Ultraman cubs begin to wreak havoc.

Himeya Jun was awestruck by this enormous creature and for a moment, he was completely mesmerized by it.

It's hard to believe we're underground. Even a four-story supermarket could easily fit inside this hole.

At first glance, the people, looking filthy as if they hadn't showered for months, were gathered in small groups around the delivery man in the black overcoat. They were mostly middle-aged men in their forties and fifties; not a single woman was in sight. Once the black sports bag was opened, the men, like worker ants, lined up in a single file.

The homeless people placed small boxes at the feet of the "delivery person" in exchange for their share of food. Those plastic blocks, about the size of videotapes, were undoubtedly the items traded in the convenience store.

Exhausted figures, clutching food, gradually dispersed towards the square. He only glanced briefly at the nearly one hundred cardboard houses scattered throughout the vast space, forming a village.

This enclosed, dimly lit place, so rudimentary and lacking in any sense of life, made Jun Himeya realize that it was the "paradise" people so desperately longed for, even willing to abandon life on earth for. Himeya took out his digital camera from his pocket, turned off the flash, and pressed the shutter.

"Hey!"

A voice suddenly sounded behind him, so he turned around to look. A homeless man wearing a knitted sweater and a blue woolen hat was glaring angrily at Jun Himeya with a dirty, dusty face.

"Ahhhh!"

Upon hearing Jun Himeya's panicked screams, the crowd in the square noticed him.

"There's an invasion!"

"Catch him now!"

Dozens of underground residents rushed forward angrily, shouting loudly. In the blink of an eye, he was overwhelmed by the crowd, and with no chance of escape, he was captured. The man who first saw him snatched the digital camera from his hands. His arms were tied behind his back, and he was forced to stand up.

At that moment, dozens of hands, like the claws of vultures, grabbed Jun Himeya and dragged him around. At the same time, he spotted the person he was looking for.

"Matsunaga wants Mr. Ichiro! Matsunaga wants Mr. Ichiro!"

Among the group of disheveled men, a face identical to the one in the photograph gaped in astonishment.

The inner turmoil seemed contagious, and the people living underground began to make a noisy commotion. Matsunaga Yoichiro's calm and collected eyes, through his glasses, gazed at him.

"Who are you?"

Matsunaga Yoichiro's current residence has walls and a roof made of cardboard covered with a thin white waterproof sheet. The ground is still in the season when the nights are cold, but the underground, which is sheltered from the wind and rain, is quite comfortable.

From tables made of wood scraps to simple chairs made of milk cartons, everything was provided, and thanks to the light pouring down from the lamp, there was no sense of darkness or gloom.

For Jun Himeya, who was released as a guest of Yoichiro Matsunaga, the subtle difference between imagination and reality under the warm glow of the lights made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Is the 'paradise' mentioned in the logbook...?"

"Yes, this is it."

The gentle-looking man in front of Himeya Jun admitted it without hesitation.

"This is a comfortable haven, so it's called Paradise."

"Is it... a cozy nest?"

He couldn't understand Matsunaga Yoichiro's incomprehensible words. Even here, he could see people squatting motionless like corpses in various places in the underground cavern, and he couldn't feel the sense of peaceful redemption that was being described.

"Click, click, click"

It sounded like a plastic bag being lifted, and Jun Himeya felt uneasy. He lifted the waterproof cloth at the entrance and saw another person arrive.

"My name is Hiroyuki Misawa."

The visitor smiled at Jun Himeya, introduced himself, and then left. At the same time, Jun Himeya saw several boys with childlike faces munching on their balanced meals, as if they had returned to their childhood, eating sweet wagashi, pastries, and bread with gusto.

"This void is said to be an underground street that was half-built and then stopped. At some point, people moved in and started digging horizontally to expand it. Now it has expanded into a huge underground city like a maze."

Matsunaga Yoichiro placed the kettle on the table, then took out the instant coffee that was kept in the corner of his house, along with a slightly damaged cup:

"How about a cup of coffee? It's been sitting out for a while, though."

