Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… The wind rustled through the new green leaves, and white petals spun gracefully in the air.
Ikebukuro's streets began to bustle, as students and office workers successively left their homes to start a brand new week.
Minoru bit into a red bean bun he bought from a convenience store, drifting with the crowds at Ikebukuro Station.
The morning light pierced through the glass dome, clearly illuminating the professional women in their suits and the schoolgirls in their sailor uniforms. His gaze bounced like a marble between the two groups until the announcement of an incoming train made him choke on a bun crumb.
He pondered for a moment, stopped his steps towards the ticket gate, and turned to walk towards a group of laughing schoolgirls.
This purple-haired young man had no ill intentions; he simply felt somewhat disconnected from reality due to his recent 'work' and now wanted to try blending in with the vibrant students to regain some sense of 'happiness'.
Minoru began to adjust his breathing and pace, naturally blending in among a group of schoolgirls wearing the same uniform. He squinted his eyes, enjoying the youth he had never experienced… Four years ago, the passionate young man who had boarded the Shinkansen with grand ambitions had experienced ups and downs in the great melting pot of Tokyo, indulging in pleasures and falling into the depths of despair.
At that time, he was the ultimate good-for-nothing, the lowest of the low—burdened with massive usurious loans, yet still pinning his hopes on manipulated points, betting his life on the gambling table.
Failure, complete failure.
Minoru lost everything he had; his life was packaged, plated, and served on a dining table, becoming one of the entertainment acts for Tokyo's tycoons.
Tokyo, midnight, Starshore Hotel, where the stars reside.
This luxurious building in the city center had not yet officially opened, but a long-planned extravagant feast was already underway.
Twenty debt-ridden gamblers, scoundrels, were the actors in this banquet.
Two 50-meter-long I-beams were laid across the rooftop of another building, leading directly to a room on the 22nd floor of the Starshore Hotel.
Cross this 'bridge' to the other side, and all debts would be wiped clean.
The losers would become 'stars,' plummeting into the abyss.
The I-beams were only a palm's width, and they would become narrower as one progressed.
Additionally, to prevent anyone afraid of death from clinging to the bridge and spoiling the fun for the tycoon VIPs, the organizers electrified the steel beams—not fatally, but enough to shock and cause one to lose their footing and fall.
The actors had no choice; they had already lost everything, and even their lives were in the hands of others. They could only grasp this sole hope, this spider-silk-thin salvation, and embark on a path of no return.
Cross it! Cross it!
As long as they could cross this bridge, everything could start anew, life would restart, and the future would return to their own hands.
In desperation, these scoundrels also began to huddle together for warmth, cheering each other on.
They marked the center of their shoes with markers, attempting to better adjust their balance, an action that greatly boosted everyone's confidence.
But in reality, they were merely using this fragile theory to maintain their mental balance, a catalyst for them to summon courage, preventing their hearts from falling into an endless abyss of fear.
Minoru was the first to step onto the 'bridge'.
Amidst the thunderous cheers of his companions, he seemed to find the self he was when he first arrived in Tokyo—the one full of passion, wanting to make a name for himself and return home in glory.
As long as he crossed it, he wanted to go home… back to his simple yet warm home in rural Kumamoto.
He wanted to throw himself into his parents' arms like a spoiled child and cry his heart out.
His honest and simple elder brother must still be farming in the fields, and his younger siblings should be carefree, eagerly awaiting summer vacation… His third sister, with whom he always bickered, must now be working hard to get into her desired performing arts school.
How I wish to go home! If only I could go home, I wouldn't need anything else… Tears streamed down Minoru's face, evaporating upon contact with the electrified steel bridge, just like everything he yearned for, turning into an illusion.
Five minutes after the actors took the stage, all their desperate passion cooled, and their feigned courage was stripped away by the cold wind, layer by layer.
The suppressed fear in their hearts, the deep darkness that slumbered, and devil-like voices began to echo in their ears.
"I'm so scared, so scared!"
"I can't hold on, I don't want to die…"
"There's wind, the wind is blowing, I'm going to fall!"
Wails erupted, and a round-faced man leading the way on another bridge suddenly hugged himself, curling into a ball, as if battered by a gale.
That was the wind in his heart, a fierce wind stirred by fear.
Seven minutes after the actors took the stage, the first 'star' fell.
Then came the second, the third… lamentations, screams, pleas for mercy, prayers… the seventh, the eighth… chaos, struggle, despair, madness… a chain reaction, an uncontrollable chain reaction.
Death loomed over everyone, killing them one by one, in order of their mental fragility.
Less than a third of the bridge had been crossed, yet half of the actors had already turned into falling stars.
It's no use… Minoru trembled, looking up. To stop the incessant flow of tears, he let out a roar that echoed through the night.
In a trance, his consciousness seemed to detach from his body, and he saw the myriad stars adorning the cruel night.
The stars clustered around a perfect full moon, and a light-filled fissure suddenly burst open in the center of the full moon.
From that fissure, he saw a true 'meteor shower'.
