TEORA – Reaching for the Top of the Organization: Simple Plan – Chapter 61

Translator: Daikyun

Editor: SirDavidHill

I’ll be your opponent, Ikeno-kun

As he said on the night before, Neito went to the grave of his savior, bringing along a serving of Shochuu. After which, he headed off to the Global Management Department of Metallica’s main office. He had, after all, needed to take care of ‘that’ matter.

He had been in Metallica for five years now, but the time he spent in the main office was undoubtedly a tiny percentage of those years. The longest time he was in the main office was when it was his first year in the Sales Department. Even then, his knowledge of the main office and its inner working was very shallow.

The reason for his visit to the Global Management Department was to recruit the man that would pull [Slayer] together with him. He may hate him, but Ikeno was the exact man for the job.

Neito had large plans for the future, and Ikeno was the man necessary to bring those plans to fruition.

Ikeno was both the Head of the Global Management Department and an executive. He had his own room, dedicated to being his office. Neito headed towards it. Before his room, Ikeno’s elegant looking secretary was there.

[Umm… excuse me…]

Neito called out to the secretary who was busy with her documents.

[Yes? Are you from our department? What do you need?]

She had adopted a cold tone towards him. Neito was a bit taken aback, but he pressed on.

[Umm, I need Ikeno… Can I speak with the Department Head?]
[Do you have an appointment?]

The blonde secretary immediately answered with a question of her own.

[Ah, no… It’s not like I…]
[I’m very sorry, but you can’t meet the head without securing an appointment beforehand.]

The blonde secretary again gave out a quick response.

‘Did I do anything to you? No, I might have done something bad in the past, but it shouldn’t affect you that much.’

… Is what he wanted to say, but she was too fierce. In the end, Neito just shut his mouth and cowered before her.

[Then, can I ask for your name and business needed? I can contact Chief Ikeno after I check if his schedule is free.]

‘Screw you Ikeno, what kind of instruction is that?’

Hatred once again boiled inside Neito. However, this may be something that Neito needed to do. Ikeno was an executive after all. He had no time to meet with every person that requested an audience with him.

[…Haa… I am Komori Neito. My business would be… umm… how should I say this…]

Neito curled his lips. ‘Would you like to revolt against Metallica with me?’ was not something he could blurt out to just anyone.

[Eh? K-Komori! Komori… the Managing Director…?!]
Neito was silent, but it was the secretary’s turn to panic.

[Ah, yes. I forgot I was the Managing Director. Haha…]
[I-I’m sorry for being rude! I will immediately inform the Head of this!]

While panicking, the secretary picked up the landline and dialed Ikeno’s number.

‘I see. Titles sure are convenient in these situations.’

Yet he felt bad exercising his power here.

[…Yes… Yes.]

The secretary was communicating with somebody on her device. There was no doubt in Neito’s mind that it was Ikeno.

‘On the other hand, he sure has risen up the ranks despite being young…’

There was no need for him to come up with a complicated plan, sacrifice lives, or need a strong army and competent subordinates. Ikeno rose up the ranks just by sheer competence and ability. Neito admired this.

On a side note, in the entire history of Metallica, there were only three individuals who attained Level Four while holding a position of Department Head of better. Those were: Ikeno, Neito and, unexpectedly, Niina.

[Yes… I understand. Then I will bring him in.]

Their conversation had ended.

[Thank you very much. Then may I?]
[Ah, no. Chief Ikeno is not here. He is using the underground training room this afternoon.]

‘Even he is doing that much, huh? I may not like him, but he is doing his job properly.’

※※

Guided by Ikeno’s secretary, they made their way into the locker rooms of the underground training room. Benches and vending machines were lined up inside. A large fortified glass pane was on one side of the room to give a view of the training hall.

The training room was a huge flat space, shaped into an arena. Small spheres floated inside the area in high speeds and emitted some sort of laser beam periodically.

One person was on the receiving end of these beams. Unsurprisingly, it was Ikeno.

His feet and shoulders, as well as his whole body, was covered in some machine armor. That armor had some sort of thruster which propelled Ikeno at high speeds.

