Telephone Man Junior ~The Man Searching for a Public Phone~ - Green Telephone Card and a Suspicious-Looking Man

"...Hahh." The sigh was swallowed up by the smell of damp tatami. Kagurazaka Denwa, twenty-four years old. Unemployed. One of those so-called NEETs. His black hair stuck out at odd angles from bedhead, and dark circles from too many late nights clung beneath his brown eyes. He'd wrapped his skinny frame in a wrinkled tracksuit, and today, like every day, he sat hunched over on the floor. "Denwa, what do you want for lunch?" His aunt's voice came from beyond the sliding paper door. "...Don't want anything." "Really? Well, tell me if you get hungry." His aunt's footsteps faded. Denwa sighed again and looked at the mountain of cardboard boxes piled up in front of him. This was his aunt's house in Kagurazaka—an old wooden Japanese home facing a cobblestone alley. The storehouse was packed to the brim with Showa-era relics. For the past few days, he'd been roped into helping sort through it. "Why do I have to..." Of course, as a freeloader, he had no right to complain. Denwa pulled a bundle of yellowed photographs from a box. They were all strangers. Everyone smiling. People in old-fashioned Showa clothing. (Is Dad in here somewhere?) Denwa's father was gone. He'd left the house before Denwa could remember, and Denwa had been told he died a few years back. He barely remembered the man's face or voice. He tossed the photos aside and opened the next box. Inside were faded magazines, old toys, and then— "...Hm?" Something glinted at the bottom of the box. He reached in and grabbed it. It was a telephone card. Deep green. On the surface, an illustration of an old telephone and a gold pattern. The back was covered in tiny, densely packed text. "A telephone card...?" Nobody used these things anymore. With a smartphone, you could do anything. But Denwa recognized this card. (This was Dad's...right?) The moment the thought crossed his mind, something in his chest gave a hard throb. His father's keepsake. The card of the legendary hero, Telephone Man. "...With this, I could be popular, couldn't I?" That was what came out of his mouth. With a hero's power, girls would fawn over him. He'd save a beautiful woman in trouble, earn her gratitude, and then— (No, but there's no way I could actually become a hero...) He shook his head. He felt like he was looking at his pathetic self in a mirror. His father was the Green Telephone Man. A legendary hero who'd claimed the Kanto region as his territory and enjoyed immense popularity during the Showa bubble era. ...Or so his aunt had told him. All of it. "Denwa, that's your father's card, isn't it?" At some point, his aunt had appeared behind him. "Father?" "Yes, your dad. The Green Telephone Man." His aunt narrowed her eyes nostalgically. "Your father was strong, you know. Back then, there were villains all over the city. You'd put a card into a public phone, shout a technique name, and transform. Telephone Punch! Like that." "...I see." "Here, want to watch this?" His aunt held out an old video tape. --- They hooked up the video deck to the old TV in the living room. When his aunt put in the tape, static ran across the screen, and then the footage appeared. "—Hah!" On screen, a man in a green suit was shouting. A hero, wearing a mask, his whole body wrapped in green armor. "Telephone Dial Kick!" The man leaped high, spinning as he drove a kick into a villain. The villain went flying, and the crowd erupted in cheers. "Holy crap..." The words slipped out before he could stop them. "That's your father." His aunt's voice trembled, just slightly. "Before cell phones became widespread, public phones were everywhere around the city. Your father and the others would transform there and take down villains. But then smartphones spread to everyone, and public phones kept getting removed...and before anyone knew it, heroes became just 'old TV shows.'" "...Urban legends, you mean." "That's right. Kids these days don't know Telephone Man. Only the older generation and a handful of important people do." Denwa stared at the green card in his hand. "Can this card still be used?" "If there's still a balance left, you should be able to transform. That is, if you can find a public phone." --- That night, Denwa lay under his futon, staring at the ceiling. (Telephone Man, huh.) His father had been that green hero. (If I could transform too...) What floated into his head was, of course, ulterior motives. Save a beautiful woman, get thanked, exchange contact info— (No, but where would I even find a public phone?) He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a phone booth in the city. (...Guess I'll go look.) Denwa slid the card into the wristband on his left wrist. --- The next day. Denwa walked through the streets of Kagurazaka, still in his wrinkled tracksuit. Cobblestone alleys. Old Japanese sweets shops. Shop curtains swaying in the wind. Kagurazaka was one of the places in Tokyo where traces of the Showa era still lingered. "Public phone, public phone..." Muttering to himself, he looked around. (Huh? I could've sworn there was one over there.) He turned down an alley, following his memory. But there was nothing there. "Gone...it's been removed..." His shoulders slumped. (Right. A public phone in the Reiwa era...) Even so, Denwa didn't give up. (I want to be popular. I want to be popular, damn it!) His ulterior motives kept his feet moving. --- Two hours later. "Found iiiiiit!" In a back alley in Kagurazaka, Denwa finally spotted a phone booth. An old, green phone booth. The glass was slightly fogged, and the phone inside looked like it had been there since the Showa era. "Finally found it...now I can be a hero too..." Denwa pulled the green telephone card from the wristband on his left arm. "...How am I supposed to do this?" He stared at the card. The slot was near the bottom of the phone. "Put it in here and shout a technique name...?" But what technique name? "Telephone Punch? No, what do I shout when I transform?" Denwa paced back and forth in front of the phone booth, card in hand. "Ahh, damn