After all, he figured that instead of letting Itou Kaiji keep risking his life gambling in casinos every day, he might as well have him shoot some videos with him.
Come to think of it, Itou Kaiji's personality was actually quite suitable.
He had a high tolerance for pressure—Itou Kaiji had gone through so many ups and downs in life, been betrayed and sold out several times, and had even lost an ear and four fingers in gambling matches.
Even so, he had managed to turn the tables at the very end despite being at a disadvantage. That kind of mental fortitude was absolutely top-tier.
He would also be great for entertainment value—generous when ahead, reckless with an advantage, crying when losing, and making comebacks from desperate situations.
As for his personality, he was a lousy person who hated the rich, but at least had some bottom lines.
His biggest problem was his gambling addiction.
It was said that after experiencing life-and-death battles in casinos, ordinary thrills could no longer satisfy him.
But Vengeful Spirit and ghosts were a whole different track.
Did he want that thrill of hovering between life and death?
Then this place was perfect for him!
Looking at Itou Kaiji, who still looked like a complete washout, Miyauchi Hiyage nearly blurted out, "You absolutely have to join my team."
Itou Kaiji's Fate Began to Shift
Miyauchi Hiyage had actually forgotten the name of the guy standing before Itou Kaiji, trying to get him to sign this loan guarantee agreement.
He only remembered that the man seemed to have been sent onto that cruise ship by debt collectors in the future, and had sold out Itou Kaiji again for money at the end of the gambling match.
Even before obtaining the Diary, Miyauchi Hiyage would not have been afraid of a gambling addict who acted like a coward outside but threw his weight around among his own people.
Therefore, the moment Miyauchi Hiyage approached, the man's gaze had already become noticeably more guilty.
Before he could react, Miyauchi Hiyage had snatched the guarantee agreement from his hand and begun examining the debt information written on it.
It stated that a man named Furuhata Takeshi had applied for a 300,000-yen loan from some lending company.
With Itou Kaiji's current monthly income of 150,000 to 200,000 yen as a convenience store clerk, that was roughly equivalent to nearly two months of his wages.
It did not look like much. Even if he repaid 50,000 yen a month, he could probably clear it in half a year.
But this was a high-interest loan.
After seeing that the terms explicitly stated the loan accrued compound interest of twenty percent per month, Miyauchi Hiyage, who was not bad at math, almost instantly calculated how the amount would change over the next year.
"Just the first month will generate 60,000 yen in interest. The second month, it becomes 70,000... After a year, the interest alone will exceed two million yen. Are you really going to sign this guarantee agreement for him?"
As he spoke, Miyauchi Hiyage handed the agreement to Itou Kaiji, whose face was filled with shock at the figure of two million.
"Rather than a guarantee, I think this looks more like a trap he and that lending company designed specifically for you."
"For a period after you sign it, the lending company will not actively come after you for repayment. They will wait until the interest has snowballed into over a million yen, then send people to demand money from you with this guarantee agreement bearing your own signature."
Following Miyauchi Hiyage's warning, the young man's body began to tremble involuntarily, as though Miyauchi Hiyage had exposed what he was thinking.
He tried to explain himself to Itou Kaiji.
"Kaiji-senpai, please listen to me. I absolutely didn't mean that."
"I only went to this lending company because I needed a little capital. Two days—so long as I have this capital, I only need two days at most to repay it. I won't let the interest keep piling up like this."
Hearing that utterly classic gambling addict line, Miyauchi Hiyage could not hold back his laughter.
He looked at Itou Kaiji.
He had already warned him. If Itou Kaiji still wanted to guarantee the loan because of their so-called friendship, then there was no need for him to keep trying to persuade him.
Fortunately, while Itou Kaiji was softhearted, he was not an idiot.
The only reason he and Furuhata Takeshi had become friends was that whenever they had nothing to do after work, they often went to the nearby pachinko parlor to play a few rounds.
Earlier, he had been moved by the man's plea and had not carefully considered what was behind it, which was why he had thought that merely signing for him would not be a big deal.
Only after Miyauchi Hiyage interrupted their conversation did his intelligence return to his brain, and Itou Kaiji realized there was a problem here.
