Hojo Natsuki spent the entire spring battling wits and courage with the Supernatural Special Agents Division before he finally got the evil supernatural business license.
Chief Executive Taneda Santouko looked quite unhappy. With a stern face, he reluctantly handed him the business license: "I hope Port Mafia will act as soon as possible and let the Special Ability Agent Department see your sincerity."
"Of course." Xia Shu took it and promised casually, "Within three days."
Taneda Santouhuo is also a serious bald guy. If he had two buck teeth, he would probably look like the anthropomorphic form of Rumquat.
When this thought came to his mind, Hojo Natsuki felt that he was addicted to games and it was time to quit.
He always thought about the frog, wanting to see what it was doing, whether it was lying on the bed reading a book, whether it went to school, whether it was addicted to CS again? - This was obviously very abnormal, and he was the internet addict.
Then, I failed the “One-week challenge of not opening the Travel Frog” the next day.
Who can resist looking at the harp frog? Who can resist harassing the harp frog? Even when it stares at you, it is so cute!
Hojo Natsuki was skilled in making excuses for himself: it takes twenty-one days to form a habit, and habits are hard to change; similarly, after playing the game for a year and a half, he couldn't just give it up.
"Playing games uses up fragmented time, and it doesn't interfere with my work." He thought confidently, "I work so hard, working overtime every day, what's wrong with playing a small development game? Even Mr. Mori can't say there's anything wrong with me liking to play Traveling Frog."
Chief Mori naturally would not comment on anything. He only knew that his sloppy but reliable Hojo cadre successfully obtained a license to start a business with supernatural powers. As long as the work was done properly, Chief Mori was always tolerant.
The temperature is getting more extreme every year. In early June in Yokohama, the heat wave is rolling, and the weather is really hard to cheer up.
Hojo Natsuki loves summer because it is: "The season for unlimited iced Americano!"
In the remaining three quarters, he will be restricted from drinking iced coffee (no more than two cups a day) by security guard Camus, secretary Shinagawa, assistant Kirie, chief Mori, etc., because his stomach and intestines are as weak as his limbs, but he drinks iced coffee without restraint like a poisoned person.
Drinking ice drinks in summer is reasonable, correct, and natural, and no one can stop it.
Just as Hojo Natsuki was sitting in the coffee shop waiting for his coffee, a pop-up window popped up, occupying the front page of message reminders.
[Travel Frog]
[Batman's Blessing] is in effect, come and rescue your [Miyano Atsushi Qua], [Miyano Elena Qua] and... ]
Shirley Qua's inherent hellish joke attribute actually took effect!
It was originally triggered when she was 6 years old. Nothing happened for a whole year, so Xia Shu let down her guard. However, on the last day of her 6th year -
Blessing, it took effect (.)
Hojo Natsuki opened the game in a hurry, without even taking a look at Qinwa, and immediately entered the [Simulation Business], fearing that his three SSRs would suddenly become useless.
[You have triggered [Batman's Blessing]!]
[An unexpected fire broke out at the Second Research Institute, trapping [Miyano Atsushi] and [Miyano Elena] in the laboratory]
[[Miyano Atsushi] and [Miyano Elena] suffered mild nitric oxide poisoning and fell into a coma]
[You are at risk of completely losing [SSR Miyano Atsushi Qua] and [SSR Miyano Elena Qua]! Act now! ]
It was late at night. On the game interface, the main building of the Second Research Institute was shrouded in flames. Thick smoke spread in all directions, casting an ominous black cloud over the deep blue sky. Due to the frame rate limit of the game interface, the flames jumped like a snake twisting its limbs.
The small animals were crowded around the central viewing pool a hundred meters away from the main building. Most of them were frog researchers wearing white coats. They huddled together and whispered, with bubbles popping out of their heads all the time.
Because he had instructed Rum, the statue in the middle of the viewing pool had been replaced with a pure gold frog, which looked a bit cute and a bit raw. However, given the current fire situation, no one was concerned enough to discuss how unsightly this pure gold frog statue was.
In the corner of the group of quacks, there are two familiar little quacks, one big and one small, leaning closely against each other, with their paws put together, as if they are drawing strength from each other.
It’s Shirley Qua and her sister Miyano Akemi Qua!
Hojo Natsuki was relieved, at least not all three were in danger. He tapped the ground behind them, and a little dog wearing a sad frog mask appeared out of thin air. Fortunately, there was grass behind the two quacks, and no one was standing there. With the cover of night and fire, no quacks noticed the change in this corner.
