Frieren: — Chapter 80 - My Passion Has Completely Cooled Down!!!

Clink-clank-clank.

[Thank you, please come again~~]

The automatic sliding door at the pachinko parlor entrance detected a departing customer and immediately chimed its fixed lines. The electronic voice had clearly been recorded by a woman, that mature, alluring, deliberately coquettish tone made Okkotsu flinch.

"Hahaha, Okkotsu-senpai really is terrible with places like this."

Two boys stood outside the entrance.

One was Okkotsu. The other was also... no, wait, a boy named Itadori Yuji.

His face still had a certain youthfulness to it, but his build had clearly developed earlier than most kids his age. Even in a tracksuit, you could make out the faint contours of muscle. Paired with his outgoing energy and the way he carried himself, Okkotsu, shrinking into his own shoulders, somehow looked like the younger one.

"Haha... I've... never really been to places like this."

Okkotsu gave an embarrassed smile.

His first impression of the boy was good. Very good, actually.

Itadori looked sunny and confident, might have had dyed hair (he didn't), and had even dared to walk into a pachinko parlor as a minor, but he wasn't a delinquent.

Thanks to him, Kinji had clicked his tongue after a moment of silence, shaken Okkotsu off, and stormed out the door on his own.

Inside the shop, Okkotsu and Itadori had spent some time getting to know each other. Okkotsu learned that Itadori Yuji was a third-year middle schooler from a nearby school. Itadori learned that Okkotsu was a first-year high school senpai from Tokyo.

"Okkotsu-senpai, when there's something you don't want to do, you should tell the other person properly." Itadori pumped his fist in encouragement. "Ah, but if it comes to violence and you feel like it's too much to handle, you can always tell me."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yeah, I'm free anyway. And I'm pretty confident in my body."

Seriously? This kid is way too nice.

That pure, untainted cheerfulness, it's like seeing a big dog. Just instantly healing...

As if he'd read the look in Okkotsu's eyes, Itadori gave a couple of awkward laughs and waved his hand. "But I don't think that person seemed like a bad guy either. If you talk it out properly, I'm sure there's a way."

"Yeah."

And with that, Okkotsu and Itadori said their simple goodbyes.

Okkotsu let out a long, relieved breath. He'd accomplished nothing today, but at least he'd survived.

Yeah. That counts as having tried, right?

He turned the corner.

"Oi, Okkotsu."

"Eek! I'm sorry, Zoro-san!"

"Who the hell is Zoro?!"

Kinji roared.

But it couldn't be helped. The voice was just way too similar.

Kinji let out a rough sigh, then jerked his thumb backward over his shoulder. That delinquent-exclusive retroflex drawl: "Give me a bit of your time."

..........................

............

The two slipped into the back of an alley, away from the streetlights, and stopped in front of an inconspicuous iron door.

A faded "Warehouse, No Entry" notice was pasted beside it, blending smoothly with the surrounding buildings. You'd walk right past it without a second look.

Kinji knocked three times. The door groaned open a narrow crack. A thick-necked man with a face full of brutish flesh poked his head out, scanned both their faces, then stepped aside.

Okkotsu wanted to ask questions, but he had a feeling nothing he said would get a straight answer. So he quietly followed.

What looked like an abandoned warehouse from the outside opened into a steep, narrow concrete staircase going down. Only a few bulbs lit the passage, flickering in and out.

At the bottom, a heavy iron door blocked the way. Kinji raised his hand and shoved it open. A wall of dirty, roaring noise crashed into Okkotsu and locked every muscle in his body stiff.

[OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHH OOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!]

No flashy neon inside. Just a few dim yellow spotlights focused on a central ring, surrounded by a packed, heaving crowd.

A boxing ring?

"This is an underground fight club."

Kinji led Okkotsu to a decent viewing spot and dropped into his seat without ceremony.

The roaring crowd. Gamblers screaming. The dull, wet thud of fists hitting flesh. The pained grunts of fighters. It was a different kind of chaos and savagery from the pachinko parlor, a kind Okkotsu had never seen before.

"Oi, Okkotsu." Seeing Okkotsu stunned and slack-jawed, Kinji looked quite satisfied. He threw an arm over Okkotsu's shoulder. "If I told you right now — give me fifty thousand yen, and in a month I'll pay you back two hundred thousand — would you give me the money?"

"Huh?"

Okkotsu froze. His expression went through several complicated things at once.

And then...

"Fifty thousand... will these do?" He pulled five Fukuzawa Yukichi notes from his trouser pocket.

"Haah?"

Kinji's grin stiffened. His face went red.

