High-rise buildings soaring all the way up to the sky, asphalt roads spread out like spiderwebs in every direction, shopping streets teeming with people, ornamental trees planted along the sidewalks, and cars speeding past while honking their horns.
A completely ordinary cityscape you could see anywhere. And yet, maybe because this was a different country, it had a different atmosphere from cities in Korea, even though it was still just a city.
"This is no joke..."
I’d caught a glimpse of it from the plane, but actually stepping into the city made it feel completely different. Maybe because this was a city the Japanese government had deliberately redeveloped, Tengu City’s center looked even better in terms of facilities and infrastructure than Busan, where I’d once gone on a school trip years ago.
For a place that got blown apart every time a [Spacequake] happened, it looked surprisingly intact. Apparently I wasn’t the only one thinking that, because the friends who had come here as exchange students with me were saying pretty much the same thing.
"Did Japan have a separate unit for restoring places destroyed by [Spacequake]s?"
"Yeah. Isn’t there that Disaster Relief Unit under the Self-Defense Forces? It was even on the news that they trained with our country not long ago."
"Seriously, that’s amazing. What kind of magic do they use to restore a city that got wrecked this badly so perfectly?"
"More importantly, let’s go in and eat already. I skipped breakfast too, so I’m starving."
As my friends marveled at the perfectly normal-looking streets of Tengu City, one guy whose stomach was growling shoved our backs while we stood there dazed and said that. The friend who got pushed snapped, "Don’t shove me!" in annoyance, but everyone agreed with the suggestion to hurry up and eat.
We’d arrived in Tengu City by plane early in the morning, but then a [Spacequake] had suddenly broken out somewhere in the city, leaving us stuck for a while. Thanks to that, our schedule had gone completely off the rails, and we hadn’t even managed to eat properly. All we’d had was stuff like the sandwiches they handed out at the shelter.
Someone had even tried to ignore the evacuation order because they had some urgent schedule to get to, only to get caught by the guards, but anyway, since we’d been taught in advance to always wait in a shelter if a [Spacequake] happened, we weren’t stupid enough to run toward the scene of an active [Spacequake].
"But isn’t Teacher Han making a bit too big a deal out of this? No matter how you look at it, we’re not idiots. There’s no way we’d just stand around and not evacuate when a [Spacequake] happens."
"We’re not Darwin Award winners who went to watch a [Spacequake] and got swept up and killed. Isn’t it basic common sense to evacuate first when a [Spacequake] happens? Haneul, what do you think?"
"That’s just someone with no brain. If they die, it’s a natural death."
As we were heading into a restaurant to eat, I answered my friend’s comment with a firm declaration.
When a [Spacequake] happens, you run first. That was such obvious common sense that there wasn’t even any point in saying anything else.
Originally, [Spacequake]s were phenomena that occurred when a Spirit, whose existence was classified from the public, manifested in this world, so footage of the [Spacequake] itself had never been released to the public. But the aftermath of a [Spacequake] was easy enough to find online with just a quick search.
Even on the TV in the restaurant we’d just entered to eat, we could immediately see the aftermath of the [Spacequake] that had occurred this morning.
Buildings and roads collapsed, and the streets were broadcast on television as a ruined, wrecked town.
The sight of a town that looked like it had been bombed from the air or struck by a meteor was the result of the large-scale vibration phenomenon called a [Spacequake].
"...Did Tohka manifest?"
I muttered to myself, retracing the faint memories of the original story that still lingered in my head. If I remembered correctly, after a [Spacequake] occurred, the AST, a special unit under the Self-Defense Forces, would be dispatched to subjugate the Spirit. But the Spirit was always too powerful, so the AST usually got wrecked.
But if I was Sans, could I fight Tohka and win...? The thought suddenly crossed my mind, but I wasn’t actually planning to fight her, and there was nothing to gain from it anyway, so I quickly put that idea aside.
