'Can the capitalized word "He" be used carelessly?' Hachiman thought, his eyes glued to the screen.
In certain religious and classified contexts, capitalizing "He" was exclusively reserved for referring to God. When people saw that specific capitalization used with such absolute reverence, they naturally thought of the Divine.
God...?
In an instant, Hachiman felt a freezing chill run down his spine and withdrew his hand from the mouse in extreme horror. He was afraid to read any further.
'Top secret.' This was undoubtedly a top-secret file that could get someone killed just for possessing it.
'Has Fumimaro Ayanokouji gone completely mad...?' This thought suddenly popped into his mind. God. God...
His dead-fish eyes were filled with profound doubt and uncertainty as he hesitated to continue reading the email. As a highly intelligent, cynical person, Hachiman clearly understood the lethal implications of what he was looking at. This was not something he could afford to see. Nor was it something an ordinary high school student like him could bear the weight of.
As Fumimaro had written, sometimes, knowing too much is not a good thing.
In the end, Hachiman picked up the black coffee on his computer desk and took a shaky sip.
'Calm down. Stay calm...' he told himself. 'What Fumimaro wrote might not actually be about a literal God.'
Having lived in a modern, technologically advanced world for so long, when had he ever truly witnessed anything beyond the mundane? If such supernatural things truly existed, modern science and technology would have already shown signs of them; there was no way there wouldn't be some concrete indication in the news.
He could only console himself with this half-truth; this was the only logical way he could process the information without losing his mind.
Because he couldn't back down now. If he did, Fumimaro wouldn't let his family off the hook. Even the mysterious "Dragon" behind the anonymous email wouldn't let him go. From the very beginning, he had no other choice…
Continue!
Forcing himself to suppress his primal unease, he scrolled down and continued reading.
> [I need to know the truth… I can understand the higher-ups' concealment, but the one being kept in the dark cannot be me! God… He can transcend time… Unbelievable, utterly unbelievable. This world is so strange. I wonder if the main family considered this when they arranged for me to join the Metropolitan Police Department? Also, Kyomei Hashimoto... I must cherish Lord Hashimoto's favor. He's also an insider…]
Hachiman's hands trembled.
'He's gone mad. Fumimaro must have completely lost his mind.' He must have joined some evil cult, which was why he believed in such delusions so deeply.
As a smart young man, Hachiman had already extracted the key words from these texts. But he wished his brain wasn't so sharp. Many things, many "truths"—even if he tried to suppress his wild thoughts—still violently forced their way into his mind.
On the surface, Fumimaro's diary entries were somewhat chaotic, disjointed, and incoherent. But this only showed the barely contained, fanatical excitement the disgraced cop had while writing them. This manic energy actually proved the psychological credibility of the passages.
So, Hachiman was truly in a dilemma now.
He deliberately ignored certain terrifying passages and took a few heavy, deep breaths. The situation wasn't entirely hopeless. A little logical thought would make it clear.
'The person behind the email—Dragon—must think I am useful,' Hachiman reasoned. 'Since I am still useful, then the Hikigaya family is temporarily safe from being discarded. Perhaps, once whatever task they want from me is handled properly, even Fumimaro's harassment can be resolved.'
> [This is not good... The main family has fallen. So, the main family was completely unaware of this supernatural shift? I need to find myself a new "main family," but unfortunately, even though Yukinoshita made a mistake because of that matter, she still looks down on me.]
> [But it's alright, I still have lingering connections with Lord Hashimoto, so I won't be completely wiped out in the purge. I still have a chance...]
> [Interesting. It seems the bigwigs in the Metropolitan Police Department have noticed something. The Visible God Cult? Another 'big incident'...?]
A chill ran through him. Hachiman's pupils seemed to shrink to pinpoints.
He knew about the Visible God Cult. His parents had foolishly bought trinkets from them recently. He remembered complaining that they shouldn't have bought so many useless religious scams and should have left him and Komachi more pocket money instead.
And now this Visible God Cult was involved in that kind of classified "big incident"...?
> [I see, it's a cult... That brat Kakeru Ryuen is lucky, he turned misfortune into a blessing, extracting the 'real stuff' from the Visible God Cult. Tsk... an enviable brat. With the 'real stuff,' this delinquent is indeed valued by the higher-ups in the Metropolitan Police Department, and there are even rumors of a special civilian superhuman department being set up for him.]
> [Unfortunately, the original headquarters of the Visible God Cult is now in ruins, and it seems there's nothing of value left to be found by regular patrols. I need to apply to see if I can be transferred to patrol the streets near there. Perhaps the Visible God Cult still has some genuine occult assets scattered around that could lead to me ascending to the top in one step…]
After that, the diary entries became somewhat sparse and ordinary. Fumimaro wasn't transferred. This was because he was already on the Fujiwara family's blacklist of people under close "care." Only by keeping him under their watchful eyes in a dead-end precinct could the Fujiwara family feel at ease.
So, after much deliberation, Hachiman's gaze settled on that crucial previous sentence:
Perhaps the Visible God Cult still has some genuine occult assets scattered around that could lead to me ascending to the top in one step…
His heart skipped a beat. He licked his lips, feeling quite dry. His heart pounded like a drum in his ears.
'Is this it...?' Hachiman realized. 'Is this the true goal of the person behind the scenes...?'
If so, what were the odds of success?
He rubbed the cold sweat from his palms, his scalp taut with stress. Connecting and deducing from all the current clues, Hachiman counted on his fingers, mathematically confirming his chances:
About 60-70%...
His heartbeat seemed to accelerate.
At this moment, Hachiman felt a complex, suffocating mix of emotions. There was the palpitation of being completely manipulated by an unknown mastermind. There was the awkwardness of facing a life-altering choice. And there was the profound tremor of a mysterious, terrifying worldview being violently unveiled before his mundane eyes.
'Is it possible...?' Hachiman questioned himself internally. 'Could this really be true...?'
Based solely on a digital diary entry in an anonymous email, its authenticity uncertain, could he confidently conclude that his entire previous worldview was false?
Although all the clues pointed to that absurd and unbelievable fact, Hachiman still maintained the "reserve" and skepticism characteristic of an intelligent loner. He was deeply skeptical. He suspected that some powerful people were just laughing at him. They were giving him false hope with this absurd story, only to bring him crushing despair after his futile efforts.
There was no doubt about it. He was now trying to think about the absolute malice of human nature as deeply as possible.
But Fumimaro Ayanokouji was the immediate villain who had inflicted psychological trauma on his family, forcing him into a corner where he had to make a change.
After a long silence in the dark room, Hachiman made a final decision.
'At worst, I'll just be a clown,' he thought grimly. 'If it can save my family, I'll willingly be their dog without hesitation.'
Go and see. Go and investigate the Visible God Cult. Wasn't this the exact goal of the person behind the email?
Okay.
Hachiman hurriedly went to the family storage room down the hall and frantically rummaged through the boxes until he retrieved the Visible God Cult token his parents had blindly bought.
It was a square-shaped Yaksha statue, but the carved Yaksha had multiple, unsettling eyes, which perfectly fit the bizarre characteristics of the Visible God Cult.
He silently tucked the heavy Yaksha statue into his jacket pocket and completely shut down his laptop.
'So be it...'
Life or death, he could only grit his teeth and face it...
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Give me powerstones.
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