"The weather is terrible today."
Akiyama Satoru sneezed, pulled his mask back on, and continued walking through the streets of Tokyo with an old duffle bag.
Japan was in a particular situation in 1997.
Since the economic crisis, social vitality had declined. Suicide rates had soared, birth rates had fallen, and the aging population problem had intensified, leaving society in a low ebb from a humanistic perspective.
"Couldn't I be reborn in a better era? At least one where using a cellphone is normal."
Satoru complained, feeling completely helpless. Suddenly finding himself back in time as a 20-year-old Japanese youth two months ago was certainly bizarre.
But he quickly suppressed his unease and learned to accept his new reality.
His only trouble was that the youth he had possessed refused to go to university after graduation and instead pursued a dream of becoming a mangaka.
He had even had a falling out with his family, who didn't support his dream, so he left for Tokyo full of ambition, only to be slapped by reality and realize that despite his decent art, he wasn't a great storyteller.
"Couldn't you draw manga and attend college as well?"
Satoru couldn't understand his thinking, but he had no time to dwell on the previous owner's foolishness.
With talent in drawing and no desire to live in poverty, Satoru spent two months organizing his new life and drawing successful manga from future works.
Now, he stood in front of the Weekly Jump magazine building, manuscript in hand, hoping to achieve success.
After stating his purpose and signing his name, the receptionist led him to a large hall filled with desks.
"Please wait here for a moment, sir. An available editor will meet you shortly," the lady said, leaving him at an empty desk.
Satoru noticed that the hall was half-filled with people like him, submitting their manuscripts to editors for review.
Clank.
"Hello. My name is Yoshihisa Heishi. I'll be the editor reviewing your work."
Satoru stood up and shook the editor's hand, taking a good look at him.
Yoshihisa was tall and thin, wore glasses, and had a blank expression that screamed, I don't want to be here.
"I'm Akiyama Satoru. Pleasure to meet you."
After shaking hands, they both took a seat, and Yoshihisa went straight to the point.
"Let me see your manuscript."
Yoshihisa didn't want to come across as rude, but even after the conclusion of Dragon Ball and Yu Yu Hakusho and the slight decline of Weekly Shonen Jump, with its circulation falling behind Weekly Shonen Magazine, it still retained a strong talent pool.
Countless manga artists hoped to serialize their works in Jump.
As an editor for the famous Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, Yoshihisa was quite busy, but he still squeezed out time to sift through countless manuscripts, searching for shining diamonds among newcomers.
He was so busy that he had no time for vacations or travel. Because of that, he didn't have much energy to communicate with newcomers.
He took the manuscript from Satoru and adjusted his glasses.
"Death Note." Yoshihisa rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Not a bad premise…"
He didn't want to judge it too soon, so he continued reading the short story.
**
Thirteen-year-old Kagami Taro found a notebook with the words Death Note is written on its black cover.
When Kagami returned home, he wrote about what happened that day.
It was about the bullying he suffered at the hands of Tanaka and Mitsui.
The next day, the teacher looked devastated and announced that Tanaka and Mitsui had died the previous night from cardiac arrest.
Shocked and suspicious, Kagami wrote the names of three other bullies in the Death Note after school.
All three died of cardiac arrest.
Kagami finally believed in the power of the Death Note.
He rushed home, intending to hide it safely, but on the way he saw Miura Kyotaro being questioned by the police. Like Kagami, Miura had also been bullied by those five.
The police didn't believe the deaths were a coincidence. They suspected something was wrong and followed the clues until they reached Miura.
Kagami panicked even more and went straight home.
The moment he entered his room, a monster appeared behind him.
It was tall, with jet-black feathers growing from its shoulders, and a terrifying body that looked almost like a wild beast. Yet its face carried a playful smile.
The creature introduced himself as Ryuk, the Grim Reaper. He explained that the Death Note was something he had thrown into the human world for fun.
Ryuk told Kagami the rules clearly.
Anyone whose name was written in the Death Note would die.
If the cause of death was specified, such as "accidental death," the person would die that way.
If no cause was written, the victim would die from cardiac arrest.
The next day, the police came to question Kagami. A veteran detective led the visit, accompanied by a younger detective.
They didn't get anything useful out of Kagami, but during the conversation they revealed their identities, which Kagami quickly memorized.
Five children dying from cardiac arrest was too unnatural.
The veteran detective refused to believe it was a coincidence. He suspected an unknown force was involved, especially since a similar incident had happened twenty years ago.
"You don't need to lift a finger," he said. "You can kill someone just by thinking about it."
The young detective was stunned by the idea.
If such power truly existed—
"I'll kill everyone who makes me feel like the world would be a better place without them," the young detective said. "I want to create a peaceful world where everyone has a kind heart!"
The veteran detective frowned. "If we did it that way, most people would disappear."
At that moment, Yoshihisa Heishi was stunned while reading.
This would be even more interesting if it became the main storyline.
Kagami wanted to keep the Death Note, but that night he couldn't sleep. The deaths weighed on him, and nightmares haunted him.
Ryuk then gave him a special eraser.
If Kagami used the Death Eraser to erase a name, the person would be resurrected.
But when the five dead students returned to life, the police were even more alarmed.
They rushed to the school, and while questioning the students about what they experienced before dying, the five students and several police officers suddenly died again.
At the same time, criminals around the world began dying one after another.
There was another Death Note.
Ryuk claimed he had accidentally lost a second notebook, and he only appeared around Kagami's home and school.
A student had died at school, meaning the person holding the other Death Note was most likely a student as well.
Why would students kill other students?
The answer was obvious: bullying.
Whoever killed the bullies and the police had likely done it out of fear, trying to erase evidence before the truth could be exposed.
Kagami suddenly realized the culprit.
Miura had found the second Death Note.
He had been bullied by the same five people.
When Kagami found him, Miura was writing names with trembling hands, muttering like a madman.
"Die… die… everyone, die!"
The final name he was writing was Kyotaro, and it was almost complete.
Kagami rushed forward and stopped him.
Miura had completely broken down. He was even preparing to write his own name and commit suicide.
Kagami quickly used the Death Eraser, saving everyone.
After things settled down, Kagami brought Miura to the police station and revealed the existence of the Death Note.
Ryuk claimed that Miura had simply picked up the notebook Ryuk discarded, which led to everything.
The young detective refused to believe it, thinking it was too absurd.
To prove it, Kagami told Miura to write his own name in the notebook.
Miura died right in front of the police, his pulse disappearing instantly.
Then Kagami erased the name.
Miura returned to life.
Only then did the police finally believe in the Death Note's power.
In the end, the Death Note was preserved by the four, and the notebook was burned to ashes, bringing the incident to a close.
Seven years later, people still talked enthusiastically about the legend of the "Death Note."
But in the end, it was only a rumor. No one truly believed such a notebook existed.
End.