Then, he felt a powerful pull from behind, breaking his balance… Fifteen minutes after the actors took the stage, Yuutenji Minoru fell.
The remaining others were also not favored by Lady Luck, one after another turning into falling stars, with ultimately no one surviving.
On the 23rd floor of the Starshore Hotel, the VIPs, having finished their grand meal, successively left their seats. Only a young man in a pristine white tuxedo remained standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing into the abyss that had swallowed dozens of lives.
On the 17th floor of the hotel, a white mist permeated the air.
Within the mist, a blurry figure hung there. The person seemed to have lost consciousness, swaying slightly in the airflow between the tall buildings.
The organizers immediately investigated and found that the person was one of those who had fallen from the bridge earlier.
It seemed that the person behind him had pulled him just before falling, causing him to fall towards the side closer to the starting building. And because this 'banquet' was prepared in a hurry, there were several construction hooks directly beneath the steel bridge, which coincidentally caught his old but durable leather vest.
Minoru survived, he survived by chance.
He became the sole survivor of this death-defying bridge crossing, but because he did not reach the other side of the bridge, he was still burdened with enormous gambling debts.
However, just before Minoru was about to be sent to another 'banquet,' the young man who discovered his survival stepped forward to keep him and paid all his debts.
"Although you didn't reach the finish line, you are still an absolute winner."
"You've won my interest, Yuutenji Minoru."
Minoru, as if granted a great pardon, immediately kowtowed and bowed. Before he could utter words of gratitude, his noble savior personally helped him up.
"Don't gamble anymore; it will take you further and further away from happiness."
"And don't worry about the debts; I only need you to do one thing."
"After you leave this building, forget everything about tonight. Find a stable job, cultivate some healthy hobbies, and fall in love with good girls."
The young man's words were straightforward and simple, goals that any ordinary person could achieve.
It was almost like the expectations of every loving parent for their child.
"Seek happiness, Minoru. As a winner, you can certainly do it."
"After all, happiness is an 'obligation' for each and every one of us."
Gazing into the other party's starlike, brilliant eyes, the ruggedness in Minoru's heart was smoothed out inch by inch, and his broken soul was reborn… After that night, Minoru picked up his shattered life again, taking his future back into his own hands.
The spirited youth was gone, and the depraved scoundrel would never return.
Minoru began to gradually reclaim the good things he had so easily abandoned, building a new Yuutenji Minoru from scratch, searching for his own 'happiness'.
He started working hard to earn money, but every job he found never lasted long.
While moving bricks at a construction site, he accidentally pressed the elevator button, giving the inspecting leaders a thrill ride like a drop tower.
While working as a convenience store clerk, he mistakenly put a couple's rice balls and condoms into the microwave together for heating.
While cleaning Asukayama Park, he accidentally threw away a girl's carefully collected stones as trash, and even squashed her pet woodlouse, making the little girl almost cry herself unconscious.
Finally, one day, as he sat on a station bench sighing after losing another job, he felt someone gently tap his shoulder, and a voice he could never forget entered his ears.
"Minoru, discover your talent, believe in your talent."
"You are a 'winner' after all."
"I am... a winner...?"
"Yes, why did I forget about this..."
Minoru quickly got up, but he couldn't find that figure in the crowd in front of the station.
Starshore Hotel, death, meteor shower... and the white mist that enveloped him as he fell into the abyss!
When Minoru came to his senses, a pure white metallic teardrop floated before his eyes, with black ink swirling on its surface, like a cute, bewildered eyeball.
He finally realized the reason he survived that wild banquet, and also understood why he kept encountering 'chances' during his job search.
He began to constantly adapt to this power, trying to control this ability to manipulate [Chance.]
During this period, he came into contact with a band called [Wayward], whose lead singer also possessed special abilities and answered many of his questions, letting him know about the existence of 'Stand', which originated from his own soul.
Minoru named it 'Daydream Cafe'.
He began to make money with this ability—near effective shrines and temples, he always ran into rich people praying for blessings and avoiding disaster.
After selecting a target, he only needed to dispel the 'Chance' around them and advise them to do good deeds, accumulate virtue, and act properly, which was enough to create the effect of successfully "exorcising evil."
Initially, there was no need to worry about income; the circles of the wealthy always overlapped inadvertently, and as long as he made a name for himself, big deals would always come his way.
On the other hand, Minoru used the money he earned to build himself an e-sports room and became a game streamer.
He specialized in probability-based card games, creating game effects with his "lucky draws" and establishing a reputation as a lucky player by helping netizens draw limited characters, gaining some fame in the gaming community.
Minoru also began to cultivate his hobbies; everything beautiful was his goal, and the most popular girl bands of the moment were what moved him the most.
His streaming section added a new segment, [Sharp Reviews of Girl Bands,] and its insightful analysis and fierce commentary quickly made him popular again, even leading to the creation of a channel called [This, Is Girl Rock!]
The title 'winner' constantly motivated him forward, but the smooth sailing quickly made him complacent, to the point where he cursed at a passerby during a live stream, leading to his account being banned.