Ming Meigua was shocked when she saw the dog Boss for the first time. She held her sister and took a few steps back, showing a protective gesture.
[Ming Meigua]: You, you...
[Shirley Quack]: Sister, this is that gentleman.
[Ming Meigua]: ... Sorry, Boss, I am rude.
The frog-mask-wearing man who suddenly appeared behind her startled Miyano Akemi. If her sister hadn't been by her side, she would have screamed.
"Sister, this is that gentleman." Shirley reminded immediately.
Miyano Akemi knew her sister wouldn't joke about this, and she was even more horrified. She didn't expect that the rumors in the organization that "Boss is an extreme frog lover" were true. She was so surprised that her tongue was tied and she said in a trembling voice: "... Sorry, Boss, I'm rude."
The Boss showed no signs of anger and asked calmly, "I came to check on you guys. Are you injured?"
"No, we came out very early..." Shirley answered obediently, and turned her worried eyes back to the main building, with tears in her eyes, "But, Mom and Dad... They are still..."
"Why are you crying?" Boss squatted down. "I promise you, they will be fine. Shirley, do you believe me?"
The tuned voice was very stable and had a strange, soothing effect.
After hearing this promise, Shirley's tears began to accumulate in her eyes, and then she choked up uncontrollably and was unable to respond in a normal tone; she was seven years old, and it took a lot of effort for her to hold back her emotions until now.
“… Yeah.” Shirley raised her head, holding back her tears.
"Well," he said, "turn around, count to ten, and when you turn back around, you'll see your mom and dad."
Even though the person in front of her was the boss, it was really too much to tell such an inappropriate joke at this time. Miyano Akemi couldn't help but get angry.
But Shirley took her sister's hand, obeyed his words, turned around obediently, and counted down in a trembling voice.
"Ten, nine, eight..."
"… zero."
Miyano Akemi didn't look back, she had already determined that this was a complete tease.
However, the hand holding her suddenly loosened, and Shirley's voice broke in surprise: "—Mom!"
Shirley trotted over to her unconscious mother, tears finally starting to fall.
[[Miyano Atsushi] and [Miyano Elena] were successfully rescued! Congratulations on your efforts to save two SSRs! ]
[Batman's blessing] is invalid! ]
[[Shirley Gua] Loyalty 10, current loyalty 90]
[[Miyano Akemi] Loyalty 10, currently…]
Hojo Natsuki felt a little painful.
A lot of savings were spent on saving the two SSRs. Although this money was earned by the organization members for Xia Shu and had nothing to do with his hard work, capitalists cannot easily spit out money once it has entered their mouths.
If a capitalist pays his employees a salary of five million, then the employees must create at least fifty million in value; the reward of Shirley Gua's loyalty alone is too little, so he must make the best use of it. These three SSRs should give full play to their light and heat and earn him more than ten times the money.
Hojo Natsuki: Lost in thought.jpg
He couldn't think of a better way to exploit the resources for the time being. He couldn't let the scientific research SSR grow clovers, which was a waste of resources. Therefore, he decided to put it on hold for the time being.
Qinwa's birthday has come again, this time he is nineteen years old.
Age changes, in
The signs of aging are not obvious on Gua's body. After all, it only has two eyes and a mouth. The only visible trace of aging is the length of its hair - its silver hair.
Hojo Natsuki prepared cakes and lunch boxes, pinned the frog to a chair with his fingers, and forced it to blow out the candles.
Every time it ran, it was pulled back by the fingers; every time it ran, it was pulled back. This happened several times, and the frog knew it was powerless to resist, so it closed its eyes and blew fiercely, but still did not stretch out its claws to the cake.
[Gin]: Okay
The anger of being forced to operate is about to overflow.
Hojo Natsuki wanted to laugh.
[Natsuki]: Gin-chan, why are you so reluctant to celebrate your birthday
[Gin]: I don’t want to
[Natsuki]：Why not
[Gin]：Boring
[Natsuki]: Every day is boring, wouldn’t it be nice to have a special day
[Gin]: Oh
It seemed that he was against what he said, but he was too lazy to argue.
Hojo Natsuki smoothed its silver hair across the screen, and the frog slapped him with its claw in mid-air, saying with its expression, "Don't touch my hair!" - like a girl whose braids were pulled complaining about her back seat, except that the frog's expression was more murderous.