Besides, I had no intention of doing something brain-dead like, "Wow! A [Spacequake] happened, so we can see a Spirit? Let’s go watch!" Even if I’d somehow become Sans for reasons unknown, if I got caught up in a [Spacequake], I’d die on the spot. Shido, the protagonist, hadn’t even gotten to see any of the Spirits yet, so there was no way I was going to go there already. Besides, I’d heard the phrase "Wow! Sans!" so many times that I knew, whether I wanted to or not, that Sans was a total glass cannon. Of course, he didn’t seem to be literally made of glass in the game, but even so, I had no confidence I could survive getting swept up in a disaster like that.
"For now, let’s eat here, and then head to the meeting place. I’m ordering, so decide what you want to eat."
As I blankly watched the breaking news about the [Spacequake] on TV, the girl acting as the leader of our group said that. Then everyone opened the menus on the table and started saying what they wanted out loud. I also looked at the menu my friend beside me had opened so I could decide what to eat.
"Deluxe Kids Plate...?"
"780 yen... That’s a kids’ lunch set. Haneul, you’re not seriously thinking of ordering that, are you?"
"Of course not, I just looked at it. I’ll have the Neapolitan spaghetti. Anyone want to add a salad?"
When I asked that, three other friends raised their hands.
It was a little late for lunch, but we filled our stomachs at the restaurant like that.
○○○
Originally, our schedule was to meet someone from Raizen High School at the airport, go through a few simple procedures, and then head to the prepared lodging. But the person we were supposed to meet had suddenly had something come up and couldn’t make it to the airport on time, and to make matters worse, a [Spacequake] had suddenly occurred the morning we arrived, throwing everything into chaos.
So we’d already abandoned the original plan and were now hurrying toward another meeting place we’d arranged over the phone in advance.
There were eight of us in total, including me, who had come as exchange students to Raizen High School. Five were friends I already knew, but the remaining two were completely unfamiliar faces. I wondered if this was one of those changes that happened when the world turned into a light novel setting, but since both of them were acting like they’d known me all along, it felt a little strange.
"Wow, why are there so many people here? It’s so chaotic we could easily get separated."
"Probably people who came out of the shelter late."
"Come to think of it, was this the place where the [Spacequake] happened this morning? But for a place that got hit by a [Spacequake], it looks incredibly intact."
"That disaster relief unit or whatever probably restored it."
"Just how did they even restore it?"
Maybe because the meeting place was still far away, everyone kept talking nonstop as they walked. I was also chatting with a close friend while walking down the road, but there were so many people around that it was a little overwhelming.
We were bumping into people here and there, and a crowd was pouring out of the shopping district all at once, making it feel like the chaos of a packed bus had been moved outdoors.
I heard the shelter had opened a little late here, but even so. Wasn’t there just too many people?
We were all grumbling about that together and still walking when it happened.
Woooooooon─────────
"...Huh?!"
The unpleasant wail of a siren echoed through the street. It was so loud the shop windows shook, and I felt a dull pounding in my chest. Startled by the sudden noise, the many people walking the street all looked up at once. At the same time, our group, who had been walking along, looked at one another and muttered, "No way..."
"Could this be..."
"A [Spacequake] alert?!"
It was the exact same siren we’d heard at the airport. We realized it was a [Spacequake] alert.
And what happened next was instant. The residents of Tengu City, who had experienced this situation many times before, acted before we could even recover from our shock and started heading into the shelters. The guard standing in front of the shelter also turned on a loudspeaker, telling everyone to come in quickly, and the crowd in the street, which had been moving around with no pattern and only a lot of numbers, was now heading for the shelters in perfect, orderly motion, as if they’d planned it in advance.
We finally came to our senses and started walking toward the shelter too. True to its reputation as the city with the world’s highest shelter coverage, there were shelter entrances everywhere on the streets of Tengu City.
The shelter was underground. Because of that, there were six escalators leading down, but they were already packed with people who had entered first, so we had no choice but to use the stairs beside them.
"Wow... Tengu City really does get [Spacequake]s all the time."
"Twice in one day... We only get them once a month at most."
We let out sighs of relief after safely getting into the shelter and muttered that. Some friends, having finally relaxed, immediately ran to the bathroom as soon as they got in, and a few others complained that they’d come to Tengu City for nothing and regretted applying for the exchange program.
