End of Century Chapter 02
"The World Twenty Years Later"
"Huff, huff, huff, huff..."
Kato and the man panted heavily.
"For now, it's safe here. Well, relatively."
The place the two had taken refuge in was the ruins of a supermarket.
someone must have lived here For a while. Remnants of makeshift barricades made of iron bars were left behind, and torn futons and bags were scattered around.
"Um, I don't know who you are, but... thank you for saving me."
"Ah. But what were you doing in a place like that?"
(...That's what I want to ask)
Thinking this, Kato briefly recounted what had happened until now.
"No, I don't know either... I woke up in an unfamiliar room on some apartment. And When I went outside, the city was like this..."
"What...!?"
The man looked at Kato with a puzzled expression.
Kato, in turn, gazed out at the desolate cityscape from the supermarket window, feeling that dangerous creatures might attack from the shadows of some building again.
The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
"...Hey. Could it be that you..."
"Sensei!!"
A loud voice rang out, countering the man words. Kato bent down in surprise.
"Hey! Don't shout so loudly. There might still be 'Black Panthers' and 'Rockbreaker Dragon' nearby."
The person's voice came from the back of the supermarket.
Straining his eyes in the dim interior, Kato spotted a tent set up.
A boy in his mid-teens peeked out from the entrance of the tent.
He tied his long hair at the back of his head and wore a cut-resistant vest over his jackets.
"Sorry. But it seems like it would be better to leave here soon, with dragons appearing."
"Oh. Pack up your things. I'm pretty sure there was a town nearby. Let's aim that for now. We've got more stuff now, too."
The man glanced briefly at Kato.
"Sensei, um... who is that?"
"I picked him up when he was being attacked by a 'Black Panther' and a 'Rockbreaker.'"
(Am I an object!?)
Kato want to retort, but then fell silent.
"A 'Black Panther' and a 'Rockbreaker'!? You're lucky to be alive, man."
"Yeah, well... um, what are these 'Black Panthers' and 'Rockbreaker' you've been talking about since earlier? I've never seen creatures like that..."
"We'll talk later. Right now, the priority is to get away from this place. Hurry and tidy up the tent."
"Yes!"
Following the instructions, the boy started to pack up the tent.
"Hey... um,"
"Oh, I'm Kato. Kato Hyogo."
Thinking he was being asked his name, Kato reflexively introduced himself.
"Kato, huh. I'm Saeki MikuMa. And the one over there..."
Saeki pointed to the boy tidying up the tent in the back.
"I'm Shimada Masaru."
The boy, or rather, Shimada, gave a slight bow.
"Kato, can you help out Shimada?"
"Yes."
As instructed by Saeki, Kato went over to Shimada.
"I'll help too."
"Ah, thanks. Then, here..."
A few dozen minutes later, all the tidying up was finished.
Although Kato only helped with storing the tent, he found himself sweating all over.
(Damn! I didn't expect tent cleanup to be this tough. It felt like making a Giant high-difficulty origami!)
Kato felt like he was more of a hindrance than a help.
"You... are quite clumsy," Shimada remarked, labeling Kato as such in just a few minutes.
"Well, I'm more of an indoor type, to be honest. I've never even been camping before, let alone touched a tent..." Kato mumbled out excuses.
"Alright, we should be setting off soon. We want to reach 'Kusano Town' before it gets dark," Saeki declared.
The three of them departed from the ruins of the supermarket.
*****
Saeki, Shimada, and Kato walked along a wide, three-lane road.
Other roads were littered with overturned cars and debris from buildings, making them nearly impassable.
However, this road was relatively easy to walk on.
Saeki had mentioned that the town was nearby, so perhaps the people from the town regularly maintained this road.
Still, there were cracks in the ground here and there, and one had to be careful not to trip.
"Whoa! That was close!"
Kato stumbled over a crack in the ground, prompting a quizzical look from Shimada.
"Sensei, about him... Kato, isn't he a bit strange? He's wearing awfully neat clothes, and he doesn't seem used to walking on this road... Could it be that he..."
