A ray of sunlight passed through a gap in the closed curtain, hitting me in the eyes, a warm but uncomfortable feeling on my eyelids. I covered my face with my arm before sitting up with a frustrated groan, knocking down the cans of booze that were sprawled over and around my body. As I rubbed my eyes with laziness I scanned my living room.
Cans of booze and bottles of sake had filled most of the room to the point where walking around without stepping on one seemed impossible. I think I drank a little too much because my head hurts like hell, hangovers are certainly mankind's mortal enemy, devils don't compare to the villainous monster that punishes us for enjoying a cold beer.
"I'm thinking some really stupid things, maybe I'm still drunk..."
I sighed as I reached for my phone on the nearby table. The damn thing had the screen cracked so I probably dropped it at some point while I was drunk, it wouldn't be the first time it happened.
"6:40 am? Ugh is too early...uh?"
Not even five seconds after I unlocked my phone I received a call. The caller was saved in my contacts as Bullfrog, so that would be one of the organizers of the death cage if I remember correctly...although it could just be one of the many people I dislike, I don't remember how I saved most of my contacts. Anyway, im sure it is someone from the death cage, so I have to answer.
"What do you want?"
"Steel Fist...what's with that tone of voice, are you drunk?"
Yep, he is one of the organizers, I remember that voice. I saved him as a Bullfrog because he is pretty fat and his face reminds me of a frog. He is supposedly a lawyer and the one in charge of keeping the death cage under the radar, so I have no idea why he is calling me.
"As if you care, just tell me what you want"
"You little prick!"
"Im 27 you fool, just talk already for fucks sake"
This guy is a criminal, yet he demands that I treat him respectfully. That's why I don't like the organizers of the Death Cage.
"I heard you're leaving soon, so I wanted to offer you a farewell match, you are one of the favorites of our little club after all, so something like this would certainly be lucrative"
"and what makes you think I would agree to something like-"
"10 million Yen"
"Im in!"
Fuck, my mouth moved before my brain got time to think. Nothing is more valuable than my life and I already have plenty of money stashed safely...but 7 million is hard to refuse. I didn't go to college so getting a normal high-paying job would be hard, that's why I've been saving almost all the money from my fights in the death cage, to survive until I get some qualifications for some good job. I already have around 75 million yen...so those extra 10 could be really useful.
Anyway im just trying to find justification for myself, backing down for an agreed deal never ended well, I've seen it more than once.
"When would the match take place?"
"Can't tell, I was just tasked with asking you so I have no say in the date or preparations"
"Ah right, that's Goblin job, sorry Bullfrog, bye"
"What did you call me you little shi-!"
I hung up the phone before he could scream insults in my ear. Bullfrog is the one in charge of keeping the death cage unnoticed, the task of organizing fights relays on that damn midget. I'm not too fond of Goblin, that little rat has stabbed me in the back too many times, so I won't doubt that it will be the same this time, like coating an opponent's knife in paralyzing poison or something like that.
Apparently, winning 15 matches in a row made me a prime target for extra engagement and emotion for the patrons of the cage in Goblin's eyes. Seeing the unbeaten champion finally lose would rile up the audience and boost the earnings, or at least that's the logic I think went through his head. That resulted in me facing against more than unfair opponents after my seventh victory, from poisoned weapons to spiking my water bottle with sleep medicine. Of course, none of that stopped my record, but im sure he will try to break it now, sending me off with a loss.
"That's what's more likely...however I'm afraid they might try something new and dangerous taking advantage of the large number of patrons that will probably be there, I should bring my gun with me just in case"
It wasn't hard to acquire a gun, as a matter of fact, I did so yesterday. I bought two Glock 17s for 185 thousand yen each from an underground gun traffic shop run by a cop in the investigative unit of Tokyo. It wasn't particularly hard to learn the location of the shop, but getting there was hard since it was in the abandoned metro under the ruins of East Tokyo. That place is publicly known as hunting grounds for Devils, and also the first place where a high-ranking devil appeared in Japan, so it's pretty dangerous to venture inside it. Luckily if you know your way around the metro of Tokyo, it's not hard to sneak under the ruins through old maintenance tunnels, which is exactly what I did, fortunately without encountering any devils, although since the shop is in the outskirts of the ruins is much safer than the center.
Dealing with corrupt cops is risky, but I need this as a security net, not only against the death cage if necessary, but at all times. A gun, no matter how powerful, won't do anything against a devil, but the surge of devils also causes a rise in human murder and assault, and I do not want to get caught in a situation like that without a gun of my own. Im just a normal man, no matter how good im at fighting I can't win against a gun to my head.
"hmm?"
As I continued having that stupid internal monologue, my phone rang. It was a message from Goblin stating the date of the match: Sunday at 8 p.m.
"so 3 days from today? That's faster than I expected"
Normally this would take longer than that, I guess that maybe they're just adjusting another match to this then?
"Well whatever, I'm gonna get back to sleep"