NOVEL NEXT Episode 13 - A Challenge Letter to Salome (Part 2)
Episode 13: A Challenge Letter to Salome (Part 2)
Salome was Japanese, or more specifically, belonged to a “certain organization” in Japan—
Even with her elaborate network of overseas proxy servers acting as stepping stones for data transfers and information releases, this much exposure was inevitable.
Of course, she’d carefully limited any further information or personal details from leaking to the outside world.
‘They know Salome is Japanese, so they’re using “Tokyo” to test me?’ she pondered.
A more specific location might have raised red flags, but the vague reference to “Tokyo” could just be a shot in the dark…
“No, that’s not it.”
What truly unsettled her wasn’t the mention of “Tokyo.”
It was the sentence’s tone and construction.
‘“After that, you went to Tokyo, didn’t you?”‘ she mulled over the words. ‘They’re implying they know I lived somewhere else before.’
More than that – they were suggesting some “incident” had prompted her departure from her previous city.
This was information only the real-world Aki would know.
“I can’t simply let the past lie dormant, can I?”
Miyagi Aki’s brow furrowed.
An unchecked spark could rage into an inferno. Maintaining constant vigilance was the only way to preserve her role as a bystander—her guiding principle was to remain wisely uninvolved.
“If it’s not a technical breach… does that mean someone knows me in real life?”
Aki propped her snow-white, slender legs on the desk and reclined in her chair, yoga-like. Her unfocused gaze fixed on the pale ceiling as thoughts crackled through her mind like electrical discharges.
When had the information leaked?
Where had it leaked?
To whom had it leaked?
If they truly knew Miyagi Aki’s real identity, why not approach her directly? What made them hesitate and guard themselves?
Or perhaps…
“Maybe we only crossed paths once. They might not even know my name or face…”
Such speculation felt too nebulous.
Aki decided to organize the available information more systematically, scarce though it was. The potential email sender would need to meet these criteria:
①They know Salome.
This was easily satisfied. Any Paradise Lost member knew her virtual persona.
②They know Miyagi Aki.
Also straightforward. Aki maintained normal social circles. If anything, her looks and abilities had earned her plenty of real-world acquaintances and friends, unlike a certain reclusive, gloomy landlord.
③Someone who would connect “Miyagi Aki” and “Salome”
This was the crucial factor.
By normal logic, she’d only need to find someone who met both previous conditions to identify the culprit.
…However, setting aside practicality, something else nagged at her—even if someone fulfilled both conditions, did that guarantee they were the sender? Couldn’t it be coincidence? The probability was actually quite high.
“Hmm, let’s approach this differently.”
She stopped fixating on “when, who, and where her identity was exposed.”
Trying to deduce the mystery person’s identity from email fragments was futile—she wasn’t some omniscient detective.
She needed to shift focus to herself—
When had she done something that would lead someone to connect Paradise Lost’s administrator with Miyagi Aki?
This question, when distilled further, revealed the true investigative key.
That is—
‘When had she acted as Salome in the real world?’
Aki closed her eyes.
A thought pattern honed through self-training born of curiosity. Countless fragments and clues glittered, linking together like pearls on a string.
…
…Ah yes, there was something.
The girl opened her eyes, pressing her temples as if warding off a headache.
It had happened before her move to Tokyo for university.
Back then, “Paradise Lost” was just a small anonymous forum with fewer than two hundred members.
Even Aki hadn’t foreseen its explosive growth. Like a monster lurking in the virtual depths, it had extended its tentacles everywhere, feeding on the darkness in human hearts.
But setting aside the monster-raising business. Back then, driven by personal interest, she’d done something that now seemed rather reckless by her current standards.
The “real-time discussion threads” remained a distinctive feature of today’s Paradise Lost.
In this era where “abnormal crimes” flourished like weeds, it was a gathering place for the morbidly curious to play their games.
When major cases stumped police or captured public attention, related information and documents would circulate in forum posts.
The vital ingredient, of course, was passionate discussion. The culprit’s identity, motives, weapons, victims, crime scenes, methods…
Like amateur detectives, people behind virtual masks would comment and critique society’s tragedies, offering their unique (self-proclaimed) insights. Truth was irrelevant; the goal was killing empty time.
Miyagi Aki had posted such threads herself as “Salome.”
Her role as thread creator had compelled her to seek truth more ardently than others, leading to real-world investigation—a rare bout of activism for her.
That case had been…
“…The serial killings in Nagawa City eight years ago.”
What had once captivated her younger self had concluded in utter tedium.
Even personally delivering the culprit to police hadn’t brought satisfaction—only this detail had left a lasting impression.
“Playing with some mentally unstable small fry wasn’t interesting at all.”
—So, had it started then?
…
…
Wait.
The chair swaying in the room froze, balanced on one leg supporting her weight.
Aki noticed something odd.
—Why had her attitude toward the incident changed?
*
The next day brought another email from the mystery sender.
“Do you remember the killer from eight years ago? Try to catch me!”
The tone wavered between playful and anxious, but it demanded immediate attention.
Three days after receiving this genuine challenge letter, Miyagi Aki, returning from university, discovered a brutally murdered corpse in an alley near Amazu Manor.