"Could it be what?"
"Maybe he's from some big city..."
"Are you saying that seriously?"
"I'm sorry... that was a joke, but... um..."
Shimada stuttered in his speech.
"Don't worry. He's not... you know."
Hearing these words, relief washed over Shimada face.
"In my opinion, he's more like..."
"Like what?"
"Anooo!"
Kato call made the two in front turn around.
"What's up?"
"I'd like you to tell me soon what's going on in this town."
There are these aggressive creatures and collapsed buildings everywhere. This doesn't look anything like the town Kato knows.
Even now, a ten-story building on the side of the road is entangled in massive vines, making it look like a dense forest.
In fact, the building itself looks like a giant tree.
Yet, at the top, there's a huge tulip(?) blooming, and around it, several gigantic butterflies are flying, visible from the ground.
"Forgive me for responding with a question, but Kato when you woke up, was the town already in this state?"
"Well, yes."
"And Could it be that some of your recent memories are missing?"
Saeki words hit the mark. As far as Kato could recall before awakening, it was just school club activities.
"As expected."
Saeki takes the silence as a yes.
"To put it simply, this is the world twenty years after the one Kato knows."
"...?"
At first, Saeki words didn't make sense to Kato.
"Huh? The world twenty years later?"
"Yes, it's the world twenty years later."
Saeki said it with conviction. Kato didn't see any signs of deceit.
"W-wait a minute. So, what? Did I time travel or something?"
"I don't know that. However, you..."
A rustling sound. A tree branch rolled in front of the three.
"?"
Ignoring Kato puzzled look, Saeki and Shimada went on high alert.
"Ouch! What the!?"
This time, a tree branch flew towards the back of Kato head. After that, stones and branches were thrown at the three in succession.
"What's going on!?"
"Goblins."
Countless dark shadows appeared around the surrounding buildings.
As Kato squinted, he saw creatures resembling monkeys glaring at them.
"Goblins? Like the monsters in games? They really exist?"
"Well, everyone says that just because they look similar."
"Ah!"
The Goblins closed in from all directions, and the wide road was being filled with grotesque creatures.
"We're surrounded..."
"It's rare to be attacked by such a large group of goblins on a highway..."
(...Did they come around here to escape predators, or is there a higher-ranking species leading them...?)
"Shimada, give that to Kato."
"Understood!"
Shimada took out two balls the size of tennis balls from his backpack and threw them to Kato.
"What are these?"
"They're coming!"
Saeki shouted, and almost simultaneously, the goblins lunged at them all at once.
Entering combat without any explanation about the weapons (?) he was given, Kato was positioned between Saeki and Shimada.
Saeki drew his sword from his waist, while Shimada retrieved a special baton from his pocket.
Several goblins leaped towards them.
With a swift stroke, Saeki cleaved through multiple goblins, leaving them severed and rolling on the ground.
"Wow! One strike!"
"Of course. Sensei is a representative of the Sakura Flower Style Swordsmanship, after all!"
Shimada struck a goblin head with his baton.
The head exploded like a dropped persimmon, and the goblin let out incomprehensible gasps and died.
"Surprisingly, Shimada is quite ruthless..."
Whether the baton was hard or the goblin skull was soft, Kato couldn't tell, but he realized that skulls could shatter quite easily.
While he didn't sympathize with the monsters whose brains were splattered, he felt a chill down his spine.
"Kato! Some of them went your way!"
"What?!"
Perhaps due to thinking about something else during the fight, Kato found himself surrounded by several goblins.
Saeki and Shimada stood protectively in front of Kato, but it was naturally impossible to cover everything.
"Ouch! Stop it! Let go of me!"
Kato fought back by swinging his arms and legs.
it felt like being attacked by a horde of monkeys. However, some goblins were armed with hammers and rusty knives, and he would surely be killed if things continued like this.
"Cut it out! Ora... Let go of me!"
He swung his limbs, and fortunately, due to the difference in size, a few goblins were sent flying.
However, if that was all it took to win, there's no need struggle.
