CH 7

I wonder why fate is so cruel.

Just before midnight. That’s when the incident happened.

I was resting on the bed in the CR ward when I received a report from Hiiro-san through the game scope.

To my surprise, the nurse’s station in every department of Seito University Hospital was ringing with nurse’s calls all at once. It seemed that the ventilators and dialysis machines, which were used to prolong the lives of hospitalized patients in each ward, had been infected by the bugster virus and malfunctioned.

The whole hospital was in a state of panic, and all the off-duty doctors and nurses rushed to the hospital to take care of the patients.

In the pediatric ward where I am assigned, there is also a pediatric patient who is receiving life-prolonging treatment with a ventilator.

I was about to rush out of the CR room to go to the pediatric ward, but Parad, who was taking care of me, stopped me.

“Stop. It’s not safe for you to push yourself.”

“Step aside, please. I can’t let my patients die.”

“If you stress yourself out any more, you’ll be in danger too!”

“Parad. You know how I feel! This is a time-sensitive situation!”

When I opened the door to the hospital room and stepped out into the corridor, I saw Poppy running down the spiral staircase on my right side. To be exact, she was wearing a blue nurse’s uniform as her temporary form, Asuna-san.

“Emu! I just checked with the director, and it seems our hospital isn’t the only one with malfunctioning medical equipment!”

As I left the entrance of the CR, listening to Asuna-san’s report, I pressed the call button for the elevator.

“What do you mean…?”

“That’s… all the hospitals in the country at once…”

That’s impossible. This has never happened before. It’s an unusual situation, to say the least.

I immediately realized that there was some kind of malicious intent behind the emergency.

“No way. The medical devices that are malfunctioning…”

“…The director said they were all made by Medictric.”

Medictric is the medical equipment manufacturer that my father works for.

“If that’s the case, then Kuroto-san might have something to do with this problem.”

Just then, the door to the CR entrance opened.

Kiriya-san came running in with a concerned expression.

“Emu! I knew you’d rush out of the hospital room.”

“Kiriya-san. You can’t stop me.”

“Alright, alright. More importantly, I got a call from Saiko-sensei. It seems that a God dummy has appeared at the regenerative medicine center.”

“Could it be Kuroto II!? No way!” Asuna-san started to panic.

“Yeah. The God Maximum Mighty X gashat that we were working with was stolen by that guy.”

“This is bad, Emu. That gashat is troublesome,” Parad said, looking wary.

“Yeah. But we have to deal with the patients first.”

When I arrived at the pediatric ward, I immediately coordinated with the other doctors and nurses, and we split up to take care of the pediatric patients.

I rushed to a pediatric patient with a pediatric nurse, Yumita Ginko-san.

There was no time to restore the ventilator that had been infected with the bugster virus because the situation was time-sensitive.

We set up a manual ventilator and followed the procedure to manage the patient’s breathing.

We managed to avoid the worst case scenario, but this was only a temporary measure. We had to restore the malfunctioning ventilator as soon as possible.

I left the patient in Ginko-san’s hands and ran out of the hospital room.

But Asuna-san and Parad blocked my way in the corridor.

“Emu. Where are you going!?” Asuna-san asked.

“…Parad. Come with me.”

“Emu. You…” Parad seemed to feel my heart.

My father had appeared in the Mighty Novel X stories that had occurred so far. And given the history of the malfunctioning of Medictric’s medical equipment, there’s no doubt that Kuroto II is involved in this problem. We need to find out the cause of the problem as soon as possible.

Perhaps sensing what I was thinking, Parad gave a small nod and fused into my body.

“Asuna-san. Can you keep an eye on the patients?”

“But…!”

“Contact me if anything happens.”

Without waiting for Asuna-san’s reply, I ran out of the place.

There is a large park within a three-minute walk from Seito University Hospital.

The park is about the size of a baseball field with lush green trees, and is a place of relaxation for the residents of the neighborhood who use it to walk their dogs or go jogging. But at this time of night, after midnight, there was no sign of people. It turned into a different world of silence illuminated by a few streetlights.

In here, there will be no damage to the surrounding area. It would be the perfect place for a decisive battle.

