That night, at Shoji Sugihara's mansion.
"Gaaah!!"
With a strangled scream, Shoji bolted upright in bed.
"Huff…! Huff…!"
He wiped at his forehead, gasping for breath. Cold sweat drenched him as if he'd just stepped out of a shower.
He checked the clock.
It hadn't even been three minutes since he'd closed his eyes.
"What kind of dream was that…!"
He ground his teeth together.
It had to be because of that man who had visited earlier. In all his life, he had never suffered nightmares like this.
Taking a deep breath, Shoji lay back down and shut his eyes again.
Ridiculous.
How could Shoji Sugihara—him—be shaken by something as trivial as a nightmare?
[Graaaaaah!!!]
A grotesquely mangled face lunged right up to his own.
He hadn't even kept his eyes closed for five seconds.
"AAAAAH!!!"
This time, his scream was even louder.
His eyes bulged as though they might pop out of their sockets.
But this was different from before.
He hadn't fallen asleep.
Which meant this wasn't a dream.
A tingling sensation crept up his arm. He glanced down.
"!!!"
Clear finger marks were stamped around his wrist—the exact spot where something had just grabbed him.
"Chairman? Are you all right?"
Shoji's face twisted.
Shoji Sugihara, feeling relief at nothing more than a bodyguard's voice? The humiliation stung.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I said I'm fine. Leave."
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"Enough. Just get—!"
He cut himself off mid-snap.
That voice.
It was Sumida's.
Sumida had been carried off by security and rushed to the hospital. He couldn't possibly be here.
Slowly, Shoji turned his head toward the door.
"Are you all right? Are you all right? Are you all right? Are you all right?"
The door creaked open.
And it entered.
The same thing he had seen when he closed his eyes moments ago.
"Ghh… GAAAAAAAH!!!"
Through the old Sugihara estate, Chairman Shoji's piercing scream echoed.
Tick.
The second hand on the clock beside him moved forward.
Only ten seconds had passed.
And this was just the beginning.
From now on, his retribution would come pouring down—second by second.
Innovation Party Lounge, National Assembly.
Sato Tsubasa leaned back in her seat and draped a hand over her eyes.
Her head felt foggy, her eyelids unbearably heavy.
'I'm exhausted. My ears even hurt.'
The moment she returned, the senior lawmakers had chewed her out for disappearing without notice.
She didn't regret it.
After all, she had met Runner—and even forged a connection.
'It wasn't a dream…'
Even replaying it now, everything felt unreal.
She'd had to scramble for excuses when asked where she'd been. If she had told the truth, she would've been torn apart—especially since she'd practically turned Sugihara into an enemy for the sake of a Korean player she'd just met.
She switched on the TV in the center of the lounge.
As befitting one of Japan's top corporations, every channel she flipped to was running a Sugihara advertisement.
—Sugihara will fall.
A faint smile curved her lips.
For a moment, she had been so swept up in the atmosphere that she'd almost believed those absurd words might come true.
But after returning to the Assembly and cooling her head, she realized how foolish that hope had been.
Just like the ads playing now, Sugihara stood firm and unshaken.
Outside the lounge, lawmakers from the Gamin Party still dominated the chamber.
Nothing had changed.
'Pull yourself together, Sato Tsubasa.'
She closed her eyes and leaned back against the sofa, switching the TV to the news for background noise.
"Tonight in Yokohama, the festival will be accompanied by fireworks— We apologize. We have breaking news."
Tsubasa cracked one eye open.
Breaking news?
The anchor's face stiffened as someone fed him information through his earpiece.
He looked conflicted.
As if wondering whether he should even say this out loud.
The atmosphere shifted.
Sitting upright, Tsubasa leaned forward.
Just then—
"Congresswoman!!"
The door burst open and her aide rushed in, pale as a ghost.
"Th-this will be faster!"
He thrust a tablet into her hands.
Tsubasa scrolled slowly through the contents.
With every swipe, her mouth fell a little farther open.
She could barely believe what she was reading.
What is this?
"It's already been sent to every broadcasting station," her aide said breathlessly. "Even NewTubers have it. There's no containing this."
"What about the Gamin Party lawmakers?"
"They've all left their seats. Quite a few slipped out of the Assembly quietly."
She pressed a hand to her forehead and read again.
Detailed records of the corruption and brutal crimes Sugihara had committed for decades. Names of everyone involved. Transaction amounts. Situational breakdowns. Audio recordings. Hidden camera footage.
It was meticulous.
She swallowed dryly and looked up.
"The sender… don't tell me…"
"It came from the chairman's office at Sugihara."
Her mind reeled.
The breaking news on TV was about this very dossier.
Under normal circumstances, even if the media had obtained it, they never would have aired it. Sugihara was a giant no one dared oppose.
"Congresswoman."
"Let's go. Now."
