The cheap hotel's wallpaper remained peeling even in the morning light. On the outskirts of Shione Ward, 1400 yen per night. The rusted springs creaked with every movement. Morning light filtered through the curtains beyond the window, and in the distance, a motorcycle engine passed by. Ren sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the smartphone screen. The "sent" marker on the message he'd sent last night remained unchanged. There was still no reply from Yao. (Hope it got through.) There was so much to think about. Cross-referencing the old Void Sign code with the system architect from eight years ago, the possibility of a connection to Eldora, the next live performance for 765 Pro—all of it tangled together in his head, and he couldn't find an answer. No ID card. No access to the office system. His only weapon was the data stored in this terminal. Ren took a deep breath. That's when the door was knocked on three times. Strong, evenly spaced knocks. Not a normal knock. The way a trained person would strike, he thought somewhere in his mind. "Who is it?" A low voice came from beyond the door. "[cold] Kurosaki Rintarou. Security for 765 Pro. Open up." Ren didn't move immediately. Jet-black short hair, a scar on the left cheek—the person whose name he'd only heard from President Takagi. But why was he here? How did he know about this inn? Without letting his guard show on his face, Ren stood and opened the door. Standing in the hallway was a large man, easily 185 centimeters tall. Black short hair, shaved at the back of the head. Deep indigo eyes looking straight at Ren. A thin scar on the left cheek. It told him: "This man has walked through real battlefields." "I've looked into you." That was his opening line. "[serious] Your analysis is correct. The old Void Sign code and SAF's system from eight years ago—there's a connection. I reached the same conclusion." "...Was it the president's request?" "Yeah. I've been moving for three months, chasing the noise. I started investigating in parallel from the day you came to the office." Ren met Rintarou's gaze. Not anger, not suspicion. Just eyes observing the situation. "Why do you trust me?" "[serious] I don't trust you. I've just judged that your analysis is accurate. There's no room to move on emotion." There was a brief pause. "[cold] Don't move alone. You'll die." The words were short, but there was something beneath them. Ren read it. The voice of someone trying to protect their comrades. Ren stepped back slightly. "Come in." --- When the two of them entered the six-mat room, it was definitely cramped. Rintarou sat on the edge of the bed, and Ren stood against the wall. "I have a network of former SAF employees." Rintarou pulled out a terminal. The screen displayed document fragments and a list of names. "[serious] Eight years ago—when the Performance Preservation Act was enacted, SAF simultaneously reorganized its internal security system. There were seven technicians involved in that design. This is their list." Ren took the screen and cross-referenced it with his own data. Seven names. Design responsibility areas. Records of code habits and techniques. He matched them one by one with the Void Sign patterns he'd accumulated. Five didn't match. The sixth didn't either. The seventh. Ren's finger stopped. Error handling methods. Key arrangement patterns. Encryption habits. —They matched. "This person." Ren pointed at the screen with his finger. Next to the name, current affiliation was listed. Eldora Entertainment. Technical Advisor. Rintarou's expression didn't change. But his eyes narrowed slightly. "The industry's largest company and the noise." The words felt heavy on his tongue. Eldora Entertainment—over 200 affiliated idols, annual revenue of 28 billion yen. A 40-story company building in Kagari Ward at the center of Lumie City. The apex of this industry. The possibility that their technical advisor was connected to the noise. "[cold] Don't release this outside yet. It won't be evidence. Just a name match and correlation points—nothing can move on that." Rintarou spoke quietly. His voice was suppressing emotion. "I know." Evidence was needed. Physical evidence. Ren stood there, already thinking through his next moves in his head. --- The meeting with Yao took place in a back alley of Komachi Shopping Street. Rintarou chose a place where three people could gather while avoiding eyes. In the shadow of the loading entrance to the record shop "Disk Palette." Under a cloudy sky that looked like rain, Yao was already waiting. Silver short bob hair swayed in the wind. Headphones around her neck, a star-shaped tattoo on her left temple. Golden eyes confirmed the two of them and gave a small nod. "[serious] I got the latest noise activity logs. They include movements from last night through this morning." Yao opened her terminal. Rintarou and Ren leaned in from both sides. Activity logs and the old Void Sign code Ren had analyzed. She