it, what do I do...no, calm down. According to my aunt, you put in the card and shout a technique name. So I just shout Telephone Punch? No, when you transform, do you shout 'transform'? Telephone Change? Green Telephone Man On? Ahh, I don't get it!" He clawed at his hair and crouched down on the spot. He was, without question, acting suspiciously. --- "...Hey, is that guy okay?" A clerk at a nearby convenience store was watching Denwa from behind the register. "He's been pacing around that phone booth forever... What a weirdo." The clerk pulled out his smartphone without hesitation. "Hello, police? Um, there's a suspicious person near my store..." --- "Excuse me, you there." Denwa's shoulders jerked at the voice. He turned around to find a police officer who'd come running from the koban. "Ah, uh, oh no..." "What are you doing? With that phone booth." The officer's eyes were sharp. "Uh, no, this is, um..." Denwa hid the telephone card behind his back. "Show me what's in your hand." "Th-this is! It's, um, a telephone card! Just a telephone card!" "A telephone card? That's rare these days. What are you using it for?" "Wh-what for..." The words caught in his throat. (Oh no, what do I do? Did someone report me? Am I being treated as a suspicious person?) His mind went blank. "Please come with me to the koban." The officer took a step closer. (Oh no oh no oh no! I'm going to get arrested! I'll have a criminal record! And then I'll never be popular for the rest of my life!) In a panic, Denwa dove into the phone booth. "Hey, wait!" The officer was startled. With trembling hands, Denwa shoved the telephone card into the slot. Click. The card was sucked in. "Uh, ah, what happens now...?" The phone's LCD screen glowed green. 'Card confirmed. Balance, valid. Transformation sequence, standby.' A mechanical voice echoed inside the booth. "Wh-what the hell is this!?" 'Please enter the transformation keyword.' "Tr-transformation keyword!? What's that!?" 'Please enter the transformation keyword.' "D-don't come closer! I'm, I'm...!" The officer tried to open the booth door. "Hey, get out here!" In that instant, the words flew out of Denwa's mouth. "T-Telephone Power Charge!" --- Green light engulfed the phone booth. "Whoaaaaa!?" His body was hot. His limbs moved on their own. His tracksuit became a green suit. A gold telephone emblem rose on his chest. A mask covered his face. "Wh-what the hell!? I'm transforming!?" His reflection in the booth's glass was the Green Telephone Man from that video. "Whoa, amazing! I actually transformed!" He opened the door and stepped out. The officer's eyes went wide. "Wh-what are you!?" "I am the Green Telephone Man! Uh, um, a hero of justice who defeats evil!" Denwa copied his father's pose from the video. "...What are you talking about? Anyway, wandering around in that getup is a violation of the Minor Offenses Act." The officer reached for the baton at his hip. "Uh, no, I'm a hero...see, I'm not a villain..." "Just be quiet and stay still!" The officer raised his baton and charged. "Whoa! W-wait! I'm not the bad guy here!" Denwa reflexively leaned back. And his body moved with unbelievable lightness. "Huh?" The officer's baton sliced through empty air. "H-he dodged!?" "I'm amazing! My body moves on its own!" Denwa got carried away and started bouncing around. "Look, look, you can't hit me!" "Y-you little—!" The officer grabbed his radio. "Requesting backup! Back alley in Kagurazaka, in front of the phone booth! One suspicious individual! A man in a green costume! Currently fleeing!" "Fleeing!? I'm not fleeing! And don't call for backup! That's cheating!" "Don't underestimate the modern police! There are security cameras too! We've already got your face!" "What, seriously!? Oh no! Is my face hidden? I've got a mask on, so it's fine, right!?" Denwa touched his face through the mask. "Wait, huh? Why am I fighting the police in a place like this? I just wanted to be popular..." That was when it happened. The sound of sirens approached. "Whoa, already!? That was fast!?" A patrol car stopped at the entrance of the alley. "Freeze!" Two officers came running out. "W-wait! I haven't done anything wrong! I just transformed! I mean, I just transformed, I haven't even done anything yet!" "Shut up! You're caught red-handed for obstruction of official duties!" "Whaaaat!? Obstruction of official duties!? I haven't done anything!?" Denwa panicked and bolted from the spot. "Stop!" The officers gave chase. (Why am I being chased!? I'm a hero, right!? I haven't defeated any villains yet!) His body moved astonishingly fast. He turned corners, leaped over walls, jumped onto rooftops. "Whoa, amazing! I can jump! I can jump so high!" "Stop, you bastard!" The officers shouted from below. "Like anyone stops when you tell them to!" Denwa kept running across the rooftops. (But where do I run to...) Just then, he spotted another public phone booth ahead. "Ah! A phone booth!" Denwa jumped down from the roof and dashed into the booth. "Cancel transformation! How do I cancel the transformation!?" The phone's LCD screen glowed again. 'Transformation cancel sequence, standby. Please remove the card.' "The card!" Denwa pulled the telephone card from the slot. In that instant, the power drained from his body, and the green suit melted away. "Ah..." When he came to, Denwa was sitting inside the phone booth in his wrinkled tracksuit. "There he is!" The officers surrounded the booth. "Hey, come out!" "...Yes." Denwa gave up and raised both hands. --- The back room of the koban. Denwa sat on a folding chair. Across from him sat the officer from before, plus another, older officer. "So, why did you do all that?" The older officer asked with a sigh. "...I wanted to tr

日本語

What is Novelia? →

Episode 1

Name: Telephone Man Junior ~The Man Searching for a Public Phone~
Author: Novelia

What is Novelia?

Novelia is an AI-powered platform to read original light novels and fan fiction, create your own in just a few taps, and chat with the characters. New, illustrated episodes arrive daily — free to start.

Learn more about Novelia →New sign-ups get 5,000pt