008 You don't want anyone else to know about this, right?

The young man in the suit and leather shoes must be Nagasawa Keisuke, the one Kamiyagawa was looking for.

At the moment, his refined face wore a terrible attitude as he chastised the short-haired receptionist lady, his words laced with an undercurrent of indirect criticism:

"Mayuko, my time is precious; don't let some clueless strangers bother me, understand?"

The receptionist named Mayuko nodded in apprehension, her voice trembling with fear, "But, he said, he said he was your cousin...

"I don't know him at all! And you believe him just because he says so? What's wrong with you!"

Nagasawa Keisuke pushed his glasses up, his voice growing sharper.

Upon hearing this, Mayuko's expression first registered shock, then shifted to a look of realization as if she just woke from a dream.

That's right, should I just believe him because he says so?

Why had she so hastily and firmly believed that this high school-aged boy was cousins with Section Chief Nagasawa?

That's when Kamiyagawa finally spoke up:

"Mr. Nagasawa, don't blame this sister. If there's anyone to blame, blame me."

"You?" Nagasawa Keisuke turned his head, displaying a condescending attitude only a superior could, "What do you want with me? If you can't say, get out of here!"

Unlike with the receptionist, he had absolutely no interest in Kamiyagawa, the underaged boy pretending to be his cousin and dressed in cheap market clothes.

Even his looks conveyed a hint of scorn.

To be fair, Nagasawa Keisuke's first impression of Kamiyagawa was that the inexplicably present high schooler was indeed handsome.

But what's the use of a boy being so handsome? To live off some woman when he grows up?

Pathetic!

"Here's the thing, an acquaintance of yours asked me to give you something."

Kamiyagawa, oblivious to his target's thoughts, continued to deal with everything with a calm smile.

"Acquaintance?"

"Yes, an acquaintance, Sachiko Kuriyama."

The moment he heard the name "Sachiko Kuriyama," the cold expression on Nagasawa Keisuke's face stiffened, but it lasted only half a second before returning to normal:

"Sorry, I don't know the person you're talking about. You've got the wrong guy."

Kamiyagawa didn't respond further but reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out a stack of papers.

They weren't letters obtained from Drowned Ghost in the game, but just ordinary A4 sheets with some things photocopied on them.

One was a news report, "Tragic, a high school girl from Karin High School drowns."

Additionally, there were messages that seemed to be screenshots from a forum, with some comments enlarged—

[Kuriyama was really naive, really.]

[Nagasawa is scum.]

[It was Nagasawa who proposed they die together, yet when Kuriyama jumped into the lake, he got cold feet?]

"Mr. Nagasawa, as you can see, your name and Sachiko Kuriyama's name are here. To address the emergence of the current situation, I made some small preparations over the weekend and printed many copies in advance."

Kamiyagawa handed over the photocopied sheets, his tone harmless.

At this moment, Nagasawa Keisuke's expression became quite the spectacle, as he struggled to maintain his genteel composure, but the twitching at the corner of his eyes betrayed his inner turmoil.

His breathing became erratic, and after more than ten seconds, he pulled Kamiyagawa aside, then finally spoke again, his voice much softer, "Let's... talk somewhere else."

Seeing the corporate elite Nagasawa Keisuke losing his composure, no longer mixing Japanese and English in his speech, Kamiyagawa couldn't help but find it amusing.

A certain malicious yet fitting phrase for the moment came to mind—

Mr. Nagasawa, you wouldn't want other people at the company to learn about this, right?

...

Shirakiya.

It was an Izakaya located in Azumabashi town, not far from Shimizu Corporation's building, open even during the day.

After Nagasawa Keisuke made a phone call to his manager to take leave, he brought Kamiyagawa to this place.

Inside the restaurant, lanterns and Mount Fuji scenery posters hung high on the walls, and there was also a roughly 70-inch wall-mounted television.

Since it was a weekday afternoon, there were hardly any customers in the store.

The TV was showing Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet."

It seemed to be a very old version, the screen was black and white and occasionally flickered with static, but the dialogue was dubbed in Japanese.

"What would you like to drink?"

Nagasawa Keisuke's attitude towards Kamiyagawa changed quickly: just fifteen minutes ago, he had been looking down his nose at him, but now he was clearly intending to treat him to a meal.

"I'm not of age yet, a Ramune will do," Kamiyagawa replied with a thick skin, not caring whether this was a sugar-coated shell or a banquet with hidden dangers, and without any intention of being polite.

He even took the initiative to take a menu from the waiter.

The dishes in the restaurant were the same as any regular Japanese Izakaya—nothing more than skewers, grilled fish, beer, shaved ice, etc.

Kamiyagawa ordered some skewers and a Ramune, while Nagasawa Keisuke ordered another beer.

The food and drinks were quickly brought to the table.

Having been eating only set meals from school cafeterias and convenience store bento boxes since arriving in this era, Kamiyagawa had a good appetite. He picked up a skewered bird, sprinkled some salt, slathered on sweet soy sauce, and ate with gusto.

Nagasawa Keisuke watched Kamiyagawa's unremarkable way of eating and calmed down a bit, thinking to himself that after all, this was just a minor.

After taking a sip of beer, he opened the conversation: "Where did you get those things from?"

"From the internet, of course."

In the so-called information age, the embarrassing histories of mischievous kids were all in high definition without censorship.

In the corners of the internet that were almost forgotten, one could often find traces of information that surprised or shocked.

For Nagasawa Keisuke, the content discussed in that inconspicuous old forum thread was undoubtedly a shock.

"I don't mean that. What I mean is, who told you about that incident, and who revealed my current workplace to you?"

"Oh, you might not believe this, but the source of my information was Ms. Sachiko Kuriyama herself. I took a small commission from her—by the way, the grilled chicken gizzards taste very good, very flavorful. Mr. Nagasawa, wouldn't you like to try some?"

"No need," Nagasawa snapped irritably.

"Oh, then your portion is mine too, thanks."

Nagasawa Keisuke did not respond but loosened his tie and took a big gulp of beer.

Of course, he didn't believe Kamiyagawa's nonsense.

Information provided by Sachiko Kuriyama herself? Don't make me laugh.

But what gave him a headache was that the not-fully-grown brat in front of him was much more difficult to deal with than he appeared.

Given his carefree demeanor when spouting nonsense, it didn't seem so easy to extract information from him.

"Cough." After an awkward silence, Nagasawa cleared his throat and said, "Let's get to the point, what do you want?"

In Nagasawa's view, Kamiyagawa coming to the Shimizu Corporation with copies of those screenshots only meant that he wanted to claim some benefit.

Even though the kid was a bit slick, Nagasawa believed he could still handle a minor's blackmail for the time being.

Anyway, the stack of documents held by Kamiyagawa absolutely couldn't be seen by others in the corporation, and it certainly couldn't be known by the president or Nagao.

If the stupid thing he did eight years ago were to be exposed, everything would be over.