With his monthly salary still only a little over a hundred thousand yen, Itou Kaiji had not yet fully awakened his gambling addict tendencies. Even when he went to play pachinko, he only did so after calculating that his remaining wages would still cover his living expenses.
But Furuhata Takeshi seemed to have gradually gotten carried away over the past few months. His bets had grown larger and larger. Even Itou Kaiji had privately advised him several times, yet failed to make him change his ways.
And now, what could possibly require Furuhata Takeshi to borrow 300,000 yen from a high-interest lending company? He had spent all that time playing up how miserable he was, yet never mentioned why he needed the money. Itou Kaiji had never heard him say that anyone in his family was sick, either.
So this guy was borrowing money purely to gamble it away.
No, perhaps he had already borrowed from quite a few lending companies before this.
Maybe he had already lost all of that money, which was why he had set his sights on Itou Kaiji.
With his normal intelligence restored, Itou Kaiji had almost instantly assessed the situation of this seemingly honest junior.
A few beads of sweat emerged on his forehead.
Then he abruptly shoved the guarantee agreement back at Furuhata Takeshi.
"Sorry, I can't do something like this. You should discuss it with your family instead!"
With that, Itou Kaiji cast Miyauchi Hiyage a grateful look before returning to the convenience store.
That had been close. If this kind passerby had not stepped in, he might really have fallen into someone else's trap.
Miyauchi Hiyage looked again at the man who had wanted to set Itou Kaiji up.
This guy really was cowardly enough.
Miyauchi Hiyage had stood right in front of him and exposed the dark thoughts in his heart, yet aside from initially saying something about him having no manners, the man had stood there with a vacant stare ever since. He neither dared keep pestering Itou Kaiji nor dared confront, much less attack, Miyauchi Hiyage, who had ruined his plan.
Looking at his unfocused eyes, it was hard to tell what he was thinking.
He was probably considering who else he could use besides Itou Kaiji.
Still, anyone who seriously read the contents of that guarantee agreement would be unwilling to become the guarantor, aside from a soft-eared guy like Itou Kaiji.
Miyauchi Hiyage did not care about the man's filthy thoughts.
Instead, he followed Itou Kaiji into the convenience store.
Itou Kaiji had just entered the convenience store to resume work when he turned around and saw Miyauchi Hiyage following him in. He froze for a moment.
He thought the man wanted to buy something, so he quickly put on the proper demeanor of a convenience store clerk and asked what he needed, adding a word of thanks afterward.
"Sir, thank you so much for warning me just now. Otherwise, I really might have signed that guarantee agreement without understanding what I was doing."
Miyauchi Hiyage nodded noncommittally.
Only then did he hand Itou Kaiji a business card from Asahigaoka Media.
Naturally, his position on the card was not chairman or general manager. It merely listed him as an ordinary video director.
"Although we only met by chance, I think your image fits our company's requirements quite well. If you feel your current life is too dull and want to make some changes, you can call me."
"If you're worried, you can look up our company online first before making a decision."
Takanashi Across the Country
After handing the business card to Itou Kaiji, Miyauchi Hiyage did not say much else. He casually bought a few bottles of drinks from the convenience store and left.
Given Itou Kaiji's personality—wanting to make something of his life yet constantly hesitating—he would most likely call the number on the business card to ask about things after looking into the history of the Asahigaoka Group.
At that point, Miyauchi Hiyage only needed to half-truthfully scare Itou Kaiji a little and paint him a rosy picture, and he could probably bring him under his wing.
Thus, Miyauchi Hiyage was in no hurry. Only if Itou Kaiji came to him on his own initiative could he better keep him under control.
After walking all the way to the abandoned, unoccupied villa, Miyauchi Hiyage carefully surveyed it.
It was already night. Under the dim streetlights, it really did have a somewhat eerie and unsettling atmosphere.
Satisfied with the setting, Miyauchi Hiyage took several photos, thought for a while about how to shoot the video tomorrow, then returned home.
It was time to finish today's work.
After wandering around outside for several days, I finally returned to Tokyo today.
I'm starting to prepare for attending Kashiko Kasumi-sensei's autograph session tomorrow. Of course, I hope Kashiko Kasumi-sensei won't be so preoccupied with my affairs that she neglects her most loyal fan.
Also, I wonder how Miss Black Cat from Chiba feels about Jerry temporarily staying at your house.
