CH 1

Chapter 1 – World Transformation

“UWAAAAH?!!”

The boys’ cries followed shortly after.

“Did something happen?”

I dragged my aching body to my feet, only to find a scene before me that made me doubt my own eyes. On the sports field, there were guys and girls having gym class, but more importantly there were some figures that were running around the field.

There were some kind of humanoid lifeforms with green skin. They were about the size of a child, but they clearly weren’t human beings. They had pointed ears and glowing red eyes. The strange creatures with hideous faces were attacking the fleeing students with clubs, swords, and other miscellaneous weapons in their hands.

“O-Oi, oi… what kind of joke is this?”

Suddenly, a certain ‘something’ busted through the gym storehouse and came charging out. It looked like a demon with a blue body that was five meters tall, and it had a loincloth wrapped around its waist.

For a moment, I thought it was a prop of some kind, but it reached out with its giant hands and grabbed a student with fluid movements that wouldn’t be possible for a mere prop.

“N-No way…?!”

―Just like that, the student was tossed into its mouth. Those that saw what had happened trembled with terror, prompting another wave of panicked screams as they ran towards the school building.

….What the hell?

How or why this situation came about… I had absolutely no clue. Isn’t this just like a game or anime world?

Game? Oh yeah, those small guys… they kind of looked like goblins?

Goblins were weak monsters just like slimes that often appeared in RPG games.

“…That’s impossible… No, that…”

In web novels, there were certainly such stories, where dungeons and monsters suddenly appeared in the real world. But of course, such things couldn’t happen in real life. Everyone knew that. It was all just fiction after all.

“But…”

I was skeptical, but I decided to test out the words that ought to be used in this kind of situation.

“S-Status… Open.”

…….Nothing happened.

It seemed that I didn’t have the power to become the protagonist. Well, there was no way it would be that convenient.

“Damn… then how am I supposed to fight against those monsters?” (Bouchi)

I figured that probably there’d be people with powers gradually showing up who could fight against them. Apparently, I wasn’t one of those guys, though.

“Anyway, it’s not safe to stay here. I don’t know when I’m going to be attacked. I guess I’ll go back to the classro… no, probably not.”

Even if I went there, there wouldn’t be anyone there who would help each other. No matter how I thought about it, I would just be used as a sacrificial pawn if I returned.

In that case, the safer area wasn’t the school, but outside of it.

“But my bag is… well, whatever.”

My bag only had textbooks in it, and there was no way I was going to be going to classes under these circumstances. The school would probably be temporarily closed for a while, and, if not, it might even end up being closed for good.

I went around to the nearby rear gate while keeping a careful eye on my surroundings.

Fortunately, I was able to leave the school without encountering any monsters.

—

Even in the city, there were people screaming and rushing out of the buildings. It wasn’t like this for all of the buildings, but I noticed such situations happening pretty often. Inside one of the convenience stores, I saw one of those goblin-like things from earlier running rampant.

Despite this, there weren’t any monsters appearing in the roads. It seemed that they would only spawn inside of the buildings. Still, I never knew when they might start appearing on the roads, so I made my way towards my house with utmost caution.

Fortunately, I showed up at the bus stop right as it was about to leave, so I got on and sat in the back.

When I got on the bus, some of the people were startled at the sight of my swollen face, but I couldn’t be bothered with every single one of them. The people on the bus were calm, as if they didn’t know what was going on outside yet.

But gradually, they began to notice the unnatural happenings outside. There were people suddenly falling from the windows of buildings, or walls being destroyed. It was pretty easy to pick up on the fact that something strange was going on.

Everyone was trying to gather information on their smartphones, but…

“…There’s no signal?”

I was also looking at my phone to try and gather information from social media, but I couldn’t connect to the internet. Without a doubt, it had to do with the appearance of the monsters. That said, I didn’t have a way to get the signal back, so most of the functions on my phone became unusable.

The bus pulled up to my stop, so I flashed my bus pass and got off. My house was a few minutes walk away, but I could hear the sounds of screams and chaos in the area.

Could it be all of Japan? Or was the entire world in this abnormal situation?

If so, what would happen to the world in the future?

There was no way that ordinary human beings could compete with such monsters. Suppose that a dragon were to appear. Even if the JSDF were to be dispatched, they still might not be able to do anything about it.

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(TL: JSDF = Japan Self-Defense Forces)

We would have to use nuclear missiles or other unique weapons. But in that case, even if the monsters were wiped out, Japan would be finished.

“…It’s as if this catastrophe happened just to weed out the humans.” (Bouchi)

Humans could survive disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes with relative ease.

However, even if it took a long time, the best method to kill off humans was to introduce overwhelmingly powerful and evil existences into their midst.

In the history of mankind, the stronger race always prevailed. And now, it was the humans that ruled the earth. But right now, that domain was being invaded by monster species. Could humans resist this and survive?

I couldn’t help but feel as if the world was somehow posing this question to me.

“Damn it, why can’t this stuff just stay in the stories…?!” (Bouchi)

What on earth does God want with me when my day-to-day life is already so horrible? Just how much more pain does he want to put me through…?

Meanwhile, I arrived at my house. I checked to make sure there were no sounds coming from inside, then unlocked the door and went in.

“Good. Everything at home is peaceful as always.”

My parents had left me this house. I wanted to protect it for as long as I could without damaging it.

My first priority was to tend to my wounds. I went straight to the bathroom to wash my face and body.

Apparently, the gas was running still, and I was grateful for the hot water. However, I had the feeling that the water, gas, and electricity would probably soon become unavailable. I’ll do as much as I’m able to while I still can.

After cleaning up, I treated the wounds with ointment and some bandages.

“Ow, ow… They really had their way with me.” (Bouchi)

My body was covered in bruises. At least I’d always had a sturdy body constitution, so I had never broken a bone or gotten a fracture. I was thankful that my body was strong enough to take such brutal beatings.

After finishing treating my wounds, I turned on the TV, but it wouldn’t pick up any programs.

“I guess my information network is cut off then…”

As soon as the internet and television became unavailable, a human’s ability to gather information would instantly plummet.

“…Well, what should I do now?”

If the water supply was going to be cut off soon, the most important thing was to secure drinking water. And food.

Fortunately, I had just gone shopping yesterday, so my fridge was well-stocked. There was no need to panic.

However, I would eventually run out of food. If that happened, I would need to find a way to secure more food.

But would anyone even be selling food?

Under these current circumstances, who would willingly give food and drinking water, the most important lifeline of all, to someone else?

I was certain that there would be a panic in the city due to food problems in the future. Robberies and theft would inevitably increase under these circumstances as well. If people didn’t do that, they would ultimately end up dead. I would imagine that there’ll be some who will choose the path of killing and stealing to survive.

It probably wasn’t that distant of a future, to be honest. Japan, a country ruled by a constitutional system of law… would become a lawless land before long.

Would it be better to stock up while I can? There are supermarkets nearby.

But I would have to first withdraw money from an ATM and then make several trips back and forth to the supermarket…

“Ah, damn it, what a pain in the ass… In times like these, it sure would be nice if I had the ability to fly or teleport with some magic or skill of some kind.”

As soon as I had uttered such a complaint, something like a computer screen appeared in front of me.

“Ehhhh…..?”

[Unique Skill: <Shop> has awakened.]