"Hey, brother, you on your way?" A hologram of a man in an unusual mask flickered above the bracelet. "I think they’ve already given you a brief overview of the situation, but it’s actually not that simple. Anyway, I’ll tell you all about the fun times ahead when we meet, but for now..."

"B-boss, save us! They’re gonna kill us!" yelled the man with the broken nose.

"...What?" came through the bracelet.

"...Boss?" blurted out Mr. Nobody, stunned.

There was a moment of silence.

"Hmm... Looks like there’s been some kind of misunderstanding? Bro, explain the situation."

"Those three bastards in suits pointed guns at me and kidnapped the cat."

"Huh? Alright, I see... They did what?!"

"W-we didn’t see any cat!" the man screamed in despair, pressing his hand to his bloody nose. "Some scumbag from the building ratted us out, and he believed him and refused to go! We told him we had to insist, so we pulled out our guns!"

"Oh my God..." Noir began wearily. "I told you I told you to give him first-class treatment — driver, security... Not to point a gun at him! Why the hell would you even take his cat?!"

"W-we didn’t touch any cat...!" He burst into tears. "We waited for him here all night, and he just refused to go. W-we were just on edge... Please save us, boss, there are dozens of dogs out here ready to shoot us!"

"Oh..." Noir turned to Mr. Nobody again. "Look, brother, let me explain the situation from my side, and you tell your dogs not to shoot these idiots just yet."

"...You’ve got one minute."

...

A minute later, Mr. Nobody pieced together what had happened and why things had come to this.

Noir wanted to propose a joint contract, and to explain the details, he sent his people.

But since Noir works for people in suits... People in suits were sent after Mr. Nobody, too.

The causes of the Disappearance Phenomenon were unknown, and because of this, almost no one ever did anything even remotely "risky." This list included disobedience and threats against the men in suits—the wolves.

They were confident in their power and immunity over ordinary people. This was evident in their approach... And it led to a situation like this.

Dozens of hungry hounds from Mr. Nobody’s house couldn’t wait to shoot these upstarts. Even though, in theory, they could pay for it with their lives.

"So you’re saying this contract is aimed specifically at people like me?"

"Yep, spot on. When you find out all the details, you’ll... lose your mind."

"And for that, these guys are taking me to the Neocorp tower... Alright, I’ll clean up and head out."

"You’d better hurry. I’ve got someone close to you hostage, so... Yeah, hurry up."

"...You’ve got the craziest sense of humor I’ve ever seen. Alright, see you later."

"But why didn’t you believe me?!"

"I don’t have anyone close to me."

Leaving that answer hanging, he ended the call and looked at the three people in suits. They were sitting on the ground, hands flat on the ground. Dozens of red dots danced around their bodies.

"W-what’s going to happen to us...?" Alex stammered.

Mr. Nobody sighed wearily, then spoke into the megaphone.

"EVERYONE! ALL GOOD! THEY’RE HERE ON BUSINESS!"

*Click*

"Oh, really now..."

*Click*

"Well, why did you give us hope, man! Why?!"

*Click*

"You’re lucky, punks."

*Click*

*Click*

*Click*

*Click*

*Click*

*Click*

"APPRECIATE IT! AND PLEASE DON’T FORGET — USING IS BANNED FROM THE 10TH TO THE 13TH FLOOR! THANK YOU EVERYONE!"

The dark figures with weapons disappeared from the windows, and the area fell silent once more.

Mr. Nobody sighed wearily and kicked their guns back to them.

"You’re lucky, puppies. Consider it a birthday present."

With those words, he finally returned home.

Just as he’d said, he went home and took a shower.

Opening the secret compartment behind the bathroom mirror, he took out his only spare mask. It was the previous, less effective version of the mask, which had some drawbacks. If this one broke too, he’d have to spend a fortune on a new one.

Along with the mask, he grabbed a couple of pills.

"Maybe my headache will ease up a little... What about my fever, Paymax?"

"While you were sleeping, after taking the Neotab, it rose to 41 degrees. Now the bone in your left arm has fully healed, and your temperature has stabilized at 38."

"I remember when I took it for the first time, the highest it went was 39.5, and after ten hours of sleep, it dropped completely... Looks like it’s really time to cut this stuff out."

Walking into the main room, he unfolded the sofa and picked up a revolver.

After a moment’s thought, he grabbed another pistol with a silencer, a throwing knife, and a holographic trap.

"Well... just in case." After a pause, he also picked up that same puzzle he still hadn’t made any progress on.

After all, he really was heading to the Neocorp tower.

And even though he wasn’t planning anything out of the ordinary... anything could happen in places like that.

"..." He placed the new headphones and megaphone on the shelf, then ran his fingers over the gray cat figurine.

The shelf slid aside, revealing his actual wardrobe.

He didn’t have a spare jacket, so he put on a plain white shirt with a tie.

Over that, he chose a black coat with plenty of hidden pockets. His entire arsenal fit inside.

Grabbing his old music player with headphones and a pack of cigarettes, he stopped at the door.

In his hands remained the small children’s cape, which he had intended to give to the cat...

But she really was nowhere to be found.

"Could’ve at least left a note... Or, in your case, at least scratched the couch," he said with a touch of melancholy in his voice.

He couldn’t bring himself to either throw away the cat’s raincoat or leave it at home.

...

"W-what kind of place is this? W-why do such... devils live here?" Alex said fearfully from the front seat of the car.

"You said it yourself, sweet boy," replied Mr. Nobody. He was sitting in the back, next to the silent girl. "We’re the scum. In Concord... especially in Concord, just like in any other society, there’s a system. And when there’s a system like that, there will be those whom it casts aside. Those who live here are precisely among them... Among those lucky enough to have survived."

"Are you one of them, too? T-this is a damn dump. A real dirty pit... How can you live here?"

"How? Just get along with the neighbors," he replied, looking out the window. "Besides, life in the dirty pit with the rejects seems much more pleasant to me than life at the top of a tower with people like you. Especially when you know what those towers are usually built on."

". . ." Alex didn’t know what to say.

"Alright, let’s go."

Following his words, the man with the broken nose stepped on the gas...

*Thud...* Something landed on the roof with a metallic clang.

"What the..." The driver stopped, peering at the object on the windshield. It seemed to be... a still-burning cigarette butt.

Soon it was quickly washed away by the windshield wipers.

The driver was about to step on the gas again, but then something unexpected happened.

And although they had been working with her for a long time, only now did they get to hear their colleague’s voice.

"A monster..." the girl whispered fearfully, looking out the window. After all, a head was hanging down from the roof... staring right at her.

Mr. Nobody turned toward her voice and noticed it too. A warm smile spread across his face.

"Hey there, kitty..."