Ultraman cubs begin to wreak havoc.

Darkness reveals humanity's inexplicable fears. Now, killing machines are closing in, and the worst future may be lurking on the other side, beyond our sight. Whether we run or stop, it all leads straight to hell.

Deep inside the tunnel, nothing could be seen even ten centimeters ahead. Slowly, the terrifying roar of motors from there grew closer and closer, and in the distance, a desperate scream, as if unable to breathe, rang out again.

At that moment, a flash of red light unexpectedly reflected off the edge of Matsunaga Yoichiro's glasses. Instantly, he realized that the light was aimed at their sensors.

"Run!"

Jun Himeya warned him with his voice hoarse from being so dry that if they were caught by this light, they would be swept into the drum and die like Hiroyuki Misawa.

Even if she used up all her remaining strength to escape, the light spot kept chasing her along the wall. Junya Himeya's legs, which had been exhausted from running before reaching Paradise, now felt as heavy as lead.

The trackers' markers relentlessly doubled, resembling red mosquitoes swarming around the wall, a sight that sent chills down your spine.

"Go this way!"

Matsunaga Yoichiro pulled Himeya Jun hard as they ran towards a side path. They held their breath and crouched in a secluded spot, like escaping insects.

Swarms of red laser beams streaked across the walls above. They were nothing more than livestock destined to die in a meat processing plant, and the mechanical devices were like the machines that processed the meat.

"That is?"

"This is cleaning up the trash."

Matsunaga Yoichiro replied as if it were a matter of course.

"Because, according to the official narrative, there is no one in this kind of place at all. The authorities felt that the extraterritoriality of the park was a problem, so they sent these dogs over. They are probably similar to hunting dogs."

As cogs in the machine of society, they work tirelessly, only to flock to paradise when faced with setbacks. Then, Matsunaga Yoichiro and his companions are given the mission of being disposed of as garbage by the authorities. This cruelty makes Himeya Jun feel dizzy.

Previously, their ringing of the bell for their deceased companions was merely creating a "paradise" culture, forcibly giving some meaning to this barren life. But could this be a form of resistance that the residents could manage?

The sounds of the killing machines finally emerged from the depths of the side passage where they were hiding. The wheels of the white mechanical devices approaching from three directions gradually tightened the encirclement.

"Run away!"

A sharp sound tore through the tunnel. Jun Himeya and his companions scrambled out of the stagnant darkness where they could see nothing. Several people surrounded the mechanical device; the homeless, in a dominant position, channeled their hatred and excitement into a cacophony of curses that shook the concrete floor.

Then, the sounds of bones breaking, muscles tearing, slow, guttural noises that made one want to cover their ears, and incoherent screams echoed behind Jun Himeya...

Even if they escaped, no matter how far they ran, they could only return to the original paradise. At this time, all the cardboard shacks under the towering ceiling had been destroyed, and several mechanical devices were hovering in the center of the underground cavity.

At the same time, the tense sound that added load to the motor made the blood-smelling atmosphere vibrate. The rear of the four box-shaped units connected by the mechanical device slid upwards at right angles, and the perhaps already full trash can was stored inside the third unit.

Next, a brand-new trash can was thrown out from the last unit and connected to the first unit. In its clean state, before any new trash was put in, it was fully prepared to grind countless people into mincemeat again. At the same time, this was also the end of Matsunaga Yoichiro and his group's journey.

As before, the underground cavity was covered with dark spots, now stained with new blood.

Jun Himeya didn't want to treat this place, whose floor was about to be stained black, as a paradise, but because he had read the work log, he knew that Matsunaga had asked Ichiro to work hard and had gone through a lot of trouble to get to this place. Despite this, they, who were in a weak position, were crushed, and even their last bit of blood and sweat was sucked dry.

"Why, why won't you let us breathe a sigh of relief?"

Matsunaga Yoichiro glared angrily at the invaders who continued to cruelly destroy Anle. Perhaps like him, the residents who had been stranded in the paradise emerged from the tunnels and gathered once again in the underground cavern.

The sound of someone complaining, "Did I get tricked again?" poured cold water on Ji Yajun's impassioned indignation.

"Let's run away."

Himeya Jun tugged at Matsunaga Hazuki's father's sleeve. Matsunaga Yoichiro didn't speak, but silently turned to look at him as if he knew everything.

