It is said that life's encounters are governed by fate.
Tangled up in the threads of fate...
...are the ill-fated blossoms, pitiful and frail.
Lost in anger, sorrow, and tears...
Beyond the veil of midnight,
the retribution that you are helpless to reap shall be yours.
A butterfly, hanging upside down, that will head towards the light sometime
The reflection in the mirror as we cut our hair
Footsteps echoing in the hallway during class
The sound of rain follows us ceaselessly
Purely what we feel is blinding and can take the shape of a sweet flower
Or the shape of a poisonous fruit
Rain again today
I want to link that day to now, sky-to-sky
In this craziness, uncertainty
Will we be able to leave a trace of each of our emotions somewhere?
In this craziness, you gave me life
To what bounds can we safeguard one emotion?
In this craziness, uncertainty
Will we be able to leave a trace of each of our selves somewhere?
In this craziness, you gave me life
To what bounds can we safeguard each of our selves?
"Please, help me."
That one again, eh?
Day in and day out. Talk about persistent.
But you decided not to take that request, right?
Are we being ignored again today?
I swear...
J-Just a little longer...
That's enough for today.
What?
Oh, hello? It's me!
I'm starving! How about we go grab a bite to eat?
Yeah, I'm at the office right now. See you!
Man, if only I could make the acquaintance of Hell Girl,
this company could easily double in size.
Oh, but if that happened, I guess you'd be out of a job.
I'll see you bright and early tomorrow.
What? I have final exams tomorrow.
There's a board meeting.
Misato, who do you think you even owe the fact that you're in school?
"Dead Line Incorporated Dead Line Incorporated Reception Dead Line Incorporated Asano Planning, Inc."
Good night.
Good night, I'll be going now.
"Fujimi Housing"
"The Woman in the Tall Tower"
"Dead Line Incorporated"
Yes, the online shop Dead Line
is a company our president, Riho Kaifu, started
with a couple friends when she was a student.
Ms. Riho is the only one left of the original founders,
but with her rich knowledge of computers and business acumen,
she's grown the company to this size in just 4 years!
She must be an incredible woman.
All the employees look up to her.
Can you believe it?! In just 4 years!
Hey! When you put it like that,
you make it sound as if I used some unscrupulous methods.
I'm sorry. That was hardly what I meant.
Is this our new part-timer?
What?
I'm Onda. Nice to meet you.
I'm the president, Riho Kaifu.
I look forward to working with you, Ms. Onda.
Likewise!
Yes, so regarding the M&A of Midori Communications...
Mr. Midorikawa, the largest shareholder, is vehemently against it
and that puts us in a rather tough situation.
Please be persistent and continue to negotiate with him.
But it seems incredibly unlikely that he will change his mind...
If we do not give up, a providential wind might blow our way.
After all, that has been true in the past.
I understand.
Next, on the matter of increasing the number of host computers...
Please take a look at the data before you.
-Along with the expansion of the fiber optics network, -Oh, Ms. Riho...
-each home... -Oh, Ms. Riho...
With regards to that, you are a pro among pros.
We will leave it entirely in your hands.
I'm honored.
Those directors are all idiots.
I didn't need you to come in.
A girl that looks like she's in high school?
Yes. I saw her earlier in front of the bathroom.
Oh, that's probably Misato.
Misato Urano. She's supposed to be a distant relative of Ms. Riho's.
You'll see her around the office from time to time.
Misato Urano, huh?
I think she's in her first or second year in high school.
Her parents have passed away, so Ms. Riho's looking after her.
She's treated like a part-timer here. Sort of a real world education.
I had no idea.
But for all that she's related to our president,
she's absolutely no good with computers.
So, she's a part-timer, but about all she does is clean, make tea,
and act as a kind of companion when the president is working late alone.
I see.
And then there's Ms. Riho's old boyfriend...
Hey! You're talking too much!
Next up is news of a death.
The former president of Midori Communications, Raizo Midorikawa,
still the largest shareholder, has died...
Of the Midori Communications shares that I, Raizo Midorikawa, own,
I grant 75% of those shares to President Riho Kaifu of Dead Line.
Maybe "grant" is going too far...
Oh, well.
Okay, pop that on to that old geezer's PC for me.
Make it so it was written maybe 10 days ago.
I'll alter the file's property and registry.
So, which directory should I put it in?
I'll leave that stuff up to you.
Properties this, servers that. It's all gibberish to me.
