For over a month, Tamazawa Shuxin's reputation among the group of five had been increasingly dragged through the mud. However, Tamazawa Shuxin would argue that had he known the memory transfer was purely one-way and would cause brain overload resulting in a fever, he wouldn't have kept running fevers in the first place—consequently earning himself a sickly image in the eyes of the five.
After spending over a month at the police academy, the school finally permitted students to go out and stay overnight. Tamazawa Shuxin now needed to find a way to get his hands on a USB flash drive. Besides, he hadn't drawn from the gacha in a long time, and he still had some achievement points left. Opening the card pool, the "Path of Glory" pool was available for a limited time of seven days. Sixty pulls in, and not a single ripple.
"Not even an SR card?! So rigged, simply too rigged—even capitalists would be put to shame!" Gritting his teeth in financial agony, Tamazawa Shuxin kept watching for any sign of a hit, and on the one hundredth pull, a golden light finally appeared: {SSR Card [Never Stopping]}. Tamazawa Shuxin had a rather bad premonition looking at this card.
{SSR Card [Never Stopping]: The joy of multitasking is never stopping on the road of endless self-exploitation. Hurry up and use it! Become a perpetual motion machine!} Looking at this piece of trash card that cost him a hundred pulls, Tamazawa Shuxin cursed the model worker lifestyle. "No way, absolutely impossible! What kind of model worker? My CPU is going to burn out!"
After venting his complaints, Tamazawa Shuxin carefully pondered how to use this crappy card. Fortunately, it wasn't a permanent equip; it could be taken off, otherwise he really felt that multitasking constantly would fry his brain. At the same time, Tamazawa Shuxin checked Glenlivet's status: currently asleep. It was just in time for him to head to the cafeteria for a meal, so Tamazawa Shuxin left his dorm and headed to the cafeteria to forage for food.
As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Date Wataru grabbing someone by the neck and warning the other person not to judge a book by its cover.
"What's going on here?" Tamazawa Shuxin walked over, sat down, and asked. Morofushi Hiromitsu explained what had just happened, and then they heard Hagiwara Kenji ask Date Wataru with an "I understand" look on his face, "Squad Leader, could it be that you like Zero?" As soon as those words came out, everyone was shocked. "Or maybe you like little Tamazawa?"
Tamazura Shuxin almost choked on the fried egg he had just put in his mouth. Date Wataru immediately explained, "What kind of crazy nonsense are you talking about?! I have a girlfriend!"
"Eh?!" Everyone except Tamazawa Shuxin said in shock. Meanwhile, Tamazawa Shuxin felt he could throw some more fuel on the fire. "The Squad Leader's girlfriend is of mixed heritage, right? That must be why the Squad Leader understands Japan's xenophobia, and why he always helps me and Zero out of tight spots."
With that, Tamazawa Shuxin took another bite of his fried egg. But faced with the remaining four pairs of eyes eager for gossip, Date Wataru couldn't handle the pressure. Stiffening his body, he got up and left. "I'm done eating. I have something to do, so I'm heading out."
Hagiwara Kenji watched Date Wataru's retreating figure and smiled, saying, "The Squad Leader is shy!"
"He's blushing." Only Matsuda Jinpei gritted his teeth with bitter jealousy. "I never expected the Squad Leader to be the ultimate winner! Tamazawa, did you know about this all along?!"
Tamazawa Shuxin raised his head in confusion, his gaze sweeping gently over each of them before he let out a sigh that was thoroughly infuriating.
"The Squad Leader has a great personality, is competent, and doesn't look bad either. Having a girlfriend is completely normal, isn't it? Compared to certain people who are all looks and zero character, the Squad Leader is a hot commodity!" After saying that, Tamazawa Shuxin even smiled at the four of them, and promptly suffered their brutal onslaught. "Let go of me, I'm suffocating! Cough, cough!"
"Little Tamazawa, that remark breaks my heart!" Hagiwara Kenji said in an affected, mournful tone. Tamazawa Shuxin wanted to retort that if his heart was so broken, he could at least stop pinching his neck. Just as he glared at Hagiwara Kenji, he felt a sharp pain in both of his cheeks.
"Furuya Rei. Matsuda Jinpei." Furuya Rei and Matsuda Jinpei were each pulling on one of his cheeks.
"Although I have no intention of dating, Tamazawa, what you just said makes me very angry."
"You deserve this, Tamazawa. Whose personality is terrible? Huh?!"
