In his thoughts he seemed to be standing on a stage, and he didn't understand where he was. Someone in the shadows said that this was amazing. This was the talent he so sorely lacked. He was a born clown, after all. He was quite intrigued. So he apologized for his rudeness, but his servant had been helping him test it.
Akutagawa was surprised. A servant. He was capable of commanding such powerful monsters?
The man said that although he had decided to show mercy and save his enemy, he had still been betrayed. What despair was he experiencing?
He replied that there was no despair. He had known this would happen.
The man smiled and said that he had thought so. He was playing the role of a fool who believed in the goodness of the human soul. Right? He even lied to himself, and hid it, out of despair.
There was a role he wanted to offer him, and he knew he lacked comedy. For so long he had followed the comedies existing in the universe, and had spent almost his entire life with them. Everything people produce is the same. The same variations, the same pre-existing stories. People are not gods, and they cannot create anything from scratch. Recently he had realized that the main human entertainment is living our own unscripted lives. This is the great pleasure he was destined to receive. He was especially interested in seeing a man clinging to hope, pathetically resisting fate, watching his dreams spin away from him. It was a great comedy.
Akutagawa smiled and said, "I see. So I'm a doomed gesture."
The man said he'd misunderstood — that he should suffer a little longer, and if he promised to perform a comedy for him, he'd offer him the power to destroy fate.
Akutagawa was dumbfounded when he heard this, and the man added that watching him drown in despair and hope in order to obtain this power would definitely amuse him.
Akutagawa asked if he was going to give him a skill. The man replied that it was both true and not true. He was smart and he knew it himself, and from what he had understood, his servant, who only attacked rankers, was already strong. He'd just show him how to use it.
Akutagawa realized he'd lived a wretched life, and he said he was drowning in despair. And that was indeed the truth. But if he drowned completely, he wouldn't even be able to hope for the best, and that was a tragedy. He can change the stage itself.
At that moment Akutagawa said, "All right. I'll suffer more for your sake — but I refuse to play out the story you're waiting for." The man smiled, and at that moment Akutagawa jumped down off the stage and approached him, explaining that there would be no magical enhancements and that he would show him a growth story.
The man smiled, showed his fangs, and asked, "Are you willing to go that far?" It would only make him more interested.
After a while the guys were discussing why there had been such a monster on the first floor. Apparently a lot of people don't know about high-ranking dungeons. Akutagawa was probably already dead. Guda got angry and said he'd really wanted to punch him in the face to let off some steam, but he'd just gone and died.
Toida replied that he was her favourite toy. Guda asked whether the only guys they were interested in were the girl and the four-eyed guy or something, but Toida replied that she wasn't interested in them, and Igarashi called her a fool, because they were the ones she knew about — especially the girl. Let her mock her, and maybe even seduce her.
At that moment Akutagawa came out to them and asked if they were still grovelling in front of Guda. What pathetic creatures they were.
All the guys were dumbfounded, and Guda turned around in surprise and asked, "What? He's alive?"
Akutagawa replied that if he'd simply intended revenge, he'd have mocked them a little, but he could barely stand to look at the two of them. He asked again, "Who else is going to mock me here?"
Even though his hand was shaking with fear, Igarashi screamed, "Why isn't he dead yet?" He pounced on him with all his strength, but Akutagawa parried the attack with just one hand and threw it aside, cutting down several trees in a row.
Igarashi was dumbfounded, and Akutagawa said he'd been kissing the strong guy's backside, hoping that he'd become a little stronger himself. This worm truly was worthless, just like him. Although — no. Not like him. Not any more.
Toida was surprised. Impossible. Was this a skill?
Guda wondered whether it was the same type of skill as before. Akutagawa was much stronger.
Akutagawa shouted that if revenge was to happen, then they must feel the pain of the skills they themselves used. When Akutagawa proved so strong, he directed his energy toward his opponent. Igarashi screamed and cried in pain and fear.
And at that moment Guda was surprised. Had Akutagawa really used a skill? Toida smiled, embarrassed, saying how impudent he had become. She rose up and shouted that he wouldn't break her now, that she'd crush someone like him and force him to submit. How wonderful that would be.
Akutagawa called her a fool and said she would never crush him again.
She fell on top of him, then suddenly screamed, "No — that's speed. That's a real skill." Guda exclaimed, "He used a wind skill, right? But he was born without one."
Akutagawa asked whether he really didn't understand — that these were the skills they had tortured him with. Their own skills, returned.
The man had told him that he was now a vessel. That was its name. Neither the government nor the guilds knew anything about such a thing. After all, he was the only one capable of it, although he himself hadn't known. The ability to use the skills applied to him would be perfect for someone like him: an actor who plays different roles every day.