“Stop.
Stop hitting her.
You’ve already won.” Seeing that street fighter Shinohara Julia had already passed out, while bare-handed brawling queen Kobayakawa Yumi was still mounted on top of her and pounding away, Jingu Yoru stood outside the stage with the microphone and quietly tried to stop the fight.
“Boss Yumi, you’re amazing!” The watching crowd offered their worshipful cheers at just the right time.
“Hmph.
Tried to sneak attack me?” “This is what you get!” Under everyone’s admiring gazes, Kobayakawa Yumi’s vanity swelled wildly.
Her bruised face shone with excitement, and for a moment, she felt as if she had conquered the entire world.
“Then the second match will begin right away.
Anyone who wants to bet, hurry up.” But before she could enjoy the moment for long, a certain tactless host interrupted her.
There was no helping it.
The rules of underground matches were simple and brutal.
The next match started as soon as the previous one ended.
They could not give the audience time to calm down and think rationally.
While everyone was still excited, they had to squeeze their wallets dry.
After that came the third match, then the fourth.
When everything finally ended, the guests emptied their pockets with lingering excitement and left in groups.
Meanwhile, the three women and Jingu Yoru carried the bulging money bags away, preparing to split the loot on the spot.
“Good.
Very good!” “After deducting the venue rental and labor costs, the three of us can split the rest evenly.
It’s still quite a lot.” Inside the private room, the four of them sat in a circle, all wearing smiles.
The kimono woman in particular, who was currently counting the cash, had smiled so hard her eyes had turned into narrow slits.
“Of course, Yoru gets a share too.” “If you hadn’t kept reminding those brats to place bets, we wouldn’t have earned this much.” As she spoke, she pulled out another stack of bills and pushed it in front of him.
Although they were all small-denomination notes, it was still a thick stack.
At a rough estimate, there had to be around seventy or eighty thousand yen, enough to equal a full week of his work.
“Thank you, Boss!” Yoru did not stand on ceremony and reached out to accept it.
Money was a man’s courage.
Without money, there was no confidence.
It had already been more than half a month since he arrived in this world, yet his food and lodging were still being covered by his boss, the kimono woman.
That made him look far too much like a pretty boy living off a woman.
As a young man whose teeth were still perfectly healthy, Yoru had not yet gotten used to eating soft rice.
That’s right.
He was not from this world.
More than half a month ago, he had gone by another name.
He had been a fresh graduate, just about to spread his wings and make something of himself.
But after nothing more than taking a walk, he somehow crossed the ocean and appeared in the famous island nation.
It made no damn sense!
However, as a loyal web‑novel reader, he quickly accepted the situation after his initial confusion.
After all, in this era, who didn’t know about transmigration?
Besides, he also had the standard equipment of a transmigrator—a system!
Although he still had not received any newbie gift pack, the language template that came with it had already helped him quickly blend into this alternate world.
Of course, being a transmigrator was not all smooth sailing.
Because he had transmigrated physically, he had no money and no identity.
He could not find work, could not afford food, and in only three short days, he had fallen so low that he was looting passed-out drunks and digging through trash cans.
During that time, he had also asked the embassy for help.
In the end, the embassy told him that there was no record of such a person existing back in his homeland.
Only then did he realize that he had not merely been teleported to Japan.
Even the world itself had changed.
Fortunately, while rummaging through the wallet of a drunk salaryman one day, he happened to meet Mitani Hana, the leader of the Jinguji Group, which had lost many members and was desperately short on manpower.
And so, the Jinguji Group gained a delivery boy.
He, meanwhile, used the alias Jingu Yoru and successfully secured food and shelter.
When wandering through the underworld, one could never have too many aliases.
It had already been one week since then.
…
By the way, Mitani Hana was the kimono woman.
Her identity was the illegitimate daughter of the former leader of the low-level violent organization, the Jinguji Group, and his mistress.
She had only been in society for one year when her father, the former leader, suddenly died.
As a result, she was forced to give up her job as a hostess and become the leader of a declining Yakuza Family instead.
Unfortunately, she had no money and no experience.
After she took over, the group’s members kept leaving one after another.
At present, she could only survive with difficulty by clinging to a larger group.
Because her previous job had been as a hostess at a club, she had developed an exceptional eye for judging people.
… The woman in sportswear sitting to her left was Tenma Nozomi.
Her identity was a former professional fighter, a former underground boxer, and currently an unemployed drifter.
Due to retinal detachment, she had no choice but to withdraw from the professional stage.
However, she could not bear to give up fighting, so she turned toward the underworld instead.
Compared to the surface world, however, most underworld audiences lacked the eye to appreciate technique.
Because of that, they tended to favor violence more obviously and preferred savage battles where every punch hit flesh.
Tenma Nozomi specialized in locks and grappling, so her violence was lacking.
Her fights also dragged on for too long and were not entertaining enough.
On top of that, she was unwilling to sell sex appeal, so she was often fired by her bosses.
… “Looks like my threats beforehand worked.
No idiots uploaded anything to social media.
Haha…” The last woman, who looked even more delinquent than the delinquents themselves, was Iori Ichika.
Her identity was a former member of the Anti-Crime Unit and currently a senior patrol officer in the Juvenile Division.
The so-called Anti-Crime Unit was officially the Anti-Organized Crime Unit, shortened to Anti-Crime Unit.
The delinquents from earlier had all been “invited” by her.
Because her methods were too extreme, she had been pushed out by her coworkers.
