Chapter 1
Prologue
A fantasy of swords and magic. I had always thought it was something found only in games and anime.
'Good morning, humanity!'
On my way home from middle school, I suddenly felt dizzy.
It lasted only an instant, and I quickly recovered. Before me were a red traffic light and a crosswalk. Luckily, I had stopped just before crossing rather than in the middle of it.
But what had that voice been?
To my left was the road; to my right, the block wall of a private home. There was no giant screen like the ones at Shibuya Crossing on this familiar route to school.
Maybe I'd overheard it coming from a passing car.
Then I suddenly noticed something strange about my clothes. The sensation of the buttoned-up stand-up collar of my school uniform brushing against my throat was gone.
'Can you all hear me~? Everyone! Good morning!'
My question had barely formed when the mysterious voice came again.
I immediately turned my face toward the direction of the voice.
"…Huh?"
When I recognized what was there, a silly voice escaped my mouth.
For once, I couldn't say I was glad there was no one around. If anything, I wanted a third party's opinion just to make sure this wasn't a hallucination.
A huge cube was floating in midair.
It was too far away to judge its size. It was at least larger than an ordinary house.
A blonde girl was displayed on every face of the cube visible from where I stood.
A hologram? A drone? I had no idea. Ignoring me as I stood frozen in shock, the mysterious girl continued speaking.
'Well, it is a one-way broadcast! Even if you answer, I won't be able to hear you!'
The girl laughed, cackling.
Her features were more beautiful than anything I had ever seen. Though her build was delicate, she had curves in all the right places—a captivating figure. Her revealing outfit looked like a cross between a tailcoat and a bunny-girl costume.
One eye was hidden behind a rugged eyepatch, yet I didn't think it diminished her beauty at all. If anything, it gave her a mysterious air.
'Ahem! This broadcast is currently being transmitted simultaneously around the world! I think the magic translation means language won't be a problem, but if you can't understand what I'm saying, just figure it out through sheer determination!'
But perhaps it was because of this absurd spectacle. Or perhaps because of what she was saying.
I couldn't shake the feeling that the girl was some kind of 'terrifying being.'
'Let's get straight to the point! In short, this world is trying to return to the Age of Gods!'
With a sharp, theatrical gesture, the girl pointed toward this side of the screen.
'Some of you may be wondering what the Age of Gods is. Basically, just think of it as a world overflowing with swords, magic, and monsters! Good enough!'
Swords and magic? Monsters?
Faced with one absurd statement after another, my rational mind gradually began to cry out with a different kind of fear from what I had felt earlier.
Had I developed a brain tumor? Or was I dreaming?
Either way, it didn't feel like reality. I could only pray it was the latter.
'Once, this world had heroes, monsters, and gods. But rise and fall are the way of the world. Most of them have been lost.'
The girl turned her palms upward and gave a small, exasperated shake of her head.
Yet the corners of her lips curled upward.
'However, the ley lines around the world have begun to stir. The remnants of the monsters and gods who died and dissolved into the stars are about to descend upon you!'
She spoke with evident delight.
'Ordinary people can't see or touch spiritual beings. But they can touch you, and they can kill you. It's a one-sided relationship. But that's what monsters and humans are like, isn't it?'
After menacing us with a sly grin, she clapped her hands.
'How can you fight back against monsters? Heroes! There must be people among you with the necessary aptitude! Those men and women possess the power to defeat the monsters!'
With an innocent light in her eyes, the girl continued at such a breathless pace that she seemed ready to spit.
'But even those who aren't heroes have to do their part. There's no time to buy popcorn! Everyone is already standing onstage!'
Spreading both arms wide, she looked upward.
'Heroes, fight! People, rise up! Humanity's future rests on all your shoulders!'
After shouting this in a grand, ridiculous tone,
the girl turned her gaze toward me.
Yes, toward me.
'The die is cast. The time of trials has come, humanity.'
────I felt as though our eyes met.
