Chapter 1: The Accursed Game
In this world, there exist people with a superb sense of smell.
A famous producer who raised many outstanding singers was quoted saying: “A real person will definitely look dazzling.” This wasn’t just a hyperbole, but that to the eyes of a thoroughbred, musicians with potential just look as if they’re covered in light.
No matter whether they’re performing in live houses that are small or on the roadside, a producer with the ability can use his eyes to search out singers who have a chance to make it big. And the producers make their decisions based on how much the opponent sparkles.
In other words, this is called ‘The Art of Recognition’.
A sushi chef from an old shop in Ginza said,
“When walking in a fish market, the feet will naturally move towards the best fish of the day.”
This should be called the sixth sense. Only a chef like this who trained so hard in the art of sushi making could have such instincts. To an ordinary person, this could only be described as extraordinary.
The body would move on its own.
In other words, the body would ‘naturally react’ based on experience.
The chairman of a companies that manages comedians said,
“I can somewhat smell something from these young people that are continuing to grow.”
“This smell, well, it’s not whether it smells good or not, but whether it’s fragrant. Everyone’s smell is a little different. Anyway, it’s sour!”
Eh? Isn’t this just because someone didn’t take a shower?
One mustn’t be hasty and make such conclusions. At least this chairman did groom a few great comedians, and earned big bucks while managing the business. It’s probable that he could use ‘smell’ to sense other people’s talents.
In other words, he could ‘sniff out’ talent.
To raise a more radical example,
“Let me tell you. An angel is whispering to me that ‘it’s this one, this ticket will definitely rise~’, fufu.”
A genius stockbroker said this. An ordinary person would feel that ‘this is just ridiculous’ on hearing this explanation, but he did become a really wealthy man. From this pitch, one might think that he really heard an Angel whispering into his ear.
That’s probably it.
Anyway, whether this was a result gained from talent, hard work or innate experience, this ability is no different from superpowers to an ordinary person, and they used this instinct to develop into a target.
If this ability can be described through having a superb sense of smell.
Then it could be truly proclaimed,
That Katsuragi Keima had that ‘instinct’.
And that he had Heaven’s blessings.
It was completely a coincidence that he would get off from the stop—the previous train was stuck because of power outage, causing the tracks themselves to be inaccessible.
Keima, who came all the way out to buy bishoujo games, and Elsie, who accompanied him out, could only listen to the audio broadcast of the station attendant ‘Please take other modes of transport. We apologize for any inconvenience’. They got off three stops before their destination and walked out of the gantry gate. Keima used his PFP to check it out. It seemed that a bus stop near the station had a bus that would pass by his house.