After Himeya Jun thanked him, he poured hot water into the coffee grounds, and a pleasant aroma of steam rose out.

"Alright, drink it while it's hot."

Jun Himeya took a sip, and a gentle warmth spread through his stomach. Even though it was just instant coffee, its aroma seemed enough to soothe his exhausted body. At that moment, Jun Himeya noticed that the kettle and the lamp were both connected to that mysterious plastic block.

"What is this power supply...?"

"I heard that it was a high-performance battery pack that was abandoned during the development process. As for the charging power... it was borrowed from the underground utility tunnel that you also walked through. Thanks to it, water and electricity are very convenient here."

Jun Himeya completely understood the transaction process.

"So, Mr. Matsunaga Yoichiro, you're using this battery pack..."

"That's right, we give the electricity to the delivery person, and in return, the delivery person delivers food and other items to us in that manner."

Matsunaga Yoichiro muttered to himself as if he had given up on something. Deliverymen were selling the electricity they had stolen from here on the street. If the integrated utility tunnels and the subway were the city's internal organs, then the people in the amusement park were nothing more than parasites stealing nutrients from those organs.

As Jun Himeya hesitated to include the crime of electricity theft in his report, he looked away. Yoichiro Matsunaga, a former elite who had witnessed the world's troubles his entire life, realized Himeya's intention and couldn't help but smile wryly.

"Shops that want to do business with delivery people place stones according to the transaction amount. The delivery person will then appear after seeing them. That's how it's arranged. For large shops, this can save hundreds of thousands of yuan in expenses every month. Have you ever noticed what kind of power supply the insulated containers for meat buns in convenience stores are connected to?"

For some reason, whenever Jun Himeya imagines his daily life being connected to this gloomy paradise, a feeling of nausea wells up in his chest. Deep down, Jun Himeya harbors a desire to sever ties with those who have escaped the harsh society.

"Who exactly is this delivery person you're talking about?"

"I don't know. I don't even know if they are men or women, or how many there are. I only know that there are such people living in the city. It's always been like this in every era. You came here on behalf of my daughter to find me, right?"

Matsunaga Yoichiro took a used tissue from his trouser pocket, wiped away the snot that had runny from drinking something warm, and then put it back in his pocket.

"Your daughter is very worried about you."

The composed Matsunaga Hazuki, forced by the uncertainty of her father's fate, even submitted an article to a magazine.

"Is my daughter doing well?"

"pretty good."

After confirming this, the father's expression softened considerably. This man, who hadn't washed his clothes or even taken a bath, spoke of his daughter with the same longing he felt for those left behind in a distant foreign land, his voice filled with loneliness.

Matsunaga Yoichiro brought the coffee to his lips, and Himeya Jun also finished the bitter liquid. If this were alcohol, it might have allowed people to speak freely and share their innermost thoughts, but instant coffee could not make anyone drunk.

In short, wanting to change the atmosphere, Jun Himeya used a tactic he employed when the interview reached a stalemate: making a funny face.

"By the way... is there a toilet or something around here?"

Matsunaga Yoichiro smiled, got up, and led Himeya Jun to the designated area for excretion. This allowed Himeya Jun to properly observe the surroundings.

The park's only lighting source is the light from the cardboard houses arranged on the ground, so the light cannot reach the ceiling.

Even after hearing the explanation, this underground shopping mall was still a strange space for Jun Himeya. However, when he noticed the people reading, chatting, or smoking, each passing the time as they pleased, Jun Himeya immediately gained a deep understanding of how this place possessed its own order and characteristics, and even seemed to enjoy itself. The park seemed to be mocking how narrow-minded Jun Himeya was for still doubting that something was a scam.

Suddenly, a group of about a dozen people appeared in Jun Himeya's field of vision. This was considered quite large in the cave. Some of them were sticking cellophane for snacks onto the light bulbs of the lamps to create a simple slideshow.

Under the bright light, the magnified image of the candy wrapper was projected onto the cardboard wall. The men sat in a circle, and the one with a smile on his dirty face stood in the center of the circle. He was the homeless man named Hiroyuki Misawa whom we had just seen.

