Chapter 110
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Kidnapping (1)
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The sun had just begun to set.
Momiji was crouched in her tiny room, fiddling with the flip phone Takuya had given her, checking out its features.
Well, not exactly checking the features. Truth be told, it was the only thing in this stifling house that let her feel Takuya's presence.
—Beep, bleep, beep.
"Fufu."
After messing around with the keypad for a good while, Momiji felt a smile bubble up unbidden.
It wasn't because pressing the keys was fun.
She was just happy.
The past few months had been filled with things she'd only dreamed of.
The bullying at school had stopped, a hero had come to save her, and above all...
'Takuya-kun... I want to see him.'
She'd fallen for someone.
If the Momiji from a few months ago—the one on the verge of deciding to end it all—could see her now, she'd be shocked that she could be this happy.
Even she herself was amazed.
Of course, her family was still indifferent to her, but that would get better someday, right?
Momiji thought so as she kept tinkering with the flip phone Takuya had given her.
As she played with it, she suddenly missed him so much that she thought:
'Maybe I should message Takuya-kun.'
With that in mind, she slipped into his contact and started typing a text.
—Ding-dong!
Until someone rang the doorbell.
Momiji figured it was another of her dad's creditors.
It wasn't the first time.
She briefly wondered if it could be the stalker.
'He hasn't been around lately. Should be fine.'
With that hopeful thought, she headed to the door.
"Coming!"
What she saw when she opened it...
"Huff. Huff. Finally. Finally!"
Was a creepy middle-aged man panting heavily, staring right through her.
Instinctively, Momiji knew.
This was the owner of that sticky gaze that had followed her for so long. Her stalker.
Realizing that, she tried to slam the door shut.
—Thud.
"Where do you think you're running to, cutie?"
The middle-aged man—no, the stalker—jammed his foot in before it closed, flinging the door wide open. Momiji couldn't hold against his strength, lost her grip on the knob, and tumbled backward.
With the man blocking the doorway, Momiji knew escape was impossible. She quickly flipped open the phone to send a distress signal.
'Hurry! I have to contact Takuya-kun!'
She thought frantically, hammering the keys.
But...
"Calling the cops? Too late for that, cutie!"
The kidnapper pressed something over her mouth.
Momiji felt consciousness slipping away.
Even so, she mustered her last strength to hit send, and at the same moment...
—Drop!
The phone fell from her hand as she blacked out.
Tsutomu dressed up and headed somewhere surprising: a pachinko parlor.
He wasn't there to gamble for fun.
He'd never wasted money on such frivolities in his life.
He took a slow breath, gazing at the crowd shrouded in cigarette smoke—people exuding the same vibe as him, a stark contrast to the flashy entrance.
Exhaling deeply, Tsutomu steeled himself and strode inside, searching for one particular person.
Surprisingly, it was...
—Beep- beep-beep, ding!
"Argh! Failed again! Damn my money!!"
A thug-looking guy with a cigarette dangling from his lips, the picture of delinquency. Or rather...
"Hello, sir. Momiji's father."
"Huh? I'm in a shit mood, who the hell are you?!"
Momiji's dad.
Tsutomu approached him.
"I have a good deal for you."
"A good deal?"
"I'd like to give you money. Care to talk over there?"
"Money? Hell yeah, let's talk! Outside first."
More precisely...
"How about selling your daughter?"
"What the fu—"
"One million yen."
To buy Momiji from this man.
Tsutomu had already scoped out her family through his stalking sessions.
Momiji's folks were the lowest of the low, human scum.
Her mom blew more cash on hosts than on her daughter, and her dad squandered it all in places like this—the epitome of trashy lowlifes.
And Tsutomu planned to buy Momiji from them.
He had about two million yen saved up.
Roughly twenty million won in Korean currency.
His hobbies—stalking, murder, upskirting—didn't cost much, so he'd hoarded a tidy sum.
With that money...
'I'll buy Momiji from her family.'
He'd purchase her outright.
How could that even work?
Considering her parents' vices, two million yen was a fortune.
Of course, for a person's life, it was laughably low.
But Tsutomu knew.
These people pondering the price right in front of him? They'd sell their daughter in a heartbeat. He was certain.
One might wonder why he was buying her instead of just kidnapping like usual.
Simple: he was nervous.
Surprisingly, the cops had already visited him about a corpse dumping case.
It was just routine questioning, but to Tsutomu, it meant they had enough evidence to suspect him.
Luckily, the gym teacher incident had loosened their net, but he was paranoid about anything tightening around his neck.
So this time, he'd play it safe.
Buy her from her parents, no report filed.
Then lock her away in a remote mountain cabin he'd prepared.
And savor her flesh slowly, for a very long time.
Flesh or body, either way.
'Heh, heh, just thinking about it is thrilling.'
He was a lolicon and necrophile, after all.
Tsutomu chuckled creepily to himself.
Momiji's father recoiled in disgust but kept mulling it over.
It wasn't moral qualms about selling his daughter.
He was worthless scum who'd dump her in a second if it profited him.
He'd only married because a hooker from his host club days got knocked up.
No, his hesitation was purely...
'Could I get a higher price?'
He wondered if he could sell her for more.
'Maybe through a madam for a bigger cut?'
But he shook his head.
'Nah, madams only take pretty ones.'
She should be cute like him, but she'd taken after her ugly pregnant mom.
Who'd pay ten million for a plain girl like that?
Looking at this weirdo, probably no one else.
"...You really gonna pay a million if I give you my daughter?"
"Heh, o-of course."
"Uh, but... that seems kinda low..."
"I can't go higher."
"Tch, fine. Sold. Easy money."
In the end, Momiji's dad sold her for one million yen.
Tsutomu handed over the bag of cash and said,
"I'll take her today."
"Whatever."
Her father shrugged and headed back inside, not giving a damn about Momiji.
Watching him go, Tsutomu moved on.
Next stop: where Momiji's mom worked.
He found her, asked to talk.
She scowled but perked up at "money" and dragged him to a corner.
Tsutomu made the same offer.
"You'll really pay a million for that useless bitch?!"
"Y-yes."
"Kyaa! That's how many hotties I could sleep with~!"
"Haha, yeah."
"Hell yes! Want a contract?"
"N-no, just quietly take her."
"Sweet, works for me~"
And just like that, her mom sold her off without a second thought.
Having paid them both off, Tsutomu walked the street with his head down, desperately stifling laughter.
"Hee hee hee."
'Now nothing stands between me and cutie!'
The final barrier was gone.
Thus, Momiji's kidnapping proceeded with her parents' full consent.
Meanwhile, as Momiji was being abducted...
Takuya was baffled by the cryptic message from her.
[Save—]
Or more precisely...
【Third Choice Branch】
...the suddenly generated scenario.