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Chapter 181- Dangerous Organization Part 2
I told Serika and Haitani-san about the incident with my new neighbor.
After listening to my story, Haitani-san said,
“I’m sorry. I should have done a more thorough background check.”
That apartment was arranged by Haitani-san.
I think she felt responsible.
“It’s okay. I mean, apart from the explorers themselves, it’s impossible to investigate their family as well, right?”
“Well, it’s not that it’s impossible…”
Haitani-san murmured, with a hint of something else in her tone.
“But at least I should have checked if the older sister was a survivor of the Rakan incident during the Double Flood.”
“No, don’t worry about that. I think I got a good room.”
I left everything to her.
So, I have no right to complain that she didn���t do enough research on the residents.
Besides, Haitani-san seems busy enough.
“…But that younger brother of hers is a bit of a concern.”
Serika, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, murmured.
“A bit of a concern?”
Haitani-san nods slightly while I tilt my head to the side.
She seems to have an idea.
Haitani-san turns to me and asks,
“Kurashiki-san, do you know of an organization called ‘Association of Japanese Men Protesting Against Discrimination Against Men’?”
She suddenly asked me this.
I couldn’t help but frown and say,
“What is that fancy-sounding organization?”
I’m already feeling a little queasy from the previous topic.
“It’s a political group that’s been gaining strength in certain circles on the Internet lately. It’s not quite as serious as a political association, though.”
“Well, it’s pretty obvious from the name. What does this organization do?”
I asked,
“It seems to be absorbing the remnants of the ‘Rakan’ group.”
Haitani-san gave me an unexpected answer.
“The remnants of ‘Rakan’?”
Even if you call them remnants, ‘Rakan’ isn’t an evil organization.
It was just a super-black guild controlled by Junko Tozaki.
There must be some former members who are pure victims.
“I think I told you before, but the current situation is that other guilds are reluctant to accept former members of ‘Rakan.'”
“Ah, I remember you said that it would be unacceptable if they tried to introduce the methods of the Black Guild. After all, they were originally trained to let Junko Tozaki drain their levels. It’s likely that they don’t have a skill composition that allows them to do proper exploration.”
“Yes, you’re right, Kurashiki-san. The poor equipment they have to use also contributes to their unpopularity. What’s more serious is that, in many cases, people with basic stats that are unsuitable for explorers are forced to become explorers. There are quite a few people whose future as explorers is in doubt.”
By basic stats, you mean the stats when the person is at level 1, right?
In general, the following is a well-known template: “If you have three or more stats of 9 or less, give up. If you have two or more stats of 8 or less, give up. If you have even one stat of 7 or less, give up (except for Luck).”
So, it seems that even those who don’t meet these criteria can become explorers.
It makes sense that the stats of Junko Tozaki, who absorbed the levels from them, were low.
“So the explorers who got lost in the exposed rock were picked up by the Men’s Association…?”
So, the people who were brainwashed by the Rakans led by Seiji Tozaki were now absorbed by another suspicious political organization?
It’s a hopeless story.
“Well, it’s only a small part of them, but it seems that a considerable number of people are gathering.”
“What kind of group is this Men’s Association?”
Even if they have a political stance that you may not agree with, it’s still within the bounds of free speech.
However, from the way Haitani-san talks, it sounds like they’re up to no good.
“The ‘Association for Protesting Male Discrimination’ – also known as the ‘Men’s Association’―argues that women’s recent advancement in society is the result of women being overly privileged in society. Their argument is that all privileges that work against the survival of men should be abolished”.
“What kind of privileges are you talking about? Like ladies’ days?”
I asked, thinking it was a joke, but Haitani-san nodded.
“That kind of thing is included. They use loudspeakers outside women-only gyms and yoga classes and broadcast the scene online. Do you want to see it?”
“I don’t want to see it…”
“That’s wise. The abuse, the discriminatory language, the sexual threats… it’s a scene that’s hard to watch.”
Haitani-san shakes her head, looking thoroughly disgusted.
“Won’t the police catch them?”
“Of course they will.”
“Is this what you call hate speech?”
“No, the hate speech ordinance prohibits discriminatory speech and actions based on nationality or race. There is no specific legal method for dealing with the activities of the Men’s Association. It seems that they are arrested for things like threats and interference with business operations.”
“If the police catch them and punish them, they won’t be able to continue their activities. I think only a very small number of men would agree with such activities…”
I’d like to say that there aren’t any, but as long as there are, that’s all I can say.
Speaking of the Women’s Association, Serika said that she would be troubled if she was told that it was because they were women, but now it seems that I’m the one who’s in trouble.
“The problem is that they’re hard to arrest. There are a lot of members who operate on the edge of the red line, like Kurashiki-san’s neighbor’s brother. They’re the kind of people who create channels on MyTube and distribute videos.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Even if you don’t have the knowledge or publicity skills to distribute videos yourself, like that younger brother, it’s easy enough to just film the activities of the Men’s Association and upload them. Then, even if you don’t do anything else, MyTube will promote them as recommended videos to its potential audience”.
“It seems like there are a lot of people who just do it to make a little extra money…”
Just listening to this is enough to make you feel depressed.
“Of course, if that’s all there is to it, you could say that freedom of speech means that we should tolerate such unpleasant discourse to a certain extent. It’s just that if the discourse is strange, it will be criticized, and no one will pay attention to it.”
“Well, I guess so.”
Even though Sakurai-san’s younger brother is currently increasing the number of subscribers to his channel, the more he stands out, the more criticism he will receive.
In the Tokyo gubernatorial election, for example, there are always some obscure candidates who make political broadcasts that make no sense.
It’s the same with such people, and there’s nothing you can do to prevent them from appearing, but if the voters are reasonable, it’s impossible for such candidates to be elected.
“So what’s the problem?”
Serika, who had been quietly listening to my questions, spoke up.
“Originally, it would have been enough to just ignore them…”
“So you’re saying it’s become a problem?”
I asked back, and Haitani-san nodded.
“Yes. The problem is that they are becoming explorers one by one, and they are also recruiting explorers to join them.”
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