Tamazawa Shuxin finally looked toward Morofushi Hiromitsu, who had been sitting quietly. Morofushi Hiromitsu replied with an apologetic look. "Sorry, Tamazawa, I also..."
Then Tamazawa Shuxin watched as Morofushi Hiromitsu flicked him hard on the forehead. The crisp snap made Tamazawa Shuxin's facial features contort together. Unable to take it anymore, Tamazawa Shuxin conceded defeat first. "I was wrong! I shouldn't have said your personalities are terrible, okay? Let go of me already!"
Hagiwara Kenji released his grip, and Tamazawa Shuxin immediately grabbed his tray, running as he shouted, "You guys are single precisely because your personalities are terrible!"
"Tamazawa Shuxin!"
There was arrest-technique training in the afternoon, and Tamazawa Shuxin abandoned any thought of testing the feasibility of multitasking then and there. "Let's try it at night instead! Besides, there aren't any missions that require me to go to the plant lately. Sigh, no performance metrics to earn!" Tamazawa Shuxin lay on his bed out of boredom, but Glenlivet's card suddenly chimed with a notification. "No way... am I really about to be forced into multitasking overtime?"
Tamazawa Shuxin switched his consciousness over to Glenlivet first. Opening his phone, he saw: {Emergency Mission, Beika Bar / Gin}. Tamazawa Shuxin figured that working overtime in broad daylight was bound to become a regular occurrence sooner or later. Resigned to his fate, he equipped [Never Stopping] and immediately felt his consciousness wandering between two places. "Let's try doing something while distracted first!"
An hour later, Gin finally met the fashionably late Tamazawa Shuxin. Looking at Tamazawa Shuxin, who was dressed in formal wear but inexplicably sported bruises on his face, Gin lit a cigarette, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and said, "The way you look right now is truly pleasing to my eyes."
Tamazawa Shuxin ignored Gin's sarcasm. While keeping half an eye on Date Wataru and the others sparring, he operated his avatar sitting in the chair. "What kind of mission is this? Don't tell me it's babysitting some useless high-ranking executives for idle chatter!" Tamazawa Shuxin genuinely couldn't fathom why an operations squad member like him had to wear formal attire for a mission.
"You didn't read the mission details?"
Tamazawa Shuxin raised his head in bewilderment, then let out a disdainful chuckle. "So it was sent by Rum? Too bad I blocked him."
*Ding-dong.* Tamazawa Shuxin raised an eyebrow, read the message, and then looked at Gin. "A transaction like this is worth both you and me taking action? Utterly ridiculous."
Having finished his cigarette, Gin said nothing. Tamazawa Shuxin felt that if he threw out one more sarcastic remark, Gin would draw his Beretta and shoot it out with him.
"Vodka, drive," Tamazawa Shuxin said as he walked outside, and Gin also stood up and left. Snapped out of his daze, Vodka hurried over to drive, terrified that if he was slow, these two would start killing each other.
Once in the car, Tamazawa Shuxin closed his eyes to rest, shifting his focus back to his main body. It was his turn to duel the Squad Leader.
"Squad Leader, this is taking advantage of my injury." Tamazawa Shuxin pointedly gestured toward Date Wataru's knee.
However, Date Wataru looked at Tamazawa Shuxin with a solemn expression and said, "Tamazawa! Right now, our relationship is that of criminal and police officer. Are you telling me I should hold back just because you're injured? That would be turning a blind eye to the public—we cannot be merciful to the enemy!"
Tamazawa Shuxin looked at the inexplicably serious Date Wataru, fighting while letting out a sigh. Did the man have some kind of obsession or psychological trauma? Having thought that through, Tamazawa Shuxin seized an opening in Date Wataru's guard and landed a precise strike on his left knee.
"Tamazawa wins!" Onizuka Hachizo announced the result and called the next contestant forward. "Furuya! Step up."
"Oho! The good show is starting. Matsuda, wanna make a bet? I bet little Tamazawa wins, and the prize is treating you to a meal."
"Hmph! Even though I find both of them unappealing, I'll take that bet. I bet Zero wins!"
Morofushi Hiromitsu watched the two of them divide the teams in just a few words. Actually, he was quite curious about the outcome this time too.
Meanwhile, the duel began. "I'm not going to lose this time!"
"Returning that line to you—you won't get the chance!"
*Clack, clack, clack.* The collision of training weapons brought a sense of scorching intensity, and flawless attacks added a thrill to the match.