After nearly beating her male superior to death with a heavy punch, she was transferred to the Juvenile Division.
She herself also found the Metropolitan Police Department extremely unpleasant.
The only person she respected was a certain senior in the Riot Police.
The thing she said most often was: “Why can’t this trash just go die?” … The three of them had been friends since high school.
Now, one was the leader of a declining yakuza family, one was an unemployed drifter, and one was a negligent police officer.
They could practically be called the Loser Alliance.
And that was how this “temporary underground fighting project” had come about.
Tenma Nozomi provided the inspiration, Mitani Hana contacted the venue, and Iori Ichika searched for contestants.
In other words, she tricked the delinquent groups wandering the streets into coming here.
The result had been a huge success.
“Since it makes this much money, how about we hold it regularly?” After the money was split, Mitani Hana held a wine glass in her hand and made the suggestion with a bright smile.
“Sounds good to me!” “If we gather the trash here, it keeps them from causing trouble on the streets.
That counts as an achievement too.” The crooked cop Iori Ichika was the first to agree.
Ever since she had been transferred from the Anti-Crime Unit to the Juvenile Division, her hatred for delinquents had grown by the day.
“I second that!” Jingu Yoru also raised his right hand.
Being chuunibyou was embarrassing.
But making money was not shameful at all.
“No.” “If the level is still the same as before, the audience will get bored very quickly.” However, this suggestion was immediately questioned by the professional, Tenma Nozomi.
“What are you talking about?” Iori Ichika frowned.
“Didn’t you see how hot the atmosphere was earlier?” “That was because most of the audience were the contestants’ friends or companions.
Their sense of involvement was strong, so the atmosphere naturally became heated.” Tenma Nozomi shook her head.
“But we can’t keep relying on them.
Besides, those brats don’t have much pocket money.
They won’t be able to support more than a few matches.” “If we want to continue, we have to raise the quality of the fighters and attract wealthy customers.” “Are you saying… we should do this for real?” Thinking of that possibility, Mitani Hana and Iori Ichika both put away their smiles at the same time, their expressions turning serious.
Formally creating an organization was different from temporarily hosting an event.
It would require a large investment of manpower and resources, so neither of them could afford to treat it lightly.
“That’s right.
This is our only chance to turn things around!” The moment the topic entered her professional field, Tenma Nozomi’s usually listless face instantly became spirited.
“If we succeed, Hana can make money, Ichika can clean the delinquents off the streets, and I won’t have to worry about getting fired by bosses anymore.
It’s a triple win!” “So… how do we do it?” Mitani Hana gently swirled the red wine in her glass, her heart already starting to itch.
For underlings, everything came down to money.
Without money, there was no loyalty.
Right now, the Jinguji Group had lost a large number of members and could only survive by attaching itself to a larger group.
That was why what she wanted most was to find a new way to make money.
“Women’s fighting has more than just violence.
It also has beauty.” “We can design prettier outfits for the fighters, then find some attractive staff members…” Tenma Nozomi flexibly applied the words her former boss had used when firing her.
“As for staff, I can have the hostesses and sex workers from my shop fill in.” The loss of members referred to the organization’s actual group members.
The hostesses and sex workers were employees, so this was not a problem for Mitani Hana.
“Then all we’re missing are fighters.” Tenma Nozomi turned her gaze toward Iori Ichika.
“They can’t just be strong.
They also need a unique charm that attracts the audience.” “Now you’re making things difficult for me.” Iori Ichika took out a cigarette and lit it, looking annoyed.
“If you just want ordinary delinquents, I can find as many as you want.
But strong and charming?
That’s way too hard.” “Mm?
Wait, no.
I think there actually is someone!” The next moment, her eyes lit up.
“Looks like you’ve settled it.
Call me if you need anything.
I still have a batch of goods to deliver, so I’ll head out first.” Yoru could not get used to Japanese shochu and did not want to waste any more time, so he stood up and prepared to leave.
“You’re working that hard, Yoru?” “Don’t worry.
Your big sisters won’t forget you.
Ah, hehe…” Iori Ichika threw Jingu Yoru a fierce, flirtatious wink and let out a nasty laugh.
“Drink less.
Don’t get picked up by someone after passing out.” If it were Nozomi-oneesan or his elegant boss lady, Jingu Yoru might have been a little interested.
But this wicked woman?
Forget it…
“By the way, that brat hasn’t caused you any trouble, has he?” After he left, Iori Ichika turned toward Mitani Hana with a vicious expression and asked.
“What?” “You don’t trust my eye for people?” Mitani Hana smiled brightly.
“Yoru is a good boy.” “It’s not that.
It’s just that his name sounds obviously made up.” “He joined Jinguji, so he called himself Jingu.
You met him in the middle of the night, so he called himself Yoru.” Iori Ichika narrowed her eyes.
“I couldn’t find him in the police system either.
He feels way too much like someone who came out of ‘that’ place.” “No.” Mitani Hana answered with certainty.
“Yoru doesn’t have the traits of someone from ‘that’ place.” Because of her line of work, she had also come into contact with people who came out of the Inside before.
That was why she could say with confidence that Jingu Yoru was absolutely not from there.
The Inside.
A chaotic lawless zone where crime ran rampant and order did not exist.
“I don’t think he is either.” Tenma Nozomi agreed.
“He doesn’t even feel like someone from the underworld.
He’s just an ordinary young man who normally lived in the surface world.” “Maybe…” Iori Ichika blew out a ring of smoke, still keeping her doubts.
That was simply part of her occupational nature.