wish you would cut it out instead! »
What’s going on with this person? I saw the logs earlier…
« It’s a troll who keeps messing up all the Ikebukuro boards and chat rooms! »
[Evening, Saika.]
|cut, person, but, still, bad|
« There’s no point, Setton. It won’t respond to our messages. »
[I’m guessing it’s a bot of some kind.]
|must, love, more|
« Maybe you’re right. »
|love, strong person. so. want love, strong person|
Kinda creepy, isn’t it?
« But it seems like it’s very slowly typing better sentences… »
Can’t you just ban it from the chat?
« I keep doing it…but it doesn’t work. »
|must, cut, more|
[Wow, really?]
« I keep banning the individual remote host, but it just pops in with a different host. »
Is it using a proxy?
|must, get, closer|
« Hmm, doesn’t seem to be the case. »
« The one common thread is that all the hosts are located around Ikebukuro. »
« So I think there’s a high probability it’s someone living around here. »
« Could be just jumping from manga café to manga café, for example. »
|to, strong person|
[It seems like the other message boards don’t know how to deal with it, either.]
You know, the way it keeps talking about cutting people…
« Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Tarou? »
What if it’s the slasher?
« Ha-ha-ha-ha! Nice. »
[…I can see why you would think that. This is clearly irrational activity.]
|keeping cutting|
Keeping cutting?
|get, stronger|
[…It really does seem to be connected to the slasher.]
« As a matter of fact…it always shows up on the days when I announce there’s been a new victim. »
“Always”? You’ve only said it twice.
« Then it
is
the demon blade! A big ol’ sword tapping away on a keyboard! »
[Monsters don’t use the Internet.]
« Come on, Setton! Haven’t you ever heard about cursed e-mails? »
[Um, no. Why would I have heard of that…?]
|moremoremoremoremoremoremoremoremore|
I think we should just leave the chat room until it calms down.
« Oh, don’t worry. It usually leaves pretty soon. »
|in the end, approach, cut, I, love|
|found, goal, found, love|
[Well, let’s hope so.]
|Shizuo|
|Heiwajima|
|Shizuo, Heiwajima|
|Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima|
|Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Heiwajima Heiwajima Heiwajima Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo Shizuo|
|love Shizuo cut Heiwajima I Heiwajima cut Shizuo love|
|for love for love for love for love for love for love for love|
Huh? Is this someone Shizuo knows?!
|Shizuo, Shizuo, Shizuo|
…Izaya?
« I get what you’re saying, but I don’t know, either. »
|mother|
|mother’s wish, is, same as, my wish|
|mother loves people, so do I|
|born born born to to to love love love I I I|
« Damn, is this someone Shizu knows…? »
« No… No way he would let someone this annoying live. »
Anyway, we should probably clear out for a bit.
Well, I’m logging off now.
[Oh, me too…]
—SAIKA HAS LEFT THE CHAT—
—TAROU TANAKA HAS LEFT THE CHAT—
[Huh? It just left…]
« Either way, we’re done for today. »
[Good point.]
[So long.]
« Good night! »
—SETTON HAS LEFT THE CHAT—
—KANRA HAS LEFT THE CHAT—
—THE CHAT ROOM IS CURRENTLY EMPTY—
—THE CHAT ROOM IS CURRENTLY EMPTY—
—THE CHAT ROOM IS CURRENTLY EMPTY—
.
.
.
Chapter 4: The Ikebukuro Calamity
Noon, early March, Ikebukuro
The neighborhood began to bustle when March started.
The school exams were wrapping up, putting expressions of joy and mourning on the students’ faces.
The office workers looked frazzled from the pressure of the fiscal year’s approaching end.
The young adults without jobs or school loitered around the same way they always did.
People of every kind filled the city as the chill of winter began to wear off.
But the bustling of Ikebukuro these days was not due to the season.
Everyone who