The shelter was so huge it was hard to believe it had been built underground. Then again, this was a place where [Spacequake]s happened often. Compared to Tengu City, South Gyeongsang had fewer incidents, but it was still a place where [Spacequake]s happened frequently, and even so, this shelter was so much better than the one I’d seen there once before that it wasn’t even comparable.
"Aren’t we going to die here if we mess up?"
"Come on, [Spacequake]s are predictable disasters. And Tengu City’s shelter facilities are so good that there hasn’t been a single [Spacequake] death since the city was built. As long as you don’t do something stupid like fail to evacuate, there’s no way you’ll die. There’s no way you’d die here, right?"
"I-is that so...? Well, even if the material damage from a [Spacequake] is severe, the human casualties are worse with earthquakes or heavy rain..."
"Huh?"
The girl in our group suddenly tilted her head and made that sound. When I asked what was wrong, she said it was nothing, then suddenly said she had to go somewhere for a bit and ran off in that direction.
Was she in a hurry to use the bathroom...? I thought that while watching her back as she got farther away, then turned my gaze back to my phone.
Now that we were in the shelter, we’d have to spend at least three hours here. The AST would be busy fighting the Spirit outside, and then there’d be the time needed for the disaster relief unit to restore the city afterward, so we’d probably be waiting in the shelter for quite a while.
It would be boring to wait, but fortunately the shelter had Wi-Fi and even phone chargers.
All I had to do was look at my phone and wait for everything outside to be over.
"H-hey, guys...!"
"Hm?"
The very moment I sat on the bench, planning to quietly look at my phone.
The girl who had just run off in a panic came back, sweating profusely as she called out to us. Wondering if something had happened, we all asked why as we looked at her face, which had gone pale.
"H-has anyone... seen Younghee?"
"Younghee?"
The first person to react to the name Younghee was me. Younghee was another friend who had helped me back then along with Cheolsu, and unlike Cheolsu, who hadn’t applied for the exchange program because he couldn’t be bothered to go to Japan, she had applied because she wanted to eat sushi.
Even after we’d finished lunch at the family restaurant earlier, she’d been singing about how we should have sushi for dinner...
Come to think of it, where the hell was Younghee?
"Did she go to the bathroom?"
"I just went to check, and she wasn’t there. I looked through the whole facility, but I couldn’t find Younghee."
"Did you call her?"
"I did. But she isn’t answering."
At that, all of our expressions started to darken.
"Did anyone see Younghee before we came into the shelter?"
"Uh... I didn’t."
"Me neither. There were so many people I was too distracted."
"I’m short, so... I just followed behind Minsu."
"Huh? Hey, then nobody saw Younghee?"
No one answered. When asked if anyone had seen her, everyone shook their heads. An uncomfortable silence suddenly hung between us. At the same time, cold sweat ran down my back and made it damp.
"W-wait. Before we came to Tengu City, we registered GPS location tracking just in case."
"...Ah!"
As soon as that was said, everyone pulled out their phones and opened the app. On the screen, a map of Tengu City appeared, along with a red icon showing Younghee’s location.
And when we saw it, all of us gasped at once.
"Hey...!"
"Th-this...!"
We kept checking our phones, unable to believe our eyes. We even checked each other’s phones in case something was wrong. But nothing changed. On every phone we pulled out, the red icon was floating right in front of the family restaurant where we’d eaten lunch a little while ago.
"What the hell...! Why is Younghee there?!"
"W-what do we do? Should we leave the shelter right now?"
"Call her! Call her! No, why the hell isn’t she answering?!"
One person had been left outside the shelter, in the wrong place. That fact sent all of us into a panic. Half of us were stomping our feet and asking what to do, half were frozen stiff and at a loss, and I was the one calmly thinking things through while checking Younghee’s location...
"...Hey, I’m going."
"What?!"
"What did you just say?"
"I’m going to bring Younghee back."
"Hey, are you crazy?! There’s a [Spacequake] going on outside right now! If you go out there, you’ll die!"
As soon as I opened my mouth and said I’d checked where Younghee was, my friends immediately reacted strongly. But I shook my head and spoke again.
"It’s fine. I’m not going to die. And the restaurant Younghee’s at isn’t that far from the shelter. If I go quickly and come right back, it’ll be fine."