I was really afraid that if I kept him at my place, he would tear the whole house apart, so for now, I let him run wild outside for a while.
But you don't need to worry. Although Jerry could be a little mischievous and was always causing trouble, he was fundamentally a good mouse. I hope you can get along happily.
Of course, as compensation, aside from letting him guide you in the advanced training methods of Ripple Breathing, I also gave Jerry quite a few useful things. He kept them all in his little bag. If you can make him happy, he might even take those things out as rewards for you.
Also, this trip made me realize that whether it is the ordinary surface world where normal people live, or the Reverse Side World where supernatural beings exist, this world does not actually develop entirely according to the plots of the stories.
I have been writing your stories in the Diary all this time, and the fates of you girls who received Diaries have long since changed.
But even without my appearance, characters who do not have diaries may still come into contact with characters from other works, causing their own stories to change.
In short, let me use the surname Takanashi as an example.
In the world before I transmigrated, Takanashi was an extremely rare surname. There were only around thirty people in all of Japan with Takanashi as their surname.
But interestingly, because of its unusual pronunciation, the surname Takanashi was quite popular in all kinds of film, television, and anime works. In the works I had seen alone, there were more than ten Takanashi.
Thus, a certain phenomenon appeared in this world.
The surname Takanashi remained quite rare, yet for some reason was scattered across every region of Japan.
There were Takanashi in Hokkaido, Kyoto, and Tokyo, and even Takanashi who had transmigrated to another world to become a saintess, as well as one who was a Vampire.
I don't know whether the latter two Takanashi exist, but according to my observations, most Takanashi may have relatively close family ties with one another.
So if something happened to one Takanashi, Takanashi in other regions might lend a hand because of those family ties, thereby changing that Takanashi's original fate.
For a spoiler addict like me, the feeling of stories I knew exceeding my control was indeed rather strange. I had no idea whether this change was ultimately good or bad for this world.
But since something as unreasonable as the Diary has appeared, you girls holding the Diaries should help share some of my burden, okay?
Since I've already brought it up, I might as well say a little more.
A certain Takanashi who calls herself the Evil Eye, I wonder whether you know a Takanashi who married three times and had three daughters with his three wives. If you're not sure, you can ask your older sister.
In any case, before long, that Takanashi will encounter a plane crash while traveling with his third wife, leaving behind only three daughters with no one to care for them.
But I don't know when he will board the plane that may crash. I can only be certain that nothing has happened to him yet.
So if you want to change the fate of that Takanashi couple and their daughters, think of a way yourself. After all, I have too many things to focus on right now, and it is difficult for me to take everything into account.
After finishing today's diary entry, Miyauchi Hiyage began tinkering with the filming equipment he had brought back from Asahigaoka.
As expected, after his diary entry was posted, it immediately sparked another wave of discussion among the girls in the group chat.
Kashiko Kasumi: "Although I'm eighty percent sure that You Know Who definitely won't come to my autograph session tomorrow, it still makes me furious to see him constantly bringing it up!"
After all, what if he really came?
Twenty percent might seem low, but it was still twenty percent, wasn't it?
Kasumigaoka Utaha asked in the group how many people planned to attend her autograph session tomorrow so that she could make arrangements now.
The girls who had already agreed to meet this week and play games quickly appeared in the group chat, saying they could use Kasumigaoka Utaha's autograph session as their meeting point. If they failed to find You Know Who, they would go to a nearby arcade and compete in games to determine their respective standing in the group afterward.
Gokō Ruri had originally been part of the gaming group as well, but now that Jerry was in her home, she still had to find a way to explain Jerry and Ripple Breathing to Tamaki and Hinata and make sure they did not casually tell others. Naturally, she did not have time to make another trip to Tokyo this week.
But she had nothing to regret.
After all, just as You Know Who had said, after only one day of Jerry's instruction, she felt that her Ripple Breathing training was already equivalent to the experience gained from three or four Reading Points.
What was more, You Know Who had said that Jerry carried quite a few items with him, making Gokō Ruri even more attentive in looking after Jerry.
Still, she did not just sit around. Instead, she @'d Evil Eye in the group chat, wanting to know how she planned to handle the matter You Know Who had written about in the diary.
The Withering Takanashi Family Patriarch
Before you continue