Chapter 9 Sato Kunimitsu's Fate, Part Two
Certainly! Here's the modified text with the pronoun "he" replacing "I":
"Kuni-chan, come on, wake up! You're going to be late."
"Mmm..."
While thinking about how to deal with the changed account, Kunimitsu somehow fell asleep without realizing it. His mother shook his body, and Kunimitsu woke up.
He reached for his smartphone on the bedside table. Due to not charging it, the battery level was around 30%.
What time is it... 7:45 AM!
"What?! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
He shouted angrily, and his mother, somewhat frightened, tried to defend herself.
"I tried waking you up several times, but you wouldn't wake up..."
"If you don't wake me up until I'm awake, then don't say you woke me up, idiot!"
"...I'm sorry."
"I'm seriously going to be late! Get out of my way!"
He pushed his mother aside and got out of bed. Since there was no time to change clothes, he stuffed his smartphone and wallet into his pockets and left the house.
He hurried to ride his bicycle and make it in time for work starting at 8:30.
He arrived at his workplace, changed into a white coat.
Temporary workers and part-timers like himself gathered, and the morning assembly began with the employees leading the way.
"Now, everyone, please repeat after me! 'Improve immediately! Neglecting safety can lead to accidents!'"
"Improve immediately! Neglecting safety can lead to accidents!"
"'Don't stop the conveyor belt, don't stop being aware!'"
"Don't stop the conveyor belt, don't stop being aware!"
While thinking it was silly, Kunimitsu also repeated the phrases like everyone else.
After a brief report on the current situation, the employees were given instructions for their respective positions.
"Sato-san and Yamada-san, please take care of the pallets today."
"...Yes."
They replied and went to their assigned positions.
Despite not getting much sleep, he couldn't help but feel annoyed that it had to be pallets of all things.
After visually inspecting the products that came down the line, they packed them into boxes in pairs, wrapped them, and placed them on pallets, which served as the foundation for transporting them with a forklift.
Once a certain amount has been stacked, another person operates the forklift and moves the pallets. The boxes are then stacked on the newly prepared pallets.
This process repeats.
The weight of the boxes filled with products is approximately eight kilograms. Throughout the day, about a thousand of these boxes are stacked on the pallets.
After work, his arms are exhausted.
During the break time, he takes out his smartphone from the locker and heads to the cafeteria.
It has been bothering him even while working.
While eating curry, he opens his social media account and checks his completely transformed profile.
The fixed tweets have received even more replies and retweets.
[So, this is the holy land.]
[Since it's cold today, let's warm up here.]
[I want to punch this kissing face lol.]
[Shouldn't we report this person? They seem like a serious troublemaker. They keep sending hate replies to various people, like a reserve army of invincible individuals.]
"Damn, they're saying whatever they want."
He closes the social media app. Those people who know nothing about him are freely expressing their opinions.
...What if his coworkers see this?
Just the thought of it gives him chills.
Is there any way to get rid of it? He opens up SNS again and starts searching...
A notification pops up on his smartphone.
It seems like he's received a DM.
The sender is... 'Sun Tzu's Hey Hey Ho'.
He hurriedly opens it, and there was only one word written.
[Hey, how are you feeling right now?]
He can't help but get angry and types his response.
[You've got some nerve. Can't you distinguish between what's right and wrong? This is a crime.]
He types up to that point and suddenly realizes... his alternate account was mentioned.
That makes sense too, as he had made it easy to switch accounts with just one tap.
When he changed his main account's username or password, the alternate account was visible too.
In other words, the existence of the alternate account is intentional.
That man said it.
[For a hunter, the process of making someone act according to their own will is the greatest pleasure.]
Although it's a quote from a manga, this DM was probably sent just for his enjoyment.
Even responding angrily here might just entertain him.
But blocking might change his mind, and there might be no chance to make him change his main account's name or profile anymore...
Here, one should restrain oneself, act humbly, and pretend to reflect on one's actions. Kunimitsu deletes the unfinished text and enters a new DM.
[I'm sorry; I truly regret teasing you. Not only to you but never again will I tease anyone. I am sincerely, truly sorry.]
After sending the DM, a response comes after a while.
[mail-××××@ggmail.com
pass-kunikuni1919]
Damn, what a ridiculous password... But, thanks to apologizing even when he didn't want to, he got what he wanted.
The fool got deceived by pretending to regret.
He copied the sent address and password into the notepad, logged out of the sub-account, and attempted to log in with the provided email address and password. He thought it might be a random email address and password, but after loading, he was able to log in successfully.
The account name was "Bartender".
In the bio/profile, the following text was written:
[Hey ヾ(•ω•`)o
Welcome to Bourbon House.
This tequila is on the house, so go ahead and have a drink to relax. Yeah, it's a "lie". Sorry.
I don't intend to apologize or ask for forgiveness.
But when you saw thr email and password, I think you must have felt a "flutter" that words can't express.