Two goblins who dodged Kato attack (?) lunged at him again.
Moreover, they were particularly dangerous individuals armed with a hammer and a knife.
The goblin wielding the hammer swung it at Kato.
He avoided the attack with a backward step, then delivered a powerful kick aimed at the goblin's face.
"Gugeeh!"
The goblin let out a grotesque cry and was sent flying several meters.
"Nice job, Kato!"
"Heh! Actually, I'm in the Kendo club. That was nothing."
Suddenly remembering, amidst the fear and panic of waking up in this world, Kato was a member of the Kendo club.
He had experienced many sparring matches in his club activities.
evading attacks of this level was a piece of cake, When he calmed down.
"Whoa!"
Or so he thought, but perhaps because he was getting too confident. He was knocked down by the remaining goblin.
Straddled and with a knife thrust towards his eyes, Kato instinctively grabbed the goblin wrist, stopping the knife just in time.
"Ggggh..."
"Gugigi"
The grotesque face of the goblin in front of him made him feel nauseous.
With sunken cheeks and a long hooked nose, it emanates a foul odor from its sparsely-toothed, gaping mouth.
Its body is thin and feeble, and the rough texture of its skin feels as if it might belong to a sickly, balding monkey afflicted with a skin disease.
"Oraaaaa"
Kato threw the goblin away with a kick. And With a graceful flip in mid-air, the goblin landed lightly. In its hand was—
"Ah!"
One of the balls Shimada gave Kato was clenched in its hand.
"Hey, give that back!"
Kato outstretched hand got snagged on a plug-like fixture that seemed to be attached to the ball.
Apparently, it came off when the ball was taken, leaving only the plug in Kato hand.
Kato then deduced what the ball was.
"Huh? Could it be...?"
Yes, it was a hand grenade.
"Oooooohhhhh!"
Kato charged towards the goblins.
I don't know how destructive that grenade is, but Saeki and Shimada are nearby. There is no guarantee that they will not be affected
"Oh!!”
“Ggaa! ”
He kicked a goblin along with the hand grenade. With a running start, the goblin arched through the air and plunged into the midst of the group.
The next moment, the hand grenade exploded. The blast and heatwave sent the goblin horde flying.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
Over ten goblins were blown to bits. The rest scattered like spiders' offspring.
"An escape route! Cut through them! Stick together and follow me!"
Saeki words echoed in his ears. Kato had already started running before he could think.
While slaying the few remaining goblins, Saeki, Shimada, and Kato managed to escape the goblin horde.
"Phew... What a mess."
Though a few goblins pursued, it wasn't too difficult to shake them off given their pace.
"Never thought we'd be attacked by goblins on the highway..."
"There was a large-scale subjugation operation in Kyushu. They must have been driven out from there."
"While each one is weak, their numbers are a threat."
"Let's warn the town we're heading to. If they send out a team for extermination, we should be fine."
"Hey!"
Kato interjected as Saeki and Shimada calmly discussed.
"We were almost killed just now, and you guys are so composed!"
"If you panic over goblins, you won't survive in this world."
"No, I'm panicking! Given the situation! Besides, I still can't wrap my head around this being the future twenty years from now!"
Seeing Kato with a puzzled look, Shimada whispered to Saeki.
"Is that guy really an 'Awakened One'?"
"I believe so."
Shimada pursed his lips, dissatisfied.
"Oh, right! Shimada, why didn't you give me explanation?"
"What?"
"The bomb! I almost died because of it!"
"Ah. I thought you might use it more effectively."
Kato still had the echo of the explosion in his ears and couldn't contain his frustration.
He berated Shimada with a series of complaints.
However, Shimada just casually brushed it off.
"Alright, alright."
"Both of you look."
Ignoring them, Saeki peered through his binoculars.
"Huh?"
"It's the town of 'Kusano'. We'll stay at that town today. Kato, I'll tell about your situation and what happened in these twenty years in that town. For now, just follow in silence."
"U-Understood..."
Upon hearing this, Katou finally fell silent.
The three of them headed towards the town.
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