Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: 13. Death Note (1)
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Hikardo's gathering, which doubled as a revolutionary group, was called 'My Struggle.'
This place had originally been a club formed by Hikardo to discuss stories related to Mecha God Chronicle.
But by now, it had transformed into an organization that covered all sorts of anime, not just Mecha God Chronicle.
Of course, the only anime that qualified as "all sorts" were the ones I'd made: Nymph and Goblin and Eli and Hamel's Disappearance.
The group had boasted such formidable power in its early days that it even staged protests right in the heart of the capital.
But now that Mecha God Chronicle had concluded, its influence had waned somewhat.
As a result, their base of operations—the beer hall—had temporarily reverted to its original function as a tavern.
However.
Today, there were far more people visiting the beer hall for other purposes than those just there to drink beer.
"Heh heh, it's been quite a while since I last visited this beer hall. Is this the first time since Mecha God Chronicle wrapped up?"
"No, Professor Ermion! What brings someone as busy as you here?"
"Why, to watch Director Raguna's new work, Death Note, with you all, of course. What fun would there be in holing up in my room alone to watch something like this?"
"As expected, Professor, you know your stuff!"
That's right.
The members of the group had naturally gathered upon hearing the news that my new work, Death Note, was airing.
Reunited after so long, the members of 'My Struggle' waited for Death Note to start with joyful anticipation.
The moment the clock struck 9 p.m., the long-awaited Death Note finally began broadcasting.
"Ooh, it's finally starting!"
"This is Director Raguna's new work...!"
The anime opened with Louis, a cadet who had always ranked at the top of the Imperial Academy, picking up a strange object.
"...What is this? Death Note? Some kid's prank?"
At first, Louis didn't believe in the Death Note's existence, which supposedly allowed one to kill simply by writing a name.
But when he heard that a national hero of the empire, whose name he'd written on a whim, had died in prison that very day, he realized it was real.
"No way... Could this really be... something belonging to the God of Death?"
Louis, who had lived his life as the model straight-A student up until then, felt pangs of guilt for having killed someone.
But at the same time, he formed a firm resolve.
"...This world has far too many wicked people whom the law cannot punish."
"Human life is precious. But... I'm not killing people. I'm just cleaning up the trash littering society."
"I'll change this world. Into one without criminals, where only good people exist."
"...Hmm, Louis, was it? He doesn't seem like such a bad guy."
"Yeah. Honestly, everyone thinks something like that at least once, right?"
"On the contrary, finding a Death Note that lets you kill anyone at will and only using it on bad guys? That takes more mental fortitude than most people have."
Watching the early actions of Death Note's protagonist, Louis, the viewers found themselves nodding along unconsciously.
Of course, everyone there knew that what Louis was doing was straight-up murder and inherently wrong.
But at the same time, they felt a fondness for him because he was using the Death Note not for himself, but for the sake of the world.
However.
"How dare you... try to capture a god? Ridiculous."
"You who seek to seize the god who will change the world—you too are evil."
The resolve Louis had harbored began to change little by little.
He killed an investigator dispatched by the imperial family just for looking into 'Zodiac,' the one punishing criminals.
He killed someone right in the middle of the capital just for calling Zodiac evil.
In the end, even innocent people who declared on broadcast that they'd capture Zodiac met their deaths at Louis's hands.
"...Ah."
"So it ends up like this after all."
The viewers let out involuntary sighs.
Just ten minutes earlier, the Louis they'd been quietly rooting for had already become a villain themselves.
And moreover.
"...Huh?"
"Wait... something feels off?"
"Louis's face... Doesn't it look a bit different from the beginning?"
That's right.
At the very start of Death Note, Louis had gentle eyes and a face that could only be described as saintly.
But as time passed, his eyes and face gradually changed.
His initial gentle visage was long gone.
All that remained now was a single murderer with a chillingly cold face and murderous glare.
Normally, any viewer would have noticed Louis's facial changes immediately.
But because they shifted so gradually and subtly as the story unfolded, it took time for people to catch on.
"...I see. So as Louis's mindset changed, his eyes and face—which reflect the heart—changed too?"
"I didn't notice at all. You can lay foreshadowing like that too, huh..."
The people marveled at Raguna's subtlety in conveying something indirectly without a single explicit line of explanation in the story.
In that way, the viewers naturally immersed themselves in Louis as the protagonist while simultaneously accepting that he was evil.
And then.
"But... how the heck are they supposed to catch that guy Louis?"
"If he keeps hiding and just writing down criminals' names like this, isn't catching him impossible?"