Going outside when a [Spacequake] was imminent was basically suicide. But for me, the story was a little different. I, as Sans, had the absurdly broken ability to move through space, so if things looked dangerous, I could just run to safety immediately. Of course, if I got caught in the [Spacequake] before using it, I’d die instantly...
Still, Younghee was one of my precious friends. And if a friend was in danger, did that really matter right now? If I had the "power" to save her, then refusing to use it and just hiding in the shelter was absolutely not the right thing to do.
"Anyway, it’s fine, so don’t worry. I’m not going to die."
"That’s literally the number one thing men say before they die?! What do you mean you’re not going to die...!"
"Should we at least tell the guard?"
"No, what could the guard even do? Buildings are flying around in front of a [Spacequake]...!"
As they bickered, my friends kept exchanging opinions. But even while they did, time kept passing. Since I couldn’t feel any tremors, it didn’t seem like the [Spacequake] had actually happened yet, but if it did, no one could say what would happen to Younghee, who was still outside the shelter.
It wasn’t the time to stay in the shelter until the result came out. Taking advantage of the moment when my friends’ attention was elsewhere, I quickly slipped away and ran for the exit.
I could hear my friends calling after me from behind, but now wasn’t the time to stop for that.
After hiding myself in a corridor with not many people around, I pictured the restaurant where we’d eaten lunch in my head.
Then I snapped my fingers.
『──This is not a drill. This is not a drill. A pre-shock has been observed. A [Spacequake] is expected. Nearby residents, please evacuate immediately to the nearest shelter. I repeat──.』
"...Ghk?!"
The instant my fingers snapped, a deafening siren slammed into my eardrums. When I opened my eyes after grimacing, I could see the restaurant where we’d eaten lunch just moments ago right in front of me.
There was no one on the street. The road that had been crowded with cars at lunchtime was now empty of even a single motorcycle, and an eerie silence hung over it. No people, no shadows, not even a single soul could be seen in the park or the shopping district.
"...Younghee! Hey, Kim Younghee! Where are you?!"
I got chills from the scene, like something out of a horror movie, but quickly pulled myself together and rushed into the shop, calling Younghee’s name over and over. But she was nowhere to be seen. I even checked the alleyways for a long time in case she was outside, but I still couldn’t find her anywhere.
"What the... The GPS said she was here for sure...?"
I muttered in confusion while looking at the red dot on the screen. This was definitely the place... so what was going on? I tilted my head and called Younghee’s phone, and then a ringtone suddenly sounded nearby.
"...Huh?!"
It was Younghee’s ringtone. Startled, I turned my head toward the sound and found a phone glowing faintly under a table in the empty family restaurant.
It was Younghee’s phone. Had she dropped it and left it behind...?
"Damn it, where the hell is Younghee──"
The very moment I muttered that and stepped out of the family restaurant.
Suddenly, a bright light burst forth from far away.
Blinded by the intense light, I reflexively shut my eyes and screamed, and then a violent explosion sound followed, along with a wind as strong as a typhoon slamming into my body.
"What the hell... what?!"
I couldn’t help screaming as I felt my feet lift off the ground. The terrifying blast of wind sent my body flying backward, and I slammed hard into the restaurant window behind me.
Crash! The sound of glass shattering rang out, and a sharp impact shot through my back, but I was too overwhelmed by the blast and shockwave surging toward me to even feel the pain.
I lay sprawled on the ground for a long while. Then, as the shockwave finally seemed to subside, I painfully pushed my fallen body upright.
"Ow, that hurts... Wait, was that the [Spacequake] just now...?"
Maybe because I’d fallen on my arm first, my left arm was throbbing. The restaurant window that had been closed just moments ago was now shattered to pieces, with only traces of it left behind.
Dragging my aching body, I stepped outside the shop. And the moment I emerged from the building, I was left speechless by the devastation before my eyes.
"............Huh?"
The town that had been perfectly intact just moments ago had vanished entirely.
All that remained was a massive crater. Inside the crater, which looked to be about ten meters deep, wires and water pipes were exposed.
"Oh my god..."