Neito saw something similar in the past. It was the silver lined armor which the Harrison facility once housed, Beetle’s battle armor. Although, this was clearly a more improved version of that armor.

‘Is that the [Break – Gunblade] he’s wielding? It’s been a while since I’ve seen one but its more modified now.’
With the use of Crimson’s technology, it was now possible to store energy within the sword and release intense laser beams to act as the blade’s edge. It was most likely a new hybrid model that they were experimenting on.

Moving in high speeds, Ikeno used the sword to cut up the spheres floating and sometimes used the armor’s [Gun mode] to shoot them down.

On the display panel of glass were the words ‘Battle Simulation Level: MAX’ displayed.

[Did that guy get modified?]

Neito may be a modified human, but when not transformed, he couldn’t do the things that Ikeno was doing now. No matter how high-tech the equipment may be, without the physique and the mental fortitude, you couldn’t operate such technology.

[No, Chief Ikeno didn’t undergo any modification. Chief Ikeno was the one who came up with the idea of this Training Room, and he was already able to train in the max level of the training room when it was established. His physique is certainly amazing.]

The secretary looked at Ikeno through the eyes of a woman.

‘Ah, I see. This person is also ‘that”

[…Hmm, from the beginning… huh? Then let me guess… He kept it a secret after this place was established, but when it was discovered, he gave out a perfect demonstration… Am I wrong?]

[Eh, ah, yes. It is as you say. But how…?]

‘As I thought.’

Neito gave out a bitter smile.

No matter how much of a genius Ikeno may be, there was no way he could pull off something that superhuman from the beginning. Even in his transformed form, Neito could not pull off such maneuvers easily. That was suspicious enough.

The most probable situation was that Ikeno had received some enhancement after getting help from Harrison and Crimson. He trained himself throughout so he could wield such equipment comfortably. Nobody would’ve known this.

[He’s still a sore loser that likes to look cool after all this time huh? I’ll give him that.]
[Eh?]
[No, don’t mind me. I think this is far enough, I can manage by myself here. Although there is one thing I’d like to ask of you.]

On the glass display panel were the words ‘Battle Simulation Level: MAX – End / Score: AA’. Those floating spheres seemed to also stopped moving.

[B-But…]

After hearing Neito’s ‘request’, the secretary had a concerned face but as she was speaking, a voice came out of the room’s speakers.

[Nanase-san, can Director Komori and I have the room by ourselves?]

His sweet, yet boastful voice sounded off into the room. Of course, it was no other than Ikeno. After hearing these words, the secretary bowed and retreated from the room.

After confirming that she left, Ikeno invited Neito into the training room. Ikeno had no plans of going out of the room to meet him.

‘Does he plan to continue training? Or does he want a one on one match with me?’

While he was thinking about this, Neito went into the room. It was hard for him to breathe here. The air was very thin inside.

[…It’s been a while, Ikeno.]

The last time they met was in the research room on Purgatory Island.
Ikeno still showed a steady expression despite going through his tough training.

[What do you want?]
Ikeno spoke sharply.
They still couldn’t get along after all this time. That’s why Neito also replied sharply.

[I’ve come to recruit you. Revolt against Metallica with me, and take charge of the new company I made.]

※※

(Ikeno’s POV)

Ikeno was currently an executive. He was heavily involved in the planning and coordination of other departments, and it could be said that he was a ‘Businessman’.

Ikeno kept that ‘Businessman’ mindset as he rose through the ranks. Of course, he didn’t forget to train himself either. Being in an Evil Organization, having skilled fighting abilities was required. One cannot be a warrior just by ‘sitting on your desk and thinking about it’.

Currently, Ikeno had experienced many battlefields as he rose up the ranks. He may be threatened by inner company politics at times, but the fact that he was in his current position proved that he somehow got over them.

Of course, this also applied to his private life. There were some entities that wanted him to fail in his position so they could take over. As he knew this, he was always on his guard.

This could be shown by looking at his schedule today. He took care of every task needed to complete by noon, and at two in the afternoon, he headed off to the training room to train. He would take a shower after the training and go back to his office to take care of any remaining tasks. Of course, he had plans to spend the night with women after work too.

