Let's rewind time a little to a hotel room in the city.

A middle-aged man with half of his face covered by a mask was dialing his superior's private line.

After receiving a reply, the screen in the hotel immediately showed the image of a young man.

"What's the matter? Why are you contacting me so late?"

The young man spoke first, and the middle-aged man with the mask remained respectful.

"I apologize for disturbing you so late, I just wanted to ask about what happened this afternoon."

"I see, so you already know about their unauthorized actions."

"Yes, I found out through the news as well."

"In the end, those people were only trying to take credit from you, but instead, they suffered losses themselves."

"Yes, what you said is true. I just wanted to ask if you have any way to deal with them."

The young man became interested in the middle-aged man's words.

"Deal with them? Am I correct in understanding they were trying to steal your credit? Don't you blame them? And I assume they would continue to do so in the future, as human nature doesn't change."

"Even so, I still hope that you, sir, can lend a helping hand."

The middle-aged man bowed, pleadingly.

"Alright, since you put it that way, rest assured, I have already taken care of this matter."

However, the young man did not disclose how he had resolved it.

"Is that so? Sir, you truly have an extraordinary insight."

The middle-aged man sincerely expressed admiration.

"By the way, regarding that matter, I have made some changes to the plan."

"Sir, do you think I am incapable of completing this task?"

The middle-aged man immediately denied the young man's doubts.

"Of course not, I was purely fascinated by it, so I decided to play a game tonight."

"A game?"

"Yes, of course, I won't get directly involved, I'll just be responsible for planning."

"But sir, won't this prevent us from achieving the original goal?"

The middle-aged man questioned, but the young man changed the topic.

"Do you know how to kill someone?"

"... I apologize for my ignorance, but I cannot understand the meaning behind your words, sir."

"Well, since you put it that way, I'll just say it directly. Originally, I only intended for the target to meet their physical demise."

"And now?"

"But now, I've changed my mind. I think that's not enough."

"What does that have to do with this game?"

The middle-aged man further questioned, but the young man only responded like this.

"Well, I'll give you some relevant information later."

"Yes."

Then, the young man revealed a cold smile.

"Regardless of the outcome, when this game comes to an end, Amagi Ryuto will truly experience death."

****************************************************

"It's such a bother, I didn't expect to have to go out in the middle of the night."

Due to the sudden turn of events, Ryuto couldn't peacefully play games at home and couldn't help but complain.

"It can't be helped, Ryuto-sama. Since that's the case, let's just solve it quickly and go back."

Hiyori tried to comfort Ryuto with unusual optimism.

Is she being serious? Don't say it so casually.

Thinking that, Ryuto couldn't help but look at the key in his hand. It was the one that had been inside the package earlier. It was so small that Ryuto took a long time to find it.

By the way, where is this key from? It doesn't even have a label.

"Oh, Ryuto-sama, the strange box is gone, so the message is also gone, right?"

That's a significant discovery. Well, since she can say such things despite knowing, she's way too optimistic, Miss.

"It's fine, I still vaguely remember it.""Oh, to be able to remember in such a short amount of time, Ryuto-sama is indeed amazing," Hiyori said admiringly.

By the way, if by any chance Ryuto-sama doesn't remember, wouldn't that mean it's all over? Ryuto couldn't help but worry about his future.

"Well, let me think... I remember the original words were something like, 'Legend has it that there was once an ancient beast called the Ancient Dragon. It makes a significant move twice a day and it's said to have countless treasures hidden within. The place with the most treasures is said to be three and a half inches under the dragon's chin. However, treasure seekers must be careful, as touching the dragon's reverse scales will bring disasters.'"

...What is this? Are they asking us to find the legendary Ancient Dragon? Isn't this just clearly a joke?

"Um... it seems like it's asking us to find the dragon. In that case, let's start moving quickly, Ryuto-sama," said Hiyori, with a lively expression.

Hey, hey, are you kidding me? You're obviously just joking, right? Please stop playing around.

Ryuto was almost on the verge of tears, so he tried to change the subject.

"Well, we still have this key as a clue," Ryuto said, looking at the key in his hand again, hoping to find some important information from it.

"...I guess it's still unusable. It's just an ordinary key with no distinguishing features," Ryuto wanted to shout out loud, but he didn't because Hiyori was looking at him with hopeful eyes.

Hey, hey, don't have too high expectations for me. Haven't you heard of the saying "the greater the expectations, the greater the disappointment"? No, but in the end, he couldn't say it because of those eyes. So Ryuto tried to change his mood.

"For now, let's not think about that. Let's go somewhere first."

"Alright, Ryuto-sama."

And so, the duo of Ryuto and Hiyori began to move.