Hyper Swindler Series Vol 4 - Hotaru The

The volume opens not with action, but with conversation. Hotaru and Kagaribi sit across from each other in a sealed vault room. There are no gadgets, no hidden allies—just two sisters who speak in a language of lies.

Kagaribi reveals that she left the family not out of betrayal, but out of survival. She offers Hotaru a deal: join the Yayoi Group and abandon the "pathetic life of a street swindler." In exchange, she will reveal the truth about their mother’s death.

What makes this chapter brilliant is the pacing. Author Ren Suzumi (who has cited Liar Game and Death Note as influences) dedicates nearly 40 pages to pure dialogue. Every sentence is a feint. Every pause, a weapon. By the end of the chapter, the reader, like Hotaru, cannot tell if Kagaribi is a savior or a predator.

If Volume 1 was the origin story (the “how she learned to lie”), and Volume 2 was the world-building (the “Tokyo underground of grift”), and Volume 3 was the empire-strikes-back tragedy—then Volume 4 is the dark night of the soul before the final act. hotaru the hyper swindler series vol 4

It’s less immediately fun than Volume 2. There are fewer laugh-out-loud moments and more gut punches. But it’s also the most literary volume. Longtime fans will appreciate the callbacks—a minor character from Chapter 3 reappears as a wealthy patron; a con from Volume 1’s “phone scam” is referenced as a rookie mistake.

New readers should absolutely not start here. The emotional beats depend on your investment in Nezu, The Auditor, and Hotaru’s fractured psyche. Start from Volume 1. You’ll thank yourself.

Volume 4 leans harder into philosophy than any previous entry. Hotaru has used dozens of aliases: Yuki, Rin, Mei, even a male persona named “Haru.” But now, she’s forgetting which one is real. There’s a recurring motif of masks—literally, she buys a cheap fox mask from a ¥100 shop and wears it during her most vulnerable moments. The volume opens not with action, but with conversation

The subtitle of this volume (in the Japanese edition) is “Uso no Naka no Shinjitsu”—“Truth Within the Lie.” The central question isn’t whether Hotaru can swindle her enemies. It’s whether she can stop swindling herself.

A brilliant side plot involves Hotaru trying to apologize to a victim from Volume 1—a elderly bookstore owner she conned out of a rare first edition. When she tracks him down, he doesn’t remember her. Or does he? The ambiguity is agonizing. This is not a redemption arc. It’s a reckoning.

This volume serves as a turning point: shifting from episodic capers to serialized character drama. It complicates Hotaru’s heroism, raising stakes for future conflicts and deepening the moral core of the series. Kagaribi reveals that she left the family not

The standout chapter in Vol 4 (Chapter 27: “The Gift That Keeps on Taking”) features Hotaru pulling a con on another con artist. A low-level scammer tries to sell her fake “exit plans” for criminals. Instead of turning him in, she spends 20 pages systematically dismantling his entire operation—reimbursing his victims, framing him for a crime he didn’t commit, and then offering him a job.

It’s absurd. It’s brilliant. And it perfectly encapsulates the series’ thesis: The best way to fight a broken system is to break it better.