１．Ｓｕｎｄａｙ　Ｍａｒｃｈ　３１，　２０１９

"He hung himself in his car this morning." The words of 〈Number 4〉 were filled with bitterness like cold iron.
"I am sure that when he saw Maruta-san getting close to the core of the case, he must have realized that it was only a matter of time before you would find out who the culprit was."

"What do you mean Mont Blanc did not kill him?"
When Maruta started, 〈Number 4〉 continued in a dark tone, "For now, why don't we all sit down?"
〈Kirvy〉 and 〈Shaggy〉 sat down on their usual sofa. Maruta and Kira also settled into their original chairs.

Putting the PC on the floor, 〈Number 4〉 sat cross-legged on the spot. Then, after looking at all the silent people, he said.
"I have been listening to your story in the next room for a while now. Without seeing this, it's really brilliant to see the case through that far. As expected, you have been following the case in good faith. However, 90% is the percentage of correct answers."

"90%?" Maruta mechanically repeated 〈Number 4〉's words. His tone included the frustration characteristic of those who are unable to understand.
"Yes, 90%. The house features seem to be as you said. However, Mont Blanc apparently did not kill Silva-san."

Even after hearing this much, Maruta was still unable to understand the words of 〈Number 4〉 at all.
"'Seem to be'? Apparently? Could you please be more specific?"

"Okay," 〈Number 4〉 responded. "Of course I will. This is a Mont Blanc's laptop, but none of our members have ever taken a closer look inside it until now. As I said before, he died at dawn today. Captain found it in the parking lot below. There was no suicide note, and at first we had no idea what had happened. After we had no choice but to transport the body here, we examined this laptop. We needed his fingerprint to unlock this computer. While we were doing so, we received a call from you. So, after another discussion among the members, we decided to hide his body in a suitcase for a time."

"Also a disguise was the conversation you had with Mont Blanc-san there." Maruta said.
"Yes. But it was in vain. We even put his clothes on a human model and replayed the remaining audio of our daily conversations, but you, Maruta-san easily saw through it."

"So what was left on the laptop?"
"While you were on your way here, after completing the disguise I just mentioned, we checked every inch of this. Then we found these records. Because seeing is believing. You should take a look."

Standing up, Maruta and Kira crouched on either side of the laptop.
There were many lines of inorganic text displayed there. At the beginning of the document, it states,

'Thread for GN to really be a star.'

"What's this?" Maruta asked.
"Read a few lines." 〈Number 4〉 said. "Try reading it then, replacing 'be a star' with 'die'. It's what we call a 'Viewer discretion is advised'. Read with caution."

When Maruta heard this, each of his memories so far began to rustle at once, becoming a writhing projection from root to tip. At the same time, a chill he had never felt before went down his spine all at once.

'Thread for GN to really be a star. September 27, 2017

Milley, a female video-creator who was assaulted by GN, passed away on x th, June.
In the past, he also made a pass at Choice, a live broadcaster, and played with her body before crippling her.
GN's unchecked behavior over the past few years has been unacceptable.
Despite this, he is still proudly posting videos, spouting delusions such as "I'm going to be a star," without regard to his many misdeeds.
If he wants to be a star so badly, let's have him be a star.
There is no way we can just let him do whatever he wants.
Therefore, in order for GN to truly be a star, we encourage our comrades to join us on this board.'

"I agree, let's put GN to be a star."
"It really pissed me off to see GN."
"I don't understand why that guy hasn't been caught."
"GN, you're getting carried away."
"He destroyed one personality and took the life of another."
"And he felt good about himself alone."
"That guy can no longer stay on earth. Let him purify his soul and be a star!"

"This is a copy of a bulletin board on the dark web [*1], isn't this?" Maruta said.
"Yes," As 〈Number 4〉 was about to say, Kira interrupted him from the side.
"What is Dark Web?"

A moment earlier than Maruta, 〈Number 4〉 opened his mouth.
"Simply put, unlike the general Internet, dark web users' access is highly encrypted and untraceable. So, neither the provider nor the police can identify who made the comments on this board. In other words, we don't know if the commenter is a man or a woman, an old man or a young man or a child, what his or her name is, where lives, and all that."

Maruta clenched his teeth and snapped them together.
We know, don't we, the more heinous and vile 'Obscure Guys'?
They are the ones who never show themselves, but only spread malice on the Internet.
Come to think of it, these guys were definitely there. There were a number of comments that took on an ominous meaning as soon as the word 'be a star' was replaced with 'die'.
They secretly enjoyed their crimes by blending in with well-meaning people while cleverly concealing their malicious intentions.

These guys have motives, too. Even I was suspicious of 〈Silva〉 at first, just because of the videos of 〈Choice〉 and 〈Milley〉 ......

〈Number 4〉 turned to Maruta. "Sometimes people describe dying as 'becoming a star.'"
"I get it now. Both 'GN' and 'be a star' are cloak-and-dagger terms on dark web."
Maruta was beaten, he thought, and put one hand on the floor. He felt a sense of disappointment on both shoulders.

"It's a bit long," 〈Number 4〉 blurted out beside him. "But if you read it, you will see what actually led up to the incident. Maruta-san, please take the time to look through it if you would like."

Maruta was lent a mouse and browsed through the bleak text.


[*1]: A generic term for network content that can only be accessed with specialized software. Dark Web users' access is hierarchically encrypted and their anonymity is very high. While much of the content on the dark web is harmless, some of it is used for criminal purposes, such as the sale of illegal drugs.