The first thing I noticed when I opened my eyes the next day was the silence.
The Unknown had vanished without a trace. No eerie voice, no floating shadow in the corner of my vision. Just silence, and the faint hum of my neighbor's decrepit washing machine still rattling on the other side of the wall.
It should've been the same ordinary morning as always. But I knew better.
I picked up my cracked phone, expecting the same low-battery groan and missed calls from no one. Instead, my screen lit up with notifications so endless that the device literally froze trying to load them.
—[Breaking News: Identity of New World's Richest Man Confirmed]
—[Unidentified Japanese Male Becomes Owner of Top 50 Fortune 500 Corporations Overnight]
—[Who is Souta Renjiro? Japan's Mysterious Billionaire Emerges]
I blinked.
"…Huh?"
I barely managed to swipe through the headlines. Stock markets had surged overnight, companies had shifted hands, and somehow, through signatures and sealed contracts I didn't remember signing, the name "Souta" appeared at the top of every shareholder list in existence.
My chest tightened.
*So the wish really worked…*
A sudden knock rattled the door.
Not the timid rap of a landlord demanding rent, not the lazy tap of a neighbor.
This was different—loud enough to sound like trouble, official enough to make my stomach sink.
When I cracked it open, three uniformed officers stared back, faces carved out of granite.
"Souta Renjiro?" the lead one asked, voice clipped, sharp—like he was announcing my own arrest before I agreed to it.
"…Yeah?" I said, trying not to blink.
"Open the door fully. We have some questions."
My pulse thudded, but I swung the door wider with a smile that screamed 'totally innocent citizen'. "What kind of questions?"
The officer's jaw flexed. "About how, as of 10 hours ago, your name appeared across multiple international banking systems as the primary account holder of assets exceeding… well, more than the GDP of most nations."
My blood froze for half a second.
*So it wasn't just in my head. The wish… actually worked.*
"I-I don't—" I started.
"Don't play dumb," another officer barked, stepping forward. "People don't become the richest man alive overnight. Accounts don't just materialize in every major bank without a traceable origin unless—"
"Unless I'm really good at budgeting?" I offered, forcing a smirk.
The lead officer cut his partner off with a sharp gesture, eyes narrowing on me. "Let's keep this civil for now. But Souta…" His gaze pinned me like a nail. "…if you don't start explaining, you won't be walking free much longer."
This was… getting problematic. What was I supposed to tell them?
*Yeah, officer, I made a deal with some dark being to grant my wish.*
Right, like that'd end well.
Instead, I blurted: "Alright, you got me. I was investing in Joe crypto."
"…Joe?"
"Joe Mam—"
I didn't even finish before they pounced, tackling me into the patrol car.
"Name your price!" I yelled, thrashing like a maniac. "You won't regret it!"
"There is no price, brat," the officer growled.
Sirens wailed, lights flared. By the time they stuffed me into the back of the car, the entire block looked like a scene out of an action movie. News helicopters buzzed above, anchors practically drooling into their microphones.
"Breaking news! Souta Renjiro, dubbed the 'World's Richest Man,' is under police custody for alleged involvement in the kidnapping of Kae Asamiya!"
My face was plastered across every screen, looking like some cartoon villain with my hair sticking up and my shirt half-buttoned. Inside the car, I leaned toward the glass, smirking just enough to tick them off.
"You know… this isn't going to end the way you think."
The officer sneered. "Save your theatrics for the court."
And that's when the bike noises started rolling in from the distance.
The cops stiffened in surprise, I grinned.
Because earlier—right before opening the door, I'd fired off a single text.
*10 million yen. First off, rescue me from the police.*
Headlights tore through the night. My crew—idiots I call friends—came roaring in on a pack of beat-up motorbikes like it was the finale of some delinquent anime. Chains rattled, tires screeched, and one of them even had the audacity to wear a cheap superhero cape.
"SOUTAAAAAAAAA!" they screamed in unison.
One biker slammed his boot onto the hood of the patrol car, cracking it. Another skidded sideways, sparks flying. The cops scrambled for cover, shouting into their radios.
And me? I just sat there, deadpan, as if this was the most normal Tuesday of my life.
"Officers," I said calmly, "meet my financial advisors."
One of my friends hurled a frying pan at an officer's face. Another rammed their scooter into a patrol car door, setting off the alarm. A third just started yelling legal jargon he'd half-remembered from a drama: "ILLEGAL SEARCH AND SEIZURE!"
The crowd erupted. Civilians cheered, officers scrambled, and I—still cuffed—was yanked out of the car window like a sack of rice.
"GO, GO, GO!" they shouted, dragging me onto the back of a rattling scooter.
It was insane and reckless, it shouldn't have worked.
But somehow… it did.
And there, perched casually on a nearby rooftop like he'd paid for front-row seats, the Unknown crunched on a bucket of popcorn.
"Fascinating," he murmured through a mouthful, kernels raining down the ledge.
They swerved through back alleys and underpasses until the police sirens faded, finally skidding into a dust-choked warehouse. The bikes rumbled down to silence.
"World's richest man!" one of them crowed, slapping me on the back.
"Overnight, too! What's your damn secret?"
Another guy spat, "Secret? Hell no. Where's my ten million yen? You promised!"
I grinned, pulling out my phone. "Relax, transfer coming in three, two, one—"
ACCESS DENIED: ACCOUNTS FROZEN.
"…Oh?"
The group erupted in curses. Someone shoved me. Another drew back a fist. And then—pop. Something hard jabbed my ribs.
I reached into my pocket. A stack of crisp ¥500,000 bills slid out like a magician's trick. Another popped, then another in an almost endless loop.
The room froze.
I laughed bitterly.
"Of course… I can't be the world's richest man if I can't even use my money."
I shrugged, tossing the stack at their feet. "This is for starters."
They scrambled, grabbing fistfuls of bills, eyes blazing while I leaned against the wall, calm. "Now, let's hurry up and bring Kae back. Once she's safe… the real money starts."
Meanwhile, across town:
The kidnappers released another video:
"The price has been changed, Mayor Kurogane, Souta Renjiro. You have 12 hours to drop off the sum of three billion yen. You'd be wise enough not to let the police interfere."
The mayor watched, sweating through his suit.
On one side: his daughter's life.
On the other: his spotless public image cracking like cheap porcelain.
"Three billion…" he muttered, hands shaking.
"God help me. This is going to destroy everything."