Just as Minoru was looking for new hobbies because he couldn't stream, a special letter arrived in his hands.
When he saw the wax seal pattern on that letter, alarm bells rang in Minoru's heart; he, who had just adapted to a good life, was once again pulled back to that cruel night.
The letter came from the organizer of that night's banquet... no, even from the more terrifying force hidden behind it.
The envelope contained only a few photos, and each photo featured his most familiar family members.
There were 6 photos in total, and behind each photo was branded the same 'goal'.
"Make Togawa Sakiko disappear."
============
Watching the female students who had accompanied him walk into the campus, Yuutenji Minoru leaned against the roadside railing, lost in thought.
His 'Daydream Cafe' was an automatic Stand, with a radiation range covering the entire Tokyo metropolitan area.
As he gradually mastered his ability over the past few years, he could now set simple 'results' for a single target, and could dispatch up to three 'teardrops' for tracking simultaneously.
The day before yesterday, the Togawa Family held a small dinner party, and Minoru attached a 'teardrop' to a guest, entering the banquet hall with her, successfully beginning to project 'Chance' onto Togawa Sakiko.
More than 36 hours had passed since then; if the goal was successfully achieved, that 'teardrop' would return, and then he could report back.
This mission brought considerable pressure to Minoru; although "disappear" could be understood as no longer appearing publicly, it was very likely to cause her death, making him take a life.
When he learned that the other party was a girl the same age as his sister, Minoru felt even more guilt.
But he had no choice; on the other side of the scale were his family, the family he absolutely could not abandon again!
Minoru could only pray that this agonizing wait would end soon.
Lost in thought, Minoru suddenly felt something strange; a few drops of water fell on his head.
When he looked up, he was greeted by a splash of cold water.
"Oh dear, what are you doing!"
"Brother, a dry cloth won't clean the window, I wanted to bring you some water..."
"Oh no, hide quickly, he's looking up!"
"You brats!"
Hearing the children's voices from above, Minoru resignedly wiped the water droplets from his face and smoothed back the hair clinging to his eyes.
But just as he was shaking off the water from his body, a cool breeze blew, making him, completely soaked, let out a violent sneeze.
This jolt happened to make him lose his footing, and with a splash, he slipped from the wet railing, his head hitting the metal railing hard.
"Ah... that hurts so much, why am I suddenly so unlucky!"
Minoru rubbed the back of his head in pain, feeling a brand new lump rising on his scalp, his anxiety intensifying.
"Across the street is an all-girls' middle school, I've completely embarrassed myself..."
"Calm down, I am a 'winner', no matter what difficulties I face, I will overcome them, calm down!"
"But there's still one 'teardrop' deployed, I'll use it to absorb the Chance around me!"
Minoru supported himself on the railing and struggled to stand up, immediately about to summon his Stand.
But what greeted him was a world of white mist.
The scene before him reminded him of a movie he had seen before—"The Mist."
The military's secret experiment had summoned an evil god from another world, and countless monsters emerged from the overwhelming mist, bringing fear and death to humanity.
At this moment, Minoru was just like a passerby in that horror film, enveloped by endless unknown and fear.
He knew that these white mists were the embodiment of 'Chance'.
And engulfed by the white mist, every movement he made would lead to unpredictable, unimaginable 'results'.
Minoru, completely soaked, stood stiffly there, feeling a strong wind blow towards him, strong enough to knock him down.
He prayed that this wind would disperse the thick fog, but when he opened his eyes again, the white mist was even thicker.
He immediately understood that this strong wind came from within him, the wind of 'Fear' that had never dissipated since that wild banquet.
"Caw caw... disappeared, disappeared..."
A harsh sound came from Minoru's feet; he struggled to move his gaze and found a body that had suffered inhumane torment clinging tightly to his leg, uttering human-like sounds from its horrifying face.
"My... growth... mission, complete!"
"I... won...!"
The mangled remains had lost all limbs and were covered with pale purple brands, constantly spewing out large amounts of white mist from behind them, which was the source of this thick fog!
"This is the 'teardrop' I sent to target Togawa Sakiko, how did it turn into this!"
"It should automatically return after completing its goal, but why did it cause such terrifying white mist?"
Sizzle—click.
As Yuutenji Minoru was startled, a clear mechanical sound rang out.
A bizarre 'disc' was half-inserted into the forehead of the mangled remains, slowly sinking in as the mechanical sound continued.
That head seemed to have been implanted with some program, mechanically turning its broken front face towards him.
"One move short."
"The ultimate 'winner' is me."
Words forged from cold frost pierced his eardrums, and Yuutenji Minoru saw his end within the white mist.
The sharp screech of tires rubbing against the ground pierced the air, and the students at the school gate cried out in alarm.
The young man's body was launched into the air the moment the engine hood dented, his limbs flailing in bizarre arcs like a broken puppet.
The grotesque remains flew out with the main body, dissolving into dew in the gradually dissipating mist.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To Read Advanced Chapters, and support this novel, please join me on [email protected]/geats2000