Chapter 20

Chapter 20 is the twentieth chapter of the Dead Mount Death Play manga.

Synopsis
After asking the Fire-Breathing Bug if he agrees that "life is such a puzzle," Tena Sorimura introduces himself by name and by the moniker "[Phantom] Solitaire." As he expresses his pleasant surprise at how the Bug answered his summons so readily, his cellphone rings; and as he reaches for his phone, he remarks that he finds the song [ringtone] soothing and that a surprising number of people do not know the song's name despite its fame.

He idly asks if the Bug knows its name before asking if he can have a moment to answer the call, prattling on about how the phone is a 'burner' he got from "the Grocer"—whom he assumes is calling to make sure it works. However, when he puts the phone to his ear, it is not the Grocer whom he hears but the Bug—who quietly says that the ringtone was "El Bimbo," one of Paul Mariat's best-known songs.

Deciding to ignore the question of how the Bug obtained his number for the time being, Sorimura asks why the Bug is wasting data and battery charge on a call when the two of them are meeting in person. In a halting voice, the Bug says he does not want to hear such things from someone wasting their life, before demanding how Sorimura found out about him and 'the computer'.

Sorimura chuckles, but in the next moment is on the alert; he whips out a playing card, which bursts into flames not a moment later, and—lowering his cellphone—asks if the Bug is trying to 'burn' him like he did his 'pathetic' impostor. Calling him a "foolish moth," the Fire-Breathing Bug says that he can "fly into the flames, for all [he] care[s]."

In the abandoned building, Takumi Kuruya examines the antique radio and remarks that Sorimura is on "a whole other level" if he can hijack airwaves. Misaki Sakimiya affirms to the Corpse God that even she knows Sorimura's name, and Takumi asks the Corpse God if there were any "notorious enemies of the state" back in his homeland. The Corpse God rattles off a list of entities that could potentially fit the bill, ending with "Pirawizzo, the venomous dragon of destruction" known as the "king=killer of Nyanild"—a creature considered on par with Shagrua Lugrid the Calamity Crusher.

Inwardly, the Corpse God reflects that it was this rumor that made him hope the Calamity Crusher would be capable of killing him. Out loud, he expresses surprise that dragons apparently do not exist in this world, and Miyabi Hosorogi suggests they do a thorough comparison of creatures in the Other World to mythological creatures in this world. The Corpse God agrees that there may be more similarities to discover—like the fact that this world also has fire and wind spirits.

The Fire-Breathing Bug sets Sorimura's recording equipment ablaze, and Sorimura compares him to a fire spirit before asking if the Bug will not hear him out—after all, what Sorimura has to say might benefit him. The Bug asks what he is talking about; with a grin, Sorimura calls that a "silly question" and that this is "idle chit-chat" and envelops the two of them in a large flurry of playing cards.

While the Bug is busy setting the cards on fire, Sorimura leaps off the roof; into his cellphone, he declares that he actually loves the concept of 'waste'. Drifting through the air via balloon cluster, he declares that the key to enjoying life is to enjoy waste and muses that human emotions could be called 'waste'—musings which the Bug dismisses as sophistry, countering that emotions like joy and pain are inherently built into life.

Sorimura's balloons ignite, and Somiura hastily agrees with the Bug as he lands back on the roof. He objects that he was merely engaging in wordplay rather than sophistry, using a wall of cards to shield himself from the Bug's flames, and compliments the Bug on seeing through all his babble as nothing more than a misdirection attempt.

The cards burn away with Sorimura nowhere in sight, his sliding phone abandoned on the ground. From where he is standing atop the Bug's umbrella, Sorimura remarks that it must feel odd not to 'feel' his weight—something that he says is still as much of a gimmick as the Bug's own fire is. That the Bug's fire is not truly magic or supernatural is disappointing—so much for him being an otherworldly fire spirit—but the Bug says he has no interest in fairy tales.

Sorimura counters, "But what if fairy tales become reality?", citing the Shakuzawa Building fire as something which involved true extraordinary phenomena. Specifically, it is possible that beings from another world have infiltrated their "dishonest world," and he is sure that the Bug must be curious as to whether or not these "somethings" are bugs that warrant erasure.

The Bug asks what Sorimura plans to do if he decides the being[s] need[s] to be wiped out, and Sorimura says he will only decide when the time comes; for now, he has the potential to be an ally or enemy. The Bug finds this odd, since all Sorimura has done is pursue the occult up until now, but Sorimura reminds him: he loves things that are a 'waste'.

In the abandoned building, Takumi says that the sheer scale of the various entities "Polka" described would make them literal "enemies of the state." The Corpse God's reasons that it is probably because the military forces of the states' back home are not as strong as the military forces of this world, and muses that his master is probably the one that comes closest to Sorimura. He also points out that he personally was treated as an "enemy of the world" towards the end.

Still, Misaki thinks that the criminals of this world do not sound as scary as those of the Corpse God's homeworld, but this world's lack of magic makes it difficult for the Corpse God to form conclusions—though he believes Lemmings would have been considered dangerous in his world.

Someone knocks at the door, and all pause for a long moment before opening the door together. They are greeted by two someones: Sayo Shinoyama, equipped with a shark-shaped sleeping bag; and a boy who greets Corpse God shouldering a backpack so comically large it cannot be meant for a 'quick trip'.

Trivia

 * Like the chapter before it, the Yen Press individual digital edition of this chapter uses "Phantom Solitaire" instead of "Mystery Solitaire," which was the interpretation used in past chapters.