Chapter 1

The pleasant time came to an end with a shrill noise. Takakura Raizou reluctantly opened his heavy, tightly closed eyelids. His embrace pillow was soaked with saliva, and the blanket was twisted and tangled, making it impossible to distinguish the top from the bottom. The cause of the noise was still ringing on the bedside table.

Raizou, who changes his alarm sound randomly every day, had selected a sound themed around a time bomb. The sound, fitting for the rushed morning hours, made Raizou's eyes narrow. His blurry vision was of no use, and he fumbled around until his right hand finally claimed victory.

After going through the troublesome confirmation screen, the annoying alarm fell silent every morning. He pulled out the charging cable and placed it on the desk. Only then did Raizou finally get out of bed. The creaking of the well-worn bed, rebelling against his movement, felt incredibly irritating.

"Haa, so tired."

Perhaps it was due to the late-night overtime. Raizou speculated about the cause of his fatigue. The email, sent just before the deadline, was already dispatched. It seemed he should have welcomed a bright morning filled with relief and a sense of accomplishment, but only the lingering fatigue from last month greeted him. Despite his gloomy mood, the sun streamed brightly into the room through the open curtains. Squinting, Raizou let out a small sigh.

Lately, he hasn't been in top form. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was in a terrible state. When Raizou turned his neck, a disturbing crack echoed. To change his mood, he headed to the sink. The worn-out floor creaked with each step, creating a duet with the sound of his bare feet. The mirror reflected the image of a man, Takakura Raizou, 33 years old, and single. The wrinkles that matched his age and the accumulated dark circles under his eyes were evident. In a futile attempt to resist, Raizou tried to smile, but his face remained aged.

"Being young-looking is a blessing, isn't it?"

Raizou still remembered how, as a new employee, he was mistaken for a mid-level employee and was asked about future schedules, which left him flustered. To shake off his lethargy, he turned the faucet and washed his face with cold water, combing his hair. As he focused on the sink in front of him, he noticed, to his dismay, a considerable amount of hair scattered around.

"This is ridiculous."

Despite not dyeing or growing his hair, what complaint did his hair follicles have? Raizou vented his frustration at his hair, but it was in vain. He took out milk from the refrigerator and a cup from the shelf, then sat at the table. Before eating, he reached for the remote on the table and turned on the morning news program, a habit of his.

"In a certain city of a certain prefecture, where a group of young people went missing while filming a video, it has been confirmed that communication with thirteen members of the Ground Self-Defense Force involved in the search has been lost."

"Off the coast of Yokohama, the container ship NTR, owned by ○○ Corporation, and the Ero-Sailor, belonging to Sailor Line, have sunk. Although the exact cause is unknown, both ships appear to have sunk after receiving a significant impact below the waterline. There is also suspicion that an unidentified submarine may have collided with them—"

"How unpleasant. Mysterious phenomena are continuing worldwide. Just the other day, there was a fuss about an unidentified aurora in Tokyo, and it feels like the world has gone off the rails."

The high-pitched commentator appeared on the screen. Raizou didn't particularly like this commentator, but he agreed with the comments. Since the end of last year, strange phenomena have been occurring on land, sea, and air worldwide. Raizou wasn't averse to watching dubious news on TV, such as a special program where a self-proclaimed shaman spread her arms and claimed to communicate with a deity, an interview with a man whose dog was taken by a green, human-shaped creature, and a story about how all the flora and fauna on a mountain were destroyed in an instant. Although it seemed implausible, it was somehow intriguing.

"Hmph!"

He dramatically opened a bag of bread and stuffed it into his mouth. The sticky texture and the overwhelming sweetness of sugar continued endlessly. Raizou realized that trying the new product, a melon chocolate caramel cream bread, was a mistake.

Frowning, he washed down the bread in his mouth with milk. In this manner, Raizou continued his sluggish morning routine, only to notice the clock. It was a good time to catch the train to work. After brushing his teeth, Raizou completed his final preparations. His morning routine, honed over a decade, was second nature to him.

He put on black socks and quickly buttoned up the ironed white shirt. After donning his suit and putting on his watch, he was ready. He checked his business card holder, smartphone, and work bag, the three essential items. With these, he felt a strange confidence that he could talk his way through any situation.

He put on his worn-out leather shoes, straightening the heels, and headed out. Raizou knew the trick to closing the well-worn door: he had to lift it slightly and quickly turn the lock. It was either due to the hinges or the overall deterioration of the apartment that the door frame had warped.

The stifling outdoor temperature made Raizou hesitate for a moment, but he stepped out without hesitation. He navigated the narrow hallway and descended the stairs, panting. He reminisced about his younger days, when such a task was effortless.

With a far cry from a rhythmic sound, only three steps remained. As Raizou was about to take another step, he let out a cry at the sudden change in his body.

"Ugh, ah? Ahh, ahh!!"

It came abruptly, with no warning. He clutched his chest in intense pain and tumbled down the stairs.

Trying to stand by grabbing onto walls and objects, he could not withstand the burning chest pain and the feeling of being compressed, and he collapsed to the ground. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt. He couldn't breathe. Dizziness and distorted vision added to his distress, and cold sweat poured from his forehead.

His breathing was irregular, his limbs unresponsive, and he could only look up at the sky. The neatly combed hair he had fixed before leaving the house was now dirty with dust, and his mouth, half-open, was covered in saliva. He reached out for help, but there was no one around today.

The edges of his vision flickered and slowly darkened. Although he didn't know what was happening to his body, Raizou understood. He was going to die.

He didn't want to die. He still wanted to live. As he lost control of his body, Raizou slowly raised his right hand.

His hand, trembling like a fawn, was absurdly funny, but Raizou had no room to laugh.

He vaguely remembered the weather forecast predicting a hot day and advising caution against heatstroke.

The annoying cicada sounds that had annoyed him so much were no longer audible. All Raizou could hear were his irregular breathing and the weakening beat of his heart.

As his vision darkened, Raizou saw a hallucination. The ground where he lay turned black and swirled. Countless shadowy little people emerged from the swirl, surrounding Raizou and trying to drag him into a hole. It was a scene straight out of a travelogue.

Ah, a hallucination. It's all over. Faintly, he heard someone calling his name cheerfully, but he could no longer make it out, and Raizou's consciousness abruptly faded.