The story we started

——Because this person is the future "Kousaka Kyosuke".

3. A Broken World

【Tokyo City, Tokyo Bay. 400txt.com】

[Kousaka Kyosuke silently looked at the endlessly flowing river. He didn't know how long he stood there. He only knew that his back shadow was shifting from the center behind him to the right, and was about to reach his right.]

[The surface of the river also changed from dark blue at the beginning to gilded with golden fragments, and he still stood there motionless, his back looked like a Dadaist artist found a carved stone statue and put on a windbreaker, the strong sense of decadence could be felt from his back even from a long distance.]

[As even the sky gradually darkened, Kousaka Kyousuke, who had been standing like a statue all day, finally moved. ]

[He reached into the inner pocket of his windbreaker with his left hand, the only hand that could still move, and pulled out a white business card that was slightly yellowed and oxidized.]

[In the middle of this business card, the five characters "Zaimokuza Yoshiki" are written in bold, and in the blank space on the right, it is written "1999's skill is maintained by the man", and on the left, it is written "Dream of chasing the man", and there is even a thumbs-up emoticon drawn in the lower left corner. ]

[——"The man who pursues his dreams, Zaimokuza Yoshiki, is none other than me!"]

[The voice that seemed to be from the last century echoed in my ears, with the same cheerfulness and confidence as before. ]

[Looking at this business card, Kousaka Kyosuke once again recalled the day when he first met the person who gave him this business card. ]

[Even though so much time has passed, his smile on that day still sparkles in my memory, and has never faded in the slightest.]

【“…”】

[Silently, the corners of Kousaka Kyosuke's mouth curled up in an almost invisible arc.]

[——When we first met, I thought we were just strangers in each other’s lives.]

[Just like Voltaire's "The Birds and the Fishes", the moment the fish emerged from the water to breathe, it crossed paths with the predatory bird by a hair's breadth. The two life trajectories that never belonged to the same world crossed for a moment at that moment, and then they would each rush towards different futures.]

[Birds will soar to the boundless and high sky, and fish can only dive into a bay that is not deep enough for a person to dive into. Then one day they will never meet again. This is the truth of the world.]

[But I never thought that, under the arrangement of fate, our future destinies would be so closely intertwined, and our karma would weave together into a spider web that cannot be escaped.]

[In this story that started out wrong, we laughed, cried, shared joys and sorrows, talked to each other about our ideals and future, and then trusted each other and fought side by side.]

[This journey was really fun, it was as beautiful as a dream. During the journey, I always thought that the ending of the story would be the same as always, and it would end with laughter. ]

[Just like the beginning of all fairy tales, the hero and his companions set out on a journey to defeat the devil, and in the end they will definitely return with glory and a happy ending that everyone loves to see.]

[…But why is it that the ending of this story that only belongs to us is so hard to accept? ]

【Thinking of this, the tiny smile on Kousaka Kyosuke's lips gradually faded, and the faint light in his eyes was once again swallowed up by the previous grayness, becoming obscure and dim.】

[He looked at the business card in his hand with a complicated expression, and finally closed his eyes and clenched his teeth.]

[Swish——]

[Just then, the wind on the river bank suddenly grew stronger and blew towards Kousaka Kyosuke who was standing on the shore.]

【"Well!?"】

[The sudden strong wind caused the fluttering bangs of hair to touch his fragile eyes, and Kousaka Kyousuke subconsciously stretched out his left arm holding the business card to cover his face.]

[As a result, the business card between my fingers was blown by the wind and flew into the distant sky.]

[Kousaka Kyosuke's expression immediately became panicked, and he quickly reached out to grab the business card that was floating in the sky.]

[But he was still a step too slow. His fingertips drew a circular arc in the air and passed through the end of the business card, and the business card spun and floated away again for a distance.]

【“…”】

[At the moment he missed the business card, Kousaka Kyosuke realized that he could not catch up, and the arm he stretched out to retain him froze in place. ]

[A corner of his heart seemed to collapse, and it suddenly became empty. He just stared blankly at the business card floating away in the invisible trajectory of the wind.]

[Kousaka Kyousuke's mouth moved a few times, and after a whole day passed, his vocal cords finally resonated again, and he uttered a hoarse voice.]

【"...さようなら."】

[This yellowed business card is like a leaf that has fallen from a tree branch after its lifespan has come to an end, and it flies into the infinitely high sky with Kousaka Kyosuke's farewell.]

[It floated and flew, crossed the river and arrived at the city on the other side.]

“What’s going on!?”

All the people watching in front of the light curtain adjusted the camera angles according to the fluttering leaves, and together they saw a corner of the city passing by under the fallen leaves.

Therefore, cries of disbelief burst out from the mouths of people all over the world, especially the large number of ordinary citizens who now live in Tokyo. Some of them even covered their mouths in horror as they looked at the scene on the screen.

[Under the flying business card, the first city in Asia illuminated by the dusk, the once prosperous Tokyo. ]

【At this moment, all I can see is a scene of desolation. 】

[The high-rise buildings and avenues that once stood out from other countries are now in such a state of disrepair that it is unbearable to look directly at them. Almost all buildings with more than 40 floors are damaged, with either more than a dozen floors missing or being directly cut in half from the middle.]

[The broken buildings fell on the lower floors on the opposite and side, or inserted into the interruption of another building, forming a natural "bridge in the sky" without any trace of human intervention. Countless broken eaves and broken walls covered every corner in sight, and no place was spared. ]

[This business card floats over Shibuya District, and below is the busiest intersection in the world. ]

[But at this moment, this intersection is also full of rubble, and countless workers and vehicles are moving the piled stones back and forth onto work vehicles to be transported away.]

[Not only here, but in every area of ​​Tokyo, there are a large number of workers and construction equipment working constantly to repair this dilapidated city, but the combined size of all of them is really insignificant compared to Tokyo. Looking down from above, it's like a group of ants trying to repair their nests that were washed away and flooded by heavy rain. Even if they work day and night, they still have little effect. ]

This horrifying scene made everyone dumbfounded, and even made people doubt whether they had come to the Middle East where wars have been frequent, rather than Tokyo, a first-tier city that has always enjoyed a high reputation both domestically and internationally and is considered a gold rush destination by countless people.

If people did not know that this light curtain phenomenon could be classified as a "miracle" phenomenon, some would have thought that they were watching Hollywood's latest large-scale disaster science fiction movie, or the world after the disappearance of human beings simulated in documentaries, because all of this did not feel real at all.

Tokyo in the light curtain is now like an old man who is about to die. Although various cells in his body are desperately trying to save themselves, they cannot completely cover up the heavy decadence and deathly silence in his bones.

At this moment, everyone seemed to feel that they could understand why the future "Kousaka Kyosuke" looked so lifeless and lonely when he just appeared on the light curtain.

"What on earth is going on here!?"

Kyosuke Kousaka stared at the extremely broken world in the light screen in front of him, his pupils contracted, his palms clenched into fists, and he couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"Our world, our future—"

“… What happened?”

Zaimokuza Yoshiki's trembling voice echoed in the already silent health room and even in the entire Sobu High School.

4. A corner of the future

Tokyo City. bookzun.com

The city was in an unprecedented riot at this moment, with unprecedented noise and bustle.

The cause of all this is the scene displayed on the light curtain.

After the previous video was played for such a long time, basically everyone with a brain had deduced that that was the scene of the future. People without brains had also been educated about it by the people around them. People who had brains but were too lazy to think but lived in Tokyo were also forced to think under the pressure of life and death.

The knowledge that in the future a group of horrible monsters resurrected from ultra-ancient mysterious ruins would come to their place of refuge and start a massacre was enough to make people here panic. For a time, the moving rate and resignation rate in Tokyo skyrocketed.