I walked to the lawn of the park and waited for the right moment. Kuroto II would surely come to this place. I was convinced of that.

He said the ending of Mighty Novel X exists in the future. It’s up to me to decide it. In other words, the place where the final decision will be made will be the place I choose.

It was as I had predicted.

A black figure appeared from the darkness of the park, dimly lit by the streetlights.

It was Kamen Rider Genm, Action Gamer Level 2. On his waist was a Gamer Driver loaded with the Proto Mighty Action X Gashat.

“You are the one who caused the malfunction of the medical devices.”

“….”

There was no reply from Genm.

The fact that he didn’t reply was proof enough.

“The lives of many patients are at stake. We need to get them functioning again now!”

Genm raised his right arm and wiggled his index finger as if to provoke me.

It’s a waste of time trying to reason with him.

“…Okay. If I win, you’ll do as I say.”

I took out Maximum Mighty X and Hyper Muteki and activated them.

“Maximum Mighty X! Hyper Muteki!”

My eyes glowed red and the other me awoke.

I’ll use Muteki’s power to quickly decide the game.

“Hyper Dai Henshin!”

I transformed into Muteki Gamer and launched a preemptive attack. No holding back. I’ll give it everything I’ve got.

My wave attack hit Genm cleanly.

Genm was in a defenseless stance, and struck out at me. He didn’t use any weapons, just his own body.

…That’s strange.

Genm knows more about Muteki’s abilities than anyone else. He must know that no matter what kind of attack it is, it can’t do any damage.

I took Genm’s attack with no protection. Of course, the damage was zero.

I countered Genm with a one-two punch and kicked him with all my might.

Genm was thrown back with great force and collapsed on the grass. In the blink of an eye, my opponent’s Rider Gauge was depleted, and he only had a few bars left.

…I knew something was wrong.

If you compare the specs of Muteki and Genm Level 2, the difference in power is obvious, but he’s being too defenseless and too careless, and his movements are like those of an amateur. It’s hard to believe that he’s the same Dan Kuroto who’s been through so many battles.

“…Who are you?”

“…It’s all my fault. I am the root of all evil.”

The root of all evil. If it were Genm himself, he would never have said that. It’s because he doesn’t think he’s involved in any wrongdoing at all.

His tone of voice sounded familiar. It’s been years since I’ve heard him speak, but I can’t think of anyone else who speaks in that distinctive, inflectionless way.

“What are you doing? How were you able to transform into Genm?”

“That’s a stupid question. Of course it’s because I underwent the compatibility surgery.”

The compatibility surgery is literally “a surgery to adapt the body” in order to be able to use the Gamer Driver. A small amount of the bugster virus is administered in advance using a special syringe. By injecting enough of the virus into the body to prevent the onset of game disease, the human body’s natural healing ability produces antibodies in the blood and body fluids to protect the body from the bugster virus. In this way, the body becomes able to withstand the use of the Gamer Driver.

However, not everyone can develop the correct antibodies after undergoing compatibility surgery. Only a handful of people have become fit. There are a lot of people who have been treated for game disease, but not all of them are compatible with the Gamer Driver.

Did he break through such a narrow gate?

That man – Hojo Kiyonaga – has obtained a body that is compatible with the Gamer Driver?

“…I’m the one who created the bugster virus in this world and threatened many people’s lives.”

“…”

“If I’m left unchecked, humanity will continue to be exposed to further threats. As a doctor, you can’t overlook my existence.”

It’s a provocative line that sounds like something an enemy character in a video game would say.

But it’s not. Each word lacks persuasiveness. I can’t feel the truth in them. It sounded as if he was just being forced to say the text that someone had prepared for him.

…There’s no point in fighting any more.

I pulled the gashat out of the Gamer Driver and untransformed, returning to my regular self.

“Just because I defeated you doesn’t mean the medical equipment will be back to normal.”

“…”

“It won’t save the patients.”

“…”

“…Kuroto-san sent you, didn’t he?”

“…This has nothing to do with him.”

“Don’t play dumb. Otherwise, there’s no way you’d have that driver and gashat. There’s no way you could transform into Genm.”