In this harsh SNS world, I want you to remember that feeling.
That's why I created this account.
So, shall I take your order?]
He recognized those words.
It's a copypasta that was written in fishing threads on 5ch and other places.
In other words, he fell for it.
After switching back to his sub-account, he received another DM from Sun Tzu's Hey hey ho.
[Hey, how are you feeling now?]
He couldn't bring himself to reply.
...
...
After finishing work at 17:00 in the evening, he headed straight to the pachinko parlor to forget the frustration he experienced on social media.
Today was a lucky day.
He invested 2,000 yen and hit the jackpot on the slot machine, and from there, he went on a winning streak. He won 25,000 yen in just two hours. Experiencing something like this makes him feel foolish for working seriously.
Thinking back, when he was about to start working, it was during a recession, and people of his generation were called the 'Ice Age Generation' or something similar, an unfortunate era.
Due to the burst of the bubble and Japan's economic downturn, there were fewer job opportunities.
At that time, he got hooked on pachinko as well, and before he knew it, he had become this age.
He guesses you could say he's a victim of the social situation.
Even among people of the same generation, those who are married can't freely spend money and are being exploited by their wives and children.
When he thinks about it, maybe he's still a fortunate person. Even things like social media are just temporarily buzzing, and everyone will forget about it soon. As he heads home, he wonders if his excitement is due to winning at pachinko.
At the convenience store he always stops by, today he buys beer instead of low-malt beer.
Imagining the taste of victory, he suddenly checks his smartphone...
He had multiple missed calls from his mother. It seems he was so engrossed in pachinko that he didn't notice."
He's already in front of his house, so if he was asked to go shopping here, he'd think it would be a hassle, so he'd leave without returning.
"Ah, sorry, I didn't notice the call."
When he entered the house... his mother and a stranger were there.
"Kuni-chan, listen."
"Oh, madam, let me explain... Is this Sato Kunimitsu-san?"
"Yes, that's right, but..."
Although he wanted to have a beer right away, he put it in the fridge.
"I'm someone like this."
When he received the offered business card, it read:
[Mishima Law Office, Lawyer Kohzo Mishima.]
He felt his heart pounding.
"Um, what is the lawyer here for?"
"I'll explain. First, please have a seat. Also, I apologize, but to avoid any misunderstandings, I will be recording our conversation, if that's alright with you."
"Um... yes, I understand."
After he responded with his consent, the lawyer placed an IC recorder on the table. As he sat across from the lawyer, he took out a piece of paper from his bag.
"Is this your account, Kunimitsu-san? There's no mistake about it, right?"
It seems to be a printout of a social media screen. The account that was printed out was his own account, which was changed yesterday.
Uh-oh. Could it be that it was mistaken for a death threat or something?
"N-No, it's not like that, please listen! Someone deceived me and changed it without my permission!"
As he hurriedly explained, the lawyer murmured, "I see."
"If you say you were deceived... Can you tell me the details?"
"Well, someone I had trouble with on social media came to my house, took my phone from me, and edited my account without my consent. They even changed my email address and password!"
"I see... So, the original 'Gentle Manta' itself is indeed Kunimitsu-san's account, right?"
"Yes! That's my original account... Wait, how does this lawyer know about that?"
As he wondered in confusion, the lawyer took out another piece of paper and showed it to him.
"Actually, I am the representative of 'Meryl' here. Meryl-san has been consulting with me regarding persistent harassment from Kunimitsu."
On the paper, there were multiple DMs printed that Kunimitsu had sent to Meryl.
"Therefore, I was preparing for a lawsuit against you, Kunimitsu-san... but just as I was about to proceed with the disclosure request, your address got exposed, so I came here. It happened to be close by as well."
"Ah, um..."
"Well, before I came here, I also considered the possibility that Kunimitsu-san might have been a victim of harassment from 'Gentle Manta,' just like Meryl-san, so I'm relieved that you acknowledged being the person in question."
The lawyer smiles while touching the IC recorder with his hand.
"Uh, um..."
"Don't worry, since the expenses for the disclosure request are no longer necessary, we can offer a discount on the settlement amount as well."
After explaining the situation for about an hour, Kunimitsu didn't feel like resisting and signed the settlement agreement on the spot.
In the end, he couldn't drink beer that day.
* * *
The third installment of the alimony was transferred to the lawyer's account. Nine more to go. Until it's over, he can't even play gacha in mobile games properly, nor can he go to the pachinko parlor.
Since that day, he hasn't checked any social media. He wonders how he's being treated there.
Has the buzz died down already? Or is it still a regular topic of discussion?
Whenever he makes eye contact with people on the street, his heart skips a beat. Maybe they know about that account and are watching him.
He becomes suspicious.
He hopes he won't be sued by anyone other than Meryl.
And he doesn't want to know.
But one thing he can say is... Sun Tzu's Hey Hey Ho. He shouldn't have provoked that terrifying man.
...He still regrets that.
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