The defeated man picked up an iron pipe used as furniture in the shack, his hands trembling uncontrollably with extreme excitement, perhaps for a life-or-death battle was about to begin.

"Jun Himeya, it's dangerous here, you have to run!"

A flattened blue woolen hat, stained with blackened bloodstains, lay on the ground next to the dismantled cardboard shack.

"Where is Mr. Matsunaga Yoichiro?"

"I want to fight."

The man, banished from a monotonous life on the ground to a paradise, gripped Jun Himeya's shoulders tightly, so hard that Jun felt a little pain.

"If you can get back to Earth, go tell my daughter."

Jun Himeya understood that this would be their final farewell in this life.

What should I say?

Tell her that I am very happy.

Paradise is the final destination; below it lies nothing. So they must fight, because, at least for the residents, there are companions with the same wounds in Paradise.

Unlike the real death in nursing homes or hospices, here there is a dreamlike romance of being sent off by the sound of bells and more than a hundred lights.

The men, who couldn't even lick their foul-smelling, festering wounds, let out their final roar. Even Jun Himeya, who should have been an outsider, was overwhelmed by the sheer force of this raging torrent, drawn in by its passion. Facing imminent death, a faint allure shone on their faces; they merely marveled at the potential of life, yet hesitated to move forward.

Matsunaga Yoichiro forcefully pushed Himeya Jun into the particularly old and narrow cross passage.

"Go!"

He obeyed because Jun Himeya had no reason to die for Paradise, and also because he noticed that his shoes were stepping on a pool of blood the size of a human. Although he was unsure if he could be saved, he ran for his life.

Before he rushed into the dark tunnel, he glanced back at the underground void. Abandoned by life above, abandoned by the men above, their faces flushed crimson with delirium, they swung iron bars at the killing machines.

At that moment, Jun Himeya sensed something. He realized he shouldn't just run away. He had brought a camera with him; he was a reporter. Although the camera had been taken, he could go find it and record the desperate struggle of these people hidden in the so-called paradise to protect their last sanctuary.

At the same time, Jun Himeya felt as if something was shining brightly in his heart. That light kept telling him that things shouldn't be like this, and that he should fight. However, his battlefield was not in this dark cave, and his opponent should not be those terrifying killing machines, but the enemy hidden deeper in the unknown.

However, Jun Himeya's excitement didn't last long. For some reason, he suddenly lost all his courage and fled in despair, leaving only a fleeting glimpse of green afterglow behind him...

How did he escape the darkness? Jun Himeya couldn't remember at all. But he felt that as long as everything was on the ground, it would all be over. Disturbed by the echoes, he staggered through the lonely corridor and opened a metal door that led to some unknown place.

The place looked familiar; fluorescent lights cast a white glow from the low ceiling, indicating it was the underground shopping mall where he would soon return to the surface. No one noticed the exhausted Jun Himeya plopping down on the floor. Judging from the signs, he had walked quite a distance, reaching the Tokyo Station underground. He took out his phone to check the time; it wasn't even 6 a.m. yet.

Himeya Jun then remembered that his phone also had a camera function. He could have kept a photo as evidence. He was filled with regret, but he knew very well that he was actually thinking about whether he could use the excuse of "there was nothing" to treat everything as a nightmare.

'Let's go quickly.'

Jun Himeya heard a low murmur in his heart, as if urging him to leave some mementos and to face the cruel reality. Although he could reach that place simply by going back, he knew he would never open that door again. Jun Himeya could not understand Matsunaga Yoichiro's idea of ​​calling that place paradise.

Although he left behind the message, "Tell her I'm very happy," how could Jun Himeya report this to his family? If he took even the slightest step while talking to Mr. Yoichiro Matsunaga, it would be tantamount to acknowledging everything, and at that point, he too would become someone who wanted to "go to paradise."

Jun Himeya's legs, exhausted from running all night, used their last bit of strength to keep going. The thought that the underground he was in was connected to Paradise made him shudder, and his breathing became rapid. It was as if he was underwater, and if he stayed any longer, he would drown.

With the thought of getting to the ground as soon as possible and to a peaceful place, he took a step forward, searching for signs for the exit as he crouched down at the bottom of the nearest staircase where he could feel the sunlight.