Every hair on my body stood on end, and an indescribable terror raced down my back. I couldn't even step backward; my throat seized up, and no voice came out.
The girl erased her smile and wore an emotionless expression like a Noh mask. As she looked down at us with a mystical gaze, surely she wasn't looking at me alone.
Instinctively, I understood that this gaze was directed at everyone watching the broadcast. Even so, I was terrified.
The sound of my own breathing seemed unnaturally loud. My heart pounded wildly, and I couldn't stop sweating.
Suddenly, the girl smiled brightly.
In that instant, my paralyzed body regained its freedom. I nearly fell and staggered to catch myself.
The oppressive feeling from moments ago was nowhere to be found. This time, the girl wore a carefree, radiant smile.
She laughed in so many different ways. That only fanned my fear.
'That's all for my speech. Find the monster nests appearing around the world and do your best to fight them! If you do, you might get something good.'
The girl took the silk top hat from her head.
'Oh, right, I forgot to introduce myself. Then let's combine my introduction with the closing greeting.'
With an elegant bow, she curled her lips upward like a crescent moon.
'My name is Demiurge. Of course, it's a pseudonym, but I'd like you to call me Demi-chan affectionately. In the next broadcast, call my name toward the screen, okay? Well, I don't even know if there'll be a next one! Bye-bye!'
The girl stood straight, waving with a beaming smile—the self-proclaimed 'False God,' Demiurge.
In an instant, the cube floating in the sky shattered. With a shrill sound, its fragments rained down.
Defying gravity, the fragments descended slowly. Before reaching the ground, they vanished as particles of light.
How long had I watched that otherworldly sight? By my sense of time, only a few seconds had passed since the cube broke. Unfortunately, I couldn't trust my own senses right now.
I reached for my cheek and pinched it. A classic way to tell whether this was a dream.
"…Oww."
When I pulled at my cheek with fingers wrapped in something strangely hard, that was the result.
Apparently, it wasn't a dream.
…I could only pray—though not to that false god—that it wasn't a hallucination.
＊ ＊ ＊
From that day on, the world changed completely.
Just as the self-proclaimed Demiurge had said, mysterious beings began attacking people around the world.
Most people couldn't perceive these beings, and cameras couldn't capture them either. Only the bodies continued to pile up.
Yet there were also people who could perceive and fight such beings.
After that broadcast, those who gained powers akin to ESP came to be called 'the Gifted.'
The Gifted were currently the only ones capable of opposing the creatures—the 'monsters.' Apparently, the monsters grew stronger, multiplied, and emerged onto the surface inside 'labyrinths' that recreated their former habitats.
Governments around the world responded in different ways, but the Japanese government made an astonishing decision.
It decided to outsource the handling of most labyrinths to the private sector.
There had been plenty of opposition, but having the government manage every labyrinth and every Gifted person also posed all kinds of problems. A prominent professor said on television that this was the result of a desperate compromise.
The occupation of hunting monsters lurking in labyrinths. Its name was, of course, 'adventurer.'
Some people rejoiced at a situation that could exist only in fiction, while others lamented it.
I'm probably one of the former.
I was afraid and anxious about the girl's broadcast and all the monster attacks I learned about through the screen, but my curiosity won out.
Maybe I could become one too, like a hero from a manga.
I spent two years living with that hope in my heart. Now, at fifteen, I was old enough to become an adventurer.
People said the minimum age should be raised. Apparently, the matter was still being hotly debated in the Diet today.
Ignoring the voices of society, I stepped forward to become an adventurer.
Though I felt awkward in clothes I wasn't used to yet, I told myself they were armor meant to protect me. I checked again and again for anything that looked out of place.
I wasn't actually wearing armor. In terms of physical defense, it probably wasn't much different from ordinary clothes.
After all, it was a high school uniform.
"…All right!"
I steeled myself and opened the door.
The battlefield I was about to head toward. Its name was—
'The interview.'
To become an adventurer, you needed a certain degree of social skills.
…My stomach clenched. Even before the interview, I was already starting to want to go home.