"Why?! How is that anything other than a scam?!"

"I was planning to use the scam to lead into the topic, then transition to gambling, and have a serious discussion with you about life philosophies! You've completely derailed this for me!"

"No..." Okkotsu was a little embarrassed. "I mean... Maki and the others said you were unreliable, but they never said you were a bad person."

And besides, Okkotsu was rich.

On the same day Gojo Satoru handed him his Special Grade license, Okkotsu had also been given a bank account number.

Every student at Jujutsu High had one. Even as high schoolers, sorcerers lived their lives with blades at their throats, what kind of job risks your life and doesn't pay?

Japan's high-salary earners pulled in somewhere between 600,000 and 1,500,000 yen a month. Corporate executives went even higher, two, three million, numbers that felt unreal.

The income of elite sorcerers...

Was even higher than that.

As a Special Grade Sorcerer, Okkotsu's cut per mission was only greater.

Unquestionably a bank VIP. Birthday greetings, loan invitations, the highest-tier treatment, all of it.

"...Putting aside how you just casually spilled all of that about me, you've only been at Jujutsu High a few weeks. How are you already trusting your classmates this much?"

Okkotsu said nothing.

He also thought his own affection levels had maybe been rising a little fast.

Come to think of it... he hadn't known Rika for very long either before they ended up "engaged."

...Yeah. Kind of embarrassing, actually.

"Haah..."

Kinji dropped his arm from Okkotsu's shoulder and covered his own face.

"Whatever. Since it's come to this, I'll just be direct, Okkotsu, do you know about passion?"

"Passion?"

"Yeah. Passion."

Right on cue, the provocatively dressed ring girls appeared below, holding up signs and circling the ring once before handing off to the announcer.

Hoarse, exhilarated howls detonated across the entire venue.

[All you mad dogs, all you gamblers! Tonight's feast of flesh and blood, officially begins!]

[First to enter, standing two meters tall, sinews of cast iron, a fortress of sheer explosive muscle!]

[The Mountain-Shattering Giant, Mediterranean Steel Fist Hero!]

Kinji nodded toward the ring.

"Do you know the rules of the underground fight club?"

"Ah... I've read about it in novels. You bet on the fighter you like, right?"

"Haha. Idiot." Kinji laughed and waved his hand. "Not the fighter you like. Nobody who comes here enjoys boxing. They're after something else. Do you know what it is,"

Okkotsu thought about it.

"...Passion?"

"Right, right! See, you get it!" Something lit up in Kinji's eyes.

"Okkotsu, you know the shinkansen we rode here? One car alone is worth a hundred and fifty million yen!"

"One hundred fifty million. Most people can't earn that much in a lifetime. Rolling money right beneath your feet, and your hands hold nothing."

"People always fear failure. They fear being ruined. But they can't stop chasing things like 'turning the tables,' 'I'm going to climb out of here,' 'get rich overnight.'"

"The hope that sits balanced right against destruction — that is the most blazing emotion."

Kinji's long fingers interlocked. A ferocious grin spread across his face.

"That is — [Passion]!"

"Passion is gambling. Gambling is life."

"I'm going to rule this country with my passion, and use that to prove I'm right, starting from right here."

What completely chaotic logic.

Okkotsu understood none of it. He nodded stiffly and pretended he had.

Kinji gave him no opening to argue back, not that he could have found one anyway, and pointed him toward the ring.

"I'm not telling you to enjoy pure chaos gambling. Gambling has a method for winning, and that's to look at the passion of both sides."

"Where passion clashes with passion, at the most intense point — that's where I'll be."

I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about!

Okkotsu screamed internally.

"Is there a simpler way to put it?"

"Oh, simple version, I've done my research. This bald Steel Fist guy is really strong, and he's on a hot streak right now."

"It's that plain once you translate it?! And it's Mediterranean Steel Fist Hero!"

"Don't nitpick every single thing. Anyway, Jujutsu High really is missing someone like you right now... But what I actually wanted to say is, his opponent. I looked into him before, and that guy,"

[Everyone, a last-minute change! The originally scheduled fighter is unable to compete due to an unforeseen incident. This match will be covered by an emergency newcomer!]

[Uh... [What's Heiter Eating Tonight]... what kind of username is that?]

"Haah?"

Kinji's expression flashed with fury, then cleared almost immediately, replaced by something eager. "But this kind of thing happens! I haven't placed my bet yet anyway! If anything, this is even better! Okkotsu, do you know why?"

"Why?" Okkotsu abandoned all thought. His brain went completely smooth. He just went with it.

"Because this is a newcomer's first appearance. Movies always have someone look down on newcomers, but in reality, when the fighter's a complete unknown, most people sit on their hands and wait. Only the most fanatical gamblers will bet on him."

"Like, for example — me."

Kinji, who had been talking about betting on the bald hero two minutes ago, immediately changed his tune. He dug a few crumpled bills from his pocket and handed them to a staff member.

Bet placed. The roaring calls rose. The fight began.

The new fighter walked in wearing a hoodie. Face invisible, build visibly slight, easy to write off as weak. The audience immediately turned on the organizers, cursing them for wasting everyone's time.

Then the fight started. The hooded man kept his guard up and moved, constantly slipping the bald hero's attacks. That two-meter frame cast a heavy pressure over the whole ring. The size gap between them, combined with the rapid-fire assault, shifted the crowd's roar from angry jeering into something louder and more volatile.

Okkotsu and Kinji watched.

"Bingo!"

Kinji was thrilled. Okkotsu could see why.

He didn't know boxing, but the weeks of training had given him at least some eye for a fight. That hooded newcomer was sharp. He was reading nearly every attack before it landed.

Face still hidden, but the technique was real. This was someone who knew exactly what they were doing.

Sure enough, in less than three rounds, the hooded man slipped two heavy shots clean, and in the same motion launched into the air, a whipping punch that caught the bald hero square on the chin.

The impact was enormous. A dull, massive crack rolled across the entire arena, and for one suspended moment, the noise just stopped.

"Yosh!"

Kinji punched the air, face twisting with savage satisfaction.

"Look at that, Okkotsu! Just like that, two hundred thousand yen, easy!"

Okkotsu was happy too.

"So will you give me back my fifty thousand?"

"Ah, no problem, HAH?! Wasn't that just a joke earlier?! When did you ever lend me fifty thousand?!" Kinji stared at him. "You... you're unexpectedly terrifying sometimes!"

Okkotsu laughed dryly and pulled his hand back. It was probably too late to claim he'd been joking.

"Anyway. You understand now, right?"

Kinji waved a hand toward the arena below.

The whole venue had locked up for one breathless instant when the blow landed. Then it erupted, louder and hotter than before.

Some people had both fists clenched so hard the veins stood out along their necks, faces flooded red.

Some were on their tiptoes, swinging their arms like they wanted to tear something apart, grins stretched to their ears.

Some stood rigid against the guardrails, eyes blown wide, staring at the ring without blinking, lips trembling.

Exhilaration and greed wrapped around each other, stretching into something raw and scorching, silhouettes thrown against the yellow light.

"This is passion."

Gambling addicts, the lot of them.

"...As I thought, I still don't really get it."

Okkotsu answered honestly.

He could tell Kinji wasn't a bad person, but still. He just couldn't bring himself to want any of this.

"Is that so. Then what exactly are you longing for?"

Kinji's patience was starting to wear thin.

"You didn't come to Jujutsu High with zero passion, did you?"

Okkotsu's eyes went wide.

The entire day had felt like one long string of things he didn't understand. But this question, this one, he could.

[Why?]

[Coming to Jujutsu High hadn't been his own choice, but if the question became "what does the current Okkotsu actually want..."]

After a long silence, he pulled out the truest answer he had.

"I... want to be needed by someone."

"I want the courage to keep living. A reason to keep living."

"I, want to connect with other people!"

[.]

Soul-shaking.

Such a heavy thing to say.

Such a line that would play over slow-motion footage in an anime movie PV.

At those words...

"Hah."

Kinji's brow arched slightly. Then it smoothed. His expression settled into something like relief, and the corner of his mouth curved up.

"Should've said so from the start! In that case,"

......................

.......

"After that, Kinji-senpai took me to a hostess club and ordered a bunch of beautiful older sisters."

Scene cut. Classroom. Okkotsu sat at his desk with both hands folded in front of him, covering the lower half of his face. His complexion was completely dark.

"I... used the excuse of going to the bathroom and escaped."

Total silence in the classroom.

Panda moved first, patting Okkotsu on the shoulder.

"You've been through a lot."

"What I clearly said was tsunaide, connect! He mixed up 'connect' and 'connections,' didn't he?! Not that you can't use it that way, but still!"

"You've been through a lot."

"Half a second more and I could feel Rika about to fully manifest and flip all of Sendai upside down! I would absolutely be facing execution the very next day!"

"Really..."

Panda's black eyes were low and heavy.

"You've been through a lot."

➤ Next: Just as You're Ready to Enter the Dungeon, You're Told the Strongest Party Me...