2. List of Dark Thoughts

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The evening sun hung low on the horizon, the interplay of red and black shadows merging in the sky. After work, Tsukasa Harano joined the stream of people boarding the train heading toward Ikebukuro.

He was pushed to the edge of the carriage.

By the glass window.

As the train started moving, the compartment was filled with tired office workers nodding off, except for a few students wearing headphones.

Tsukasa gazed out through the glass.

A plane cut across the orange-red sky, heading toward Haneda Airport in Ota Ward, leaving behind a trail of crimson contrails.

The crowd pressed tightly against each other inside the sardine-can-like carriage; every time the train shifted on the tracks, bodies brushed together, but no one complained, as if they were all accustomed to it.

Tsukasa Harano was a Japanese civil servant.

He worked at the Bunkyo Ward Office.

The ward office was essentially the local government.

He belonged to the Health and Welfare Department, liaising with the medical sector, responsible for managing and supervising all medical institutions and healthcare services within the ward, overseeing public health, and guiding the development of medical, health, and maternal-child health service systems in various neighborhoods.

It sounded impressive.

But it had nothing to do with someone at his low level.

The reason Masami Kato approached him was to exploit his official position to alter a paternity test report after she gave birth in a few months.

The Health and Welfare Department did have the authority to oversee and manage hospitals within the ward. Even though there was overlapping supervision with the Health and Welfare Division at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, altering data was possible.

But if she came to him...

Tsukasa could only say she was overestimating things.

Having passed the local civil servant recruitment exam two years ago, he was a general administrative officer at the lowest rank, not even a section chief or supervisor.

Besides, Japanese civil servants were basically public servants.

Not only general staff like him, but even section heads or department chiefs often found themselves berated by dissatisfied elderly citizens who grabbed their ties and scolded them. Their status was low, and even counting implicit benefits, they truly had less standing than corporate employees.

National civil servants had higher status, better benefits, and broader promotion paths, but he was not one of them.

Local civil servants could apply with just a high school diploma; the pay was low and they faced citizens directly. It was hardly a desirable job, let alone a position that could facilitate favors. They were no better than servers.

"Forging a paternity test..."

Holding the train’s overhead strap, Tsukasa swayed as he recalled Masami Kato’s request.

Her insistence on a paternity test confirmed her husband’s suspicion of her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have desperately sought him out. Well, if she hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to surprise her later.

Use when needed.

Discard when not.

And throw in a couple of bones every now and then for good measure.

Tsukasa reviewed the memories tied to Masami Kato in this body and, recalling her confident demeanor today when she seemed sure he would agree, he chuckled inwardly, recognizing the true nature of this woman.

A scoundrel.

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A selfish, self-serving scoundrel.

Forging a paternity test was a criminal act, especially for a civil servant who was knowingly breaking the law.

If discovered,

he would surely face imprisonment.

His life would be utterly ruined.

Yet Masami Kato shamelessly demanded this from him, speaking without hesitation, never considering the consequences or how easily such a forgery could be exposed. That alone was enough for Tsukasa to sentence her to death in his mind.

"Paternity test forgery is possible, but I simply don’t have the capacity to help with that. However, making extra copies of the report to distribute to her whole family—that I can do."

Tsukasa felt he could manage that.

As for whether he should bow deeply like an official, apologize politely, and then refuse to make any changes...

Why should he apologize?

Why should the good guy bear the blame?

Why show courtesy to scum?

Having settled on how to handle this matter, Tsukasa pushed it aside. What concerned him more now was the first effective sample from his “Malice List” experiment since arriving in Japan.

Tsukasa turned his head, scanning the crowded faces in the carriage.

He only looked at women.

After several trials, he found the “Malice List” only responded to women; there was no reaction to men. From the faint red aura visible only to him, lines of inner thoughts appeared.

“The crowds at Asakusa Temple are huge—so many tourists from out of town. I want to take the donations box money.”

“I want to be prime minister.”

“My crotch is itchy; I want to scratch it.”

“I really want to beat up my boss.”

“I’m staying up late watching dramas tonight. If Mom could just take a sleeping pill, she wouldn’t catch me sneaking on my phone. I’m so scared of getting scolded.”

“A stranger, please give me 100 million yen.”

“I hope my boyfriend doesn’t find out I have a husband.”

Where his gaze fell, the faint red aura hovered with successive malice thoughts.

White, blue, purple.

From his observations over recent days, the different colors of malice corresponded to the difficulty of realization. The woman sitting just ahead, hair loose, wearing headphones and a leather skirt, had malice glowing deep red—the highest level he had seen.

Because she wanted to be prime minister.

By normal logic, the more outrageous the malice, the greater the reward upon its fulfillment.

Although Masami Kato’s noon request was excessive, fulfilling it was not about actually doing it, but merely agreeing. Thus, the difficulty was not so high, and there was considerable room to manipulate this malice.

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Thinking this, Tsukasa withdrew his gaze and focused on the faint red aura before him, where information flickered.

[Automatic raise: 0.1 yen/s (active)]

[Salary accumulated: 2341.6 yen]

[Withdrawal method: Please link bank account]

[Achievement Random Card: Pending activation]

[Achievement Random Card activating]

[Reward: Identity Choice Card (randomly upgrades current status; materialization in reality requires patience)]

0.1 yen per second.

A seemingly insignificant number.

But after fulfilling Masami Kato’s malice at noon, which triggered this automatic raise, Tsukasa had already calculated the exact benefits as soon as he returned to the office.

6 yen per minute.

360 yen per hour.

That’s 8,640 yen per day.

The minimum hourly wage in Tokyo was 1,163 yen, so this seemed small, as working eight hours normally would exceed it, but the terrifying thing was that this automatic raise worked 24 hours a day, nonstop!

Calculated over 365 days a year, Tsukasa could earn an extra 3,110,400 yen annually.

This completely surpassed his annual salary.

As a regularized local civil servant, Tsukasa’s monthly wage was 205,600 yen, which translated to less than 2.5 million yen a year. Even including various implicit benefits, it couldn’t reach over 3 million yen.

All for the cost of a few words.

He could double his annual income directly.

Tsukasa took a deep breath, calming his emotions. No matter how excited he was, he had to recognize this was only the beginning. His “Malice List” held endless treasures to explore—he must remain rational.

There was also this achievement reward.

Random upgrades fitting his current status...

It seemed to activate automatically.

But the explanation said patience was needed, so he set it aside for now. The most important thing was money.

Calm and focused, he linked his bank card on the pale blue screen to his Mitsubishi UFJ savings account and silently commanded a withdrawal.

Buzz—

His phone vibrated in his coat pocket.

Tsukasa pulled it out, the screen lighting up automatically with a notification from his banking app.

[Mitsubishi UFJ Bank: Transaction Alert: Amount credited 2347.9 yen; Transfer time: June 27, 19:23; Account: ****0616; Type: Transfer from another account; Balance: 1,638,762.9 yen]