I can't understand how people even manage to work with PCs!
Oh, it's time.
"Your grievance shall be avenged. Send"
Make it more extreme today.
Something they'll believe we'd want revenge for.
So it was uploaded by someone else...
It's just like the Miss suspected.
Ignoring us again?!
Maybe Hell Girl doesn't really exist, after all!
Misato, go through that homepage and find out who's behind it!
Should be a piece of cake for you.
Especially compared to stealing data on new products
or messing with account balances.
But...
Do you want to go back to being the shoplifting girl?
That's not it.
I tried that the other day at your request,
but instead, they came through our firewall and almost got in.
That's not my problem!
Shoplifting girl, huh?
Troubling.
Yeah.
"Loop"
Wow! This shop is a subsidiary of Dead Line?!
Huh? You know about our parent company?
My ex-girlfriend shopped with them a lot.
But I heard that company only employs women.
That even their part-timers are all women...
Now, they do.
There was a time when they had men like me, too.
But the focus of the company shifted towards women,
so the men wound up reassigned to outside subsidiaries.
When you get down to it, we were demoted, really.
There's no chance we'll be reinstated at the main office.
Oh, that's right! I can never go back to the main office!
Yeah, that's what being demoted means!
-I-I can never go back! -S-Sir, get a hold of yourself!
"Minato Ward Office"
"Partial Copy of Family Register Full Copy of Family Register Certificate of Residence Basic Resident Registers"
"Police Department"
"Yakitori Furusato An Establishment with Taste Yakitori Ramen Furusato"
Shoplifting?
It happens, right? Even in your store?
Sure, every once in a while.
That reminds me, I got an odd memo about a year ago.
Memo?
Yeah, it said that if we caught a shoplifter,
we were to contact the president before reporting it to the police.
Huh.
And then it turned out a girl I caught in my store
was related to the president.
Related to the president?!
Oh, no, no. Forget what I said. Never mind all that.
What?! After you told me all that?!
Ms. Riho's told us not to talk about it.
But...
Maybe I will tell you.
-What?! -About all sorts of things!
At the office, this girl is thought to be useless with a computer, but...
Nope. According to the shop owner, she's quite the computer geek.
She builds her own machines
and is supposedly capable of hacker-type work, too.
Conversely...
The president is no good with computers.
Oh, you knew.
Watching their dealings in her office, it was easy to figure out.
Furthermore, that girl and Ms. Riho are not related.
Oh, they're not?
I checked into it during the day.
Incidentally, the ex-boyfriend she started the company with
was apparently very knowledgeable about computers.
Though, they seem to have broken up before the company got big.
I get it now.
That's when she suddenly needed someone good with computers.
And she thought of how she could use a shoplifter to her advantage!
Make them help her in exchange for not handing them over to the police.
And she's the one that fell into that trap.
Well, that's the sort of illegal methods she's used to grow her company.
Really?
Hello?
Hey, Misato, I just got a call from some weird man.
He's demanding I pay 100 million
if I don't want the company secrets leaked.
Is it a hacker?
Finding that out is your job!
You listen to me.
Make sure you find out who he is before I get to the office tomorrow!
Getting in to work at this hour, eh?
Oh, my head hurts. Must be a hang over.
This is the issue you asked me to handle yesterday.
Why don't you go to school for once?
Okay.
Also...
Let's take a break from the Hell Girl thing for a while.
Staying up late night after night like this isn't good for my skin.
Okay.
Hello? It's me!
"Metropolitan Police Department"
The man whose body was found was Toru Kobayashi, age 33.
He was in the Metropolitan area...
The target is Toru Kobayashi, age 33.
I'll leave the method up to you.
Just take care of it quickly.
At last, with this...
At last, what?
At last, with this, you can get the police to arrest me?
If I'm questioned about further crimes,
you think they might turn up evidence that I murdered your father, too?
Like father, like daughter, I guess.
The way you're both good with computers
and the ultimate fate you'll both share!
Your father was the same.
In exchange for not pursuing sexual assault charges,
he ended up helping me.
Not that he was guilty of those charges.
"Copying Remaining Time 10 Sec Cancel"
But his guilty conscience got to be too much for him
and when he tried to report me to the police...
...he disappeared from this world.
It must have been tough for you to find my company.
After all, the fact he worked here was strictly confidential.
Urano...
No, Misato Tamura!
How...