Only, while he was training, someone unexpected came to visit.
Komori Neito. He was a fellow employee whom he entered the company with. He currently was the Managing Director.

There was no need to say that this man was not here to banter with him. He knew that much.
He could not just outright refuse him. No matter how savage and cold-hearted his methods may be, reason backed it up, making it a huge factor for success.

The words that came out of the man before him exceeded his expectations.

[What? Say that again?]

Ikeno replied to Komori.
To be frank, he had already predicted that Komori would revolt against Metallica one day.
It was predictable from his past movements. Komori was a person that would desire power no matter the cost. For Metallica, no, for Komori Neito himself, he desired this power.

It was not weird for Komori to covet power. After all, Ikeno himself wanted to take over the world.

[Come with me, Ikeno.]
Komori continued on.
That was the unexpected part.

[Why?]
[…Because I need you.]

Komori explained his plan.

They would splinter and revolt from Metallica, creating a new company named [Slayer]. They would defeat every Evil Organization and return to Metallica then. From that moment on, Metallica would become the greatest Evil Organization, and they would stand on top.

Ikeno thought about his current situation as calmy as expected given his position.

‘I see. There are some things that I am uncertain about, but I have the whole picture. Then, that would explain my importance in his plan.’

It became clear how both of them were the opposite of each other on Purgatory Island. They each walked their own paths since then, and he knew this well.

Komori is weak. He was definitely weaker than him. That was why he could come up with such a sinister plan and didn’t hesitate in using it. If he didn’t do that, then he never would have won.

As a result, he was elevated to his current position and greatly praised for it. That was enough to showcase his talent and capabilities.
An evil charisma. There was no other word for it. He wasn’t just some trash who managed to rise up the ranks based on luck.

Komori must have known that since he, Ikeno, was the head of the Global Management Section, he had access to information and technology not commonly shown to the public. That much was obvious after Komori looked back to the event with the Maroon 5. The evidence was there, Ikeno had access to the hard to obtain Beetle Crystal.

Like Komori, he also had his own subordinates. If listed, Komori’s assets would be counted as the now controlled Crimson, the Santana, the soon to be integrated Global Management’s technology, and Jamie Rockaway, who Tsurugi was in charge of. As a mid-sized company, it was formidable. Having this much, this was a huge amount of power granted to one person.

He may hate Komori, but it was a matter of the person, not capability.

[I see. I can understand where you are coming from.]
It was certainly reasonable. However,

[I have no plans on hopping on board.]
He sharply rebutted. This was not the result of the hatred he had for Komori.

[I agree that if I joined you, the success rate of that plan would increase, but there is no other word than ‘rash’ to describe your plan. Why do you have to go to such lengths and take that risk?]

Komori’s expression didn’t change. In Ikeno’s mind, Komori surely didn’t expect that he would ask such thing.

There was a moment of silence.

[I have information which you yourself don’t know.]

Still, Komori did come prepared for this meeting.

[Is it that ‘Toujiro Black-Moa’ is dead?]

Ikeno cut right to the chase. He said as if it was obvious.

[Wha–… You already knew?]

Ikeno continued after the man known for his evil charisma gave out a surprised look.

[No, but it was easy to deduce and reason it out. You being in your current position and coming up with such a plan implied only one idea. And it seems that I was correct.]

He already noticed beforehand. Last year, Metallica and the president’s movements were very suspicious. Those suspicions then turned into confirmation.

The man called Komori was naive at times like these.

[Is that all then? Go ahead and create that new organization of yours then. Then go and get crushed. As a fellow worker, I’ll be gracious enough to offer a single incense stick after your death.]

There was a high probability that Komori’s plan would fail. If that were the case, Komori would surely die. If he died then, Ikeno would win over him by default.

[Are we done? I’ll continue my training. I don’t like my time being wasted on nonsense. You can go now.]

Ikeno pointed his [Break-Blade] at Komori.

Receiving Ikeno’s words, Komori let out his own response.
His expression had changed.
It was an expression he had never seen on himself before. It was a cold and dark expression.