No matter how the capitalists and officials tried to persuade them, it was useless. After all, in the eyes of most people, their own lives were more important than anything else. Especially for those unlucky people who saw their future selves die tragically in a killing incident caused by unconfirmed life forms through videos, their determination to stay away from Tokyo was as strong as Rupert's tears, and no matter how hard you hit them, it would not waver at all.

What? Boss, you mean work?

The ultimate goal of my work is to enjoy a better life, but if I continue to stay here, I will even lose my life!

If you can't even do the most basic "survival", what's the point of working as a hammer! Do you really think we are working for you, a bastard?

Don't go too far, or I'll expose your affair with that actress and go to a hotel with her to have a baby on the weekend! How do I know? Who told me to book a room for you? If I don't put something in it, I'll be sorry for your long-term hard work and exploitation of me!

By the way, the boss lady tastes very good. The resilience of her waist and hips is much stronger than that actress you found who can't even do the splits. You really don't know how lucky you are.

……

In short, after a period of chaos, the politicians finally suppressed the riots and resignations that had occurred in Tokyo. Fortunately, all means of communication at the time were basically scrapped due to video, so the problem was resolved before it became a big deal.

But now it is completely different, because what is playing the future scene is a light screen floating in thin air in front of everyone in the world, instead of videos occupying everyone's various electronic devices like before. In terms of version alone, it has been improved by several generations, comparable to the difference between new-age smartphones and old-fashioned keypad phones.

And electronic devices are not occupied, which means that people's ability to communicate is not hindered in any way.

So, in the short few minutes that Tokyo appeared in a dilapidated state on the light screen, countless chat groups like "Route to Escape from Tokyo", "Tokyo Escape Strategy", "Capital Survival Method" and so on appeared one after another on various chat software in Japan like spring weeds. Those who wanted to leave shared with each other various secret ways to escape from the city, and those who did not want to leave sought how to survive the catastrophe that might happen in the future.

If there were still people who had the ostrich idea that "I was not among those who died" and "I live far away from the areas where those monsters commit crimes, so they shouldn't come after me", then the scene that appeared on the light screen this time tore apart the remaining fantasies in everyone's hearts in the most direct way, forcing them to face the cruelest reality.

In the future, when the city is destroyed into such a tragic state, who can guarantee that they can continue to survive? Who still has the courage to continue to stay in this ghost place that is destined to be visited by misfortune?

Who gave you the courage to stay? Kousaka Kyousuke or Zaimokuza Yoshiki?

Look at what has happened to one of the people on the light screen? Not to mention that the other one is still unknown whether he is dead or alive!

Even if the authorities immediately take action to suppress those chat group chats, the boiling public opinion cannot be resolved like computer software with just a few clicks of the mouse and keyboard.

Countless private cars began to drive on the roads outside Tokyo, and people who could not afford the conditions squeezed the buses into packed places, with people filling the windows and roofs of the buses, as if they were following the example of India.

The main roads were packed with people, and many people, seeing that the main roads were impassable, began to walk towards various small roads.

The big shots above now feel a splitting headache facing this situation, and they are anxiously mobilizing all the security forces to stop it. When they find that they do not have enough people, they simply call in the underworld to help.

If the situation continues to develop in this way, it is estimated that before those Gurongis crawl out of the Kurodake ruins in Nagano Prefecture to kill people, the various functions of the city of Tokyo will be paralyzed due to excessive population loss, resulting in a shutdown.

If Tokyo, which accounts for more than one-fifth of the country's permanent population and is a well-deserved economic center, comes to a standstill, it means that the entire Japan can basically come to a standstill, which is almost the same as the country's direct demise.

Tokyo city, Shuchiin Academy, Student Council Room.

"Why...is this happening?"

Shirogane Miyuki stared blankly at the dilapidated Tokyo on the screen and unconsciously sat up from his own seat.

The business card on the light curtain flew across Tokyo with the breeze, like a white dove flying over a battlefield. When it flew over a certain area, it made him open his eyes wide.

In that area, Baiyin Yuxing saw his alma mater where he was currently.

He would never admit his mistake, because only Shuchiin Academy, which was said to carry the hope of the country and had countless high-ranking officials and nobles, could have such a vast campus in Tokyo, where every inch of land was valuable.

——But the same is true for the campus in the light curtain at this moment. No large building complex in the city of Tokyo is immune.

The teaching building that was once as magnificent as an ancient palace is now just a ruin with its red bricks and tiles turned charred black and marked with traces of burns from the fierce fire.

Some teaching buildings were burned down to only a rough frame. Without pillars and beams, the buildings collapsed because they could not bear their own weight.

Baiyin Yuxing could even see the student union room where he was at the moment on the light screen. Most of the walls were melted, exposing the scene inside.

There were also many workers busy coming and going on this campus, moving stones from under the ruins.

Several workers, sweating profusely, pushed aside a huge stone, revealing the scene underneath: a dozen arms with charred skin and half of their bones exposed, piled together.

Just like a group of girls holding hands tightly together while taking shelter.

"don't want!!!"

Chika Fujiwara, who had been covering her mouth with her hands since she saw the tragic scene in Shuchiin, with red eyes and trembling all over, finally collapsed completely after seeing this bloody and brutal scene. She screamed and turned around to throw herself into the arms of Kaguya Shinomiya behind her.

She was not the only one making such noises in the student council. The entire Shuchiin Academy was the same. The screams of girls and the roars of disbelief from boys echoed one after another, like a conductor conducting an orchestra without any rules. It was harsh and chaotic.

"Well--!"

Baiyin Yuxing staggered back a few steps, turned his head away from the light screen in front of him, covered his mouth with one hand, and beads of sweat the size of beans flowed down from his forehead.

"President..."

Shinomiya Kaguya's expression was also very bad, but she was considered "well-informed" to some extent in this regard, so she didn't react as strongly as Fujiwara Chika and Shirogane Miyuki.

Although she was very worried about Shirogane Miyuki, she was also very worried about Fujiwara Chika who was trembling in her arms. She put one hand around her waist and covered her long pink hair with the other hand to comfort her.

Although she always looked very disgusted when interacting with him in daily life, deep down in her heart, Kaguya Shinomiya was actually full of concern for her first friend in her life.

"I...I'm fine...uh."

Baiyin Yuxing, who was supporting himself against the wall with one hand, waved his hand weakly. When he raised his head again, there was an unconcealable paleness on his face. Combined with the dark circles under his eyes, he looked like a hanged ghost.

"Why did the future Shuchiin and Tokyo-kai become like this?"

"After that, after Zaimokuza-san and Kousaka-san defeated No. 22, what happened to cause this -- such a tragic situation!?"

At this point, Baiyin Yuxing recalled the tragic scene of piles of corpses under the ruins he had just seen, and a strong feeling of vomiting rose from the depths of his throat again.

He pinched his neck and finally suppressed the feeling, then asked with difficulty with a grim face.

"I do not know either."

Shinomiya Kaguya shook her head, her eyes moved down to Fujiwara Chika, who was gradually calming down her trembling in her arms, and she touched her hair lovingly and whispered.

"...The information we have now is still too little. If we want to know more, we can only keep watching."

[The business card flew across the entire ruined city, and was finally swept by the wind towards the setting sun in the sky. The pattern and words on it also disappeared under the increasingly blazing light.]

[When the thumbs-up avatar was also obscured by the light, the business card was like Ikaros in Greek mythology flying towards the sun, losing its shape in the approaching sun and endless light.]

At this point, the magnificent picture on the light curtain, like a seagull melting in the scorching sun, gradually blurred, and a line of white text emerged in the dimming light curtain.