Just then, a woman walked briskly up the stairs. He had a feeling he'd seen her somewhere before, so he kept a close eye on her. Suddenly, the woman stopped halfway up the stairs, turned around, and looked at him.

Himeya Jun remembered and couldn't help but shout out. She was the female employee who was scolded in that smart building. Moreover, her height was about the same as the deliveryman he followed last night. Thinking about it carefully, it's strange that there's no place where the person who first spread the legend of the amusement park to Wakura Eisuke can be found.

The woman grinned as if mocking him, then ran up the stairs as before.

"and many more!"

Junya Himeya stumbled and chased after him.

Then, a dazzling light shone... Wherever the sunlight reached, the dazzling brilliance scorched the view into a ghastly white. Ji Yajun felt dizzy and unsteady on his feet, and could only hold on tightly to the handrail. His body, which had become accustomed to the ground, let out a wail.

No matter how much he looked around, he could no longer see the woman. Although he couldn't find her anywhere, it seemed like she was everywhere. He checked the face of the person he passed by again and again.

Afterwards, Jun Himeya stood there alone, bewildered, without moving for a long time. At this moment, a sweeper truck solemnly and respectfully collected the garbage in accordance with regulations. If it had been left any longer, it would have overflowed. Foam plastic, various empty boxes, and paper were thrown into the filling port, and after being compacted by a rotating scraper, they were stuffed into the box.

But there were no screams of agony before death, nor the sounds of bones breaking or blood being sucked out. Under the sunlight, which had seemed ordinary until yesterday, this place looked like a bright, otherworldly realm.

What should I do?

Jun Himeya readjusted to the sunlight and was momentarily lost in confusion. Should he run away, or...?

the other side.

In the 'paradise', a man groaned. His head throbbed with pain at the slightest movement, and he clutched his head against the tunnel wall. As soon as he placed his hands on his head, his fingers stuck to his wounds. At the same time, he realized that the blue woolen hat his deceased wife had knitted for him was gone—the last gift she had given him.

In this darkness, it seemed as if everything had settled down, with a clattering sound echoing around.

Huh? What's this in my hand...? It's a digital camera, the thing I got when I found that guy named Jun Himeya who came to the amusement park to visit Yoichiro Matsunaga.

As he rubbed the sweat from his eyelids, he brought up the image on the LCD screen. Before he could do much, the camera showed an image of a convenience store under the night sky, complete with what appeared to be stone markers.

Upon seeing this, he recalled a calculation made by Matsunaga Yoichiro, who was said to have served as the sales manager on Earth. He estimated that if there were hundreds of amusement park residents who stole 100,000 yen per month, the average monthly loss would be at most 10 million yen.

However, when it comes to the cost of maintaining and manufacturing this secret killing machine, a monthly fee of one billion yen is quite cheap. Given this, why are they still so determined to exterminate them?

Paradise is a place where no one can see, and no matter how much screaming occurs, no one can hear it. Moreover, the people who live here are all missing persons who came to Paradise of their own volition; to society, they are people whose existence or non-existence makes no difference.

The amusement park is nothing more than an experimental field built to research killing machines that may generate a lot of wealth in the future. Even the "delivery people" who watched the humans they brought with them being attacked but did not help them are very suspicious.

He couldn't believe anything, even being betrayed when he ended up in Anle Garden. This feeling was so unbearable that he couldn't shake it off. That day, he and Matsunaga Yoichiro drank all the sake they had.

"......brute."

Tears, indistinguishable between anger and despair, streamed from the surviving man's eyes. Even if they escaped, next time they would only send modified machines, more capable of killing them.

Matsunaga Yoichiro once murmured to himself in front of Eisuke Kagura's corpse, "We were just waiting."

That Matsunaga Yoichiro, like his junior colleague at the security company, is probably protecting someone.

— Ring ring, ring ring.

In the darkness, as still as the deep sea, the clear sound of bells rang out.

The person is dead.

Ignoring his reopened wound, the man collapsed to the ground, scratching his head. Just how many of his comrades had been murdered? The thought that everyone had died peacefully brought tears of self-deception streaming down his face.

Because the companions who fought against that white mechanical device were tragically crushed by the rollers, their bones and internal organs crushed and stuffed into the trash can. Every time they heard the bell ring, their backs trembled as if they had been whipped.