[Crossover] Akutagawa, Let's Build a Trading Space

Hungry, numb. Just another ordinary day, when a voice suddenly rang out in his mind: "Hello, Host. I am a System from... I can help you build a space. Sign a contract with me and build the largest trading platform in the universe!"

His dark eyes shifted slightly. It was an ordinary yet extraordinary day, perhaps the turning point of his fate, as Akutagawa would later reflect.

But the foundation had barely been laid for this grand project when he went out and ran into a certain naturally scatterbrained redhead. And the most important part was, he also got saddled with a bandage-wrapped, black-mud creature who wouldn't leave him alone.

The burden of keeping several people alive suddenly fell on his shoulders. Now he had no choice but to work hard and earn money.

It wasn't that big a deal. If all else failed, he could always withhold their wages, or even go out begging for food.

He accepted the contract. He earned money. He escaped hunger. He found a path forward... It was wonderful. Just watching it all was enough to make him happy.

Even though his own life was a numbing routine, day after day, and even though the basement was dark and terrifying, seeing someone gradually build a better life made him feel happy, as if he were experiencing it himself.

That was... enough, wasn't it?

But one day, that person stood before him. A familiar voice sounded, and he held out his hand.

A miracle that had never even existed in his imagination appeared before him. Nakajima Atsushi burst into tears of joy and, without hesitation, abandoned the prison that had held him captive.

1. Mainly Bungo Stray Dogs. Akutagawa/Atsushi, but there won't be that kind of content anyway, so it's not a strict pairing.

2. By the end of the story, the goal of building the largest trading platform in the universe still won't have been completed.

3. I haven't studied Japanese culture specifically. My references are mostly Chinese, so there may be details that don't work. Just treat it as an alternate setting.

4. Lots of headcanons. OOC is on me.

Theme: Violence and destruction lead to darkness, but work and creation connect us to the dawn.