overlaid the two. Yao's hands moved. She narrowed down the data. When she applied the noise's attack patterns to the frequency characteristics of the old code, the conditions most likely to be targeted next came into view. All three were silent for a while. Eventually, Yao's finger stopped. "[serious] Starlight Stage." Ren looked at the screen. A small-scale live venue in Shione Ward. The revival live that 765 Pro had scraped together funds to plan. "This is the next target. This timing, this venue's network configuration—everything matches." His stomach went cold. Starlight Stage. The performance that office had staked their last hope on. If this was destroyed, 765 Pro wouldn't have the margin to recover. "The noise is planning to finish them off here." "[cold] Probably." Rintarou crossed his arms. "Listen to me." Ren looked at both of them. "The moment the jamming signal comes, we turn it around. Reverse-trace the source and secure physical evidence. I'll handle audio control. Yao handles cyber defense and reverse-tracing. Rintarou, you rush to the source and secure the scene." "[serious] Technically possible. But if we fail, the evidence disappears. It's one shot." Yao spoke calmly. As a result of calculation, not emotion. "I know." "[cold] I can move. If you can pinpoint the source location, I'll secure it within five minutes." Rintarou spoke quietly. The speed of judgment cultivated as a former soldier was condensed into those words. Ren looked at his own palm. (I'm dragging these two into danger because of me.) He was aware of that. It wouldn't go away. But there was no one else who could execute this operation besides the three of them. He knew that too. "Let's do it." He said it shortly. "[serious] We do it." "Yeah." Under the cloudy sky, the three of them worked through the details of the operation. --- Night fell. When foot traffic on Komachi Street thinned, Ren stood a short distance from the 765 Pro building. A no-entry order had been issued. He couldn't approach the building. But he could wait nearby. He remembered the route Haruka always took when she left after lessons. The wind had grown slightly cold. Street lamps illuminated the stone pavement. The sound of a ventilation fan came from somewhere. Footsteps came about ten minutes later. Still in her lesson clothes, Haruka walked alone. Her bright crimson hair was lit by the street lamp. Ren held his breath. When Haruka got close enough to notice him, she stopped. Orange eyes looked at Ren under the street lamp. Those eyes—were red and swollen. She'd been crying. For hours. Maybe not just today. "...Ren?" Her voice was slightly hoarse. Ren searched for words. They wouldn't come. He didn't know what to say. But staying silent was wrong. Tonight, he had to say it properly. "It's my fault everyone got hurt." He said just that first. "I'm really sorry." Haruka bit her lip. She was silent. "But—" Ren's voice changed slightly. "I want to protect your stage. Just one more time, believe in me." After he finished, there was silence. Haruka was looking at him. Ren was looking at Haruka. This was the first moment since coming to this world that he'd given his feelings to someone in words—Ren felt that vaguely. Protect. That was the most honest feeling inside him right now. Tears spilled from Haruka's eyes. They fell without stopping. Haruka opened her trembling lips slightly, and then gave a small nod. A dimple appeared. Even crying, it showed. Ren couldn't say anything. He couldn't tell if what was in his chest was pain or warmth. He still didn't know what it was. But it was definitely there. "[sad] ...You better protect it." Haruka said just that. "Yeah." Ren answered shortly. --- After parting with Haruka, Ren walked through the night in Shione Ward. Street lamps lined up at regular intervals. Convenience store lights glowed white. The smell of cooking drifted from somewhere. In his head, he organized the procedure. How to connect to the audio control system. Frequency filter design. Predicting when the jamming signal would arrive—based on past noise attack logs, probably around twenty minutes after the live started. Communication timing with Yao, how to signal Rintarou. It was all calculated. But if the noise side had sensed their movements beforehand, everything would collapse. That possibility couldn't be ruled out. And the connection to Eldora Entertainment still hadn't been proven. Just a name match and correlation points—nothing could move on that. The mystery of the ID card remained untouched. Too many unanswered questions. But Ren's feet didn't stop. Tomorrow, the operation would move at Starlight Stage. If they could reverse-trace the jamming signal, they'd finally have physical evidence. The first move to corner the noise. Night wind brushed his cheek. Ren looked up at the sky. It was cloudy, and the stars weren't visible. But they were there somewhere. The problem wasn't whether the operation would work. It had to work.