Deep in the abandoned cabin at Beika Park, Ren Kuroda stared at Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki, both bound and struggling.
He rubbed his eyes in disbelief, looking again.
No mistake—there they were.
Ran and Sonoko.
What on earth was going on?
Ren felt utterly disoriented. He had gone to sleep and now… the world had changed? And Ran and Sonoko were tied up?
As he tried to make sense of it, a sudden dizziness washed over him. Memories flooded in, one after another, gradually piecing together what had happened.
He remembered "himself" as a student at Teitan High. After losing his parents in a car accident, he'd been devastated and sought comfort in pachinko machines.
Of course, he had lost everything.
Then, borrowing from loan sharks, he'd gambled even his last possessions away and fallen into a mountain of debt.
Pushed and manipulated by those loan sharks, he had ultimately gone down a criminal path—kidnapping Sonoko Suzuki.
"Ugh… what a terrible start," Ren sighed.
Kidnapping Sonoko Suzuki?
It was the kind of reckless move only someone who knew nothing could make.
Did he really think the Suzuki Corporation's success came from purely lawful business? Companies this big were built on both legal and shady dealings alike.
Especially in Japan, where the underworld had a way of integrating with legitimate business.
Any company without cunning and strategy would have been crushed long ago.
"But… Sonoko Suzuki is the daughter of a massive conglomerate. She should have bodyguards around her. How did I actually manage to kidnap her?" Ren wondered aloud.
Then his memory supplied the answer.
The method had been ridiculously simple.
He—well, "he"—had written a love letter to Sonoko Suzuki, and she had come along unsuspectingly.
Ran had tagged along, curious, and had been caught up in it too.
"…Wow," Ren muttered. He didn't know whether to laugh or groan.
Truly, the power of a "love brain" was something else—it made people so easy to manipulate.
Forget all that now. The important thing was to get them released. Apologize, hope for mercy, and pray they'd forgive his—well, his—mistake.
Just as he was about to act, a voice rang in his ears.
[Ding! System initializing…]
[Bandit System successfully activated.]
[Host successfully linked!]
[Congratulations! You have received your beginner's rewards.]
[You have obtained the Azu Mask, an AK47, a Glock pistol, and twenty universal magazines.]
[Current mission: Accumulate 100 million yen in stolen funds.]
"…Seriously?" Ren stared at the screen, speechless.
Here he was—a young man, law-abiding citizen—and now he had this system?
It seemed designed to push him further down the path of crime!
No way. Not happening.
As a transmigrator, he could simply borrow Shinichi Kudo's deductive genius and rise to fame as a detective. Why become a bandit?
That would only narrow his future options.
Thinking that, Ren ignored the system entirely and turned back to the two girls, untying the cloths over their mouths.
"W-what… what are you planning to do?" Sonoko asked, her face pale with fear. "I—I beg you, just let us go!"
"Just let us go, and we can pretend this never happened!" Ran's voice trembled slightly, though she remained more composed than her friend.
Ren's lips curled into a smile. "Hmm? Really? If I let you go now, you'd honestly pretend none of this ever happened?"
"???" The two girls blinked in confusion, unsure if they had heard him correctly.
"Then it's settled. I'm letting you go, and you'll act like this never happened." Ren didn't give them a chance to change their minds and used a small knife to cut through the ropes binding them.
"All done! You're free to go." He stepped back a few paces, tossing the knife aside, signaling that he posed no further threat.
The sudden turn of events left Ran and Sonoko completely stunned. Even though they were free, it took a moment for reality to catch up.
They exchanged glances, reading confusion and disbelief in each other's eyes.
Wait… he's actually letting us go?
Still unsure, they stood up and brushed dirt and stray grass from their skirts.
"S-So… we can leave now?" Ran asked tentatively.
"Yes, you may go," Ren replied, pointing them toward the path. "The exit's this way—just follow this trail, and you'll be out."
"Th…thank you." Ran nodded politely and quickly guided Sonoko toward the exit. Though she didn't understand why he had changed his mind, escaping first seemed wise.
"Wait a moment!" Sonoko suddenly stopped. She didn't want to leave just yet.
After being kidnapped and then released, she had to know why.
"Why did you suddenly decide to let us go?" Sonoko asked, curiosity sparking in her eyes.
"Ran! Don't worry about that now!" Ran urged anxiously, worried that if Sonoko lingered too long, Ren might change his mind.
"Ran, it's fine. If he didn't want us to leave, we wouldn't be able to," Sonoko replied calmly, her curiosity outweighing her fear as she studied the masked kidnapper, hoping for an explanation.
Seeing that Sonoko wouldn't budge, Ran gave up trying to hurry her friend, standing defensively in front of her.
"Because I had a change of heart! I was foolish, and I did something wrong," Ren said, taking full responsibility.
He hoped their sympathy might minimize the consequences of his actions.
So, he began explaining his troubles… though it wasn't even really "playing the victim," since it was his actual backstory.
"My parents died in a car accident some time ago, and I fell into pachinko addiction. I ended up owing an enormous debt."
"The loan sharks pushed me toward committing illegal acts."
"For some reason, I listened to them… and ended up kidnapping you."
"Sigh… thinking back, I really was foolish."
"I hope you can forgive my immature actions."
Hearing this, the two girls' expressions softened, a hint of sympathy appearing.
Ran relaxed her guard, speaking in a gentler tone. "I see… But the important thing is that you recognized your mistake and didn't continue down the wrong path. You corrected it in time, which is really admirable."
"Yeah, we forgive you!" Sonoko finally felt reassured.
She hesitated for a moment. "Could you… take off your mask? I want to see what you look like. Otherwise, it feels like all this was for nothing."
"Sonoko!" Ran panicked.
If he refused to show his face, how would they know he could be trusted?
"Sure!" Ren agreed promptly, even before Sonoko could finish speaking.
Even without removing the mask, someone like Shinichi Kudo could have deduced he was a student at Teitan High just from the love letter. Plus, he had already revealed enough about himself—removing the mask would make no difference.
With that in mind, he pulled off the mask to show his face, signaling his sincerity.
When Sonoko saw the masked kidnapper was actually a strikingly handsome young man, her eyes lit up, and a small smile tugged at her lips. She muttered under her breath, "Well… since you kidnapped me, you'd better take responsibility for me!"