A person who carries justice on their back becomes a devil. Because once their words and actions have a core called ‘Justice’, they misunderstand it as having gained the right to punish ‘Evil’ in its name. They destroy other people’s lives with a smile, driven by a self-righteous sense of justice. That figure is none other than a devil. Don’t you think so?
In fact, I was killed by a horde of devils.
If only the internet didn’t exist. Or if the internet had been a mere ornament for unilaterally enjoying information, perhaps it would have ended as just a misfortune.
At first, it was just a prank. I got carried away with old friends at a high school reunion, and in that flow, we went to a riverbed and filmed a video of us playing in the river completely naked. I posted it on RootSpeak for our inner circle to enjoy. After a while, it started to spread, and thinking “everyone else finds this funny too,” I also uploaded a video of us making a racket at a convenience store and my best one-shot gag. But when dawn broke, I found myself in an unexpected situation. My face had been exposed. With my real name, to be so kind.
Even after making my account private, the momentum didn’t die down. Everyone judged my character based on their own selfish speculations. But after graduating high school, I was working a decent job. I was living a life where I sent some of my small salary home each month, and my relationship with my family was good. That all collapsed overnight. I was given the cold shoulder by my neighbors, abandoned by my family, and driven out of my workplace, so I had to move to another prefecture by myself. You could say it was my own fault. I even thought about killing myself.
“‘Do you know? Among the people who spread slander online, there are actually many with high social status. They have fulfilling jobs, stable incomes, and warm families, and yet they still attack others. No, they don’t even think of it as an attack. They evaluate others from a great height, decide what a person should be within their own narrow worldview, and try to correct those who deviate out of goodwill. Towards you, who are still young, they throw stones out of goodwill, and return to their real lives with satisfied looks on their faces, thinking ‘I did a good thing’. They aren’t interested in whether you were involved in a crime or not. It’s the ultimate entertainment for them.‘”
The person who saved me said that.
“‘Don’t you think a world like this is wrong? I want to change it. This society dominated by the bright darkness that is the internet. For that purpose, I want the voices of those who have been buried in the darkness. To defeat the devil, a sacrifice is needed. And a sacrifice that is the devil’s very heart—so, will you cooperate with me?‘”
To kill the devil, a sacrifice is needed.
However, to secure the sacrifice, various things must be sacrificed.
Name, status, family, social standing—and other entanglements that a universal human being might possess.
In that case, a person who possesses none of those.
—I’m the only one who can do it, right?