The Logmaster - Chapter 10

From then on, Omiichi repeatedly tested the “additional” function on the homeless Sato. At first, it was modest, just like the test on Tanaka.

“Sato finds some coins (50 yen) in a trash can in the park.” → Success.

“Sato receives food (bread) from a passerby” → Success.

“The cardboard box that Sato uses as his sleeping spot breaks.” → Success.

With each successful test, Shinichi’s confidence in the site’s capabilities grew stronger, but at the same time, his feelings for Satou as a person grew weaker. To Shinichi, he was no longer the same person, but merely a convenient “experimental subject.”

Omiichi tried to induce Sato’s death using more subtle expressions. For example, he would make Sato fall ill at a busy intersection and get into an accident, or sleep in dangerous ruins and get caught in a collapse… However, as if the system had seen through his malicious intentions, every post was rejected with the message “Error: The post may contain inappropriate intent.”

(Dammit! Is this system reading my thoughts?! Even if direct death isn’t possible, I thought indirect death would be possible!)

Omiichi felt humiliated and frustrated, as if he were being toyed with by an AI. No matter how many times he tried, any posts that could lead to “death” were cleverly blocked. His frustration grew.

One day, early in the morning, before going to work, Shinichi passed by the park as usual. On the bench, he found homeless Sato sitting, looking lost.

To kill time and feeling almost addicted to the experiment, Omiichi took out his smartphone and opened a website.

I wanted to add some small actions to Sato, who was right in front of me, as if I were controlling a radio-controlled car.

(Now, what should I have him do today? Oh, I see there are a lot of empty cans lying around next to that vending machine. Sato, you should do something to help the world.)

I casually wrote it in Sato’s [Additional] section.

At around 7:05 a.m., I picked up an empty can (aluminum can) that was lying at my feet next to a vending machine near the park exit.

Then I tapped [Save]. The message “Added” was displayed. No error message was displayed.

(Okay, get to work, Sato Robo No. 1!)

From a short distance away, Omiichi alternated his gaze between the smartphone screen and Sato’s movements.

It’s like waiting for the code you’ve written to be executed.

7:05 a.m. Sato slowly got up from the bench and started walking towards the exit of the park. Then, next to the vending machine, he noticed something (probably an aluminum can) at his feet and, with a natural movement, slowly bent down.

(Wow! Sato, who has no redeeming features, is helping the world!)

Omiichi laughed in his mind, mocking him.

That was the moment.

From behind, accompanied by a deep roar, a large garbage truck slowly backed up. Sato was crouched down and concentrating on his feet, not noticing anything behind him. The driver of the garbage truck probably never expected that someone would be crouching in the blind spot of the utility pole.

“dangerous!!”

His voice was lung-shattering, but it was drowned out by the noise.

The next moment, the back of the garbage truck crushed Sato’s bent body into a nearby utility pole with a dull thud. A heavy crash, like flesh and bone shattering, reverberated throughout the place.

“…!!”

A sudden and horrific death that happened right before my eyes.

For a moment, Omiichi gasped, and his body stiffened. He was shocked.

He had just seen someone die right before his eyes. But strangely, he felt almost no panic or guil,t like he had felt with Tomaru before. Instead, his heart was pounding with a different kind of emotion.

(Died…? Did the action I added cause him to…really…die…?)

(The system refused to allow direct death. But if I did this… if I did this, would it be treated as an “accident”…?!)

He was finally able to bring about the outcome that had been rejected so many times – death.

Rather than feeling fear, Omiichi felt a twisted sense of accomplishment and dark excitement at this fact, as if he had caught a glimpse into the depths of Saito’s power.

Pity him? No, more importantly, this “possibility” was far more important to him right now.

Before the people around him could make a commotion, Omiichi quickly left the place.

Open the site a little further away, search for Sato’s name, and tap the History button.

It’s not a “dead link” like with Tomaru.

It recorded his actions and the moment of his death in plain terms.

“At 7:05 a.m., he bent down to pick up an empty can next to a vending machine near the park exit. He did not notice a garbage truck backing up from behind, and was pinned between the truck and a utility pole, dying instantly from chest compression.”

—Unplanned 11P—

(…It’s been recorded…! It’s not a dead link…! Does this mean the system has treated it as an “unforeseen accident”…?)

(What is this Unplanned 11P? It wasn’t written like this when Tomaru-san was in the story, right???)

Omiichi’s brain begins to work at full speed. His enthusiasm for new experiments wells up inside him.

At that moment, the smartphone in my pocket vibrated.

It was a LINE notification. The sender was that red “⚪︎”

The message was short, and it made Omiichi’s heart beat faster again.

“11 chain fragments obtained.”

Omiichi stood there clutching his smartphone, a complex expression of excitement and fear on his face. The death that had happened before his eyes was not a tragedy to him, but rather the discovery of a new mystery, and the “key” to obtaining even more power.