[Natsuki]：I don’t even know when my birthday is.
[Natsuki]: Birthday. This means that Gin-chan was born with blessings and expectations.
[Natsuki]：Someone will remember this date, and it is unique among the 365 days.
The frog seemed to be sneering, silently expressing its disapproval, and its round belly trembled slightly.
[Gin]：No one
Hojo Natsuki: “?”
I'm so heartless. I've wasted all the cakes I've bought over the years! I really have to force myself to eat it to make it memorable!
[Natsuki]: Me! I miss you so much! How can you say that
[Gin]：Care
Oh... it turned out that it was "Nobody Cares" that was opened. I was probably typing halfway when I touched the send button and sent it out accidentally.
I thought Qinwa would not reply, but after a while, when he was about to log off, Qinwa suddenly sent a message in an awkward tone: "Oh" - it was replying with "I'm thinking of you!"
Hojo Natsuki felt that he was being manipulated by this game.
The weather is getting hotter, and the sea breeze from Yokohama brings a depressing damp feeling.
More than ten days later, the love-hate July arrived.
Along with this hot month came the news that Dazai Osamu, one of the five major cadres of the port, defected from the Port Mafia.
That night, in the office of the leader of Port Mafia, the conversation between Mori Ogai and Nakahara Chuuya was coming to an end.
"… In short, although I'm not very surprised, Dazai-kun's sudden defection has indeed caused us a lot of trouble. Most of the work he left behind will need to be taken over by you, Chuuya-kun."
Zhongyuan Zhongye was the ideal employee in the eyes of thousands of capitalists. He did not complain at all and nodded in response: "I understand, Chief."
After the formal explanation, Mori Ogai shrugged and said with a smile: "Did Dazai leave you any gifts before he left?"
Nakahara Chuuya could no longer hold up his mask as a perfect subordinate, and his voice began to tremble with anger: "That bastard..."
—Before defecting, he even blew up his beloved car, stole his three credit cards and maxed them out... Dazai Osamu, a number one bastard with a record that cannot be described in words.
"It looks like an impressive 'gift'."
Mori Ogai guessed something from his expression, and a playful smile appeared on the corner of his lips, but it quickly disappeared. "To be honest, I am more worried about what will happen to Natsuki-kun than the fact that Dazai-kun defected."
Nakahara Chuuya's expression showed just the right amount of confusion: "Natsuki..."
"They probably didn't tell you, did they? You know, Natsuki-kun is my adopted son, and Dazai-kun also grew up by my side."
Mori Ogai speaks slowly
He recounted the past events in a calm manner, "Everything is fine with Natsuki-kun. He is smart, not materialistic... He just doesn't care about anything. Port Mafia has nothing that can keep him, nothing that can stop him. He is still in this position just out of habit. And now, Dazai-kun, who is our friend, is trying to live the lifestyle he wants, and he—"
Nakahara Chuuya listened carefully, but Mori Ogai did not finish his words.
Chief Mori seemed not to want to discuss this matter in depth, so he changed the subject and smiled casually: "I have strayed off topic. Actually, it was Natsuki-kun who 'picked' Dazai-kun back."
"Pick it up?"
"Yes, 'pick up.'" Mori Ogai repeated, "Natsuki-kun's lifestyle is now casual, and his obsessive-compulsive disorder can only be seen from some details. When he was a child, he was like a precise little robot. Every afternoon from 6 to 8 was his fixed entertainment time, not a minute more, not a minute less."
"That day, Natsuki packed up and left seven or eight minutes before six. I had a vague feeling that when he came back, he was different from usual. He brought Dazai home and asked me, 'Mr. Mori, can you take care of him?' - just like..."
It's like knowing that you will get a playmate or a "toy" today, so you go out early to greet him and bring him back.
"Compared to Dazai-kun, Natsuki-kun is too 'normal', highly socialized, and his various behaviors are impossible to find fault with."
Mori Ogai was silent for a moment, as if he sighed softly, "… In short, if Natsuki-kun suddenly leaves, Port Maifa will really face unprecedented difficulties."
Nakahara Chuuya replied cautiously: "I think... Natsuki won't."
"I hope so." said Mori Ogai.
Chief Sen's worries seem to be premature at the moment.
While the loyal cadres and the black-hearted leader who worked hard were looking to the future, Hojo Natsuki was eating ramen in the store, sitting next to Dazai Osamu, a former cadre of Port Mafia and now a fugitive.
