The Kakerou Club

Seeing that the time was ripe, Q Dalang finally bared his fangs.

"You don't look like you'll be getting your energy back anytime soon..."

"So, how about it? Want to make a big wager?"

Before anyone could react, Q Dalang pulled several thick stacks of cash from under the table and casually piled them on the mahjong table.

"Ten million!"

The corners of Q Dalang's mouth rose, his smile tinged with something twisted.

"There's ten million here. Care to wager on it? The bet is that you can leave this building..."

Chapter 17: The Kakerou Club

The atmosphere changed.

When Q Dalang put a full ten million yen on the table, the atmosphere in the entire room changed, turning murky and oppressive, making it hard to breathe.

"..."

Shiraki Uke narrowed his eyes and looked around, noticing that everyone reacted differently.

The most obvious—and ordinary—reaction came from Takaomi Kaji. One moment, he had been so bored he was nodding off; the next, he jerked awake, his eyes widening at the fortune on the table.

"Huh!?"

What was that old man saying?

Had he gotten carried away gambling, pulling out that much money all of a sudden?!

"T-ten million?!" Takaomi Kaji asked in astonishment, without thinking, "That's so much... but how exactly are we betting?"

And that reaction was exactly what Q Dalang wanted.

"My, my, you've never seen this much money, have you? It's really very simple..."

"All you have to do is take the money and leave the building!"

Q Dalang slammed a hand on the table and said excitedly, "Just take the money home, and it's yours. Come on! Take it now! Don't be shy!"

That abnormally high excitement, coupled with the ten million yen, left Takaomi Kaji struggling to breathe.

For an ordinary office worker to save ten million yen from his salary, he would have to go without food or drink for about five years. Yet now someone was offering it for free, and all he had to do was take it away?!

"Mm... Hah..."

Takaomi Kaji's breathing grew heavier. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was fishy, but he couldn't take his eyes off the money.

Q Dalang had expected this.

He had seen too many people like that. There was no point thinking too much about it now; after all, when faced with money, people were no different from cats and dogs, and their words and actions were very easy to predict.

So no one would refuse... right?

A flicker of doubt suddenly crept into Q Dalang's confident mind.

Apart from Takaomi Kaji, the other three weren't behaving as he had expected. Each of them even wore a different expression!

The silver-haired middle-aged man still had a cigarette in his mouth, as if the ten million on the table didn't exist;

The heavily built one was twisting his neck, his eyes darting around as if searching for something;

The slender white-haired young man was seriously considering the wager, but his attention wasn't on the money. He was smiling as he stared at Q Dalang himself.

"Isn't that way off?"

Baku Madarame shrugged. "I thought you'd finally shown your true colors, but this stake isn't appealing at all."

"Ever since I stepped into this building, I've smelled a strong stench of blood..."

"And you—you smell like an executioner."

"..."

Hearing that, Q Dalang realized once again that tonight's visitors were anything but incompetent.

"...I see. It seems you're very observant, sir."

"I was going to explain after you took the money, but oh well..."

Still smiling, Q Dalang snapped his fingers softly.

Snap!

Another figure suddenly appeared, standing abruptly beside Q Dalang. His powerful presence drew everyone's attention in an instant.

He was a man wearing a frightening mask, his hair standing up in spikes. His upper body was bare save for crossed strips of cloth binding it, and he wore long pants. His muscles were sharply defined.

In terms of physique, the masked man was in no way inferior to Shiraki Uke;

In terms of presence, unlike Shiraki Uke's easygoing manner, the masked man was full of killing intent. No matter how one looked at him, he was absolutely "abnormal"!

"He... he's..."

Takaomi Kaji was too shocked to speak, at a loss for what to do.

Shiraki Uke, by contrast, remained calm. Although there were some differences from the fragments he remembered, the person who was supposed to appear had finally appeared.

Shiraki Uke raised his eyes and met the masked man's gaze. The man, however, gave him an impression of youthfulness, a stark contrast to his exaggerated physique.

There was no mistake. That masked man was the "tool" Q Dalang used to kill for fun, the "Abandoned Building Demon" who possessed absolute violence!

"As you can see..."

Q Dalang began explaining without waiting for anyone. "If you can take the money and leave, you win. I have a helper on my side, too, who'll do his best to stop you from leaving..."

"It's a very simple wager, isn't it?"

"..."

Understanding dawned on Shiraki Uke. He pulled a photograph of the Nogi Group salesman from his pocket and placed it in front of Q Dalang.

"I see."

Shiraki Uke looked at Q Dalang. "When the Nogi Group salesman came here before, you played the same game with him, didn't you?"

"Yes, yes, that's right!"

Q Dalang clapped repeatedly, looked at the photograph, and burst into laughter. "I remember him. A young fellow who'd just bought a home in Tokyo and had been worrying about his loan lately! I told him that if he won, I'd pay him what I owed the Nogi Group."

"..." Shiraki Uke stared into Q Dalang's eyes. "So, what was the outcome of that wager? Where is he now?"

"I don't know. Has he gone missing?"

Q Dalang laughed with abandon. "As for the outcome, what fun would it be if I told you?!"

"Did that young fellow lose, fail to get the money back, and become too ashamed to face his boss? Or did he win a fortune from me and sneak off to enjoy himself? It's so hard to guess..."

"..."

The implication was clear: the salesman had probably met with misfortune and died while trying to escape the building.

By this point, Shiraki Uke's expression had turned somewhat hostile.

He didn't care about the Nogi Group's interests, but as a fighter who communicated with his fists, Shiraki Uke had become particularly sensitive to what "people" felt.

After looking over the salesman's information several times, Shiraki Uke suddenly felt a surge of irritation.

For the salesman, this had been nothing more than a business trip, one that might even have earned him praise from his superiors. Instead, Q Dalang had lured him here, where he was tortured and killed in a wager.

If you can't afford to pay, don't gamble; and if you aren't a gambler, you should never be forced to gamble!

The wager Q Dalang had set up in this abandoned building wasn't intended to give him a satisfying contest against someone. He simply wanted to kill for fun!

"..."

Beside him, Baku Madarame noticed the change in Shiraki Uke's mood.

Seeing the atmosphere grow tense, Baku Madarame sighed helplessly and muttered, "Come to think of it, with four... five people taking part in the wager, ten million is a bit too small a prize, isn't it?"

Q Dalang could naturally tell that Baku was already tempted by the wager.

To stoke the fire, Q Dalang picked up the phone beside him and said with a smile, "Of course, I hate dull wagers too. Tonight should be exciting, shouldn't it? I'll extend a special invitation to a 'referee.'"

"A referee from the Kakerou Club."

"..."

The moment those words left his mouth, Takaomi Kaji noticed Mr. Baku beside him go completely rigid.

He had thought that someone as calm as Baku wouldn't be surprised by anything, but now Baku's expression had clearly darkened.

Baku murmured the name under his breath. "Heh, Kakerou..."

About ten minutes later, someone knocked on the door.

It was a distinguished elderly gentleman in a suit, standing ramrod straight.

The elderly gentleman removed his hat and bowed to everyone.

"Sorry for the wait. You are the member, Lord Kokonoe, correct?"

He calmly introduced himself. "I am Higashi Kōichi, referee number two of the Kakerou Club."

That night, Takaomi Kaji, who had always lived in an ordinary world, finally realized how insignificant the morals his parents and teachers had taught him as a child were.

Human beings—

Were capable of anything.