“It is inevitable that you and I will have to settle our fate in this way. Mighty Novel X is your life and my life. In order to end it all, I have to settle our story.”

“I’m a doctor. I can’t take a person’s life, including yours.”

“If you don’t do it, I’ll kill you. Are you okay with that?”

“I’m not going to die. I have a responsibility to survive to save my patients.”

“It’s you or me! Mighty Novel X won’t end unless we settle this! You’re going to end the lives of a lot of patients!”

“Of course I’m not going to let my patients die. I’m going to conquer Mighty Novel X with my own hands.”

“…Why won’t you attack me? Even though you have a grudge against me.”

“…I’ve forgotten what it feels like to hold a grudge. I moved past that a long time ago, when I stopped expecting anything from you.”

“…”

“But I… I don’t have the right to blame you.”

When did it happen? When did I stop calling him “Dad”?

I couldn’t accept my father for a long time, so I kept my distance. My heart grew estranged from him.

What was the beginning of it? I couldn’t even look back anymore. It was just my hollow heart and the empty relationship between us that had become a skeleton, and somehow I had lost sight of how to bring us closer together.

But through the story of Mighty Novel X, I was able to take a fresh look at my past. I was able to look back at the heart that I had almost forgotten.

Yes, it all started on that rainy day.

I lost my mother, and for as long as I could remember, I was left alone with my father as the core of my family.

My father was very busy with his work and did not spend much time at home. He was often transferred and our living environment often changed due to frequent moves. I couldn’t make any friends, so I had to play games to drown my loneliness.

That’s it. That was it.

It’s not that my father and I had a fatal feud. Rather, there was nothing between us. Just a hollow space.

Because there was nothing, I could not find meaning in my life.

I couldn’t find the meaning of who I was.

“On that rainy day… I certainly betrayed you.”

I felt like I had vomited out something leaden that had been sealed in my heart for years. Something heavier than anything else, something like black lead.

“When I sent that fan letter to Genm Corp, I had no idea what was going to happen. Later, I received a game from Genm in return for my fan letter. As you know, it was a prototype called Mighty Action C. The game was extremely difficult. I couldn’t clear it no matter how many times I tried. Eventually, something suddenly snapped inside me. Everything became unimportant.”

It was a strange feeling. Playing Mighty Novel X made me feel as if I had gone back in time, and I could clearly sense my own state of mind at that time.

“At that time, I didn’t understand the importance of life. I just thought that life was unimportant. Then I thought, if I get bored with it, I can just reset it like a game. Just like starting a new game, I could be reborn one day and start a new life. That’s all I thought about. You may not believe me when I say this, but one thing is for sure…”

That’s right. I can’t believe it myself, but one thing is for sure.

“Nothing special happened to make me want to die.”

The man who had taken the form of Genm showed obvious signs of being upset. I couldn’t see his face, but I could feel his agitation.

“It’s not that I had greatly despaired in my life, much less that I did it to spite you. I just feel it now. The horror that there was no good reason.”

“After all this time… Do you really think I would believe such a story?”

“You don’t have to believe it. I can’t believe it either. I feel like I’m not the person I was back then. But I don’t know what else to say. It’s the truth.”

A short silence fell.

It wasn’t that I was expecting a witty response. It wasn’t that I wanted him to understand anything.

Just. I felt like my body had lightened up. It was only because of the lead-like something that had been stuck in my heart for a long time.

Now it’s your turn.

“What about you… did you really create the bugster virus? If so, what was your intention?”

“…”

“Did you betray me?”

Genm pulled the gashat out of the Gamer Driver and pulled the lever back.

When he released his transformation, I saw a man in a familiar suit standing there. His beard had turned gray, and he looked older than I had expected.

I thought it was something perfect that would reign absolutely over me whether I was near or far.

But what I saw in front of me was neither a symbolic being nor a perfect something.

It was a human being with life in him.

The father I never knew was there.

“Yes. I… betrayed you, too.”

My father’s shoulders were shaking slightly.

The inflectionless voice told me a story about my father that I didn’t know.