I can't use computers,
but there's a handy profession called "investigator".
When I was having trouble after I'd gotten rid of Tamura,
you showed up at the perfect time.
It got me a little suspicious.
So I hired an investigator and had him look into it.
"-Cade PC Pavilion" So I hired an investigator and had him look into it.
"-Cade PC Pavilion"
You got caught shoplifting on purpose, right?
So you could infiltrate this company.
You also allowed that hacker to get in, so you could get dirt on me.
But too bad! I've turned the tables on you!
Your actions haven't been secret at all!
S-Someone!
It's no use. This guy took care of the security guard just earlier.
Don't you think anything of human life?!
Come on, after you kill one person, it doesn't matter how many you kill.
That's how I've grown this company.
You're definitely going to Hell!
We're talking decades until that happens.
Life is ultimately just a game.
Whoever enjoys herself the most before the game's over wins.
Don't let her get away!
Darn it!
It's because of contingencies like this that I wanted to use Hell Girl!
Men are so useless when you need them most!
Midnight!
That's right! Hell Link!
"Your grievance shall be avenged. Send"
Please, kill Riho Kaifu for me!
"Kaifu Send" Please, kill Riho Kaifu for me!
Please!
"Send" Please!
"Send"
You summoned me, remember?
Wh-Who are you?!
I am Ai Enma.
Hell Girl?!
Take it.
If you really want retribution,
untie this red thread.
By untying the thread, you will enter into a covenant with me.
The object of your vengeance will immediately be banished to Hell.
Right away?!
Not decades from now?!
Yes.
However,
once you have your retribution,
you will have to pay the price for it as well.
Curses come home to roost.
After you die, your soul will go to Hell.
This world is Hell!
As long as that woman is alive!
Your grievance has been heard.
Did you take care of her?!
At least answer me!
This is!
"Dead Line Incorporated" This is!
"Dead Line Incorporated"
Oh, right. I...
Kenji, are these the hard disks...
I-It's not what you think, Riho! I can explain!
H-He's dead!
Riho, what have you done?!
Like hell...I'm going to... let you people...mess up my life!
I've found my resolve, thanks to you!
No matter what methods I have to use,
I'll win the game of life!
Even if I have to sacrifice every person out there!
You'll be the first.
You'll be the first to be sacrificed.
You're next.
What are you doing in a place like this, Ms. Riho?
"Dead Line Incorporated"
I-In a place like this?
"Dead Line Incorporated" The gateway to Hell.
"Dead Line Incorporated" What?!
I told you it's your turn, didn't I?
O pitiful shadow lost in the darkness...
Demeaning and bringing harm to others...
A damned soul, wallowing in sin...
Care to give death a try?
Why?!
Why do I have to be killed over and over again?!
Not over and over.
What?
For eternity.
I consign this grievance to Hell...
Hey, did you hear?
The thief they caught last night is saying he killed the security guard!
But the security guard guy is alive and well.
That's just it! Maybe he was dreaming or something.
But talk about disappointing!
To think Ms. Riho was absolutely no good with computers!
It was apparently Misato that was doing all the president's work.
And I hear,
starting today, she's going to be living in Ms. Riho's condo, but...
Who are you talking to?
Huh?
Uh, who was I talking to?
That's what I want to know!
Good work.
How did you like the life of an "office lady"?
Sitting in front of a desk all day just isn't my thing.
Lost in the darkness...
Wow!
When I die, I'm going to Hell without fail.
We're talking decades until that happens.
Life is ultimately just a game.
Whoever enjoys herself the most before the game's over wins.
Yeah, that's true.
I'm going to enjoy this game to my heart's content.
"Misato Tamura"
Your grievance shall be avenged.
"Misato Tamura"
Always a dead end
There is no escape
I place my sorrow upon a bird in the sky
And I'll let it fly
This place is ephemeral
An eternity that binds me
Coming or going
All that passes by are dreams
This is a work of fiction and any similarities between the names of characters or organizations in this story and actual names are entirely coincidental.
Your name?
Haruka Yasuda.
You hate her?
Just because of what she saw that day through the window, Mother is...
I feel so sorry for her.
I can't stand to see her like this!
Your wish?
Banish her to Hell for me!
Your grievance has been heard.
Next time, "Early Afternoon Window".
"Hell Girl Early Afternoon Window" Next time, "Early Afternoon Window".
"Hell Girl Early Afternoon Window"