To be honest, it would be quite comfortable to live like this without having to work.

Matsunaga Yoichiro, who was leading the way to take him to the toilet, smiled as he watched the scene unfold. Then, as people burst into laughter at this simple amusement, a large-bearded man, too lazy to shave and letting his beard grow freely, suddenly appeared from the nearby cardboard box.

"Shut up! Don't you understand what 'shut up' means?!"

His face flushed crimson, and he slammed the empty box of balanced meals at Hiroyuki Misawa. The roar echoed, startling Jun Himeya, who instinctively looked around. The men who had been yelled at stood up, heads drooping like dogs doused with water. Their previous expressions of joy were completely gone. The residents of Paradise kept their heads slightly bowed; despite the large number of people present, not a single word was spoken.

"Although he lives in Paradise, he seems quite dissatisfied. What could be the reason?"

Matsunaga Yoichiro did not answer the question, but instead led Himeya Jun to the toilet. This dark tunnel, which was used as a toilet, opened through a hollow wall. As soon as you entered, you were greeted by a stench that smelled just like a toilet.

"I'll wait for you outside."

In a fairly reasonable restroom, Jun Himeya unzipped his jeans to relieve himself. Out of curiosity, he took out a flashlight from his pocket and tried to illuminate the surroundings. Food boxes and wrappers that hadn't flowed down the drain were everywhere, suggesting that this place used food wrappers as toilet paper after defecating.

Then, when he shone his flashlight on the tunnel wall, he was so frightened that he almost fell into the sewer.

The filthy concrete wall was covered with a terrifying amount of graffiti, making it appear as if it had been painted completely black. It was a huge "toilet graffiti" that had accumulated over the years and could not be removed by anyone.

Himeya Jun shone his flashlight on it, concentrating on trying to decipher it. Most of the names left were probably those of family members, mostly women. There were also several thousand apologies like "I'm sorry," "I was wrong," and "Please forgive me, Dad."

Do the people who wrote these things still live in that void? But if you calculate it this way, the food ration seems to be out of sync with the population here. Realizing this, Jun Himeya felt a terrifying sensation creep up his spine.

"Can you please stop watching?"

The sudden sound startled Jun Himeya, making him tremble. Seeing the blank expression on Yoichiro Matsunaga's face, Jun couldn't ask if he had left any graffiti. He turned off his flashlight, and the tunnel once again plunged into a gentle, all-encompassing darkness.

"I have come to realize that people who come here will always find a way to get water, food, and a toilet."

Matsunaga Yoichiro continued to lead the way, seemingly unconcerned.

They went to the water station to wash their hands. Having already seen the wall smeared with shouts, even Jun Himeya could feel the unresolved emotional vortex. The so-called order that truly operated the amusement park was probably just the despair and anger that made men abandon their lives.

The delusional passion hidden within the comfort determined the distortion of this paradise. Jun Himeya felt that the stench in this space was becoming more and more pungent, and this place was just a garbage dump exuding a suspicious aura.

Suddenly, something soft underfoot tripped Himeya Jun. Although it was someone casually lying down asleep, they were completely unresponsive, almost like a corpse. Startled, Himeya Jun lifted the body's eyelids to confirm they were still alive before feeling slightly relieved. He then apologized to the person.

"sorry."

At that moment, Jun Himeya looked up and vaguely saw human bodies, squatting in twos and threes in the darkness. Was this a garbage dump? Or a morgue? Jun Himeya felt a chill and subconsciously said:

"How many people actually live here?"

"Ah...maybe, there are hundreds of people."

The thought of so many people hidden inside this hollow made Himeya Jun instinctively feel as if the place were entangled by hundreds of vengeful spirits with nowhere to go. Then, remembering something, Himeya Jun turned and asked:

"Speaking of which, what happened with Mr. Kuraki Eisuke?"

Jun Himeya also wanted to ask the other man in the diary about the true nature of Paradise. But Yoichiro Matsunaga, wearing glasses, stammered as if he couldn't express himself verbally. Later, he overcame his hesitation and muttered: