Ch.39 I Sincerely Apologize

That day, the man was in the company office, completing his desk work with astonishing speed.

Click click... tan!

Click click... tan!

Click click... tan!

The employees were impressed by the speed at which he worked, as if to say, "So this is how you do it!"

That aside, he remembers people looking at him as if he was a pig at a pig farm, saying, "your typing is too loud, you piece of trash."

After completing the tasks at roughly twice the normal speed, he was told, "Then please do this too," and it felt like his head was going crazy, but he managed to finish it with determination. I'm... strong!

It was just before 6pm.

There were three hours left until the deadline――No, let's take it as 2 hours left.

It takes 30 minutes to get home. If you factor in 30 minutes for meals and a bath, you have an hour to spare.

ーWe won, Sakutan.

This battle is our victory.

I'll definitely go to the concert! I'll buy the merchandise too!

Feeling excited inside, he packed his things and got up from his seat.

However, after turning around and taking two steps forward, he had an unexpected encounter.

It was the chief whose illumination is dazzling. (TL note : he bald)

"C-Chief, thank you for your hard work."

"Are you done for today?"

"Yes. I'll be off first."

The man quickly tried to slip past them, but,

"Wait. Just in time. I have a favor to ask of you. I have some urgent business to attend to. Can you help me?"

The man's brain froze at the cruel words.

He had already worked harder than usual, and now this Tsururin is planning to add more work? He turned around in shock. Wow, it's dazzling.

(TL note : this is all i got trying to find Tsururin. Open at your own risk.)

The man had the typical corporate slave mentality.

He basically can't refuse requests from his boss, so he just go with the flow and get tossed about in the rough waves of overtime work.

When he looks back in the past, he felt rewarded, like, "Wow, I really worked hard this month...", so this loop would continue indefinitely.

But.

"--I decline."

That causality has now been broken.

"What?"

The chief's lips, which had been smiling wickedly, were now pursed. On a side note, the illumination was still there.

"I sincerely apologize, chief. Just as you have things to do, I also have things that I absolutely cannot miss today. Even if it's a request from a superior I respect, I can't listen to it today."

Of course, the respect is just flattery. The illumination is too bright, Tako. Is this FG〇's theme song, On?

The man learned to refuse for the sake of his idol.

A man who didn't say no even when he was fooled by a photo scam at a brothel and greeted by a ridiculous person, said no for the first time here.

The impact was so great that it would not be an exaggeration to say that the heavens split and the earth was shaken.

He knows that his idol has always worked hard.

It was the girl who was stubbornly saying she had no interest in singing we're talking about.

If that's the case, then what's the point of being a Yotsuba group if you don't get to see this grand stage?

He was really looking forward to today.

For her sake, the man (36 years old, single, living with his parents) is willing to rebel against the world.

(Ugh! What is with this burst of spirit?!)

The section chief could not bear the pressure exerted by the man and stepped back.

The pressure was so great that the man looked like a giant from a comic book.

'He was usually a dull, average-sized man, so what had changed him?

No matter how much hair growth medicine I use, my head never changes...!'

The section chief saw his own head reflected in the glass. Wow, it's dazzling. There's a ball of barren wasteland...!

"Excuse me."

The man bowed deeply.

And he walked pass the chief.

However, just as the man had his reasons for not backing down, the section chief also had his reasons for not backing down.

Therefore,

"--Hey, let's have a duel."

"What……?"

When the man turned around, the section chief handed him the Duel Disk.

"This is……!"

"For someone like you, who is known as a full auto working machine, to be so adamant. I understand that you must have some serious reasons."

"Eh? That's what they called me?" the man said, a little hurt.

"But that's the same for me. We're the same. It's a promise I must fulfill even at the cost of my life. Therefore, if you wish to win your freedom from me, your superior, you'll need to demonstrate the appropriate strength."

"Chief..."

The man was astonished at his chief's attitude.

His heart was moved by the passionate side of this usually fox-like man.

"...I understand. If you want to discuss this through cards, that's what I want. Let's settle this with a duel."

Then they both put their Duel Disks on their arms.

They set up our companion decks and faced each other.

"Announce the start of the duel, Isono!"

"It's Tanaka."

"Duel!!"

And so the heated duel between the two duelists began.

The battle went back and forth, but the chief's trump card cleared the man's board, just like the chief's head.

"Humph, I've destroyed every card on your field, and you have no cards in your hand. This battle is my victory!"

"ーI don't know about that. Kan☆Ko~n."

"Wh, what was that line?!"

The number one line that every duelist wants to say!

The set also includes Kan☆Ko~n. Or something like that.

"I activate a trap from the graveyard!"

"A trap from the graveyard?!"

And so he prepares a move to make a comeback.

However, there is one step missing. Only the preliminary steps have been completed.

The last piece is...

"Please answer me, my deck. My—TUUUURN!"

Zubishi! Zubishi...! Zubishi... It was such a spirited draw that you could almost hear the echo.

The man changed the angle of the card he was holding between his index and middle fingers and glanced at it.

Then he smiled.

"Thanks. My deck."

"No way...! You're trying to turn the tables at this point!?」

While the section chief looks on in shock, the man quickly arranges the cards on the board.

The man's ace monster has arrived.

Its attack power exceeded that of the section chief's ace monster.

"This... This is...!"

"This is the power of the bond between me and my deck! GO!"

The man declared an attack.

He successfully defeated the chief's ace monster, then the other monsters launched direct attacks, delivering the final blow.

"I win, chief."

"... Yes. And that means I've been defeated."

The section chief dropped to one knee and hung his head.

Between his clenched teeth, the anger and sadness at his own defeat spilled out.

"I'm sorry... Sakutan."

"! Don't tell me, the section chief too?"

"Too? Does that mean..."

"Yes, I was also about to attend Sakutan's concert."

At this point, it turns out that they are both actually members of the Yotsuba group.

The tense atmosphere dissipated when they discovered that they're comrades.

The section chief smiles cheerfully.

"Is that so? If so, it would be rude to Sakuran if I stop you from leaving."

However, there was still a hint of loneliness lurking there.

"Sorry for stopping you. Have fun for me too."

The section chief's back as he turned on his heels looked very small.

The man took a deep breath,

"So it's if i help you right?"

"... You. Are you okay with that?"

"That's not good. But if the section chief is also from the Yotsuba group like me, then it's a different story. If I were to abandon my comrades, I wouldn't be able to face Sakutan."

He smiles fearlessly.

"Don't worry, we can just finish before the concert starts. Since it's a VR space, the merchandise won't sell out."

There will also be a merchandise corner at the venue, and you can take any purchased items back to your room.

As the man said, since it's a VR space, there's no concept of selling out.

At first he planned to buy it before the concert, but he decided he could look around later when he had time.

"Thank you, comrade."

So the two of them go back to work.

There was a smile of mutual satisfaction on their faces.

ーOn a side note, since this is an internal office, there are naturally other employees here.

"Ewwwwww Gross!"

A female employee who happened to be passing by looked at the two of them as if they were filth, 'rather than pigs from a pig farm, they're just a piece of garbage' she thought when they suddenly started playing cards.

There may be some gals who are kind to otaku, but there are no office ladies who are kind to otaku.

You should never, ever act like an otaku in public.

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Author's note :

...What am I writing?

I was thinking that my writings wasn't long enough, so i decided to add some words.

But seriously, what am I writing?!