Before they knew it, the viewers had stopped cheering for Louis punishing criminals and were instead hoping he'd get caught.
However, that was nearly impossible.
Since the Death Note was a power of the God of Death, no human force could track or interfere with him.
No tracking artifact worked, nor did any grand archmage's detection spells yield evidence.
Heck, one of the empire's grand archmages had tried to capture him and ended up dead instead—so there was practically no one left in the world who could stop him.
Yet.
"I have no idea how you're committing these murders. Whether it's magic or some special artifact, I couldn't deduce it at all."
"But if there's one thing I could figure out, it's what you're thinking, Zodiac."
Rather than uncovering the method Louis used to kill.
A man appeared who pursued him through psychological analysis.
His name was Alpha.
A detective who had solved countless incidents across the continent.
"This broadcast isn't airing across the entire continent right now—it's only going out in the eastern part of the empire."
"We planned to roll it out to each country starting from the east, but... I'm lucky. I never thought I'd pinpoint where you live from the very first episode."
"Plus, the fact that you can't kill me right now means there must be some condition for killing humans, right? Otherwise, there's no reason you wouldn't."
"...."
"Ooh..."
"No way, there's a method like that!"
"I get it. Even though the Death Note defies human logic, the one using it—Louis—is still human. That's the angle he went for!"
The viewers watching this ingenious scene couldn't help but gasp in admiration.
To roughly figure out Louis's location and murder method from such an outrageous broadcast!
"So, you think you can catch me?"
But watching the broadcast that had cornered him, Louis sneered coldly.
"Interesting. I'd been getting bored just cleaning up trash anyway. This'll be some fun entertainment."
"It's decided, Alpha. You, at least, I'll kill by writing your name myself."
Static—
Just before the screen went black, Louis's face filled with murderous intent contrasted with Alpha's thoughtful expression somewhere else.
It was a hint that the two geniuses would soon begin moving in earnest to kill each other.
And with that, episode 1 of Death Note came to an end.
The people collapsed to the floor, pterodactyl-like shrieks escaping their lips.
"...Insane. This is totally insane!"
"We... have to worship it, right?"
"Next episode! Give me the next episode, please! If you can't, knock me out until tomorrow night! Please!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A few days after episodes 1 and 2 of Death Note aired.
I was able to greet Serika and Kaya, who came running toward me with beaming faces.
"Director! Have you heard the news?"
"What news?"
"Death Note is a massive hit!"
Kaya said this with an expression that showed she couldn't contain her excitement.
"The praise from viewers just keeps pouring in endlessly, and according to His Highness Kaizer, it's pulling huge ratings in the Kingdom of Richard too! No one's saying a bad word about Death Note!"
Kaya and Serika were making a fuss, perhaps thinking Death Note wouldn't match the popularity of Mecha God Chronicle.
But I wasn't too surprised, since I'd predicted it would definitely be a commercial success.
After all, even on Earth, the work that inspired Death Note had maintained massive popularity even 20 years after its finale.
If Death Note had flopped, that would have shocked me.
"Um... but it seems there's been some kind of issue related to Death Note."
"...An issue? What is it?"
In response to my question, Kaya grew a bit serious as she spoke to me.
"Well... In Death Note, the protagonist Louis gets his powers from the God of Death handing him the Death Note, right?"
"Yeah."
"Lately, there's been a huge surge in people claiming they've summoned the God of Death themselves and gained powers."
"...What? Summoned the God of Death?"
For a moment, I couldn't hide my bewilderment at those words.
Because the God of Death was just a fictional entity in Death Note—there was no way such a divine being existed in reality.
This was a fantasy world where summoning magic and dimensional magic actually existed.
So the possibility that they might have actually summoned a God of Death through some magic I didn't know about wasn't zero.
But.
"I... don't know if it's real or not, but they claim they've made a deal with the God of Death and gained demonic eyes. Eyes that see death... They say death appears as lines and dots. Some even say they can wield eternally burning black flames. Mostly cadets from the Imperial Academy making these claims."
"....."
No way.
Of all things.
Meanwhile, Kaya spoke in a deeply serious tone.
"When you think about the tragedy that unfolds in Death Note from Louis receiving power from the God of Death, we can't just sit idly by."
"No, wait—"
I tried desperately to stop Kaya.
"Don't worry, Director. I'll handle this little matter myself!"
In the end, all I could do was watch Kaya leave to round up the demonic eye possessors.
"....."
'...Sorry I couldn't protect you.'
For the academy cadets about to suffer endlessly at the hands of the popular crowd.
Everyone.
Observed a moment of silence.