The Logmaster - Chapter 8

Time is cruelly equal and merciless

–Several months have passed since the shocking day when Tomaru Shizuka threw herself from a 15th-floor window.

The heavy atmosphere and confusion that initially enveloped the company have, before you know it, blended into the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and the gears within the company are starting to turn as if nothing had happened in the first place.

Of course, her death has not been completely forgotten.

Tomaru’s name was still whispered from time to time in the kitchen or a corner of the toilet.

Immediately after the incident, there were many voices paying tribute to her.

But over time, the contents began to deteriorate into something ugly.

“Hey, did you hear? Tomaru-san, it seems he’s had some serious money problems.”

“Oh really? So that’s why you were working so hard…”

“Not only that… because she was a single parent, there were rumors that she was secretly working part-time at a night club or that she was a sugar baby…”

“No way… that serious-looking girl?! I can’t believe it…”

“Plus, it seems she was actually having an affair with Section Chief Iiyama. Iiyama’s downfall was caused by Tomaru reporting her superiors, and the whole mess led to her committing suicide…”

A mass of baseless, malicious speculation and rumors.

Every time this happened, Omiichi felt a sickening feeling in his stomach, and at the same time, he even felt an indescribable anger towards female creatures.

(Women are so ugly…)

No matter how much he loved someone while they were alive, this is how he was treated after death.

Meanwhile, Ayumaru Shinichi, who had logged out of the site after the Tomaru incident and sworn to never get involved with it again, had surprisingly quickly reverted to being a “mere burden.”

Having let go of the powerful weapon known as [History], he had reverted to an existence that merely spent each day in hiding, wary of the reactions of those around him and silently complying with unreasonable demands.

(This is fine… This is the real me… That power was too much for me…)

That’s what I tell myself.

But deep inside, the desire to log into that site again kept bubbling up like magma, and the more I tried to suppress it, the more I couldn’t stop it.

The perverse pleasure of peeking into someone else’s secrets.

A sense of omnipotence, using information to control his surroundings.

Once I tasted the honey, it was too sweet.

(Screenshots from my phone… If I delete them, I won’t be able to log in…)

I must have made that firm decision immediately after logging out.

But in the end, Omiichi was unable to delete the screenshot of the password from his smartphone’s album.

(…I might need it again someday…)

I couldn’t resist the devil’s whispers.

As he was on the train just before the last train, Omiichi gasped at the sight of his reflection in the window.

A tired, dirty-looking man in a suit, with deep creases between his eyebrows, glassy eyes, and sagging cheeks.

He was a completely different person from the confident person he’d been a few months ago, who’d briefly regained the confidence thanks to the site’s power.

I’ve just returned to my normal life, yet I feel this indescribable sense of defeat and emptiness.

(…I can’t take it anymore…!)

Screaming in his mind to no one in particular, Omiichi took out his smartphone with hands trembling like an addict. He glared at the screenshot of the password displayed on the screen.

Then, shaking off his hesitation, he opened his browser and tapped on the URL he had bookmarked.

——White login screen

The name field is automatically filled in with “Ayumaru Omiichi,” just like before.

The problem is the password.

While alternating between the screenshot image and the login screen, the user carefully enters a complex 12-digit string of alphanumeric characters and symbols, character by character.

Fg7h$Kp0!zX2

I typed out the last character and then, with a prayerful feeling, tapped [Send].

“Your password is incorrect. You have two more attempts to log in.”

“……!?”

The message that appeared on the screen made Omiichi gasp.

(Did I make a typo somewhere?)

A cold sweat runs down my back.

——2 times left.

If you fail, you may not be able to log in again.

Suppressing my impatience, I checked the screenshot again against the text I had typed.

…there were.

He made a mistake when typing the number “0” and the letter “O.”

(That was close…)

I breathed a sigh of relief, corrected the problem, and tried logging in again.

This time, the words “Login successful” appeared on the screen.

The familiar “Human,” “Guest,” and “Help” menus.

With an uncontrollable impulse like a dam had burst, Omiichi selected “Human” and called up a list with the names of his colleagues and superiors.

From there on, it was time to satisfy the craving.

I read through people’s histories one by one, trying to fill in the gaps of several months.

Tanaka has made another serious mistake in a new project and is being reprimanded.

Suzuki is secretly depressed after suffering a huge loss in his side job of foreign exchange trading.

After receiving unfavorable results from a health check, Director Yamada secretly decided to quit smoking.

Takahashi Yumi’s relationship with her new boyfriend is progressing smoothly…

As he peered into the ups and downs of other people’s lives, a strange moisture and vitality were strangely restored to his desolate heart.

And naturally, he once again began to put the information he had gained from History to use in real life.

More ingenious and bold than ever before.

It was amazing how his reputation with those around him began to rise again.

“Ayumaru-san is reliable after all.”

“It seems like he was in a slump for a while, but he seems to have made a complete comeback.”

“I’ve been feeling good lately, so I feel safe knowing that person is there.”

Such voices began to echo around the company again.

Fortunately, Suzuki, who had succeeded Iiyama as section chief, was a typical non-confrontationalist, unassertive, and disliked causing trouble.

Unlike Iiyama, he never resorts to unreasonable power harassment, and he doesn’t say anything even when Omiichi does well.

I secretly count on him to try harder.

The atmosphere in the company was much calmer than before, and it was a comfortable working environment for Omiichi.

A renewed sense of superiority and an improved work environment.

There was a sense of ease in Omiichi’s mind like he had never felt before.

And that freedom propels him to the next stage.

(…I should have looked more closely into that “extra” feature…)

The tragedy of Tomaru’s death left a deep wound in his heart.

But once it’s past your throat, you forget how hot it is.

–As I returned to a comfortable daily life, the fear and guilt I felt at that time began to sink deep into my heart.

The mystery of the “chain” has yet to be solved.

That’s why it’s important to determine the rules for using it safely… Omiichi was beginning to think so.

This was purely for self-defense, I told myself.