Chapter 1: Time, the Art Museum, and the Young Man
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Time.
Time is given equally to everyone, and no one can turn it back. Humans look forward to the time called the future, yet at the same time fear its uncertainty.
Meanwhile, some humans become trapped in the time called the past and push themselves into an endless abyss of terror. They live trembling at what has yet to come, clinging to what has already passed.
The time called the present is too brief, becoming the past before one can even grasp it.
Those living through war now hold on to the hope that the war will end someday. Yet at the same time, they are trapped by terrifying scenes from the past, when their loved ones were dying; suffocated by a present moment that feels as though it will never end; and left trembling before the uncertainty of the future, wondering whether a bomb might fall on the building where they are hiding.
Those suffering from hunger are no different. Even the King of Beasts goes hungry when it fails to hunt. The longer the hunger continues, the deeper the fear grows that they may someday die. In that sense, time becomes a more fundamental fear.
In the distant future, humans die. The King of Beasts becomes bare bones after fifteen years, while a mayfly cannot make it past tomorrow.
All living creatures fear losing their strength to aging, and the death awaiting them at its end. Living beings recognize the process driving them toward their conclusion, and the closer that conclusion comes, the more they fear it.
Even the most insignificant insects in the world recognize the rising and setting of the sun, the changing tides. Even creatures that live in darkness carry time within them, under the name of a "biological clock."
Time exists even for beings that are not human.
Even the planet that holds all life, even the star that holds that planet, will someday exhaust its lifespan and vanish. Everything in the universe fears time.
And that fear is directed toward me, who has existed since the birth of the universe.
*
A part-time job as a museum guard had less to do than Eigo had expected.
Eigo made a circuit around the exhibition hall, sat in a chair and blankly stared at a sculpture, then made another circuit. After doing this for an entire week, he thought he was getting a little tired of it.
"You worked hard. Have a drink."
After he had finished patrolling every floor, shift change came. When he entered the break room, two senior guards handed him some juice.
One was a fat guard with a friendly smile, while the other was skinny. Without much suspicion, Eigo readily accepted the juice and drank it.
"Thank you."
"By the way, are you sleeping here again tonight?"
"That's right... I don't really have anywhere else to sleep. Honestly, I took this job because they said it was okay for me to sleep in the break room."
"You're certainly an unusual man, Eigo."
One of the guards clicked his tongue in distaste, but Eigo merely chuckled. He was rather used to situations like this.
Taking a pocket watch from his coat, Eigo spoke to the guards.
"Anyway, it's almost time for your shift. Hang in there today, too."
"Sure. Get some good rest, Eigo~"
He did not remember much after the guards left. As always, Eigo heated a convenience store lunchbox in the microwave and sat down on the sofa. He only meant to lean his head against the backrest for a moment, but falling sound asleep like that was the end of his memories from that day.
*
About five minutes after Eigo fell asleep.
"Anyone in here~?"
The two men cracked open the break room door and peered inside. Eigo, a man in a guard uniform, was asleep on the sofa with his head lolling to one side.
"...He's not dead, is he?"
"Hey, go check."
One guard cautiously approached and held a hand beneath Eigo's nose. Fortunately, Eigo was breathing normally.
"Excuse me?"
There was no response.
"Are you sleeping~?"
He poked a finger into Eigo's nostril, tugged on his cheeks, and made ridiculous faces in front of him. Even then, Eigo showed no sign of waking up.
"Wow, those sleeping pills really work."
"...Everyone else just insulted me for being ugly, but this guy was always kind to me."
"What the hell are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"I just feel bad about deceiving someone like him."
"Oh, look at that. A thief worrying about a guard? Why don't you tuck him in while you're at it?"
"No, not that. Let's hurry up, grab the goods, and get out of here."
The thieves silently slipped out of the break room. The exhibition hall was quiet. So quiet that it was unsettling.
"All right, let's begin."
The fat man whispered as he put on his gloves. The skinny man swallowed as he stared at the display cases.
"Wow... I've... I've never seen these in person before...."
Beyond the glass of the display cases, famous works they had only ever seen in textbooks stood in a row.
"If we take just one of those, we could live without working for years."
"Eek...! Th-that much...?"
The two moved with extreme caution. They stepped over lasers, cut alarm wires, and carefully dismantled the glass.
"Don't let your hands shake."
"S-sorry... But I can't stop shaking...."
At last, they took out one of the works.
"...It's light."
"That's why it's even scarier...! What if it's so light that I accidentally drop it...?"
"Don't say things like that! It's bad luck!"
"Yeah, sorry...."
The skinny man carefully put the work into a bag and apologized. Then, a dull thump echoed from somewhere in the distance.
"...Did you hear that?"
"Y-yeah...."
"You cut the security camera wires properly, right?"
"I did.... Wh-why do you think we worked here as guards for a whole month...? I'm sure we disabled the alarm system too..."
The walls of the exhibition hall trembled faintly.
"Hey."
"Whyy...."
"This doesn't seem like it's because of us, does it...?"
"I don't think so...."
The moment he finished speaking, tentacles that sprang out from somewhere pierced through both of their bodies, killing them.
*
Late in the day, when the clock's hour hand pointed to noon, Eigo woke up.
"Hwaah~~ I don't know... I feel like I slept incredibly well today.... Oh, it's noon. Yesterday's lunchbox... I heated it up but never even ate it. Was I really that tired? Hehe, and today's my last day at the museum~"
Muttering to himself, Eigo headed for the locker room. As he took off his guard uniform to change clothes, he spotted a huge crack in the wall.
"...Huh?"
Following the crack with his eyes, he saw a collapsed ceiling. One locker had been crushed halfway in, and dried blood stained the floor.
Only then did Eigo realize that something terrible had happened. And the moment he recognized how strange things were, the entire building collapsed.
"What are you doing there, flower-patterned-panties guy?"
Two people in suits, armed with weapons, were glaring at him. Looking around, he saw police and firefighters stationed behind cordons, while crowds of civilians had gathered nearby.
"Uh... Getting ready to leave work...? I need to get paid, too...."
The two suited figures looked at each other for a moment. Then Eigo was dragged away wearing nothing but his underwear to a Public Safety interrogation room.
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