No, it was too rough.
Looking at Shuji Tsugawa curled up on the floor like a quail, Hayashi Yoshiki was not entirely satisfied.
But that was due to his own shortcomings.
Spider's gear was efficient—potent in effect and with almost no delay in activation.
To be fair, it was incredible that Hayashi had reduced Tsugawa to this state with just a single sentence. But this wasn't an illusion—it was hypnosis.
Spider could draw thousands of spectators into elaborate illusions with minimal movement and no unusual reaction from the audience. Hayashi, by contrast, knew he was nowhere near being able to affect someone like Gin. And the overreaction of Tsugawa didn't align with his intended goal.
(Still, since I have the opportunity, I might as well see how far I can push it...)
"Calm down, Shuji Tsugawa."
Hayashi's voice was low, soothing.
According to the books, hypnosis was most effective in calm, stable environments. The hypnotist's tone played a critical role in deepening the subject's immersion.
But Shuji Tsugawa was still trembling, gasping.
"Don't be afraid. There are no police here. You did everything perfectly. No one will find out."
"Can you calm down now?"
"That's right. Breathe deeply. Can you tell me why you're so scared?"
"I... I killed someone."
"Can you tell me more about it?"
Just as he spoke, Tsugawa's face contorted with hesitation.
Hayashi's eyes narrowed.
His surface-level consciousness was starting to emerge—panic returned to his eyes. Then he froze in terror when he looked at Hayashi again.
"You—you heard that?!"
Hayashi didn't respond. He simply observed and thought.
Was it because Tsugawa had been mentally unstable lately? After all, he had just murdered an employee two days ago, and today the police were sniffing around. He must've been rattled.
Perhaps the hypnosis worked so easily because Tsugawa was already at his mental limit.
Tsugawa, now clearly recognizing Hayashi, realized what he had confessed—and what the young man in front of him might do with that knowledge. Desperation surged.
No. He had to stop this here.
The man leaped at Hayashi, lunging with both hands toward his throat.
Hayashi's response was a single, merciless kick.
The sole of his leather shoe struck Tsugawa square in the gut, knocking him flat. Without pause, Hayashi stepped forward and drove his heel into the older man's chest, pinning him.
"Let me go!" Tsugawa gasped.
"I will, but give me a moment."
Hayashi pulled out his phone and calmly dialed.
From beneath Hayashi's shoe, Tsugawa squirmed in panic, realizing what was happening. But the pain in his abdomen and the pressure on his chest left him too weak to resist.
"Hello? Officer Megure?"
"Ah, that's just Director Tsugawa from the library."
"He murdered Tamada, the missing employee because he discovered his drug operation."
"And I've already restrained him. Please come pick him up."
"Yes, thank you. He's quite a simple man—there's no danger."
On the other end of the call, Inspector Megure had gone pale the moment he heard the words "drug dealer". But when Hayashi calmly described Tsugawa as "simple" and "not dangerous", the older man was completely baffled.
You call that not dangerous...?
To him, Tsugawa's brute-force attempt at strangling someone was about as simple as crimes got.
"The time is now 18:19," he noted aloud.
"Given traffic at this hour, the police will need at least fifteen minutes to get here... So until then, would you mind helping me with a few more experiments?"
Since the Death Note entry specified that Tsugawa would "never mention what happened between 18:10 and 18:40", Hayashi could safely proceed with further hypnosis trials.
The police arrived three minutes later than expected.
Inspector Megure Juzo stormed into the library with several officers, only to find Hayashi Yoshiki calmly flipping through a psychology book.
"Uh... Brother Hayashi? Where's the drug-dealing director you mentioned?"
"Mr. Tsugawa is over there by the bookshelves."
Hayashi closed the book gently—it was titled Psychological Stress Release.
"Are you alright?" asked Detective Sato Miwako, stepping forward with a tense look.
She was one of the top officers in the Investigation Division and rarely missed operations involving high-risk arrests.
"I'm fine," Hayashi said with a soft smile, charming and composed. "Mr. Tsugawa is quite calm now. You can just go ahead and arrest him."
Sato glanced at Megure, who gave a cautious nod. Then she turned to her team. "Let's go."
"Oh, and Officer Megure," said Hayashi as they walked away. "If you're still searching for Tamada's body, try the elevator shaft."
Megure's eyes widened. "Did you find it?"
"I didn't see it myself. Just a guess," said Hayashi, smiling faintly.
Meanwhile, Detective Sato and her team reached the bookshelves and found Tsukawa, standing calmly.
Without resistance, he pointed to a nearby cardboard box. "All the drugs are in there," he said plainly. "And yes, I killed Tamada too. You can take me away now."
The level of cooperation stunned the entire team.
Sato stared in disbelief, then cautiously stepped forward and cuffed Tsukawa, who held out his hands willingly.
What in the world...?
At the same time, Megure and his officers retrieved the body of Tamada from the elevator shaft—exactly where Hayashi had guessed.