You think so? My kids only cost about 500 yen a day. Shimaenaga-san just eats cheese beef bowls. Gii-san only drinks water."
"No, I doubt it'll stay that cheap... yeah, definitely not."
Huh? That sounded kind of ominous...
Maybe Shurado, who also holds the sage position, can see something I can't.
"Even conservatively, we'll need around 10 billion yen. Our dream home must include a dungeon, vast grounds, containment facilities, an emergency nuclear shelter, and many other installations!"
"Ugh, 10 billion yen..."
"Chii chii chii."
"Gii."
Yeah, yeah, it's okay.
I'll do my best.
There's a saying that cute kids cost money. It's even in the Kojiki.
Just as sage Shurado said—we'll save up plenty of money.
The target is 10 billion yen.
"Well then, great job conquering today's mission! Please get some good rest! Oh, by the way, we've got lots of extra jelly, so how about one for you too, Akagi-san?"
Sipping on the mysteriously distributed jelly, I dragged my exhausted body back to the hotel.
Suddenly, I spotted a familiar face in the front lobby.
"Ah, Miss Century, isn't it? Long time no see."
"... (It's Mister Sunglasses)"
"What brings you here? More work again?"
"...Trash."
Yeah, she's as harsh as ever.
"A-Ahaha, sorry, I guess I've still got a long way to go. I really am trying, though."
"...You stink."
Come on, that's way too harsh!! What did I even do to deserve this!?
"Sorry... I'll get going now... ugh..."
I really am no good with Miss Century.
Emotionally wrecked, I cried in bed.