However, Tamazawa Shuxin had arrived at his destination. Subconsciously shifting his focus, an opening instantly appeared. Tamazawa Shuxin paused slightly as he stepped out of the car.
"Glenlivet, what's wrong?" Vodka asked, turning back.
Tamazawa Shuxin shook his head. The match was already decided.
"Furuya wins!"
"Zero, nice going!"
Hagiwara Kenji shook his head regretfully. "Sigh, I thought little Tamazawa had better odds, but it turns out little Furuya won. I lost, I lost."
Furuya Rei, however, felt something was off. "Tamazawa, your mind was wandering just now, wasn't it?"
Tamazawa Shuxin didn't answer, walking straight to the edge of the training grounds and sitting down. Furuya Rei wanted to press the issue, but his attention was immediately diverted by his next opponent stepping onto the mat.
***
Inside the top-floor conference room of the Senma Group, Senma Itaru tremblingly handed a briefcase over to Gin. "This is the special medicine you wanted, and the codes are all inside!"
Seeing Senma Ichiro's cowardice, Vodka barked from the side, "Senma Jiro reported us to the cops! Do you really think these chips are enough to buy your life?"
Upon hearing this, Senma Itaru immediately dropped to his knees and begged for mercy. "Please spare me! I never did anything like that—it was all Jiro's conspiracy!"
Tamazawa Shuxin watched quietly. The special medicine developed by the Senma Group could suppress cell division, but that wasn't reason enough for him and Gin to come here together. It seemed the real target was the code, then.
"Are you sure this is the code?" Tamazawa Shuxin asked Senma Itaru offhandedly, but under Senma Itaru's terrified gaze, he leveled his gun barrel right at him. Gin looked at him in utter astonishment as well.
"Hmph! Senma Itaru, open the case!"
Senma Itaru got up with trembling legs. Tamazawa Shuxin put away his gun, signaled to Gin that the rest of the job was his, and then strode out of the conference room.
"Three, two, one!"
*Boom!* The sound of an explosion came from overhead. Tamazawa Shuxin unhurriedly searched for clues inside Senma Itaru's office. The computer on the desk was lit up, its wallpaper set to the floor plan Tamazawa Shuxin had pulled up earlier. After reviewing Senma Itaru's search history, he decisively opened a desk drawer, and sure enough, a USB flash drive lay right inside. Outside the building, however, it remained completely quiet.
Tamazawa Shuxin pocketed the flash drive and walked down the stairwell. Just as he reached the first floor, he heard the continuous sound of gunfire outside the entrance. Turning back, Tamazawa Shuxin continued down toward the basement level. Pausing on the final three steps, he reached out to stroke the wall. With a crisp *click*, Tamazawa Shuxin pushed open a hidden door.
"According to the floor plan, heading left should lead to the back street's department store!" Standing before the doorway, there was no sound outside. Pushing it open revealed the shadowy recesses of the department store's basement level. Tamazawa Shuxin stepped out. "Just in time, I'm a bit hungry. I'll go grab some oden!"
Just as he was about to dig into a street-side oden stall, he heard the wail of police sirens drawing closer. Tamazawa Shuxin turned around just in time to see a Porsche 356A speed past, followed closely by a swarm of police cars. Tamazawa Shuxin picked up his phone, tapped out a few keystrokes, hit send, and went back to enjoying his oden. But before he could enjoy more than a few bites, a phone call interrupted everything. Tamazawa Shuxin packed up his oden to-go, stood up, walked into a deserted patch of woods, and answered the second call of the day.
"Yo, still alive?"
"Glenlivet!" Gin's furious roar blasted through the phone, punctuated by the occasional gunshot, proving that this operation had been leaked.
"Gin, you should go vent your anger on Rum. What does that have to do with me?"
His nonchalant tone practically mocked Gin's predicament. Before Gin could finish speaking, Tamazawa Shuxin hung up the phone. As for whether Gin would come looking to settle accounts with him later, he couldn't care less. It looked like any subsequent missions couldn't be carried out now anyway.
"What a waste of this formal suit of mine," Tamazawa Shuxin sighed in feigned regret. Then he pulled out the USB flash drive and pondered deeply. "What kind of scandalous secrets could be hidden inside here?"
*Knock, knock, knock.* "Tamazawa, we're heading out to buy some things. Do you need anything?"
Tamazawa Shuxin got up and opened the door to find Morofushi Hiromitsu, Matsuda Jinpei, and Hagiwara Kenji all crammed in the doorway together.