As I stared blankly at the scene, completely dazed for a moment, the phone in my pocket suddenly started ringing. Feeling the vibration travel up my thigh, I immediately pulled out my phone and answered.
"Haneul! Are you okay?"
"Ah, Minsu. I’m fine. More importantly, Younghee..."
"Hey, you don’t need to look for Younghee! She stayed in the shelter the whole time! We couldn’t see her because she came in through a different entrance! She said she just left her phone at the restaurant!"
"...What?!"
I widened my eyes in shock at Minsu’s words coming through the phone. For a moment I couldn’t make sense of it, so I asked, "What?" again, but then another voice came through the phone, not Minsu’s this time.
"Haneul, Haneul?"
"Oh, Younghee..."
It was Younghee’s voice. Hearing the voice of Younghee, who I’d thought was outside the shelter, brought up an emotion I couldn’t even begin to describe.
But the conclusion I reached overall was simple.
I’m glad... That was all.
"Are you okay? The GPS says you’re outside right now?"
"...I’m fine. I’m perfectly okay."
"I felt a huge vibration in the shelter earlier. Are you really okay? You didn’t get swept up in the [Spacequake] or anything, right?"
"I told you, I’m fine. If I had, do you think I’d be alive and talking to you right now?"
I let out a dry laugh and answered Younghee like that. Now that I’d confirmed Younghee was safe in the shelter, I just had to grab any nearby shelter and go back in myself.
You’re making people worry for nothing... I muttered that while thinking of Younghee on the other end of the phone.
"Anyway, I’m going to head back into a shelter nearby too, so once everything’s over later, let’s meet up aga..."
The very moment I was saying that over the phone and turning my gaze back toward the crater where the [Spacequake] had occurred.
In the middle of the crater. I met the gaze of someone standing there.
"Haneul?"
"Uh..."
At the feet of that someone was something that looked like a massive throne. And standing on the armrest of that throne was someone wearing a purple dress.
A silhouette that could only be seen as a girl. The moment I took her in, I immediately realized she was Yatogami Tohka.
And a little farther away from that girl was another someone.
Blue-tinted hair, and what looked like a black blouse that was part of a school uniform...
Wait, don’t tell me... Itsuka Shido?
"Hey, Haneul? Haneul! Why did you suddenly go quiet?"
"Sorry, Younghee! I’ll call you back in a sec!"
After hanging up with Younghee, I quickly pulled the hood of my hoodie up over my head and hurriedly hid my face.
The crater where the [Spacequake] had occurred, and Yatogami Tohka and Itsuka Shido encountered there.
I realized it immediately.
The original story had just begun.
"What the hell...! If that’s the case, then Kotori and Ratatoskr are watching this place right now too!"
This was no time to be standing around. I needed to use space movement and get the hell out of here right now...!
"───Ah."
A roar rang out. Tohka, who had been in my line of sight the whole time, suddenly sprang into action, pulled the sword from the back of the throne, and swung it straight at me.
A gradient rainbow-colored blade came flying toward me with fierce momentum.
The instant I went blank from the sudden attack,
───almost like instinct.
I used my power to create a wall of bones in front of me.
"...!"
And what came next was natural.
Blue flames rose from my left eye, and I thrust my right hand forward toward Tohka’s direction.
Then, swinging my right arm forward, I sent Tohka crashing into a nearby building with tremendous force.
With a deafening roar, the building collapsed. I looked once at the thick cloud of dust rising up, then once at my outstretched right hand, alternating between the two.
My body had moved on its own. I’d been so shocked by the sudden attack that I couldn’t do anything, but my body itself had used the ability as naturally as if it were saying, This is what I should do.
Almost like it was trying to protect me from dying...
"...Ugh. This is bad."
I’d reflexively counterattacked, but at least I could tell one thing for sure: the situation had become a complete mess.
When I looked up, I could see the AST in the sky, and Itsuka Shido screaming in shock.
I’d slammed Tohka into a building, but there was no way she’d go down from such a lukewarm attack.
Fortunately, it looked like neither the AST nor Shido had noticed me yet.
Quickly thinking of a place to run to, I used space movement and left the area.
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