France, specifically Paris (6:00 PM)
A boy in school uniform was sitting in a crowded cybercafe, in front of a computer.
It was Hiroshi Girard (Money Man), the current and only son of the CEO of the luxury brand POWER.
"(sigh) I just hope they won't notify Dad about my absence. Pfff, that damn suck-up director..."
He was talking about his school principal. With a long sigh, Hiroshi leaned slightly in his chair and showed a serious expression.
Hmmm, the sooner, the better... In my previous life, I overheard one of our employees talking about the Bureau of Strange Affairs, but back then, I didn't really pay attention to it. It was only when they revealed themselves to the world that I remembered the conversation.
But the problem...
Frustrated or annoyed, he ran his hand across his face.
I've forgotten his face...
Then a small smile appeared on his lips.
"Money is really terrifying!"
---
United States, specifically New York (10:10 PM)
Daiki Anderson (HACKMASTER) was in his room.
He was sitting on a chair, and right in front of him, five computers were on a table, surrounded by high-tech cables and numerous peripherals.
The screens were still off, his glasses resting on the table, and he had a thoughtful look on his face.
During the chaos of my previous life, I took advantage of it to research and hack into the Bureau of Strange Affairs' system, just out of curiosity. But their system was much stronger than I had expected.
Back in his first life, Daiki, or rather HACKMASTER, was already very famous on the dark web as a genius in computing. From programming to hacking, there was practically no one who could match him — at least, he had never met anyone on his level.
And after 996 lives of computing experience, it could be said with confidence that he knew computing better than computing itself.
But he had struggled to break into this mysterious company's network, despite its weakening after the battle against the abominations (it took him an hour).
Daiki grabbed a pen and a piece of paper, then wrote something down.
The plan was simple:
"If a 15-year-old boy from nowhere can hack into their high-level systems, that should be enough to get noticed, right?"
"Before anything, I need to deal with Green. All he knows how to do is fight, pfff..."
He picked up his glasses, gently cleaned them, put them on, and murmured: "The internet is terrifying!"
---
Back in Osaka, Japan
A conversation between two completely different individuals was taking place in a luxury villa.
It was Miku, sitting on a sofa, sipping her tea with a perplexed look on her face. Her interlocutor was far from ordinary, as it was a black cat that could talk.
"John, this isn't a joke, is it?"
"That's correct, madam."
How could he have heard about the Bureau of Strange Affairs? And even the Academy?
"Is that all you heard?"
"Yes, madam. At first, I didn't pay attention to what he was saying, since he was just exchanging trivialities with his friends during a video call. It was only when I heard these keywords that I tried to listen more closely, but…"
"But?"
I had the feeling he was looking at me... No, as if he was letting me listen intentionally... No, that's impossible. This good-for-nothing had been useless until now. Why would that change overnight?
"The conversation was already over."
"..."
This guy... Is someone training him in secret? No, this family is full of cold and indifferent people, so it's impossible.
But how could he have heard about it? As far as I know, none of the organization's members can speak about it to anyone unless they're at least at the Quest Executor S-level.
An elderly man with white hair slowly descended the stairs leading from his room to the living room where Miku was sitting. Yes, the house was so big that it could be considered a castle.
The color that struck anyone entering the castle was white, a pure white, as if it was always winter in this house.
As he walked forward, he greeted his granddaughter Miku, because yes, the one descending was Miku's grandfather and the current head of the large Ishida family.
"You've arrived earlier than expected, my little fairy."
"John, follow my brother until we leave Japan, and report to me every day. I think our stay will be long."
"Understood, madam." John disappeared instantly.
With a nervous smile, Miku said to her grandfather:
"Isn't this an excessive way of training your fairy, grandfather?"
For some reason, the room became icy. With the color, it really looked like it was winter.
"See, there's never excess when it comes to evolving."
Damn, that old fart...
Akira was lying on his bed, staring at his messaging app for over an hour. He was waiting for a particular message.
Cling
He finally received the message on his TG app. The sender's name was HACKMASTER.
HACKMASTER: [File.PDF]
[I would have called you now, but I don't have time, I also need to get moving on my end. Our Shaman (Money Man) will help you with the method. For the rest, you'll manage, right? See you later.]
Akira clicked on the file Daiki had sent and saw a photo with a note at the bottom.
The photo showed a wild-looking man, his muscles tense as if ready to explode at any moment. His face was twisted in an expression of rage: furrowed brows, his jaw clenched so tightly that his teeth were grinding, and his lips curled back, revealing clenched teeth. His gaze, fixed and intense, seemed to burn with uncontrollable anger.
Below the photo, the note read:
"The text comes from a Japanese community dedicated to researching supernatural phenomena, recounting the story of Kenji Takahashi, a man whose family began to suspect he was possessed by a spirit. His increasingly strange and violent behavior led them to believe that a supernatural force was controlling him. Unable to approach him due to his uncontrollable rage, they stopped trying to help him themselves and sought help from this specialized community. After several failures, they decided to take him to the forest of Osaka, hoping that the mysterious place could calm the spirit that possessed him. But in the darkness of the ancient trees, the threat of the spirit remained, and no one knew if Kenji would ever be freed."
"Daiki is really impressive. I searched on my end, even though I'm in Japan, but I didn't find anything in the Osaka area, and he managed to do it from the United States."
A small smile appeared on Akira's face.
Everything is in place now.
He was right. Yesterday, when he was talking to his friends on the computer, Money Man had written to him about the presence of a Yokai behind him (John).
They called Hiroshi "Shaman" because, in addition to being an international businessman, his father was also a specialist in all things related to spiritualism. It was a hobby for him, at least that's what he told them in a past life.
Naturally, his son had become interested in it too, and with his genetic predisposition, he could already perceive the presence of malevolent spirits.
With hundreds of thousands of years of experience on top of that, Hiroshi could sense the Yokai watching him.
He had subtly suggested to his friend to mention keywords like Bureau of Strange Affairs.
And when Akira did, the Yokai had a small reaction, at least from Hiroshi's perspective, who didn't fail to mention it briefly to his friends.
At this rate, we'll get into that damn academy in a week.