This was no time to sit here. They needed to get out there—
"Chairman Shoji Sugihara has just appeared!"
The camera feed from outside the Sugihara estate filled the screen.
Shoji had stepped out.
No one dragged him.
He walked out on his own.
'What… happened to him?'
Tsubasa frowned.
This wasn't the unshakable mountain she had known.
Calling him haggard didn't even begin to describe it.
The skin around his eyes was sunken and dark, as though hollowed out. Angry red marks covered his exposed skin, as if he'd been beaten.
He staggered toward the gathered cameras.
'What is he looking at?'
His gaze wasn't directed at the crowd.
He stared blankly into empty air.
Inside the lounge, Tsubasa and her aide watched in stunned silence.
The atmosphere at the scene was no different. Reporters hesitated to speak. Even in this condition, he was still Shoji Sugihara. One wrong word could ruin them.
In the heavy silence—
"Stop…"
Shoji spoke first.
"STOP!!!"
He grabbed one of the cameras and screamed, bloodshot eyes wide.
"I told you I've done everything! There's nothing left! It's all settled, so stop already!!"
Tsubasa clamped a hand over her mouth.
That was undoubtedly Shoji Sugihara.
And yet—it wasn't.
The man whose mere gaze once made others shrink back now looked utterly hollow.
There was no strength left in his eyes.
Only madness, swallowed whole by fear.
"Ha…"
A shaky breath escaped her lips as she collapsed back onto the sofa.
Her legs wouldn't hold her.
Instinctively, she checked the time.
It had been exactly four hours since Runner Yoo Jinhyuk had said—
—Sugihara will fall.
In four hours, Sugihara hadn't just fallen.
It had begun to shatter.
For decades, Sugihara and the Gamin Party had ruled the center of Japan.
And now—
They were crumbling.
A cozy living room sofa.
Slurp!
Nearly sprawled out across it, Jinhyuk happily sipped his juice.
As soon as his business in Japan was finished, he'd flown straight back to Incheon Airport, returned home, and enjoyed a long, hot shower.
"Home really is the best."
"It sure is! Nothing beats cold juice at home!"
He absentmindedly stroked the fluffy fur beside him while watching TV.
This wasn't Japan—it was Korea.
Naturally, the news was from Korean broadcasters, but the story was the same.
It was that big of a scandal.
The Sugihara Gate, sparked by Chairman Shoji's own exposé.
'There's no salvaging that.'
Irrefutable evidence had been released in bulk.
Among it were documents tied to the player hunts carried out in Korea.
There was even proof that Chairman Shoji had ordered Kansai's Oni to act.
Upon confirming the evidence, the Korean government began relentlessly pressuring Japan's already paralyzed administration.
"Fwooo…"
Smoke curled into the air.
Was it because Satan Kancho had disappeared?
Kancho suddenly sprang up from Jinhyuk's petting and launched himself into the air.
"How can you just smoke like that so casually?!"
Camela lightly dodged him and slapped a talisman onto the back of his head.
Thud.
The Yodel Ranger dropped like a sack of potatoes and instantly fell asleep.
"Tsk tsk. That little devil."
Clicking her tongue, Camela sat down beside Jinhyuk, a faint, cruel smile tugging at her lips.
"He pretended not to be afraid. Serves him right. Look at him—his face has shrunk to half its size."
Jinhyuk checked the time.
"I didn't expect it to happen this fast."
"It's fast for us. But for that old fiend, it must have felt like decades of torment without rest."
Time really was relative.
Shoji Sugihara was experiencing that truth firsthand.
"Even if he exposed everything he's done, that doesn't mean his karma disappears, right?"
"As if. If I meant to let him off that easily, I wouldn't have marked him with my blood."
Camela tapped her forehead.
"My blood is a brand. It cannot be erased. It will spread through that old man like a plague—to every sinner nearby who deserves retribution."
"Camela, those handprints… were they just to scare him?"
"I told you before. A painless death is a blessing. Do you think I would allow a creature like that to receive such mercy?"
A vicious smile spread across her lips.
"Fwooo…"
With Satan Kancho out of the way, she exhaled her smoke comfortably.
"Some say the past is just the past. That once time has passed, there's no need to look back. In some cases, that's true. But not for everyone."
She pointed her pipe at Shoji on the TV.
"The past leaves marks that cannot be erased or changed. No matter when you look back, they remain exactly where they were. No matter what he does, his karma will never be settled. He will struggle until the very end—until he withers away, until his body can no longer endure."
Jinhyuk nodded, watching Shoji's deathly pale face on the screen.
He had to admit—
It was the perfect ending for someone like him.
Ring ring ring.
Just as he was smiling in satisfaction, his phone began to ring.
----------
T/N:
Just for being a free member, you'll get 5 advanced chapters every week!
Access 35 chapters in advance on my Patreon:[email protected]//towerup