"A- a phone?!"
I inspected every millimeter of the phone and found absolutely nothing suspicious. It was like a normal phone. I do admit that this phone is much- MUCH more advanced than what I have right now.
It is a full black phone with a simplistic snake symbol slithering the word 'RULER' on the back that camouflages with the rest of the color.
My mind is conflicted. I'm in a dilemma.
'Should I turn it on? Should I not? Should I ask Kageru-kun to check this phone? But that would be stupid. They know I'm broke.'
After minutes of wasting time thinking whether or not I should turn it on. I came to a conclusion.
'Let's check the rest of the case first. Who knows if there's an instruction to open it.' I thought.
I searched the case once more but found nothing. I opened the phone case once more and found nothing. No charging docks. No instructions. Nothing.
'Hmm… Fine. I guess there's one way to find out.' I thought and clicked the on button of the phone.
The phone lit up and there's a fingertip check.
'Fingertip? But where do I put my finger on?' The phone has little to no bezel from sides to sides even at the top. Seems like there's no front camera. I tried pressing everywhere.
Then, I pressed my fingers on the top of the frame. I feel as if there's some sort of glossy surface. I looked at what I touched and saw a black glossy glass that camouflages too well with the rest of the phone.
I pressed my thumb onto there and the black glass lit up and the phone screen changed.
< Welcome. Kenma Houtarou. >
The screen says.
I was confused. Did the phone just unlocked through my fingertip? However, the principal said that they don't have any data on my existence furthermore my fingertip. How did the- Oh… I think it's when I was knocked out cold.
I tapped the screen and the screen changed instantly into what seems like a normal homepage but with only 5 apps: AppStore, an unknown app that has a big white 'R' symbol with black snakes slithered in it, Foodist, Camera, and Mail.
'Hmm… All of these apps are defaultly added towards phones but what is this 'R' app and what is Foodist doing here? The 'R' app gotta be affiliated with The Rulers, but Foodist? Isn't foodist the app that Kageru-kun and Teko-san often used to order online? Foods, beverages, and even online shopping can be accessed there, but why is it here?' I ponder.
I ultimately went to the Foodist app first out of curiosity.
The app looks normal. I scrolled through a bunch of foods, drinks, and home essentials, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. I opened my account and it instantly says that I need to sign up to continue.
So I signed up using the Google address Kageru-kun made for me.
Then, it happened.
The ordinary white page suddenly turned black and the sign up float was slithered by many snakes and one snake looked at me beyond the screen and bit my account's profile picture.
The page suddenly reboots and goes back to the normal ordinary white page Foodist app.
Alright to be honest here. I don't know shit about phones and technologies. I don't know what's happening but I can deduce that what just happened was completely abnormal.
I look into the bottom right corner and see my profile picture indicating that I signed up already.
I clicked on it once again and the white page suddenly turned black.
< Welcome. Ruler: Kenma Houtarou.>
'How convenient! Seems like they hacked into Foodist app.'
I pressed the screen and it changed into a term and policy agreement. I pressed agree without hesitation because I read the terms and policies agreement hundreds of times now. Every app has it and I thought that it was necessary to read it. Kageru-kun and Teko-san laughed at me when I told them that. He said that it was useless. Just agree on it.
So I did just that.
The screen changed again into the normal profile page but instead of it being white. It's black.
I go to my homepage to see if anything differs. I saw that everything turned black and instead of selling the normal foods and beverages. It sells weapons, drugs, and stolen stuff.
'This… Isn't this black market?'
I scrolled down and saw many weapons.
I got a little curious and type 'Pistol' in the search section.
None appeared. I think this is black market that only Rulers can access which leads to it obeying the Ruler's Code.
'Interesting.'
I closed the app and moved on to the next app. The big 'R' app.
I clicked on it and it said once more.
< Welcome. Ruler: Kenma Houtarou.>
I clicked and the screen changed. There are names of people I don't know. I look to the left side of the screen and saw numbers. I look at the top screen and there are sections that said,
'I think this is the Ruler's leaderboard. I defeated the top 107, 108, 211, and 218. Does that mean that I get to be placed at the top 107? Since I've beaten him. And how many Rulers are there?' I scrolled down to the bottom of the screen.
'Hmm… 243 Rulers, huh? Which means that each Garan school has at least 60 Rulers. There are 10 classes for each highschool year. There are 3 highschool years; 10th, 11th, and 12th. So it's 10x3 which is 30 classes in one school, so each class has an estimate of 2 Rulers. I think that's how math works.'
'Wait… if this ranking shows our identity… I can see who's ranked 1.' I scrolled back to the top.
< Top 1 | ????????>
'Hmm? No name? Huh? What about mine?' I tapped on my profile on the bottom right of the screen.
'I'm top 107! The leaderboard shifted!'
Besides my name and ranking I saw another section that was titled 'Income.'
'Income? Like salary?' It still says zero per month. 'You can get money! But how?!' I thought and a sudden idea came to mind.
I went back to the homepage where all the leaderboards are listed and saw my own name on the top 107. Below me is that guy, Makuza. He's now top 108 after I defeated him. I clicked on his name and behold.
Makuza's account appeared.
There is his name, his current location, his ranking, and finally his income.
I widened my eyes.
I quickly get my ancient phone and google how many yen is 1 USD.
"Oh my god!" It's 136 yen per USD. If we used math then 5k USD is equal to 682.704 Yen. That's enough to buy my own apartment and Makuza gets that same amount per month. Per MONTH! Can you believe this?! No wonder the Rulers always fight. I thought 243 Rulers applied because they had a passion for fighting. But no! After seeing this how can I believe that Passion is their only motivation for joining Rulers.
It's money! That's how the Yakuza lures these children into their Rulers program! Genius tactic! Now not only that these children are trained as a fighter when high school, they will be addicted to money! That's how the Yakuza rules supreme after all of this decades.
Since these Rulers' highschool are wasted on fighting for actual money in the Rulers app. Their education will start dropping. If they go to a normal student's route, they will fail. Now they have nowhere to go, except joining the Yakuza using their Ruler's identity.
That's unthought of!
Amazing!