The Logmaster - Chapter 22

A few days have passed since Igarashi died.

As far as I could tell from the news, Igarashi’s case was cleared up as an accidental death, and there were no reports that it had been turned into a murder case.

(…Next experiment.)

Omiichi opened Saeki’s [History] again and read it carefully.

It was a matter-of-fact record of Saeki’s new daily life after Igarashi’s death.

With the oppressor Igarashi gone, it seemed as if peace would return, but the reality was not so sweet.

・Shingo Aizawa

・Kiyoharu Suzuki

The [History] recorded the escalating, insidious bullying they inflicted on Saeki now that Igarashi was gone.

He purposely drops the rationed lunch on the ground and then forces the children to eat it.

He throws trash into Saeki’s bed.

They mock him in front of other homeless people, saying things like “You’re still alive?” and try to isolate him.

One man named Aizawa was particularly vicious.

As an ex-con, he is smooth-talking and cunning, and always has a grin on his face, the type of person who slowly drives a corner in the hearts of those around him.

Suzuki was Aizawa’s lackey and went along with everything he did, joining in to make fun of Saeki.

Aizawa: “Hey Saeki, this looks like it’s a little past its expiration date, but you can still eat it, right? Here you go,” he says, throwing a piece of moldy bread at him.

Suzuki: “Geez, this old man is so slow! He’s useless!” He said, purposely pushing away Saeki, who was carrying water.

Aizawa: “If only Igarashi-san were here, trash like you would have been chased out of this village a long time ago,” he said sarcastically so that everyone around could hear.

Their words and actions, recorded in [History], flow before Omiichi’s eyes. There, the ugliness of humanity is concentrated.

(…Every single one of them…they’re all hopeless trash. No matter how low they fall, they’re still trash.)

The anger and hatred that had been building up inside Saeki must be put to good use.

Without any hesitation, Omiichi reached for the green “Add” button that appeared on his smartphone screen. He had decided what he wanted to enter was quite simple.

『Addition: Taku Saeki sets Aizawa’s futon on fire』

That’s it. Just like with Igarashi.

It does not cause direct harm, but merely creates an opportunity for an “accident.”

After that, circumstances and human malice will take care of things.

The screen displayed as usual.

An event has been added.

There was no longer any wavering of emotion in his heart.

This was just an experiment, a cold-hearted observation to see how human malice and the power of the site interacted.

The next morning.

On the screen of the smartphone next to my pillow, there was a LINE notification from the familiar red-lettered account.

“LINE: You have a new message from ⚪︎”

Omiichi already knew what this notice meant.

Without any apparent change in his expression, he slowly opened the site and checked the “results.”

First, I opened Saeki’s [History] and scrolled through the events that had happened between last night and this morning, tracing them with my fingertips.

Late at night, Saeki sneaked up to Aizawa’s tent, unseen.

In his hands was a small oil can and a lighter that he had brought from somewhere.

Following Omiichi’s [added] instructions to “set Aizawa’s futon on fire,” he poured oil on Aizawa’s futon with his own hands and set it on fire.

But that wasn’t all.

With the burning tent behind him, Saeki, with trembling hands, securely fastened the small padlock he had brought with him to the zipper on the entrance of the tent.

(…Did they even prepare a padlock?)

The only thing that was added was the trigger for the accident, which was “setting the futon on fire.”

However, Saeki took it upon himself to carry out a more cruel act, blocking the victim’s escape route, to ensure a more certain murder.

The History records the devastation that followed in a matter-of-fact but detailed manner, almost like a documentary.

Aizawa’s voice of shock and confusion echoed from inside the tent.

Soon, it turns into cries of agony caused by the heat and smoke.

There was the sound of dry claws scratching desperately from the inside of the burning fabric.

A hoarse moan for help.

Then, enveloped in smoke, he gradually loses his strength, and finally there is complete silence and Saeki’s sense of elation as he watches it from afar.

Omiichi simply scrolled through the horrific record emotionlessly.

(…I thought so.)

If a person harbors deep hatred and murderous intent, given the opportunity, they will take action to kill of their own volition and without hesitation.

Ayumaru only pushed so hard that it only gave him a light pat on the back.

The system probably treated Saeki’s actions as “his own free will.”

–That was the moment when Ayumaru had completely deceived the system’s monitoring and control.

Given the right environment and motivation, humans can

Even if we know it is wrong, we still easily move forward towards our destruction.

And the moment that line is crossed, the act of “killing” becomes a pleasure rather than a painful one.

Ayumaru’s hypothesis had now been vividly proven in the most horrifying way possible.

With a blank look on his face, Omiichi put his smartphone in his pocket and got up from the bed.

(…What should I do next?)

He muttered quietly to himself.

As if moving a chess piece to the next position, or turning the next page of an experiment notebook, it was as natural as that. Without any further hesitation, Omiichi began preparing for the next “experiment.”