"Hm? Let me think. Then please bring me back a ham sandwich. Thanks for the trouble!"
Bidding the three of them farewell, Tamazawa Shuxin closed the door, sat down at his desk, and logged the tasks his avatar had completed today.
"I still have to go back to the base to report for Glenlivet. Depending on the achievement points each mission gives and combining that with the mission details, let's see if there are any tasks I can chain together..."
Tamazawa Shuxin wrote for a while, feeling his head grow a bit fuzzy. He stood up, intending to go out for some fresh air. "By the way, does it really take them that long to go to the convenience store?"
***
Back at the base, Tamazawa Shuxin had just stepped inside when someone called out, "Long time no see, Glenlivet!"
Tamazawa Shuxin raised his eyes to look at Vermouth standing at the end of the corridor. Ignoring her invitation, he turned and walked in the opposite direction.
"Oh my, even though you were exiled to Japan, your temper is still the exact same!"
That word "exiled" was full of intriguing implications. It seemed Glenlivet had been punished by the Organization's Boss and sent to Japan. But what had he done to anger the Boss? Lacking sufficient information, Tamazawa Shuxin couldn't deduce it. However, turning around, he caught Vermouth's deeply playful gaze. Without overthinking, he fell back on the lone-wolf persona and issued a direct warning to her: "Vermouth, you play too many little games."
With that, Tamazawa Shuxin paid no mind to Vermouth's "I knew it" expression. He merely speculated why even Vermouth had returned to Japan, and whatever overactive imagination she had about it was none of his concern.
After handing the USB flash drive over to the intelligence team, Tamazawa Shuxin left the base. But fate had other plans: a Porsche 356A happened to be returning at that exact moment. Tamazawa Shuxin's eyelid suddenly began to twitch. To his surprise, after getting out of the car, Gin bypassed him entirely, drew his Beretta, and stormed straight inside.
"Oh, the Top Killer is about to go toe-to-toe with the Number Two! How exciting!" Too bad he had to go back and rest now. Tamazawa Shuxin didn't linger, casually grabbing an Organization vehicle to drive back.
***
"Seriously, Hagiwara, where do you even get so many flashy clothes?!" Tamazawa Shuxin looked down at his multi-colored outfit.
"Little Tamazawa, you just don't get it. This is fashion!" Hagiwara Kenji said earnestly.
"Tch, this guy's a lost cause. You'll get used to it, Tamazawa."
Enduring his discomfort, Tamazawa Shuxin put on the outfit and went to rescue the hostages at the convenience store.
Seeing Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei acting all slick and cocky while taking the vanguard, Tamazawa Shuxin figured the two of them must be habitual offenders; they were simply too practiced at it.
"Morofushi, I feel like our cultivation in the craft is way too shallow."
"?" Morofushi Hiromitsu didn't understand, but he had to admit he felt a tiny bit awkward.
"Morofushi, go behind the door and rescue the hostages. Zero and the Squad Leader should both be inside."
Morofushi Hiromitsu nodded and headed inside. Meanwhile, Tamazawa Shuxin walked out the door and approached the kidnappers' van. Through the window, he spotted a business card bearing the words "Kojinkai."
"Yakuza? No wonder they have guns, but this is just too stupid—carrying out a robbery at a convenience store near the police academy? How should I put it? Delivering performance metrics right before the end of the year, huh?"
Tamazawa Shuxin muttered complaints about the whole series of events, took photos of the clues inside the kidnappers' car through the window, and returned to the convenience store just in time to see the criminals already subdued.
At the same time, Glenlivet successfully returned home. Just as Tamazawa Shuxin was about to deactivate [Never Stopping], a chime rang out: {Mission, Kojinkai / Gin}. Tamazawa Shuxin almost cursed out loud from both ends simultaneously.
"Tamazawa, what are you doing over there? Let's go!"
Tamazawa Shuxin turned around looking like a tragic hero headed to his execution. "Squad Leader, I'd like to ask for leave tomorrow!"
"Tamazawa, Tamazawa, wake up and drink your medicine."
"I'm not even kidding, how on earth did you beat me and Zero that night? So humiliating!"
"Hiro, am I really that weak?"
"Zero, maybe it's just Tamazawa's constitution."
His head was spinning terribly. Tamazawa Shuxin logged back into the Glenlivet account once more. His phone chimed with yet another notification. Tamazawa Shuxin wore a mask of pure agony. Ah, the "joy" of multitasking!