Dazai finished the last bite of noodles and spread his hands: "Give me the card."
Xia Shu asked back, "Didn't you get it in the middle?"
"I blew up his car at a bad time," Dazai complained, "and he immediately realized that his savings card was also lost. Now it can't be used, and I haven't had time to withdraw money yet."
Hojo Natsuki: “…”
Are you stupid
He was not surprised. He took out his wallet, took out all the cash and slapped it on the other person's bowl.
Dazai Osamu also finished his noodles, put the banknotes in his pocket, and patted him on the shoulder: "Let's go, remember to help me in the future."
He didn't explain anything, just walked out the door, his figure like a drop of water, slowly blending into the night.
The two of them had a very ordinary meal. Anyone who saw this scene would not think that this was a formal farewell, and the future of the one who left was unknown, and his life or death was uncertain.
A few minutes later, Hojo Natsuki was full. He was not sentimental at all. When he stood up, he suddenly realized something, touched his wallet, opened it and looked carefully -
The credit card that I seldom used was indeed taken away.
Okay.
As expected of Dazai Osamu.
Xia Shu walked slowly along the street, thinking: "Next time I see this bastard, I must..."
Dazai Osamu was somewhat uncomfortable after leaving Port Mafia, partly because of the thin and plastic friendship over the years, and as for the other reason... it was probably something like "he has found the place he wants to go, but I haven't yet", and it was unpleasant to be overtaken by his companions while walking on the road.
He walked along the commercial street for a while, as usual, wandering in the void and emptying himself.
When he stopped at a red light, he suddenly looked up as if he was impressed, and saw the familiar yet unfamiliar large curved screen, which was playing a cheering advertisement for a popular idol group.
I remembered.
This big screen was used to play the "Travel Frog" commercial a year and a half ago...
Hojo Natsuki's thoughts were floating in outer space when they were suddenly pulled back. His suspended soul suddenly
Landed steadily on the ground.
He took out his cell phone and prepared to take a look at what the frog was doing while waiting for the red light.
[Travel Frog]
Guagua has sent you a postcard, please check your mailbox~
Xia Shu: “!!!”
Something is wrong. A fraudulent advertisement? A rich woman paying a huge sum of money to have a child? Trying to steal the bank card password? Wait, this seems to be true! Did Qinwa really send him a postcard
What happened? Suddenly changed
The other side of the screen.
The mobile app I use to communicate with Natsuki has been popping up messages non-stop since a few days ago.
[In a week, it will be [Natsuki]'s birthday. Come and take a look at his wish list~]
[In three days, it will be [Natsuki]’s birthday, send him a letter quickly...]
Kurosawa Jin found it annoying, just as annoying as Natsuki's constant messages on the screen.
He tried to swipe it away, but the message seemed to have taken root on the interface and would not budge no matter how hard he moved it. Even after he disabled the app permissions and restarted the screen, it still dominated the screen.
Kurosawa Jin stopped.
He stared at the conspicuous date for a moment, and did not feel that the ordinary number 7.14 was special, nor did it become different from the remaining 364 days just because he looked at it for a second longer.
He certainly wouldn't prepare any gifts, and he was too lazy to open the so-called "wish list" to see what bizarre and strange wishes the other person had added. He didn't care about other people's so-called "important days" in the conventional sense - just as he didn't care about his own birthday at all.
but.
The message reminder on the floating window is very annoying. It has been almost a week.
If no appropriate measures are taken, there is no telling how long this problem will continue to exist.
Forget it, Kurosawa thought.
It's just a matter of moving your fingers and sending a postcard. It takes no time or energy to send it. Just think of it as... a return gift from the shooting range. A gift of exchange. ... or something like that.
Hojo Natsuki was so moved when he received the letter from Koto Frog that he opened the postcard. At this moment, he would accept any content or scene with a smile, Koto Tadpole would have no problem with it.
After all, this is the first time that Qinwa has taken the initiative to send him a postcard!!!
[To Natsuki]
[Two mice were dealt with today]
[Gin]
The frog squatted on the edge of the rooftop, looking far into the distance. In front of it were dim lights, full of atmosphere. Xia Shu was just about to figure out what it meant, so he looked at the card again, wanting to analyze it with the picture and text, but found that—
Wait, Frog, why are you smoking again? (Alert)
(End of this chapter)