[… Jeez, are you sure? You already know Metallica’s plans. I’m not so sure if you are acting on behalf of the interest of Metallica right now… Even if I cut you down now, nobody would complain since I did it in Metallica’s name.]

[I really don’t care. Come at me if you can… You can think of me as a training partner. Instead of a training based on mech-armor, this will most assuredly be more amusing. There’s nobody more experienced than me in bringing down heroes from the Rocks Organization. If you want, I can give you a handicap, Ikeno-kun.]

Komori was intimidating him.

[Haa… this isn’t some ‘If I defeat you, I’ll have you join us’ type of thing, right? Do you think I’ll fall for such a ridiculous stunt?]

Komori’s intimidation was certainly impressive. He didn’t expect less from the man who had conquered Crimson.

Still, that was it.

Ikeno also had a career. He wouldn’t lose to Komori’s pressure here.
It was obvious that he was provoking him.

[No, I didn’t say such a thing. It’s just, there’s no way that you can defeat me. The results are already final.]

Komori lashed out with contempt.

‘Me? Lose to you?’

Those words floated around inside Ikeno’s head.

‘Are you getting over your head after your promotion to Managing Director? You certainly are exceptional, and with that [Spiritual Energy], as well as that shrewd mind of yours, you’re certainly above average. That’s it, though. Those traits added together is not something I can lose to, even if you’re a modified human.’

He knew that he was being deliberately provoked, and he was now following along with the pace that Komori had set.

[Haa?! You want to try it out?]
Ikeno didn’t care anymore.

This was probably the last time he would see Komori. Komori would die leading the company [Slayer]. If that were the case, it wouldn’t be so bad to settle who was actually better among them before then.

Even if he lost, there was no way Komori would kill him. He needed him alive. He still had no plans on going with Komori.
If Komori had the intent to force Ikeno to work for him, he knew that Ikeno’s productivity would suffer in retaliation.

On the other hand, Ikeno wouldn’t need to restrain himself. Even if he ended up killing him, he had enough supporters to back him up when needed.

Komori’s words had also been recorded by the room. If needed, he could manipulate those files later. If they found out that Komori was planning to revolt, there was no doubt that they would drop the case against Ikeno immediately.

Of course, it would be futile if Raz himself would look into the case. Ikeno’s influence didn’t extend that high on the corporate ladder. If that happened, there was no way out other than to make a deal with Raz. Raz would not tolerate losing Komori and himself from Metallica.

In other words, this situation greatly favored him despite their difference in strength.

Ikeno didn’t think of this as a cowardly move. He had to make do with whatever he could. This series of thought also applied to Ikeno’s training, business dealings, and connections.

‘Komori must be thinking about resolving this situation at this moment. I don’t know what he is thinking, but I have the upper hand. It’s my win.’

‘Did he think that I would back down just because he’s a modified human? It would have made a difference if I wasn’t aware of that point, but it wouldn’t affect anything now.’

‘Did he think he could surprise me with just this?’

Ikeno was confident in himself. He had already mastered the [Hybrid Technology] he had on hand.

This mastery was the result of long hours of planning, determination, and a training plan that made him bleed freely.

He also understood [Evil Silhouette] thoroughly now. Being able to understand his enemy, Komori was no more than a regular human before him. He was already superior to him in reaction speed, judgment, and physique. There was no way he could lose.

[… What’s the matter? Aren’t you going to transform? Come at me anytime.]

Ikeno himself started prompting his thruster while taking a battle stance.
The sound vibrated within the room and the blade started to glow.

[Oh dear… Are you going to wait for me to transform? What a tepid fellow.]

Komori took a step back, and loosened his necktie and stared straight at him.

The two of them were now facing each other head to head. The air between them was tense.

[… Transform.]

Upon saying it in a small voice, Komori was covered in dark light.

Before Ikeno was a demon.

Ikeno increased his thruster output and accelerated forward. Without paying heed to the demon’s appearance, he swung down his high-tech blade.

※※

Sorry for the late upload lads, the chapter was longer and more complicated than expected.

1AM thoughts with Daikyun:

A gingerbread man is sitting inside a gingerbread house.

Is the house made out of his flesh?

Or is he made out of the house?

He screams for what he does not know.